Parental Units: Happiest (most crowded) place on earth

T he morning of Dec. 28, 2009, the actor Johnny Depp could not get into Disney’s Magic Kingdom.
I don’t think Depp was upset by the shutout, mostly because he wasn’t there.
But if he had been, he would not have been let in because the park had hit maximum capacity. Imagine that: His likeness is the [...]

Parental Units: Late-start blues

On Friday, Big Girl E celebrated her 100th day of kindergarten. It’s been a busy 100 days: she’s in school 32 hours a week, takes gymnastics and horse lessons and dabbles in periodic after-school activities.
She enjoys all of it, but school to her is an absolute privilege. She transitioned well from preschool to the rigors [...]

Parental Units: Self-imposed birthday party angst

M y child’s birthdays have gotten way out of hand. It’s time for me to admit that I have a party-planning problem.
Big Girl E isn’t complaining. She’s had huge parties two years in a row; the most recent one was just a few weeks ago.
It was massive — 20 children at Airborne Gymnastics and Gym [...]

Hanging around: Rope World a swingin’ time for kids

M idway through the 19-day winter break, I had this clanging around my head: Scooby Doo, where are you? We didn’t turn on the TV right away; I had some educational “opportunities” for Big Girl E. But I didn’t plan enough to keep her busy. So I turned to The Doo for some peace and [...]

Parental Units: Two years old and loving it

We’ve hit a major milestone: Baby Girl A just turned 2 years old.
We didn’t have a party; with Thanksgiving and Hubster’s work schedule, we kept our celebration low-key. We did have cake, of course, and since it was her day, I even shared my slice with the birthday girl.
Sharing food is one aspect of having [...]