If you ever figure out a way to make that happen, let me know-and I don't even have to deal with traffic!

Clearly we "non-city folk" are shallow and uneducated both for not being as committed to the uncluttered lifestyle as you city folk; can you possible be any more demeaning? Oh, wait, yes, you can! "Do these women even know what the term means...and that they're using the term ALL wrong!" Nope, sorry, we are all idiots who like to reinforce negative stereotypes and are greedy hicks who like crap. I know this isn't what the post itself was saying (and the original post was excellent, by the way!); the comments are, however, frankly disturbing to me, from the term "mom blog community" (as it was my understanding that BlogHer was a convention for the blogging community as a whole, with men and women, parents and non-parents, an entire group of people from very diverse locations with different stories ALL) to the "our lives are made to keep the unimportant away because there's no room for it." Maybe the friend's Gatorade and protein bars are important to him, you know?

This simply reaffirms my choice to not have televison, and certainly NOT to allow my children to watch such trash. I am not one of those "Close my eyes and pretend it doesn't happen" people-FAR from it. And IF parents are watching this show with their children and talking about the realistic parts of it and pointing out the inconsistencies, then it could perhaps be a useful tool. However, let's be honest-parents aren't doing that (on the whole), which leaves MTV with the ability to teach our children-no thanks. Great post.

I could very well have written this post myself! And for me, if I don't write-well, I go insane. Writing is how I process events, how I identify feelings and problems, how I find solutions and feel part of a community and so on...for me, blogging is the perfect medium.

I miss doing those types of things with my daughter; she is 16 1/2 this summer, and suddenly I am un-cool. This sounds like a good day!

O.M.G. I adore you. Because you make me laugh out loud.

I think this is a great reminder of how it is so important to take care of ourselves as women so that we can be better parents. Great post!

You are SO not alone. I feel the same way, because it is none of anyone's business. If it is not okay for Nadya Suleman to have as many children as she wants, then it isn't okay for ANYONE. I look at those Duggans and think-believe in my heart-that the only reason ANY of these people have any kind of credibility is because they are "happily" MARRIED couples. In addition, regardless of whether her nannies were free or not, Nadya had every right in the world to get to choose who to help her take care of her children. Period. As for the whole Jon and Kate whoever they are, I don't watch television, so I had no freaking idea who they were until I saw a bunch of crap online about it. And now that I KNOW who they are, I care even less. Please; let's all be real here. I don't want to hear about "that poor woman..." (or man). Neither of them are ever going to be thrust into poverty or spend a night alone in their beds if they don't WANT to. I find it hard to take this seriously, in truth. Bah. Enough said on my part. I just wanted to say brava to you, Rox, because I feel the same way.

I still haven't and don't plan to make the leap to a minivan; however, I MIGHT be at least tempted to buy one just for that retractable window! Great post!

I live in an are where approximately 90% of our students qualify for and receive free or reduced lunches, including my own. And I think it is a bit overboard to expect the school to provide the "perfect" lunches for all the kids, on a very limited budget. The way things are here, I would much rather see that money go toward a better school environment, FEWER standardized tests, and more actual education; feed the kids hot dogs and macaroni and cheese, and expect the parents to actually, you know, PARENT and make sure their kids are eating lots of good things at home. I think that our public school system has gotten so far off track that what is served for lunch and what kinds of snacks are in the vending machines is the least of our problems.

Bwahahahahha, I am SO with you there. Totally. It's like those stupid What To Expect books; eat an applesauce sweetened cookie my ass. To me it is just like non-pregnancy eating; if you listen to your body, it will tell you what it wants. Sometimes that means a bag of Cheetos for breakfast, sometimes it means a pound of raw spinach dipped in a light baslamic vinaigrette. I basically followed that rule when I was pregnant all four times and the most I EVER gained was 19 pounds, and that was still less than I **should** have gained according to those guidelines. With my last, I gaine 11 pounds, had a not-quite-seven-pound baby boy, and my doctor said, "Man, you are the expert here (remember, 4th kid, ha ha ha)," so as long as baby is growing okay it is your show." Blow it out their ass indeed.

