Page 1 of Mary Fagan's writing

1. Small Town Living is the Life For Me My kids have complained now and again about where we live. They say, “There is NOTHING to do here" or “This place is a dump." I think they miss its strong suit - simplicity. For example, while other communities flaunt hot pink flamingos or those... (posted by Mary 4 years 87 days ago.)

2. Raising a Full-Figured Child “Mom, can you drop off a few things at the Salvation Army for me?" asked my daughter not long after Christmas. “When I put my new stuff away, I cleaned out clothes I don’t wear anymore." It sounded like a reasonable and venerable act. That was... (posted by Mary 4 years 116 days ago.)

3. Bushy: A Family Tale This is a story of survival. While it may not be as bone-chilling as Admiral Byrd’s or as abominable as what happened at the Donner Pass, it’s about all the excitement my family can handle. We retell it as a celebration of our ability to not only... (posted by Mary 4 years 190 days ago.)

4. Halloween: You Be the Judge I am afraid. Halloween is around the corner and once again I'm instinctively gripping my seam ripper just a bit too tightly. The horror of our community's annual Halloween costume competition - oh, excuse me - Halloween party, has me stressed.... (posted by Mary 4 years 215 days ago.)

5. Mean Parents Anonymous - Guilty As Charged My name is Mary and I’m a mean parent. (posted by Mary 4 years 246 days ago.)

6. Cliché Revival: Diplomatic Teaching Tool Pre-ramble - We, as parents in the paternal state, in order to form our children into more perfect offspring, establish our justice, insure domestic tranquility, produce no regrets, promote their general welfare and secure blessings for them as... (posted by Mary 5 years 3 days ago.)

7. Dancing About the Birds and the Bees It’s inevitable that questions about the birds and the bees will pop up. When my son asked what “doing the nasty" was, thanks to the kids on the bus, we had to visit this sweet mystery of life. Fighting the temptation to tell him it was a new... (posted by Mary 5 years 27 days ago.)

8. Be An Easy Rider With Your Student Driver Remember when your parents popped a gasket teaching you to drive, white knuckling it from the passenger seat? If you don’t want to go around that track, better gear up for your own child’s driving lessons. Start with a couple of warm up laps.... (posted by Mary 5 years 45 days ago.)

9. Confessions of a Trophy Wife I call myself as a trophy wife. Top shelf. I’ve worked hard to get to this point in my life. I don’t make excuses: I made choices. Years planning, manicuring, managing and manipulating have earned me the “good life." We all want success... (posted by Mary 5 years 58 days ago.)

10. A Parent's Role in Teen Drama Never was there a story of more woe. Until the next bad grade, pimple, flyaway hair, wrong kind of jeans, snotty comment, “dirty" look, or dropped spoon in the cafeteria. These typical examples of teen tragedy, comedies of errors played out... (posted by Mary 5 years 102 days ago.)

11. The Advent of Christmas Epiphanies Children aren’t the only ones to experience Christmas joys. Parents too celebrate the season when our children do or say things to show they understand the true spirit of Christmas. These epiphanies may need some prompting, like a greenhouse... (posted by Mary 5 years 165 days ago.)

12. Putting the Permanent Press on Laundry Day Contrary to popular teen perception, parents don’t like to rag endlessly. It’s just a necessity due to our knowledge of basic scientific principles like that germs can make you sick, or even worse, smelly. While we are mildly entertained by some... (posted by Mary 5 years 172 days ago.)

13. Creating a Survival Vehicle For a lot of us, our vehicle is a home away from home. Why not make this alternate home as comfortable and functional as possible? This can be easily accomplished with the unnatural selection of some items to outfit your vehicle for survival.... (posted by Mary 5 years 177 days ago.)

14. The Prepared Parent's Guide to Fast Comebacks Writing and speaking have very different economics. One affords you time, the other cheats you of it. That is the trouble with comebacks. The timing of their delivery is so important. Children approaching or in the midst of their teen... (posted by Mary 5 years 184 days ago.)

15. Teen Clothing Exposed - A Grim Tale Fashion industry moguls, having studied parenting trends, discovered that adults have stopped reading fairy tales to children. Danger looms as these magical weavers take advantage of lessons not learned from this mild, yet fairly effective... (posted by Mary 5 years 210 days ago.)