Babble

This is always an odd time of year for me. Ava and Chet fly down to rural Georgia to spend August with their mom, their grandma, grandpa, aunt, uncle and cousins. I know it's important for them and I really love the family down there and they love my kids and me, but still, after just about two days...

If you want to laugh out loud, make sure you check out the comments on Madeline's " Granny Manual " post. Madeline invited readers to vent about their intrusive or misguided parents or inlaws (inevitably the inlaws - why is that always the case???), and over 50 readers took her up on it...

I remember my first visit as a mother to the in-law's family compound. I was the only breastfeeder for generations and generations and not at all sure how that would pan out among a crowd that thinks the more time a baby is away from Mama the better. Our newborn napped on a bed; they only knew from...

Nan Mooney is George Costanza. Okay, she's not really. She doesn't appear to be bald and I seriously doubt she wishes she were an architect named Art Vandelay. But due to unforeseen circumstances, the single mom was forced to move back in with her parents at age 37, with infant in tow. As she...

This picture is actually a couple of years old. It is from the night that Pierre Lacroix stepped down from the post of GM for the Colorado Avalanche. Yesterday he was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame. What does this have to do with anything? Did you see his grandson Max in the photo? How...

If Barack Obama isn't a family man, he's hidden it well. He likened the duration of his campaign so far -- 15 months -- to the growth and development of a newborn who would now be a capable walking, talking toddler. He mentions his children frequently. He holds babies like a champ . He's...

It's back to the roots for Gwen Stefani. No, not hair color, but Orange County, the land of choppers, housewives and of course, "the real." Gwen has been hanging out a bit with the fam lately as evident by this luncheon with her father Dennis Stefani (the one with the beard). As I've...

My oldest just returned from a week at grandma's house. The deprogramming only took 24 hours. My Hub and I think its (mostly) swell. Everyone deserves to be completely spoiled every now and again. His mom's brand of doting is wonderful (mostly) and benign. Not every parent is so lucky and WebMD's...

We should all have access to one of these -- a homemade roller coaster. An auto mechanic, with, I'm guessing tons of property insurance, built a roller coaster in his backyard! He used scrap metal and his welding skills and figured the rest out as he went. Guess what. It works! And no one has suffered...

I'm pretty lucky about my parents: so far they haven't really given me much assvice about raising my kids. Not that I ask them, mind you, but they're pretty hands-off about that sort of thing. But I know plenty of parents who aren't so lucky and who are constantly gritting their teeth...