Irish Daisy

Heading out! Most excited she's ever looked... Athena went to her first sleep over party weekend before last and had a lot of fun. Seems like a nice, uncomplicated thing, right? Yeah, not so much. Instead, a simple night away with friends was the trigger for a complete Puff-family existential crisis (hi there, with our #firstworldproblems). First there was Quokka and her major sad because she was left behind. After dropping her sister off, we went to run errands and there was major droopyness in the Lowe’s parking lot. I started asking questions because I figured I knew what was going on, but I wanted her to think about where exactly the bad feelings were coming from so she could acknowledge and manage her emotions. Sometimes I’m an ass. Though, in my defense, no one had previously said anything to, or in front of, me about what was really going on. I had no idea we had critical sister relationship tension already brewing. All smug and assured of my insightful mom-ness,...

Do you want people to sniff in appreciation as you walk by? [Stop it – get your mind out of the gutter.] Would you like for people to exclaim, “wow, you smell so nice!” when they give you a hug? [I mean it, there’s nothing dirty here.] You do? Great! Then get down to your local store and pick up a bottle of this good smelling, super easy to use laundry shit. It’s from Method*, so it’s not going to poison you or anyone you love slowly to death while you smell great. Also, it’s fabric softener so your clothes will be hugable in more ways than just light, fresh-as-a-sunny-meadow smell. Just toss your wet clothes in the dryer, spray it in there four (or 11) times, and let it run. Voila , fresh, yummy laundry you can roll around in (we don't judge, really). If you want to be super-super fresh smelling, as some unnamed members of the Puff family opt to, you can use this shit as a wrinkle releaser and douse your shirt then tumble on warm for a few minutes before you put i...

I love school supplies. Really, really love them – the waxy crayon smell, the shiny binder covers, the rows and rows of bright markers and pens and pencils. I adore the colors, the scents, the memories and every moment of shopping for new school stuff. Loaded with fresh supplies and ready for a hopeful new year  I've loved school supply shopping for forever, even though I never really loved actual school. I was a good enough student and a lot of elementary school came fairly easy to me (okay, there was that trimester in third grade where I almost flunked, but we don’t talk about that). It wasn't the academics, or all of the terrible spelling tests that made me dislike school. It was the social thing – the having to deal with and understand other kids. I was that kid; the awkward one who wasn't really sure how to fit in anywhere. I was teased a lot and spent a lot of time either crying or punching someone (seriously, none of the shenanigans I was involved with in s...