With birthdays a year and three days apart, we have gotten away with throwing a joint birthday party. We had planned to do so for as long as we could get away with it. The Birthday Bash has become a staple; friends and family look forward to it. We rent out a shelter at the park, grill a bunch of good food, fill up the coolers with beer, wine coolers, water, and juice boxes, and turn the music on loud. It’s fun and laid back, and Mr. Softee even makes an appearance at some point. Perhaps what I love the most about the Birthday Bash is the diversity of those…

My sons are lovely beautiful creatures, divinely formed and gifted with many super wonderful qualities. There. I started off positively. That’s good, right? Thanks. Honestly though, my oldest two sons are so trying! They are brilliant and curious and creative, but so trying. No amount of keeping up with them amounts at all to feeling like we (the parents) have anything at all under control. We have journeyed through many different parenting strategies, have attempted to understand them through many a lenses. Even when we manage a semblance of calm at home, as soon as we journey into the world of excitement, – or even worse, allow a beloved guest…