Intro

Someone once asked me “Why do you LOVE being a parent? I know there are a million reasons, but give me the ONE THING that sums it all up.” For me, that was easy. “I don’t,” I replied. This blog is about how you can love your children and still very much NOT love parenting. People know it's difficult (“difficult” being close to the understatement of the century) but non-parents don’t always know why. And parents forget. Which is probably a good thing, since forgetting causes them to have more kids. Which continues the species and all. The main characters in our tragedy/comedy (other than me) are the 3 women in my life. The female lead will be played by my older daughter (let’s call her “Ariel”, as this blog will be semi-anonymous, and that’s her favorite Disney princess). She is almost 4 years old and incredibly…challenging. Difficult? Sure. Frustrating? Definitely. She’s also really smart, child-model beautiful, and precocious and funny and when she’s not making you want to sell her on eBay she can light up your life with a smile. And the things she says just cry out to be heard. Plus, I’m sure they’re way funnier when you don’t have to tell her to pipe down and go to bed, so I think she’ll be a crowd-pleaser. My younger daughter (“Pocahontas”…no, just kidding, let’s go with “Jasmine”) is a breeze so far. She’s 8 months old and doesn’t say nearly as many funny things as Ariel, though really it’s an unfair comparison what with her inability to speak and all. She just rolls with whatever comes, so she seems to be just ever-so-slightly-different in terms of overall disposition than her big sis. And of course the 3rd lady is my wife (“Belle,” just to continue the theme), who shares many of my frustrations but somehow still loves being a Mom, which is probably part of why she’s such a terrific one, as you’ll discover. Hope you enjoy…