My kitchen floor currently looks like a literal watering hole in the Serengeti, and honestly, I am not even mad about it because Leo actually smiled for a solid three minutes. If you have an 11-year-old boy who is suddenly “too cool” for everything but still wants a legendary birthday, you know the struggle is…
Portland rain doesn’t just fall; it settles into your bones and stays there for months, which is exactly why I found myself staring at a pile of pink crepe paper on a Tuesday afternoon. My middle daughter, Lily, was turning seven and had informed me—with the terrifying confidence only a second-grader possesses—that her entire soul…
My living room looked like a Pepto-Bismol factory exploded last Tuesday afternoon. Pink tissue paper everywhere. Tiny plastic heels under the sofa. I was elbow-deep in heart-shaped stickers and holographic ribbon while my 4-year-old, Sam, tried to eat a faux-pearl necklace. We were three days out from my middle daughter Chloe’s 7th birthday, and I…
My kitchen table in Chicago was a sea of hot pink cellophane and tiny plastic figurines last April 14th. Leo and Maya, my six-year-old twins, were screaming about who got to hold the “Goldie the Fish” sticker while I tried to figure out why on earth I decided that 18 kids needed custom party favors….
Easter Baskets: My niece is 9 now, do I still have to do candy? Help! Hey GINYOU fam! Isla here, from Richmond, VA. My niece, Willow, just turned 9 last month. And Easter is coming up FAST. I love her, really. She’s the sweetest kid, always drawing me pictures of our pug, Biscuit. But man,…
My living room looked like a high-speed collision between a checkered flag and a massive bowl of orange punch. If you have ever hosted twenty-two pre-teens in a suburban Austin backyard during a humid April afternoon, you know the specific kind of madness I am talking about. My nephew, Leo, turned twelve on March 12,…
Denver winds in early July are no joke, especially when you are trying to pin down a dozen paper lanterns to a rickety wooden trellis without someone losing an eye. I spent the better part of Saturday, July 12, 2025, frantically checking the fire-resistance ratings on every scrap of fabric I draped over my backyard…
Throwing a tropical luau in the middle of a brutal Chicago winter requires serious imagination and a very high heating bill. On March 12, 2024, my twins Leo and Maya turned nine. Outside, snow was actively burying our driveway. Inside, my living room was about to become a Polynesian paradise. They begged for a massive…
Twenty-one second graders in a small classroom smells exactly like wet grass clippings and unbridled hope. By the time 2:00 PM rolls around on a Friday in Houston, my caffeine levels are dangerously low and my patience for “he touched my desk” is thinner than a piece of single-ply tissue. I have taught at the…
Last October 14th, my kitchen looked like a crime scene, and honestly, I was okay with it. Max was turning twelve, that awkward age where they are too cool for “kiddie” stuff but still secretly want a pile of presents and a sugar high that lasts until Tuesday. He demanded an “Undead Portland” theme, which…
