On parenting.

The eternal question, am I a good parent, is something you come to terms with. You know, in your heart of hearts, that you are. That you love your child unconditionally, however you define that word, unconditionally that is. That you try to provide for your child to the best of your capability. That you enforce a coda that is constantly evolving, as you ebb and flow with your own experience as a parent. Because as you age, you do drink that holy water of parenthood. To vaccinate or not to vaccinate? To allow your child to have playdates on a school day or not? To allow ice cream and the other sweet delicacies of life’s rich pageant or to stick to a regimen of veggies only? Nutrition can be a battleground. Grades can certainly be an internal struggle for you as a parent, whether to push for the A’s or to recognize your child’s ability. Some children are simply not good at standardized testing, doesn’t mean they are not intelligent and curious beings. We have so many choices to make as parents. We worry that we will scar our children; we will by the way, in some way, we will, we have to accept that. It could be the way we brush our teeth that annoys our children, it could be the way we eat a banana that forever turns our children off from bananas, it could even be the pajamas we wear that embarrasses them. Yes, such innocuous infractions can scar our children, beyond whether we divorce, marry, yell, cry, laugh, find joy. Our children will find fault with us. The key, the true key, to being a good parent is to love your child unconditionally. You may not always like your child—when she screams “I hate you, Mommy,” when you discover her Burn Book and learn for the first time, that she harbors ill will towards another, when he comes home with a bruise on his cheek and gloats about how you should see the other guy—but you always, always love your child. And that, that is how you know you are being a good parent. That love.

When Pat Cleveland fell ill, her ride or dies rallied.

I am so ready to see this Fosse/Vernon series.

It’s hard out here for a person in her fifties.

I am a good kisser so whatever.

I love the everything about this bag from Susan Alexandra.

Clem Purse from Susan Alexandra

And now have a laugh with Joyelle Johnson.