Told DH today that he and lame BM must parent their son, because I won't anymore. Told him all that will get me is another failed marriage.

This has been an incredibly harsh 10 days. My dad is 92, has always been healthy as a horse, until the last year or so, when he has subtly and inexorably started to fail.

reminded me of this blog I posted about this time last year. It was originally written as a response to a query from the Dallas Morning News when I was a volunteer columnist.

I come home to a blissfully silent house--skids at mom's. Hurray. I go to recharge my cellphone. Can't. Why? I have let the skids use my charger for the last couple months.

Got an email alert from middle school yesterday that SS12 was tardy to fifth period again. This makes 14 tardies total in this semester.

Okay, I'm big on disengaging. Requires some work, and doesn't always pan out, but it keeps me sane.

So you guys know all about my skateboarding SS12. He is so obsessed with it that he gets up an hour early every morning so that he and a buddy can skate before school starts.

For a big celebration dinner we had at our church last week, the office staff made a parody of The Office that comes on each Thursday evening.

I'm tired of being a Mommy Orange yelling at her Baby Oranges. But my mind goes into complete and total overstimulation when I just google "avatars" and 4 million sites pop up.

except me.

SS keeps showing up with new clothes. Jeans. Shoes. And yesterday, a new jacket. There's no real explanation, other than: Mom bought it for me. Or: My friend gave it to me. SS is 12.

Read it and weep. By the way, my SS is the clearly addled child referenced in the column!

Stump the Panel

12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, October 19, 2008

Oh wait. This is real.

SS12 has recently begun driving me crazy with his constant whining about us not giving him enough allowance, thus causing him to spend every dime he gets pursuing the very costly sport he is obsessed

Here's the URL for the last column I wrote; I think you have to copy and paste it into your browser:

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/collin/opinion/sto...