The Guilty Parent

I had considered titling this post “The Bliss Stops Here” but that’s inaccurate at best.

The Bliss DID NOT stop the moment I left the Opryland Hotel in Nashville.

It did not stop when I hugged Angela England goodbye as we parted ways at the airport towards our respective gates.

The Bliss did not stop when I sat and fought the airport wifi during my layover in Chicago and tweeted with those still in Nashville and those on their way home.

The Bliss even rolled on while I stood outside the airport looking out over the freezing Ohio sky and received a text from Angela letting me know she was home snuggling her children.

To even IMPLY that the Bliss from the Blissdom conference is over because I’m no longer looking at the lovely faces of the women I’ve networked with and blogged with over the course of this last year, would be a great disservice to MY TRIBE.

I’m jumping out on a limb by saying that the Bliss is actually just beginning; for me and hopefully for the women I met and spent three delicious days with.

As Kevin Carroll, our opening Keynote speaker said, “Your shining moment awaits you”. (more…)

Thank you for coming back! Please take a minute to tell me how I can improve your experience here by contacting me. Thank you for being a loyal reader!

I’m not sure where to file this… Part of me wants to give this A Guilty Parent award but the other part of me just wants to thank the stars that the vice principal involved is NO WHERE NEAR MY KIDS. (more…)

Puleeze.

Those of you who know me and have followed me from the beginning (all 2 of you, not including my mother), know that for me, being able to write and express myself is not something to be flip about or take lightly.

Believe me, I get enough criticism from people under my own roof (Brian, are you reading?) and people whom I think are friends or loved ones.

So I guess I do take offense when someone tells me on Twitter to “Get Real. You’re writing a blog” when I Retweeted this tweet from mommyniri:

I’m not going to call out the source of the “Get Real” statement, anyone with access to Twitter can go and find out for themselves… But I AM going to give the comment attention in my own special way.

First of all; Yes. Yes I am writing a blog. Thank you for noticing.

But it is WAAAAY more than that. (more…)

Lately my RSS feeds have been filled with the latest studies and findings on everything from working moms, stay at home moms, child obesity, violence and everything else in between. It seems for every parenting problem there is a “study” on it and the news on the findings is NEVER good. At least not if you’re the parent of the group being studied.

Here’s my thoughts on all of the latest research.

STICK IT.

Stick it right where the sun don’t shine.

That’s right. You read that correctly, I’m suggesting that every scientist, expert and and university who has spent thousands upon thousands of dollars trying to get to the root of our parenting problems to just SHOVE IT. And also, BUTT OUT.

Seriously.

Parents don’t need another reason to feel lousy or rotten or… Gawd forbid… GUILTY over their inept ability to keep their children from getting fat, getting pregnant, not as smart as the other kids, or hiding the Halloween goodies in the hopes their child won’t be a criminal later in life.

Some of the time wasted on these studies could have, in my opinion, been better spent on more productive things… like, finding cures for diseases, saving our environment (even my future criminals will need an earth in which to reside on), and building stronger schools (you know, for the children I’ve made stupid by spanking).

After a week’s worth of reading, I sadly discovered that my southern friends have a higher teenage pregnancy rate and that part of that might have something to do with the fact that dad isn’t at home. So what are we saying? Southern men who can’t stick around to raise their kids are more likely have teenage parents as offspring? That’s what the two studies (if put together) would have you believe. So then if that’s true, what is Sarah and Todd Palin’s excuse?

I don’t think I can honestly believe or buy stock in any of the studies I’ve read about recently. It seems that there is a lack of common sense in nearly every one of them.

My warning to parents when you read through the news and the studies and findings on kids and parenting?

Use your head.

Don’t buy into some the scare news that’s being reported to you. If you’re confident that you’re doing a good job as a mom and dad, then let the latest studies go in one ear and out the other. There should be no reason that studies meant to help parents (or solve parenting problems) should scare us into thinking that slipping junior a Jolly Rancher or a Hershey Bar is going to land him on America’s Most Wanted.

Oh and working moms? You just keep working those 40 hours a week, because my kids are going to be healthier than yours are.

image credit via

I’ve been blogging for almost four years now. I’ve never thought too much about who my readers were because until this last year, it’s just been me. Talking about kids. And stuff (and then you all found me!)

Blogging is a lot like raising kids I think. Just like your baby starts out little and helpless, totally depending on you and then growing into someone all their own and taking on a life of their own, I really think that if done right, a blog will do the same. You give birth to it and nurture it, and with some love and a lot of attention, it grows to be something wonderful and amazing that you are truly proud of.

Over time, my readers have taught me things about myself, blogging and community, but I know there’s room for growth. I know there are a lot of people who read The Guilty Parent who never, ever comment. That’s fine, I do that with some blogs too but I still want to know more about my silent and my vocal readers. I think that if I’m going to continue to be a good “guilty parent” I need to find out more about who’s reading now because I know you’ve all changed and grown along with the blog and I know that there are a lot of new faces out there too!

Image credit: Dominik Gwarek

I’ve come up with a reader survey that I’d love for you to take. It’s a mix of basic demographics as well as questions that will help me make some decisions about the future of The Guilty Parent in terms of content and the companies I work with. All the information that you give me is confidential. Shoot. I don’t even know your name unless you decide to tell me.

The goal is to make sure that when you visit, you enjoy it here and you like what I have to say. I don’t want to waste your time by providing content that doesn’t matter to YOU.

So please take a few minutes to participate in the survey and share your thoughts (I give you space for that too!)

I’ll post the results of the survey later next month!