Feel like strolling through the archives? You can go here:

I WANT TO READ EVERYTHING!

or here:

I ONLY WANT TO READ THE SERIOUS STUFF •

or, for serious-by-topic, here:

SOAPBOX

 

Or, if you just want to laugh, here are the best of Those Conversations:

2014

She loves Sherlock but David Tennant will never love me—and no one is doing the dishes… (Nothing By The Book, July 2, 2014)

A “lost” year: on standing still, moving forward, stepping back (Nothing By The Book, June 18, 2014)

Would Edgar Allan Poe by any other name smell so sweet? (And wear a fez?) (Nothing By The Book, May 28, 2014)

I’m raising a blackmailer. Oops (Nothing By The Book, April 16, 2014)

How my four-year-old receptionist defies the uterus-less CEO… and why that’s going to change the world (Nothing By The Book, March 18, 2014)

Math, penises, impaired visual memory and existential angst (Nothing By The Book, March 11, 2014)

Who will win “most annoying child contest” and other tales (Nothing By The Book, February 19, 2014)

On yelling, authenticity, aspiration and the usefulness of judgemental relatives-and-strangers (Nothing By The Book, February 5, 2014)

And now, a brief illustration of unfooding (Nothing By The Book, January 15, 2014)

2013

On getting kids to do their own laundry, slime molds and deadlines (Nothing By The Book, December 11, 2013)

Board game Friday and strategic acts of violence (Nothing By The Book, November 29, 2013)

How they know they’re the children of a writer (Nothing By The Book, November 26, 2013)

Why I love them (Nothing By The Book, November 1, 2013)

On wanting to eat cake, magic pee, fairies, adult temper tantrums, and sub-performing grey matter (Nothing By The Book, October 22, 2013)

The obvious correlation between crying over spilt coffee and potty training (Nothing By The Book, October 11, 2013)

Ka-thunk. The sweet sound of Jane falling off a pedestal (Nothing By The Book, September 13, 2013)

Sometimes a wrench really is a metaphor. Not for what you’d think, of course… (Nothing By The Book, September 6, 2013)

I know you wonder just how much therapy my kids will need… (Nothing By The Book, August 2, 2013)

“What have I done to deserve such off-spring? What? WHAT??!” (Nothing By The Book, July 19, 2013)

Of hot girls, Oedipus’ complexes (or lack thereof), and inheritances (Nothing By The Book, June 7, 2013)

“No, we were just being normal” (Nothing By The Book, May 31, 2013)

They live for these moments (Nothing By The Book, May 17, 2013)

Teaching kids about money, sort of (Nothing By The Book, May 7, 2013)

Turning ‘No’ into ‘Yes’: Jane gets played big time (Nothing By The Book, May 3, 2013)

It’s better not to know. Right? (Nothing By The Book, April 26, 2013)

He really will eat anything (Nothing By The Book, April 16, 2013)

How you know you get the kids you’re raising (Nothing By The Book, April 5, 2013)

And, of body parts, again (Nothing By The Book, March 29, 2013)

Why your children should never, ever earn the facts of life from their peers (Nothing By The Book, March 22, 2013)

The Princess Bride, almost severed body parts, and the thing that matters the most to little boys (Nothing By The Book, March 18, 2013)

* And the fabric of the universe does not come apart… (Nothing By The Book, February 25, 2013)

There is magic everywhere… (Nothing By The Book, February 21, 2013)

More proof we call raise the children we deserve… (Nothing By The Book, February 7, 2013)

How un-helicopter mothers parent, part deux (Nothing By The Book, February 4, 2013)

The sweet sound of silence, not (Nothing By The Book, January 28, 2013)

Of the apocalypse, euphemisms, and (un)potty training, 2 (Nothing By The Book, January 18, 2013)

How un-helicopter mothers parent (Nothing By The Book, January 7, 2013)

Of Dragons and Dinosaurs (Nothing By The Book, December 28, 2013)

