Jen Merrill's Blog, page 18
September 21, 2015
If you can’t say something nice…
If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. That’s what we all learned growing up, isn’t it? Kind of akeep the peace sort of thing. This is why I tend to keep my mouth shut an awful lot. If you can’t blog something of quality, don’t blog anything at all. This is …
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September 11, 2015
Fourteen years later
How fortunate I am today, that my biggest fear is that I’m wasting my life, that I have a chronic case ofjust standard existential confusion. How fortunate I am that the child who wouldn’t sleep for love or money 14 years ago now requires threats and bribes and klaxon horns to rouse in the morning. …
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August 31, 2015
I walk the line
And so the school year began. The boys are now back to whatever passes for school for them. J is into his first full week of middle school, and Andy has started the first of his online classes. I’m having only a slight bit of difficulty reconciling myself to the fact that I am the …
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August 24, 2015
My bully, myself
What do you think of when you think of bullying? Playground taunts? Cyberstalking? Mean girls? Workplace passive-aggressiveness?We’ve beenvery, very fortunate here in the House of Chaos to have had little bullying come our way. It could have been horrifically life-altering for the boys, and what little we’ve hadwas quicklyended with a little parental intervention. It …
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August 23, 2015
Living with a teenage troll
My sons never fail to entertain me. They went on a road trip last week with my parents, gone for a handful of days to visit the Ford Museum in Michigan. Tom and I had an unexpected few days alone together. We hardly knew what to do (get your mind out of the gutter,that we …
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August 7, 2015
Invisible does not mean fictional
“I don’t believe gluten-free is as necessary as some people claim. Food sensitivities? No, that’s just a picky eater. You’re being played.” “Chronic Fatigue Syndrome? Oh, that’s just a made up thing. Just get more sleep. I’m tired all the time, too. Quit complaining. You can’t be that tired.” “Why do you need that? You …
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August 6, 2015
Do you work?
My least favorite question in the history of language-based inquiry is “Do you work?” Bitch, please. There is not a woman in the entirety of recorded civilization who hasn’t worked, it’s just not always work that is recognized or valued. Caring for one’s children, sure not a lot of pay there. Running a home on …
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July 20, 2015
Hey parents, it’s your week. What do YOU need?
It’s National Parenting Gifted ChildrenWeek! The one week a year when we parents of gifted and twice-exceptional kids are honored and respected for the crazy things we do for our offspring. We get parades and accolades, fireworks and gifts, sonnets and brunches overflowing with mimosas and Bloody Marys topped with towers ofbacon and artisanal olives …
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July 15, 2015
{Book review} Gifted, Bullied, Resilient
Of all the chaos and trauma and drama around parenting a gifted or twice-exceptional kid, the one area we have been so lucky to tiptoepast is bullying. Don’t get me wrong, there werea few minor skirmishes, but when I think about what truly could have been, we dodged a cannonball. That’s not to say it …
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June 26, 2015
A day of joys and sorrows
“Jen? Sweetie? I’m sorry to wake you, but it’s 9:15. What time is the funeral?” I start the long, slow process of dragging myself to consciousness, pulling off the sleep mask and yanking out the ear plugs as I mutter through the night guard, “It’s at 12:15. Sorry, forgot to set my alarm.” “No, it’s …
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