Growing pains
Here's a collection of all of our articles filed under growing pains
Growing PainsThe Ides and Crooked Teeth of MarchBy Elizabeth ThompsonAccording to the old saying, the month of March usually starts with cold, unpleasant weather, but ends mild and becomes much more agreeable – atmospherically speaking, of course.
“We don’t have ANY days off from school in March!”
Yes,...
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Growing PainsWould You Be, Could You Be, My Neighbor?By Elizabeth ThompsonWe live on a very busy street, used by commuters as a through-way between the train station and county road, so my husband Garth [not his real name] and I have always tried to remain vigilant about keeping the kids safely secluded in our very own big...
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Growing PainsOld Ghosts of Halloweens PastBy Elizabeth ThompsonMy kids love Halloween and start planning their respective costumes soon after the first day of summer vacation.
“I’m going to be a dead cheerleader!”
However, now that they’re getting older, I’m having a hard time...
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Growing PainsFacing Unemployment in the Carpool LaneBy Elizabeth ThompsonI remember when Labor Day simply meant being allowed to sleep in late and then watching the Jerry Lewis Telethon, all day, in our pajamas.
I mean, it was only last year, right?
This year, however, my kids started school early (before Labor Day)...
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Growing PainsWhen Every Day is Independence DayBy Elizabeth ThompsonOn a late autumn day in 1956, a young man gazes out into the city streets and sees that the political turn of events have left the country reeling in uncertainty. There is a change coming for the young man; he feels it in the very air he breathes.
Questions...
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Growing PainsIn His and Her ShoesBy Elizabeth ThompsonI grew up living with a couple of pack rats; my mother collects fine porcelains and dolls, while my father looks forward to getting a new watch, every year. Without exaggeration, the man has a drawer full of every conceivable size, shape and style...
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Growing PainsI Remember MamaBy Elizabeth ThompsonI remember when this picture was taken. The year was 1971. I was my youngest daughter's age (she’s 7) although, I look a lot... you know... bigger. My parents have tons of pictures like this. This one's in pretty bad shape,...
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Growing PainsDirty Hands, Smart MouthBy Elizabeth ThompsonI come from a long line of agriculturists -- my father was a landscaper, my grandfather and both my great-grandfathers were master gardeners to noble families in Europe - and I often tell my children that gardening is in their blood.
"Ewww, get...
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Growing PainsPretty Good HousekeepingBy Elizabeth ThompsonIt’s that time of year, again. Yep, spring cleaning is just around the corner and at our house it is also used as a metaphor for enlightenment in unlocking the secrets of keeping peace and harmony in our home.
You see, as far as I’m concerned,...
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Growing PainsA Brother's LoveBy Elizabeth ThompsonI haven't spoken to my twin brother in a while. We seem to be missing each other, a lot. The last few Sundays, at my parents' house. My sister-in-law was sick. My kids were sick. He was sick. Their empty casserole dish...
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Growing PainsMini-SleepoversBy Elizabeth ThompsonSo, how old should a kid be before he/she is ready for a sleep-over?
In my opinion, sleep-overs are like stay-at-home-moms (an oxymoron, really) because (having hosted a few, all-nighters) no one EVER sleeps!
Still.
January makes for great...
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Growing PainsThe Christmas HouseBy Elizabeth ThompsonI've been thinking, lately -- a dangerous habit, I know -- about how my husband Garth (not his real name) and I have started to downsize our family celebrations.
Not that they were HUGE, to begin with -- if you have kids, then you know -- but, our...
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Growing PainsTake a Parent, Add Politics and MixBy Elizabeth ThompsonThis is my favorite picture of my parents – it was taken shortly after their engagement in 1963 – and is a perfect depiction of a young couple, living in America, at that time.
Except, they weren't American citizens.
My parents...
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Growing PainsOld GhostsBy Elizabeth ThompsonI love watching scary movies - especially, at this time of year - but, I’m not talking about the slice and dice slasher films, where the body count is higher than the I.Q. of the teenagers prancing around half-naked in them.
