Tag: parenting
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Lorna’s Top 3 Parenting Tips
My babies are all grown up now, but looking back, there were 3 parenting tips that kept both them–and me–feeling far more secure and safe. 1. Both hands on the car Shannon was almost three when Aislinn was born, and it was tough to take both to the grocery store, daycare, Grandma’s….anywhere. I could have…
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What They Don’t Tell You about the Empty Nest Syndrome
What they don’t tell you about the Empty Nest Syndrome is that there are generally two ways it plays out. Most often, I see the kids trying to leave home and start new lives for themselves while their parents become very controlling. By the time the kids leave, the kids can’t wait to get away…
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The Child Test
I am very grateful for these past few weeks. It’s been an amazing submersion into long-overdue romance and I’ve enjoyed every moment of it with a man who has been emotionally available, intelligent, great conversation, hopelessly romantic, and fun. I suspect, however, that I did not pass the child test. I met his kids—adorable and…
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Short Leashes and Control Freaks
Wow. It’s not that I keep the people in my life on a short leash. I keep them on a GPS tracker and allow them the freedom to roam light years away. I just have to know where they are if they’re not home on time or if my plans get trashed. I’ve learned through…
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Why My Kids Don’t Walk to Work
Copyrighted by Lorna Tedder. Originally published in Love in the Third Degree. Last year, Shannon decided to work for me instead of being pushed into walking to work about 2 miles away at McDonald’s (and crossing a four-lane highway, to boot). My answer? Absolutely not. I don’t care who used to walk along Highway 20…
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Protecting the Young: Exercise in Futility
Copyrighted by Lorna Tedder. Originally published in Love in the Third Degree. My daughter and her friends just keep getting pummeled. Shannon and I have a joke. When we go for walks, I walk on the side closer to the traffic. We joke about respecting her elder versus protecting my young. From the Bookshelf Working…
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Her Roots Are Showing
When she was little, strangers would ask, perplexed, if she was my daughter. There she was with white-blonde hair and me with dark brown…or burgundy…or auburn…or black. She didn’t get her blonde hair from me, and I had customers in the grocery question once or twice whether I might have stolen her or comment that…
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Welcome to the Neighborhood
You never know what’s going on behind the walls, whether you’re on the outside thinking about the inside or vice versa. Last night, while we were having a Gathering and messing around with quantum physics, our neighbors had no idea what we were up to…and we didn’t know what was going on outside either. …
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“Be Yourself” and Other Lies
Copyrighted by Lorna Tedder. Originally published in Third Degree of Freedom. We tell kids—and grown-ups, too—to “Just be yourself.” Do we really mean it? Or do we just want them to be the selves we want them to be? The corollary to that, usually aimed at adults and errant wives, is “I just want you…
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The Perfect Date, Just the Three of Us
Copyrighted by Lorna Tedder. Originally published in Third Degree of Freedom. I had the perfect date tonight. A double-date of sorts. I’d planned it for weeks. Take my dates to my favorite restaurant, Bonefish Grill in Destin, for this special occasion. We’d dress up, wear pantyhose and heels even. The girls insisted I wear what…
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Solstice Reflections: Growing Up and Just Growing
“And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me, He’d grown up just like me… My boy was just like me.” –”Cat’s in the Cradle,” Harry Chapin From the Bookshelf Unapologetically Happy — 23 lessons from a life reimagined. Available direct from the author → A week ago, I was talking with one…
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Parenting as a Portal, Or, Why I Never Give Parenting Advice
I’ve never been one to give parenting advice, for two reasons: 1. I’ve always hated people giving ME advice when they have no idea about my personal situation, or even if they do; and 2. My parenting philosophy is a bit different from most of the people I know, largely because of my spirituality. I’ve…
