At some point, I just gave up. When it comes to my car, I used to be a real neat freak. I used to wash and wax, vacuum and Armor-all, and even clean the engine. But now I’m a parent, with two little girls, and I seem to have flat-out given up ...

Before the cold sets in - and we are not looking forward to that - we wanted to get outdoors and see the colors of Fall. We went to a little festival at a local nursery last week. They usually have one every year and this year was no exception. Mostly we ...

LA Girl has joined the ranks of billions of kids across the country - she’s a soccer player now. I guess that makes me a Soccer Dad… Does this mean I have to buy a minivan? Uh… Won’t. Ever. Happen. Anyway, it’s her first attempt at playing a team sport. And I’m ...

LA Girl is taking guitar lessons. This is a first for us. We have never had her take any classes or lessons before. We certainly don’t want to force her to do anything she does want but… the guitar is the first thing she’s shown interest in. Santa brought her an acoustic ...

Happy birthday, L.A. Girl! You’re 7 years old now. Time really does fly. When you turned three or four, that seemed about right. But so much has happened in these past few years and it has gone by in a heartbeat. Now you’re almost through with first grade and will be starting ...

I just finished my first vacation in a long time (unless you count my time off two years ago to move across the country… which I don’t.) My boss forced me to take time off because last year I took the cash in December because I didn’t use any of my ...

I’ve just sent my baby girl, my darling baby girl, off to her last day of kindergarten. She’ll be a first grader next Fall! It seems like just yesterday, I was sending her off to her second-to-last day of kindergarten. My, how time flies… This first year of “real” school has been ...

I’ve finally used the phrase that was used on me countless times as a kid. That dreaded, “There are starving kids in China!” line that parents use to keep their kids from wasting food. I was practically standing outside of myself watching me as I delivered it to my oldest daughter. ...

And another thing… What’s with all the crying?! Yes, it’s another thing no one told me about when I signed up for this gig. As I told you, I didn’t know to get the owners manual like everyone else did when we had our first daughter. And I was too tired to ...

I want my money back! I demand a refund. I knew becoming a parent involved sacrifice and runny noses and lacrosse practice and xylophone recitals and all that. But what I didn’t really count on losing out on were all the little things. I rarely take vacations (I feel so guilty and I ...