“Just don’t...
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Growing PainsI'm Just Blogging My Summers AwayBy Elizabeth ThompsonWhere has the summer gone?
Well, I'll tell you. Besides the fact that I’ve been busy traveling and desperately seeking some sort of part-time work that allows me to keep my stay-at-home status (if I do, you WILL be the first to know) I can't...
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Growing PainsThe NamesBy Elizabeth Thompson
This time last year, my dear friend, Dana Tuske (who also is a columnist here at the Imperfect Parent) asked me if I would consider being one of her guest bloggers at The Dana Files and I was very honored by the compliment.
Until, her next email...
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Growing PainsNo More Trips to Disney For You!By Elizabeth ThompsonWrapped tightly in a light comforter and waking to crispy blue skies reminiscent of a morning in early October, a blessed relief from the wetness of a typical summer in New Jersey, I considered the day a gift.
Then, I remembered that we had plans to...
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Growing PainsHumanizing under the influence of childrenBy Elizabeth ThompsonMy parents have very close friends who recently lost their dog, unexpectedly. The kids and I were at a family picnic celebrating a graduation of some sort (with so many kids, I forget) and we happened to run into them.
Literally, I tripped over air...
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Growing PainsWhat Do May Flowers Bring?By Elizabeth ThompsonSignifying happiness, this tiny belle of a flower carpeted the forests and landscape of Europe in the spring, and my grandmother often times would tell tales of fairies using the tiny flowers as tea cups and party hats.
My grandmother always told the...
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Growing PainsRemembering Virginia Tech and How I have NOT Stopped Worrying, Since.By Elizabeth ThompsonWe each have a special place in our house -- small and cramped as it may be -- where the children and I like to go and disconnect...from each other. I also think it's important that each of my children understand that they can NOT expect to do everything...
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Growing PainsOne Mother's Comfort Is Another Child's MisfortuneBy Elizabeth ThompsonIt’s been a rather warm winter -- we fired up the barbecue more in December, than we did all summer, it seems -- and now they’re calling for an unusually cold spring, here in Jersey. What is up with the weather, lately? Yeah, you too? I know!...
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Growing PainsOur Dirty Little SecretBy Elizabeth ThompsonMy husband and I have been together for a long time (we’ll be married 18 years, this summer) and -- though, I refuse to believe that we look anything alike -- Garth (not his real name) and I have grown comfortable with each other and often times...
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Growing PainsAchy, Breaky Suburban New Year’s EveBy Elizabeth ThompsonIt is... was... just another achy, breaky suburban New Year’s Eve, after all!
I often times associate songs with certain times in my life -- you know, the good and the not so much -- and I believe it was Karen Carpenter (yes, I’m old, shuddup!)...
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Growing PainsThe Sanity ClauseBy Elizabeth ThompsonAs a stay-at-home-mom -- who happens to spend a large portion of the day in the car, just so you know -- if you're a parent...then you know...a vast majority of my time is committed going to (and from) practices, or meetings and paying for teacher gifts,...
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Growing PainsThe Autumn WifeBy Elizabeth ThompsonI lowered my window, breathed in the brisk autumn air and enjoyed the fact that I was sitting on the passenger side of our minivan, for once. I listened to my children happily trying to out-talk each other, behind me, and I leaned my head a little to...
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Growing PainsLike Sands Through An Hourglass...By Elizabeth Thompson...these are some scary days, my friend!
I’ve been going through some photo boxes -- in my neverending quest to downsize, organize and exorcize the humungous amount of STUFF I’ve accumulated over the years -- when I came across a picture...
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Growing PainsSkating Through Life, Talking Street and Living with Almost EtniesBy Elizabeth ThompsonWith school having started I’ve had to finally face the fact that my kids have outgrown EVERYTHING and perhaps consider that we may actually have to, you know, get out of the house!