2012

Merry Christmas, from Mythbusters and Cinder (Nothing By The Book, December 12, 2012)

Quote Me: The Secret to Happiness (Nothing By The Book, December 10, 2012)

* How I broke my children (Nothing By The Book, December 7, 2012)

You’re the adult, Daddy (Nothing By The Book, November 16, 2012)

Of boys and their toys (Nothing By The Book, November 2, 2012)

“There are no pee towels in the kitchen.” (Nothing By The Book, October 30, 2012)

He’s so his mother’s son, part deux (Nothing By The Book, October 26, 2012)

Of boys, girls, oblivion, awareness and frustration; (or why women think men don’t understand them) (Nothing By The Book, October 12, 2012)

How you know he’s his mother’s son (Nothing By The Book, October 8, 2012)

Ticklish warriors (Nothing By The Book, October 3, 2012)

Why I blog (Nothing By The Book, September 28, 2012)

Nature wins again (Nothing By The Book, September 19, 2012)

How toddlers share (Nothing By The Book, September 12, 2012)

* The obvious correlation between crying over spilt coffee and potty training (Nothing By The Book, September 6, 2012)

Uh-oh… (Nothing By The Book, September 5, 2012)

A handful of those conversations (Nothing By The Book, August 31, 2012)

When weird unsocialized homeschoolers go to summer camp… (Nothing By The Book, August 23, 2012)

World War II explained, by seven-year-old (Nothing By The Book, August 16, 2012)

“Why do we have new toothbrushes again?” (Nothing By The Book, August 15, 2012)

Sarcasm, lawn darts and toilets (Nothing By The Book, August 7, 2012)

* The sacrifices mothers make for their children (Nothing By The Book, August 5, 2012)

Between the carrot (cake) and the fork (Nothing By The Book, August 3, 2012)

* What “humanitarian” really means (Nothing By The Book, July 31, 2012)

If 10 year-old boys designed our currency… (Nothing By The Book, July 29, 2012)

* Of first words, scheming mothers, and rewriting history (Nothing By The Book, July 28, 2012)

It’s all about presentation (Nothing By The Book, July 20, 2012)

* Cease and desist! (Nothing By The Book, July 18, 2012)

Only in my house, again… (Nothing By The Book, July 16, 2012)

The girl’s bully-proof, I think (Nothing By The Book, July 15, 2012)

Yes, there is such a thing as loving nature too much (Nothing By The Book, July 13, 2012)

“I am not feeding my baby sister playdough” and other acts of sibling love (Nothing By The Book, July 11, 2012)

Anatomy talk, always and forever (Nothing By The Book, July 6, 2012)

“She’d make a perfectly good boy” (Nothing By The Book, July 4, 2012)

Happy Canada Day, made complicated (Nothing By The Book, July 1, 2012)

* Unconditional love: yes, I love you more than the Kobo (Nothing By The Book, June 29, 2012)

Only at my house… (Nothing By The Book, June 29, 2012)

“Want to hear all the swear words I know?” (Nothing By The Book, June 22, 2012)

“Is it a long and boring story?” (Nothing By The Book, June 18, 2012)

Of the apocalypse, euphemisms and (un)potty training (Nothing By The Book, June 15, 2012)

“Mom? Have you noticed I’ve stopped…” (Nothing By The Book, June 8, 2012)

Why they don’t ask for permission… (Nothing By The Book, May 27, 2012)

Poisonous Volvo (Nothing By The Book, May 22, 2012)

“What’s Bedtime?” (Nothing By The Book, May 5, 2012)

I am not a mindless drone (Nothing By The Book, April 30, 2012)

Pink and loyal, like Wilbur (Nothing By The Book, April 27, 2012)

Playing with fire, or proof we get the children we’re raising (Nothing By The Book, April 26, 2012)

The lighter side of hitting toddlers (Nothing By The Book, April 22, 2012)

