My living room looked like a glitter bomb exploded in a moss factory by 10:00 AM last Saturday. Maya, my oldest who just hit that double-digit milestone, wanted something more “aesthetic” than the typical pink-and-purple fluff. She was very specific about the vibe. It had to be “dark forest mystical,” which apparently is code for…
My son Leo turned eight on April 12, 2025, and I learned that twenty sweaty kids at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park will judge your soul based on a plastic bag. We stood on the sidelines of Field 14 in Commerce City. The wind was howling off the Rockies. I had twenty paper bags filled with…
My living room in Atlanta still has a faint, shimmering dusting of pink glitter embedded in the floorboards from April 12, 2024. That was the day I learned that three-year-olds have the physical stamina of marathon runners and the emotional stability of a nitroglycerin truck on a gravel road. I am Marcus, a single dad…
Being an elementary school teacher in Houston means my life is a constant cycle of grading papers, drinking lukewarm coffee, and managing the high-octane energy of thirty kids who have just discovered the joy of permanent markers. My living room often looks like a craft store exploded. Last March, specifically on Saturday the 14th, I…
My son Leo turned five last April, and the pressure to deliver a “Brick-tastic” celebration was mounting faster than a pile of unsorted 2×4 rectangles in the middle of a dark hallway at 2 AM. Living in Denver means dealing with unpredictable spring weather, so we had to move the festivities indoors, which meant eighteen…
My Easter Egg Hunt ‘Research’ Kinda Flopped This Year – What’d I Miss? @penelope.fischer: Okay, GINYOU community, I need some serious Easter Egg Hunt Tips and Tricks, because last year was… not ideal. I’m Penelope, grandma to four amazing grandkids: Liam (1), Caleb (4), Chloe (6), and Ruby (12). We’re in Chicago, and I really…
I am still finding stray bits of pink glitter tucked into my floorboards three weeks after Lily’s 9th birthday bash, but seeing those 14 girls sipping lukewarm chamomile like they were at Buckingham Palace made every speck worth it. My house in Austin usually smells like wet goldendoodle and espresso, but for one Saturday in…
My living room in Logan Square looked like a blue and orange tornado hit it last November 12th. Leo and Maya, my twins, were turning seven, and they had one demand: a Heeler house party. I looked at the prices for licensed decorations at the big-box stores near the Kennedy Expressway and almost fainted. They…
My kitchen currently looks like a rainbow exploded, and I’m pretty sure there’s a stray JJ sticker stuck to the bottom of my shoe from Leo’s party last Tuesday. Leo just turned four, and his obsession with Cocomelon has reached levels I didn’t think were humanly possible. Between him, seven-year-old Sophie, and my eleven-year-old Maya,…
My kitchen table looked like a pixelated crime scene last March. Sticky bits of green cardstock clung to my Denver Broncos coaster, and my inkjet printer was screaming for mercy. My son, Leo, was turning four, and he had decided—with the unwavering conviction only a preschooler can muster—that his entire existence depended on a “creeper…
