So, we’re living in our new house in the city, my son and I. The cowboy came up from the ranch last weekend to help do things like install the gas dryer, teaching my son as he went. Yesterday, two days after the cowboy left the city to go back to the ranch, my kid [...]
My Son Cracks Me Up
April 17, 2012 2 Comments
I was driving my son to the city yesterday to run some errands and we were talking about having a “music room” in the house. He’s decided to play the drums. Unlike something like the flute, which needs, like, a sock drawer for storage, the drums pretty much require their own room. Anyway, I told [...]
How Spongebob Squarepants Made My Son Afraid of Cowboys
March 4, 2012 16 Comments
A year ago, when I first began dating the cowboy, my son was mortified at the suggestion he accompany me to the ranch for a weekend. “Mom!” he cried. “I can’t go down there with you. I won’t.” “Why not?” I asked. “Why can’t you understand?” he whined. “I’m not one of those people! I [...]
Why My Parents Taught Me To Hate American Football and Why I Love It Anyway
January 7, 2012 1 Comment
I attended a lot of football games in high school. This is because I was in the marching band. I played saxophone, and thought that one day I’d be on stage as some kind of terrifying hybrid of John Coltrane and Paula Abdul. A danceophonist. I remember disliking marching band as much for the ridiculous [...]
It’s Not About How Much You Spend
December 23, 2011 1 Comment
Christmas is almost here, and once again I am reminded that it isn’t about how much money we have to spend on gifts, it’s about how much love we have to give. Over the past ten years, I have been broke and I have been well-off. I can tell you with complete honesty that the [...]
You Know a Man Loves You When…
December 21, 2011 10 Comments
…he loves the child you had before you ever met him. No, it wasn’t my dream to be a divorced single mother. I grew up like many children of divorce, certain I’d never put my own kid through the loss and pain I’d experienced when my own folks split up. But sometimes even the best [...]
Paths and Wires
December 19, 2011 Leave a Comment
Today, we all took a walk at the ranch. Me, my son and the cowboy. The cowboy offered my kid the following advice: “Son, there are only two things you need to know to survive out here. The first? Cow paths always lead to water. The second? High wires always lead to civilization.” I thought [...]
Smart Son? Thank His Momma.
December 8, 2011 9 Comments
When you’re divorced with a son, as I am, you tend to start thinking that your kid’s best traits come from your side of the family, while his worst are surely his father’s doing. In the past, this type of thinking might have been called “bitterness” but science has begun to show that there is [...]
One Proud Mama
December 1, 2011 2 Comments
First, there was an empty auditorium. Then, it filled with kids. Then, the 23 kids who were the top spellers in their classes got on stage. One was mine. There were 10 rounds. Then there were 6 kids left on the stage. One was mine. Those six kids are going to represent the school in [...]
Curbing My Enthusiasm
Being a single mom is hard. It’s especially hard, I think, when your child is a boy, and when it’s just the two of you. You try to teach him how to be a man, but at the end of the day you are a woman after all. You can’t teach him to pee standing [...]