I'm just catching up on posts and this one is darling. Your picture is GORGEOUS, not just because of the dress and the artful photography, but because you are GLOWING! Congrats!!

Thank you, Alicia. I know that the hardest part will be after the memorial, when we have to move forward without Max.... Thanks for reading this.

Bravo, Elise. It takes guts to say what's REAL in a relationship after a decade of marriage, and I appreciate your honest description. Nothing that's worthwhile can maintain its initial "high." Going the distance and staying "enduringly married" beats a red-hot (dare I say FAKE?) romance any day. Give me a few kids, a lovely husband, and an army of awesome girlfriends: that's my perfect combo!

Great post, April - thank you so much for helping all of us (especially moms of young girls) learn from your experience. I may be going against the grain to say this but, as a mom, I would write a few letters to the counselor, the assistant principal, the principal, and the district about this experience. Put it all on record. There is so much research about girl bullies - and even the death of that girl that was all over tabloids recently - that the counselor's missteps must be taken seriously and corrected. She is there to counsel the students, not just punish them. Thank goodness your girls have you as their advocate!

I love this post, Sarah! It seems that most of us have to go through the phase of wanting to "do it all" or "be it all" at our kids' schools. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that if I selectively chose what I wanted to do, rather than what I felt I was being guilted into doing, I was much happier. My kids were happier. And I was far less resentful! Even so, I see so many great women (mostly women) burning out and getting resentful. I concur with you: if you can't volunteer from a loving place in your heart, let it go!

The Hair Whisperers... remember that name, just in case! I loved this post - lice is a FACT OF LIFE in schools and camps... I wish it weren't so, but it is!

Authenticity - that's what makes your posts so easy to enjoy. Thank you for validating my feelings - and for feeling your own so truly, madly, deeply!

Oh I love this post. Not only are the snack shacks filled with unhealthy items, but the things that pass for "snacks" that parents hand out after games are atrocious. I finally started bagging up my own grapes and granola bars (some of which, I know, are only marginally healthier than a Snickers at 8 am) for the team snacks. "Where are the donuts?" one kid asked me after a soccer game. "Go ask your mom," I said. Not my job to fill you full of sugar. And trust me, I'm NOT a bastian of austerity in food and my kids eat way too much sugar for my taste, but enough is enough. Thanks for the post!!

Ooohhh... I'm the worst person to comment on this because I can TOTALLY get into my alone time, but I love this post. I relate to the wanting your time alone... and then knowing that you need them back after a few days. I can go for three days without even wondering what my kids are up to (when I know they're with people who love and care for them), but when I hit Day 4, I get a little cuckoo, too. Fun post!

Thank you, Cheryl, for weighing in. It is an ESSENTIAL part of the school experience to have a caring librarian running the library. Period.

Such a good post. I love that book, too, but I agree with you: we must be utterly active listeners with our girls in order to raise the women that they CAN become. There is no reason why we have to take the "girls will be girls" mindset - they will rise to the occasion of being nicer humans if we expect it and believe in them as people (not just as girls). Good job, Mama April!

Great post! I would much rather have my kids eat baked goods made with REAL ingredients than from chemicals with a "nutrient" label.

Good girl! Like you, I am a lifelong travel-luster. Since having kids, I have made two solo trips to Italy and the house was ALWAYS still standing when I returned. The thing that's changed since kids, however, is the homesickness.... So this year, we're all going to Europe together. The important thing is this: you were able to get back to that part of yourself that could be immersed in traveling and being alone. Sometimes, that feels so lost when you're a mom, but it's there... and you found it! Great post!

Here's my thinking, especially with smaller kids: they will go through this phase and then they'll move on. My middle kid only wore princess dresses when she was 3; at age 8, she is all about fedoras, tees and intentionally ripped jeans. My older daughter rocked the tomboy look throughout 3rd grade and then told me she wanted skirts for 4th grade so she could be a "girly girl" (alhtough she's more of a preppy Annie Hall type, so it's not all frills and bows). My youngest daughter was all about one particular princess dress, leggings and purple cowboy boots when she was small; now she wears only leggings and t-shirts. Honestly, I love their evolution. They know that their clothes must be clean and age appropriate, but beyond that it's all their style. And I have to say, as their individual senses of style have developed, they've received compliments from friends and teachers that have reinforced their confidence about their appearance -- a great value-added bonus!

Not only is this FUNNY, but it's so well-written. Amy, you are a gem of a writer and comedian. Your daughter is SO lucky to have you!

Powerful post - thank you for opening my eyes. I have always been suspect of the "massage" parlor thing... and you are right to wonder. A friend of mine found credit card charges for a "massage" parlor on her husband's bill and guess what? It wasn't a massage...

I LOVE this! I wish my kids would have been color blind to the green juice vs. brown muck!! (Not that I'm knocking the brown muck - but I love the nutrition you've managed to sneak into them!) Honestly, girl, I think the little lies (e.g., Santa Claus, tooth fairy) are what keep parenting interesting. (That, and everything else that fills our days!) Keep it up and keep writing about it for our enjoyment.

This is an excellent discussion. At the beginning of the school year, one of our teachers (who is friendly, FB and otherwise, with many parents) wrote in her FB status about her frustrations in her new class in a new grade, etc. I didn't read it, but it caused concerns among the parents in her class, etc. Thankfully it didn't get full-blown (in my opinion) and I don't believe she was asked to stifle her opinions on her own FB page, but it did bring up the issues that you're mentioning. I know that you won't stop talking about the issues that concern you as a parent, regardless of the media or forum -- THANK GOD! But I'm irritated that your principal thought he had ANY right to bring it up with you. I'm with the other commenter who said that he should be addressing the issue that caused the message...

OMG - Cheryl, I cannot imagine Vegas with you and Sally -- what a fun journey! I miss you girls so much - enjoy your weeklong crafting extravaganza! And don't think that your name didn't come to my mind when I saw back-to-back Gerard Butler movie posters at Blockbuster the other day....! xoxo Erin (from Cortona)

April, thank goodness its not just me! I am so grateful for hindsight... you have no idea! In a message dated 3/10/2010 1:32:56 P.M. Pacific Standard Time,

Great post, April. Good reminder for us to stop talking, too, when the info is out there and the "talk-ee" needs to be the one to do something with it. Excellent advice!!

Good posting, Sarah! I remember "the talk" with my mom and how weird and serious it was. My girls ask me stuff all the time and I decided no matter what it was, drugs or sex or rock-n-roll, I would just answer them honestly and appropriately for their age level. When they were small, I treated it all so seriously, but I realized that they only wanted to talk about the silliness of the actual anatomical parts... and I had to admit that they were right! Kudos, kudos... Keep sex out in the open, on the table... well, you know what I mean...