Dear Snarky, I’m really mad about something and when I told some friends what I was mad about they said I was overreacting and should take what happened as a compliment. I have a four-year-old […]
Category: Parenting
The Bachelorette Provides Some Unique Father/Daughter Bonding Time
There are many journeys one takes as a parent. Some you’re prepared for like dealing with a cranky toddler or a moody teenager. But then there are other things that happen where you feel like […]
Turning Your Flaws into Parenting Tips
Do you hear that? It’s the sound of a mother posting another heartfelt quote about parenting on social media. Tis the season for everything from inspirational ditties to novellas about the joy of parenting due […]
Dear Snarky – My Daughter Ghosted Us Because We Didn’t Concede to her Wedding Demands
Dear Snarky, I live in Texas where all the COVID restrictions are being lifted. But based on the uncertainty of COVID my daughter last year decided to delay her wedding until April of 2022. We’ve […]
Dear Snarky – I Broke Up With My Boyfriend Because He Sucks at Giving Gifts
Dear Snarky, I’ve just broken up with my boyfriend and now I’m having second thoughts. We started dating a year ago just before the pandemic and we really thrived when some of my friends relationships […]
Dear Snarky – I Want to Expose School Cheaters
Dear Snarky, I ‘m OUTRAGED! I’m friends with a mom who yesterday bragged to me over text that her son “aced all his AP exams.” Then she proceeded to tell me that he cheated – […]
Dear Snarky – The Most Cringe Worthy Letters of 2020
Oh, 2020 how we all long to see you go BUH-BYE. To celebrate the impending departure of this super icky year I’m going to count down the four most cringe worthy, oh no she didn’t, […]
Dear Snarky – My Mother Won’t Share Thanksgiving Recipes With Me
Dear Snarky, What do you think about a mom who won’t share family recipes with her daughter? Due to the coronavirus our large family has decided to not celebrate Thanksgiving together. This means for the […]
Dear Snarky – A Greedy Daughter Is Out to Fleece Her Parents
Dear Snarky, I’m not sure you’re the right person to reach out to for advice because to be honest I only read your stuff for the laughs. It’s a little awkward to now be in […]
Dear Snarky – My Sister Pretended My Baby Was Hers
Dear Snarky, I’m so angry at my sister right I don’t think I’ll ever get over it. I recently had a beautiful baby girl. My sister had been devoted to my baby and that made […]
College Drop Off in the Time of Covid
It’s not the kind of text you ever want to receive. I’m talking about the angry husband text that’s disguised as the nice husband text. The key words are, “not trying to be difficult . […]
Lawn Therapy
Being erroneously told when we bought our house a decade ago that “yards here don’t need a sprinkler system” is on page 16 in my “Big Book of Complaining.” Long time readers have heard me […]
Dear Snarky – My Daughter Got Kicked Out of Her Sorority Because of Me
Dear Snarky, I’m devastated. My daughter has been kicked out of the sorority she just got into. The worst thing is it’s not her fault. It’s mine. Sorority recruitment this year was all virtual because […]
Dear Snarky – A Family Member Is Pretending to Be a Teacher
Dear Snarky, My husband’s stepsister is lying about being a teacher and I need a way to stop her. Due to a lot of schools deciding to start the school year virtual she is advertising […]
I’m Not an Expert But I Play One on the Internet
A week or two ago I wrote about how the most fundamental of science knowledge and common sense seems to be eluding a significant swath of the U.S. population. Mainly because so many people are […]
Meet the Mask Enforcers – Advanced Middle-Aged Moms
There’s a lot that has surprised me about people’s understanding and reaction to the coronavirus. Before COVID-19 I thought we were a fairly intelligent country. More than 90 percent of Americans over the age of […]
Cheez-It Parenting in an Extreme Parenting World
Help, I’ve fallen down a rabbit hole and I can’t get out. Worse, I don’t even know if I want to get out which is quite frankly embarrassing because I feel like I’m in the […]
Dear Snarky – When a Grad Party Cancellation Gets F-Bomby
Dear Snarky, I’m so angry at my family! My daughter’s very small high school graduation party was scheduled for this weekend and now I’ve had to cancel it because so many of my family members […]
Dear Snarky – My Mom Favors and is Enabling Our Older Sister
Dear Snarky, We’re two sisters who are sick and tired of our mother enabling our oldest sister. We’re both college students that have been working doing instacart during the coronavirus to make extra money. Meanwhile, […]
Dear Snarky – My Sister-in-Law is Lying About Where My Niece is Going to College
Dear Snarky, I’m ready to punch my sister-in-law right in the face. She is outright lying about where her daughter is going to college and scamming people. This woman posted on Facebook and Instagram that […]
Dear Snarky – My Mom is Trying to Buy Her Way Into My Labor and Delivery Room
Dear Snarky, I’m nine months pregnant with my first child and at this point in the lock down I’m only allowed to have one person in the delivery room with me when I give birth. […]
Dear Snarky – My MIL Has Gone Quarantine Crazy and is Planning a Party That I Don’t Want
Dear Snarky, My mother-in-law is driving me crazy. I had a baby in February and since the lock down went into place she has been blasting me with texts, phone calls and emails about how […]
Dear Snarky – I’m Getting Attitude For Taking a Pass On Our Family Easter Dinner
Dear Snarky, My parents and sister are acting like spoiled brats and being totally clueless about social distancing. Not only are my parents, who are in their late 60s, still going to the grocery store […]
Dear Snarky – I Tried to Give a New Mom at School the Inside Scoop and it Backfired
Dear Snarky, A new family has moved into our neighborhood. One of the kid’s is in my daughter’s class. I met her mother and she seemed really nice. The problem is there’s a mom at […]
Writing Can Get Pretty Ugly
