Mount Blackie. Elevation unknown, so let’s just call it “hecka high.”
Except it’s not really all that high, unless you’re a 7-year-old itching to scale it. Unless you have memories of a previous  failed attempt. Unless …

Big Guy is like the girl with the curl in the middle of her forehead. When he’s good, he’s very good …
Boots is a living example of “better the devil you know than the devil …

I wish I could track down everyone who, two years ago, was ready to label Boots a mental midget just because Big Guy was doing well in kindergarten.
“Gosh, I hope Boots isn’t dumb,” was the …

It was the kind of capitalism that capitalists would frown on because, while it didn’t take a village, it did require three sets of siblings.
First came the idea, which actually was stolen from another set …

We’ve been on a Harry Potter kick lately, watching them as fast as Netflix can deliver them after Big Guy started begging because he didn’t like it that friends had seen something he hadn’t.
Big Guy …

Big Guy had been looking for a do-over for two years, ever since his last winter wonderland adventure ended in tears.
Boots yearned with all the passion a 5-year-old can muster to again experience the heavenly …

Some boys just need to have a dog. You can tell which ones by the way their faces light up the second they’re around a pup, they way they’ll play together for hours without a …

Once in a while – or, often, once a day – one of the guys will say something that really floors me.
But nothing either had uttered in their entire lives had prepared me for the …

Big Guy had expected me to say “no,” because that’s what I’ve always said when he’s asked. It’s too windy, too cold, too hot. It wasn’t too hard to come up with excuses.
Saturday, though, he …

It was a damp 50 degrees the other morning when Boots got dressed in a basketball uniform. It’s silky and red and one of his favorite outfits.
It also is a hand-me-down from Big Guy, who …

We’ve made posters just like Boots’ teacher helped him with at school, and we’ve created a living room salute out of old boots, an extra beret and Dad’s favorite mug.
They’ve adopted new Bear Force bears, …

It wasn’t quite as big a deal for Boots as it was when Big Guy got his first non-cousin party invitation a year and a half ago – but, then, Boots already has been to …

I’ll admit it: I was a bossy kid. A pushy oldest sibling who told little brother and sister where to sit and how long to sit there as she lectured at the chalkboard.
I don’t think …

It was their best imbroglio since the Pizza Man Melee almost a year ago, when they came to blows over imaginary food.
The BaseBrawl began when Big Guy decided to play in the backyard. He can’t …

One guy bolted out of bed, strapped on his backpack and bounced out the door, eager to get started at his new school.
The other trudged, stoop-shouldered, to his classroom.
It was exactly what I expected – …

One set is fire-engine red and silky-soft enough to sleep in. The other is gold and blue and could pass for a soccer uniform.
And both set off a pout so prominent Big Guy was in …

Somehow, probably because of food allergies, the guys had managed to make it to the ripe old ages of 5 and 3 without discovering the joys of the bulk-candy bin.
That changed Sunday, and they now …

Good thing I left accidental wiggle room when I vowed – or maybe I ranted – recently that not another toy would come into the house until the guys cleaned up the pile of junk …

The problem is bellies.
Boots’ is – how shall I put this tactfully? – a bit prominent. Big Guy could slide under a door unimpeded.
All of which is creating an uproar as we go through the …

If I play my cards right, I won’t have to lift a single flash card to get Boots ready for kindergarten.
He and his brother will take care of it. And they’ll even think it’s fun. …

So I was fixing lunch at 2 yesterday afternoon when Boots tugged at my shirt . “Mommy! Somebody sent us balloons.”
“That’s nice, babes,” I said absently, figuring I was entitled to answer absently if it …

She came to Big Guy’s school Tuesday with an agenda, and he fell hard for the sales pitch.
“Mom, the lady talked to our class today, and you have to fill this out. We have to …

I have a back-up plan should the job market worsen: selling used furniture. I already have an impressive inventory of unnecessary beds.
And should things really get bad  – say, Bank of America flounders after buying …

Pawpaw thought he was being sly, but I figured him out.
That didn’t diminish my love for the gift the day my burly grandfather showed up with a three-ring blue canvas binder filled with notebook paper …

We tried to make the guys’ Christmas haul as parallel as possible this year without buying identical gifts, because matching sets trigger an entirely different set of disputes when one guy breaks his toy but …

The thump and the wail were loud enough that they brought Dad and me running from opposite directions. We arrived in the living room at the same time to see Boots red-faced and crying.
“What happened …

There’s an 8×12 spot over my fireplace that taunts me. I know I should do something about it, especially with Christmas approaching. I don’t think I can take the trauma, though.
The hole’s not empty: It’s …

I remember laughing uproariously a couple years ago at a blurb in Parents magazine from a mom whose kids fought over imaginary chocolate-chip cookies.
How incredibly stupid — yet, hilarious — I thought. How could sibling …