Vaccinate this.
In the last two weeks I have had swine flu and/or pneumonia about sixteen times. Now, when I say I “had” those things I don’t mean that I actually had them, but that I was pretty sure (100% confident) that I had them. Swine flu. And/or Pneumonia. Death was imminent. Only I didn’t. And it wasn’t. Which, when you calculate the freak-outs and heavy breathing and HOURS spent on webmd.com and cdc.gov, can result in only one thing: a mild feeling of disappointment. I mean seriously. I think it’s great that the government is madly working to create vaccines for this piggish flu. But I also think it would be hel

Alarming
It used to be that whenever Jay would travel and leave CJ and I home alone, I didn’t sleep. I heard noises and thumps and bumps and I fretted and spent night after night in a half-wakened state of terrified delirium. Until we bought the alarm. It was expensive, the alarm, but no price was too high for my sleep and sanity. So I signed the contract, wrote a big check, put the stickers in the windows, and breathed a big sigh of relief. At last, our house is protected. Which is why I am dead asleep when the sirens erupt in a cacophony of blaring noise. In the middle of

The good neighbor
CJ and I are walking to the neighborhood coffee shop when out of the blue he says to me, “Mommy I cannot believe ALL THIS LITTER! How can people litter like this?” He shakes his head, horrified. “I don’t know,” I say. “Mommy!” CJ is deathly serious. He stops to face me and holds his hand out so that I have to stop too. “Mommy, listen.” “OK, ok, WHAT?” “Mommy, can I pick up the litter off our street?  PLEEEEEEASE?” Of cou

Mamma said there’ll be days like this
We all have deep dark secrets and I’ll confess one of mine if you don’t judge me. Sometimes I feel superior and smug. Like I’m a GOOD mom and I have my life all sorted out and my child is well behaved. Until the inevitable cosmic smack-down puts me firmly back in my place, reminding me that I am NOT such a good mother and my life is NOT so very in order and my child is DEFINITELY NOT well behaved. I’ve had this feeling the past few weeks that I don’t want the summer to end. It’s going so well and CJ and I are getting along and it’s warm and I love not having to keep a schedule. Other mothers bemoan the fact that school doesn’