Thank goodness the mall is air-conditioned, but -- here’s...
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Growing PainsMe and my Mother-tounge.By Elizabeth ThompsonI grew up speaking Hungarian with my parents and learned to read and write the language, thanks to my maternal grandmother who insisted that at least one of her 18 grandchildren learn the "mother-tongue".
Even more so today, as a Mom...
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Growing PainsMotor CYCLE mama.By Elizabeth Thompson“Damn thing’s leaking oil again!”
I threw the wrench back into my tool box and squatted down closer to the engine for a better look. The wind began to pick up and the latest gust blew my short flowered skirt up over my hips. I jumped...
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Growing PainsThe End Of Summer And Resurrection Of A SAHMBy Elizabeth Thompson"It's quiet -- too quiet!"
I'm reminded of that phrase most often heard in western movies, television and suspense novels – not to mention expressed with trepidation by perhaps every parent of a three-year-old wondering, “What’s...
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Growing PainsScare thy neighbor.By Elizabeth Thompson“…suddenly there came a tapping,
as of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
"'Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door – only
this and nothing more.”...
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Growing PainsSave a dog -- adopt a mommy!By Elizabeth ThompsonI have this problem.
Actually, I didn’t know it was a problem -- isn’t that how it typically goes? -- I mean, at least I didn’t feel it was such a big deal in thinking:
“No sweat; I could handle it!”
I was wrong.
Then...
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Growing PainsA Christmas without Uncle Bud.By Elizabeth ThompsonThe headline read, “Hotel Blast in Baghdad Kills Two.”
I felt compelled to click on the “raw video” icon and it wasn’t due to some morbid sense of curiosity. I saw the quick flash of a face…a face of a soldier...
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Growing PainsChicken Soup for the Aspetic SoulBy Elizabeth Thompson
"So, how bad is it? Do you need me to take a sick day?"
My husband’s eyes were fixed on the television as he continued to iron his dress shirt while waiting for my answer.
He didn’t get one.
I was sitting on the end of our...
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Growing PainsCAUTION: I Brake For Heaven’s Sake!By Elizabeth ThompsonMy husband and I spent weekends shopping around for our “starter home,” never expecting that the street in front of our new house would resemble a stock car race. Living those first few months as weekend warriors, the constant stream...
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Growing PainsWake me up when puberty ends.By Elizabeth ThompsonMy daughter (the middle girl child) woke up one morning, not too long ago, and was telling me about the dream she had concerning a certain rock-star-who-shall-not-be-named.
“Who?”
[nods head and yawns]
“You know, rock-star-who-shall-not-be-named,...
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Growing PainsHaving faith and eating meat, too.By Elizabeth ThompsonMy parents were not regular church-goers for various reasons -- personally, I believe that a large part was due to their trouble getting married in the eyes of the church because they were not being able to prove, conclusively (having defected from a...
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Growing PainsMommy's little soldier.By Elizabeth ThompsonMost parents would perhaps agree that boys and girls are different -- they look different, they behave differently and often times dance to the beat of a different drum -- yes, the thought of raising a little boy pretty much scared me, too!
Until I...
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Growing PainsA man's place.By Elizabeth ThompsonMy father was your average "waiting room husband" - the father-to-be you’d typically find in a hospital during the early 1960’s - he paced, he sat, and he chain smoked his Marlboros.
For hours, my dad shared cigarettes and stories...
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Growing PainsRemembering "The Old Country" in a whole new wayBy Elizabeth ThompsonMy father and mother have been living in the United States for over 50 years -- they escaped Hungary during the Revolution of 1956 -- but, often times still like to refer to their homeland as “the old country.”
You see, on our street, everyone...
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Growing PainsWaiting room stories: stranger than family.By Elizabeth ThompsonI sat in the stuffy room, drank another cup of bad coffee and threw a fleeting look towards the two women sitting at the table across from me as they continued to leaf through about a thousand greeting cards.
Strange: “Um, where do you...
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