*Note: I write a weekly opinion column for the Kansas City Star. Some of the stuff I muse about is a little more political in nature than I what share on this blog and by […]
Dear Snarky – I’m Being Shunned For Bringing Cupcakes to a School Party
Dear Snarky, I’m being shunned at my son’s elementary school due to having the “audacity” to bring mini chocolate cupcakes to the first grade Halloween party. I never received the link to the online sign […]
Dear Snarky – My Mom Needs to Quit Wearing Sexy Halloween Costumes
Dear Snarky, I need help with my mother. I swear she thinks she’s Jennifer Lopez and by that I mean at 55 she is very proud of her body and loves to show it off. […]
Dear Snarky – My Mom and Mother-In-Law Have Turned Grandparenting Into a Competitive Sport
Dear Snarky, My mom and mother-in-law are driving me crazy. They’re both very competitive and my kids are always in the middle of their tug-of-wars as they try to one up each other. For example, […]
Dear Snarky – Say Hello to the Prize Police
Dear Snarky, I’m in charge of our neighborhood’s Fourth of July parade and I’m getting some serious attitude from other people on my committee. In the past we have given out ribbons for best bike […]
Dear Snarky – Church Camp Went Straight to Hell Before It Even Started
Dear Snarky, My daughter has been excited about going to summer sleep away church camp since we signed her up for it in January. I recently found out that she won’t be bunking with her […]
Dear Snarky – The Teacher Returned Our Class Gift
Dear Snarky, I’m super angry with my child’s teacher. For Valentine’s Day the moms went all out and collected money for a really nice piece of jewelry from a popular retailer for my daughter’s 3rd […]
MacGyver Mom
There are times in the parenting journey when you feel like you have taken up a permanent residence in the innards of your child’s disesteem. Lucky for me, in regards to my daughter, I didn’t care […]
Do I Suck At Being A Mother? ( Deep Thoughts At the Grocery Store)
I think I may be a bad mother. No, correction I think I may be considered a bad mother if you apply 21st century suburban perimeters to my parenting skills. Okay, I’m going to change […]
Dear Snarky – Pokemon Go Away
Dear Snarky, I have a friend who is now calling me a stalker. We both have boys who are 9 and do a lot together. A couple of days ago I texted her about taking […]
Calm Yourself
“Calm yourselves.” That’s what I wanted to say to a group of mothers I was eavesdropping on while I let my dogs enjoy the olfactory wonder that is playground wood mulch. These women, pushing toddlers […]
Excuse Me But I Can’t See Through Your Kid
Most parents think their kids have super powers as in super smart, super athletic and well just to save time on this list take pretty much any adjective that would look good on a college […]
Dear Snarky – Help, I Threw My Husband’s Family Overboard
Dear Snarky, I’m about to be disowned by my extended family. Yesterday, I anonymously called the cops on my husband’s relatives. They go out in their ski boats and NEVER have any of the kids […]
I Got An F In Homeschooling
Someone please explain to me how several weeks ago it was “breaking news” that a 22-year-old woman is pregnant, especially a young woman with no job, no formal education, who lives in the Ozarks and […]
Dear Snarky – Help, I’ve Lied To My Mom Friends!
Dear Snarky, I’m the mother of a soon to be kindergartener. All my pre-school mom friends are going to be sending their kids off to a private kindergarten in the fall. I kind of, because I […]
Free Ranging – For Parents Who Want to Be Left Alone
There are a lot of parenting styles. Some have catchy names like attachment, mindful or slow parenting (which to me conjures up images of children being put in a crock pot. It’s a very unsettling […]
Ode to My Mother Who Kicked Ass
Parenting gurus like to share the theory that by the time a child reaches the age of 10 mothers lose their place as the primary influencer in their kids’ lives. I was always skeptical of […]
Battle of the Books
There are many, many reasons I’m glad my tour of duty as an elementary school mother is over. Sure, I enjoyed aspects of having younger children like being able to actually understand their homework. I […]
I Get It, We All Get It, You Have Perfect Children
Can we all just get over our kids? Yeah, we love them. They are the moon, sun and stars. The air we breathe. And yes, I know parents should be obsessed with their children. I […]
Dear Snarky – Telling Off a Not Pregnant Mom Who Parks in the Expectant Mother Spaces
Dear Snarky, I need your help in dealing with a woman who never follows the rules. School pick up and drop off she’s just doing her own thing. Volunteering – maybe she’ll show up maybe […]
A Real Haunted House
Worlds of Fun’s Halloween Haunt, the House of Horrors on the Interstate, you name it, I’ve done it, all while dragging a conglomerate of screaming teen girls behind me. My daughter is impressed that none […]
Back-to-School Night: The Teen Years
There are three primary reasons I go to the high school back-to-school night. The main one is for visual evidence of what the school personnel looks like. So, when a child starts describing their […]
Parent Super Powers
There’s nothing like kids starting a new school year for me to get back in touch with my inner superpowers that tend to lay dormant in the summer. My superpowers are not unique. In fact, […]
Dear Snarky – Unwanted Parenting Advice
Dear Snarky, I am this close to punching my sister-in-law! We just got back from a family reunion and all she did was correct every child’s behavior but her own. She even went so far […]
Life Skills for the “Almost Adult”
I have a son who has recently graduated high school and while I’m proud of his academic knowledge (aka book learning) I feel he, along with his peers, are woefully undereducated in the real life […]
Public Parenting
Are you kidding me? Has this mother lost her ever-loving mind? Seriously, she’s doing this at a convenience store during the lunch rush? These are the thoughts, along with some very bad language, rushing through […]
Snarky in the Suburbs 