Boots’ school operates on a color system – kids start the day at green and either move up to yellow, orange and then red or down to blue, purple and gray.
The problems with that are …

The running joke about Big Guy is that he was born in a hurry. He arrived a week early, with all the subtlety of a thunderstorm, and tried to pop his head up and look …

There’s name calling, and then there’s name calling.
We have zero tolerance for one kind in our house: Anything that’s gender, race or sexual preference-based. I called Big Guy out recently for saying, “that’s so gay,” …

I’ll confess: I bribed Boots this morning, and it worked.
During Day One of swimming class, he did great until the instructor wanted them to bob  in the water.
“No,” he insisted quietly but firmly, with the …

Mom-meeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Big Guy tooked my glowie, Boots shrieked down the stairs as his brother ran behind him waving the coveted chem light.
Is that his? I asked Big Guy, though I was pretty sure that Boots’ …

As far as discipline problems go, it’s a not-bad one to have. It’s preferable to biting, hitting, kicking, pinching, etc.
It’s still annoying, though, and it’s getting Boots in trouble somewhere virtually every day: At school, …

When we last left Big Guy, his big mouth was causing problems at school on a daily basis. It’s a seasonal issue for him that’s going to crop up just as sure as the teacher …

“Mommy! Superman’s face is all black. What did he do to it?” Big Guy demanded indignantly, thrusting the toy under my nose.
Sure enough, there now was a chunk of dark plastic where a face and …

Mommy, can I have water with ice?
Mommy, he won’t let me watch “Wubbzy.”
Mommy, he went “nah nah” at me and stuck out his tongue.
Mommy, can I have candy?
I hate the word “workflow,” largely because the …

Thursday was a great day for Big Guy.
He won $10 and a chocolate bar at a bingo game then spent $8 of the take on Christmas presents for others. He volunteered to share the candy …

As much as I hate to crush a kid, sometimes doing so serves the greater good.
Times such as last night, when Big Guy dallied over his latest penance for misbehaving at school. He’d tossed Play-Doh …

So what was that I was saying yesterday about being in a transition stage, where techniques that used to work no longer do the trick?
This morning – when Big Guy poked, goofed off, ignored me …

Boots announced his arrival home with a wail and a belly-flop on the floor.
“What’s wrong with him?” Dad asked.
“It’s not Christmas,” I said.
“Huh?”
“They were decorating at school today, and he doesn’t get that he doesn’t …

Boots’ eyes got wide this morning after he accidentally bumped a classmate as they both hung their coats and the boy muttered something.
“Mommy!” Boots gasped. “He called me a name!”
I didn’t ask what the name …

It looked like a perfect combination: Two boys, close in age, who love sports, Batman and brownies. So when a friend asked if I could baby-sit on one of those ever-popular days when day care’s …

Notice to Big Guy:
Effective 10 November, 2009, the terms of your school-morning checklist will change. Please note this and make plans to adhere to the following requirements.

Put your lunch box in your backpack.
Be quiet on …

Today was a “good” day at the bus stop.
The dozen and a half first- and second-grader crammed into a shelter not really big enough to hold them and either sat quietly on the bench or …

There are two types of behavior that put a kid at risk for being labeled “naughty” – a label, by the way, that can stick through a child’s school years and a reputation that can …

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 …

Yes, I know the statistics.
A relative, neighbor, friend or acquaintance is much more likely to kidnap my child than the stereotypical trench coat-wearing stranger. It’s much more likely to happen at home or at a …

I’d like to claim I’d planned it, but like most of my instances of parenting genius the new grocery-store game was pure accident.
It started as I rummaged through the garbage can that my car has …

When we last left Big Guy, he was struggling mightly to keep his mouth shut and avoid losing recess time at school. He had brief spurts of success, but largely it was a problem that …

Big Guy simply cannot keep his mouth shut. It’s part of his charm, but also part of his downfall.
It keeps landing him in trouble at school, too, and Chatty  Charlie that he is, he always …

The guys get that Halloween is special — it doesn’t happen every day.
They understand that Christmas is once a year, despite Big Guy’s recent pleas to extend it and Boots’ fears that he’s missed it.
Much …

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 …

Take one pint-size prevaricator, mix with a dash of “need to be right” and marinate in an active imagination.
The result: Big Guy’s current truth-challenged state.
In recent weeks, it’s advanced past the “cute but not remotely …

I’m not sure where it came from, but there’s a good chance Little Guy free-lanced it.
I’m not sure how to spell it, though lacking an official entry in Webster’s, I have to go with two …

Finally! We had a perfectly angelic dinner tonight. On one side of the table, at least. Not the one where the guys were sitting, though.
Funny thing is, three years ago I could not have imagined …