Yes, that kind of day (Nothing By The Book, April 18, 2012)

* Snot. A boy’s best friend. Not. (Nothing By The Book, April 16, 2012)

Do you think he got the stomach flu when… (Nothing By The Book, April 14, 2012)

But I like poking Flora… (Nothing By The Book, April 10, 2012)

Why rabbits lay eggs (Nothing By The Book, April 8, 2012)

* Four minutes to go (Nothing By The Book, April 7, 2012)

* House Rule #713, or why don’t hold a lot of dinner parties (Nothing By The Book, April 3, 2012)

Why parents swear (Nothing By The Book, April 1, 2012)

How boys learn geography (Nothing By The Book, March 30, 2012)

“He’s not evil. He’s a toddler.” (Nothing By The Book, March 28, 2012)

These balls, not those balls (Nothing By The Book, March 27, 2012)

Caveman Redux (Nothing By The Book, March 26, 2012)

Just another day in the ‘hood… (Nothing By The Book, March 25, 2012)

Spell is a four-letter word (Nothing By The Book, March 24, 2012)

Pants optional (Nothing By The Book, March 20, 2012)

From the sitcom that is my life… (Nothing By The Book, March 19, 2012)

How two-year-olds clean the floor (Nothing By The Book, March 18, 2012)

Raising 21st century kids (Nothing By The Book, March 9, 2012)

From the mouths of nurslings (Nothing By The Book, March 4, 2012)

* Agent of Karma (Nothing By The Book, February 8, 2012)

“Ender pee on the floor!” (Nothing By The Book, January 28, 2012)

* “Floor Peas?” (Nothing By The Book, January 23, 2012)

Beast in Disguise (Nothing By The Book, January 5, 2012)

Agent of Karma (Nothing By The Book, January 4, 2012)

2011

A Bear By Any Other Name (Nothing By The Book, December 29, 2011)

Ender Says Rock (Nothing By The Book, November 22, 2011)

Of Daddies and Grandpas (Nothing By The Book, November 15, 2011)

And so it begins… (Nothing By The Book, November 14, 2011)

Emergency Pig’s Ear (Nothing By The Book, October 21, 2011)

Skin Falls Off (Nothing By The Book, October 5, 2011)

* Whose Blood? (Nothing By The Book, September 16, 2011)

A place for everything (Nothing By The Book, September 9, 2011)

Bartering with dad (Nothing By The Book, September 7, 2011)

Greek Gods (Nothing By The Book, August 4, 2011)

Rocky mountains, googles and tragic anatomical accidents (Nothing By The Book, June 13, 2011)

Halfway to 18 (Nothing By The Book, May 24, 2011)

Dark side of purging (Nothing By The Book, May 5, 2011)

I solemnly swear I am up to no good (Nothing By The Book, April 4, 2011)

2010

“Everything’s within reach” (Nothing By The Book, December 26, 2010)

Matchmaking (Nothing By The Book, December 22, 2010)

Ex-boyfriends (Nothing By The Book, December 16, 2010)

Baby seductor (Nothing By The Book, November 23, 2010)

Whispering Death Rainbow (Nothing By The Book, November 22, 2010)

You’ve been warned (Nothing By The Book, May 16, 2010)

Gunpowder (Nothing By The Book, May 9, 2010)

Flora’s List (Nothing By The Book, April 30, 2010)

Internal organs on the ceiling (Nothing By The Book, April 21, 2010)

The most important word (Nothing By The Book, January 15, 2010)

2009

Nipple malaria (Nothing By The Book, December 31, 2009)

Of Brains and Cartilage (Nothing By The Book, November 5, 2009)

He’s a Keeper (Nothing By The Book, November 4, 2009)

The last three minutes (Nothing By The Book, October 15, 2009)

Did they really say that? Yes. Every last word.

I WANT TO READ EVERYTHING! • I ONLY WANT TO READ THE SERIOUS STUFF • SOAPBOX

* My absolute favourites