The random misadventures of a (formerly)Single Super Mom

One of my many nicknames is Chocolate Mary Poppins. It was given to me YEARS ago by a tiny blonde haired, blue eyed tot named Gretchen.  I watched her for the very first time and as I was on my way home, my phone rang.  It was Gretchen's mom.  I picked up the phone and she was laughing so hard I initially thought she was crying. I thought..."They were alive when I left!  I thought they had a great time! I swear I didn't break them!!"  It turns out the conversation after I left went like this.. In the bathtub... G: Mama, do we have any chocolate? M: I think so, why?  G: I just want to know how many chocowate baws I have to eat before I can get bwown like Ms. Mewissa... M: Honey... I don't think there is enough chocolate in the world for that... Thus... Chocolate Mary Poppins was Born... In over 30 years watching literally hundreds of children, I have never encountered a toy of evil like I did tonight. I had 2 8 year old girls and one almo...

I looked on my Facebook memories this week, and last year I was at the funeral of the son of a friend of mine.  It was one of the most unorthodox yet hopeful services I've ever attended.  My friend's son had a long struggle with mental illness and took his own life.  No matter how hard people tried to help him, it just wasn't enough to conquer his demons.  He left a hole behind that will never be filled, and I struggle every day to make sense of the deaths of so many like him.  I have 2 friends, both with sons that had the same first name, both boys took their own lives within 6 months of each other, and both boys struggled so hard against the demons that ultimately won. My daughter came home yesterday and she has been struggling lately with her mental health.  The world is a much more difficult one than I grew up with, and while the challenges are similar, the world itself is so different.  We are bombarded with images left and right of how horri...