Category Archives: newsletter

I have a confession to make. I’m enjoying the summer with my kids.

Have I heard “Mommy” a few too many times? Yes. Have I fetched 10 billion snacks and icy cups of water? Yes. Have I had less time to write, think, and watch OITNB? Yes!

Still, on the cusp of August with five more weeks of summer to go, I’m not looking forward to the back-to-school grind. Not yet, anyway. My positive attitude might have something to do with my kids being at camp this week and next, but I’m also beginning to understand that these summers are numbered.

Before I tear up about my babies not being babies anymore (and about the thought of making school lunches), here are links to all of my work in July.

• I had an original piece about my experience watching “Finding Dory” with my son published on The Mighty. You can read “What Dory’s Memory Loss Reminded Me About My Son With Sensory Processing Disorder” here.
• On July 8^th, The Runaway Mama turned six! Every year on my blog’s anniversary, or blogiversary as the locals call it, I go back and read my very first post from July 8, 2010. You can read “Hello!” here. To all of my readers new, old, near, and far, thank you for your love and support along the way!
• Apparently, I will stop at nothing to teach my kids a lesson in personal responsibility. You can read “Rain Is Never a Good Excuse” (except when it is!) here.
• The Huffington Post published my award-winning humor essay on preventing lice! If you think lice doesn’t happen over the summer, you probably also think the Apollo 11 moon landing was a hoax. You can read “The Runaway Mama’s Guide to Preventing Lice” here. (Warning: Explicit language and psychosomatic itching ahead!)
• I wrote about how a conversation with my son made me ponder adulthood. You can read “Adulthood: Being One vs. Feeling Like One” here.

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Happy reading!

Hey Mamas!

June. An end and a beginning. In the blink of an eye, I switched from packing school lunches to packing a pool bag. My boys requested an unstructured summer this year, and because I’m a Martyr Mother, they’re getting it. Sort of. They are attending a few day camps scattered throughout the summer, because MY SANITY, but mostly, we’re embracing the lazy mornings and freedom of each day. So far so good, but let’s check in again at the end of July. Until then, here are links to all of my work in June.

I wrote “The Runaway Mama’s Guide to Having the Best Summer Ever With Your Kids.” So far, I’ve followed my own advice. (So far.) You can read it here.

I wrote “Weekend Plans,” about attending my first ever blogging conference, which of course included a healthy dose of packing anxiety. You can read it here.

TODAY Parents agreed with me that maybe screens aren’t so bad after all. They included one of my memes in their weekly round-up of funny parents. You can see it here.

I wrote about how devouring the devastation in Orlando sent me down a rabbit hole of negativity (and gave me a pimple). You can read “Feasting on Tragedy” here.

“Taking pictures of young kids is so easy.” – said no parent ever. TODAY Parents featured my short and sweet essay, “Say Cheese!” about the frustration of taking pictures of kids. You can read it here.

I tackled the great school paper dump in “The Runaway Mama’s Guide to Organizing You Kid’s Schoolwork.” You can read it here and watch my first ever Facebook Live video on the topic here.

BLUNTmoms picked up my essay, “Marching to the Beat of His Own Drum.” You can read it here. (Drum update: He likes it!!!)

And finally…

FROM THE VAULT: The Public Bathroom Manifesto. Because little boys and public bathrooms happen. You can read the Manifesto here.

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Happy reading!