I have so many thoughts on this subject that I don't even know where to begin. First, I do not- CANNOT-believe that Christianity is the only way to teach your kids right from wrong; don't Christians think it is okay to kill someone for performing abortions? Sure, the Conservative yahoos will say, "but they are ZEALOTS, and we are not all like that." And that is right; they are not all like that, WE are not all like that. Just like every non-believer is not secretly plotting to kill every one of us believers and painting their windows black so they can hide their militantly non-Christian rituals from the rest of the world. I am a Christian; you know that, and now everyone on SVMoms blog knows that. I also believe that abortion should not only be legal AND safe, but none of anyone else's business. I believe in Gay marriage, militantly, because the God I believe in just wants us, His kids, to be HAPPY. No matter what form that takes. I believe that God is up there saying, "Okay, well you know, April doesn't believe in me but she is working hard at raising her kids to be the best possible human beings she can, with knowledge and awareness and the ability to see people as they are, and love them anyway. That's good enough for Me." And it is okay with ME that you don't believe that same thing, you know? People kill people daily in the name of religion. And while I understand to an extent the theological justfications of such terrible actions, I do not condone them, and I refuse to believe in a God that does. I refuse to believe that one can be exalted by forcing Bibles on little girls outside a school or killing a man who performs abortions or anyone who thinks they get to decide who can and cannot be married and raise children. Well said; and for what it is worth, I think you are a GREAT mom, and are doing a far better job than a LOT of "Christian" parents I know.

And just think, I LIVE in this area!

You are really lucky in that you live in an area where there are so many opportunities that y oucan at least find one thing he LIKES! Here, there is soccer and t-ball/baseball. That's it, at least that I can afford. And believe me, my 10 year old os SO not a sports dude!

Oh, that brought tears to my eyes. Because I feel the same way about books, and also the fact that I can be very, very mean and have to REALLY work hard to keep The Demon Caged.

Nude Houses Unite! I laugh, just because it is so us. Partly because there are five of us and one bathroom-um, what the heck is a door lock? When the baby has to go, nothing can bar his way. Somehow, they have all developed a sense of modesty, choosing to close the doors now when they want to, and you know? None of them seems TOO damaged yet! :)

I am about as far from being supermom as they get, yet there are those who have said that to me as well and I want to smack them. Doesn't matter whether we are working or non, single or married, formula or breastfeed...we just get up and do the best we can. I loved this post.

Unfortunately, I live in an area that doesn't have a charter school even remotely accessible. Like any school, though, I would imagine there are good teachers and not so good ones, good principals or not;it is a matter of being proactive about your children's education regardless of where they attend-as most concerned parent know! Good luck with yours.

Ha, I am still not sold. If I hold out another, oh, 10 years, I will no longer even have the need for my SUV. I hope. :)

You know that I am one of the foolish ones, and that it will be a hard day. I will be thinking of you and wishing we and our collective 6 children were in Disneyland together.

I know this will come as a surprise to you (tongue in cheek here, ha ha), but I agree with this. Og course I come from the other side, being a single mom, but I do believe that one of the more common problems for either gender is trying to figure out how to be both parents to the kids. However, all any one of us CAN do is be a parent. I don't know about you, but I have tried to learn some of the "boy" things and then find other people-men-who can show my boys how to become men. It seems to be enough, just as it seems to be enough for your daughter. Part of being a single parent is accepting your own limitations and working through or around them; it sounds as if you are doing a great job at this. Well said! And congrats on this getting picked for syndication; awesome.

Be the mom who makes a stink; three year olds are a little nuts and schizophrenic under the best of circumstances, sure, but this kids sounds like he needs help. Don't know what kind of life he has at home but I think this definitly needs intervention.

Gah, I have had FOUR, and with the last one, the advice was just as terrible and unwanted as it was with the first. I will stop nursing him when he is ready, thank you. No he can't have even one small sucker. Thank yu, I am aware that he needs changing...blah. So far all four of mine have lived and managed to thrive in spite of my obviously lacking skills, LOL.