We came from the north and west. We left behind 20 children with husbands or grandparents. We didn’t let a broken foot stop us. We had it on our calendar – in pen – for months. Some of us didn’t make it. And they were sorely missed. What was the big event? It was a night away with my college girlfriends. No boys – or kids – allowed. As a parent, this sort of get-together can be close to impossible to orchestrate. With seven women fleeing 20 children ranging in age from 10 months to 13 years, you can imagine the obstacles we overcame, the deals we brokered with our husbands, the sports games …

It only took me 40 years to break a bone. I wasn’t watching where I was walking. I didn’t see the dip and my foot rolled. My husband knew it right away. “It’s broken.” “NO! I can’t have a broken bone!” This just doesn’t fit into the schedule. This isn’t on my agenda. This is not something I have time for right now. This is so inconvenient. I refused to believe it was true. That is until it started to swell, until it started to really hurt and until I  couldn’t put any weight on it. My friend offered to watch my kids. My oldest daughter was in a panic and started crying. “I am so worried about…

My older sister did not allow me to have a crush on Donny Osmond when I was little. He was reserved for her. So I was directed to have a crush on Donny Osmond’s younger brother, Jimmy. I remember dictating a fan letter to my older brother to send to Jimmy. I am not sure if that letter was ever mailed. I never got to see Jimmy or Donnie in concert. It would have been so dreamy. So I can relate when my daughters were thrilled at the chance to see Big Time Rush in concert this summer. I received one of those Groupon emails for $15 lawn seats to Big Time Rush’s August 18 concert at PNC Bank Arts …

The older I get the faster the summer seems to fly by. How is it already mid-August? Every summer, my kids and I think about the things we want to do. A checklist of fun things we like to do or new things we want to try. I feel like this year, we will run out of time before we get the chance to complete them all. We still haven’t gone mini-golfing. We still haven’t made it to Breakwater Beach in Seaside Heights or Hurricane Harbor in Jackson. We still haven't made it to the Cape May Zoo. We still haven’t tried a new ice cream place. We still haven’t watched the sunrise on the beach. We still …

Not only has this been the summer of sleepovers, it’s been the summer of “Mrs. Yevchak, can I have your wifi password?” “Umm, sure. Let me find out what it is.” Huh? How did this happen? First of all, the summer of sleepovers. You may recall a column of mine from last summer in which I described my oldest daughter’s trepidation about sleepovers. Well, she has turned a complete 360 this summer. It’s as if we have a revolving door around here. Every time we see one of her friends: “Mom, can we have a sleepover?” Sometimes I say no if I am too tired or if we’ve had too many sleepovers in a row. …

I think that I might lose my mind if I hear my kids say the word "like" again. It’s really, like, annoying to hear how many times they use the word "like" when they are, like, speaking. It’s sometimes, like, hard for me to follow along with the, like, story when they, like, keep saying the word "like" all the time. I’m, like, totally lost when they are speaking. It’s, like, so confusing. I thought my daughter was, like, telling me about what, like, happened at camp. But when she got to the 14th "like" I kind of, like, lost track of what she was saying. I started to, like, count the "likes." …

I might actually have a heart attack the next time I have to drag my Wonder Wheeler full of beach gear off the beach at the end of the day. I am not kidding. I am not an athlete by any measure, but I am also not completely out of shape. I consider myself fairly healthy. Still, the amount of effort I have to exert to pack up and haul all of our stuff off of the beach can be overwhelming. I remember being in college, riding my bike barefoot to the beach with a towel and maybe some Bain De Soleil Orange Gelee “sunscreen” in a small bag over my shoulder. That was it. That was all I needed for a …

I wonder if our country’s founding fathers would be disappointed to know that I gave up my unalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness when I became a mom. Sure, I am still a U.S. Citizen and theoretically, the country I live in still supports these rights. But when you break it down to the smallest unit of government I know – that is my family – certain of my rights seem to have diminished. My Life: When I popped out my first-born, I did not in actuality give up my right to life. But I would say that my children’s right to life became more important than my own. Without …

I sat on a Belmar beach a few days ago and watched the lifeguards perform three rescues during low tide. In past summers, I would see three rescues all summer. These all happened in one day. The day before that, I saw two. Each time, I prayed for a positive outcome. Once I saw that the rescue was a success, I lectured my kids on ocean safety. Again. I feel like I am starting to sound like a broken record. “See? This is why you should always swim by a lifeguard.” “If you feel yourself getting pulled out, wave for help. Don’t freak out.” "You can't wave for help if you're not swimming by a …

My husband had the day off, and we were looking for something different to do. New York City? Too far. Philadelphia? Too far. The kids wanted to go to the boardwalk. How about a different boardwalk? How about Seaside Heights? I couldn’t recall the last time I had been there, probably more than 20 years ago. We looked online to see what kind of rides they have and what time they opened. Roller coasters and noon. Perfect, let’s go! I can honestly say that we didn’t start the day with the intention to seek out any MTV "Jersey Shore" television show cast members. I admit I have watched the show, …

Am I the only parent who isn’t as excited about the last day of school as the kids are? I mean, I love my kids. Dearly. However, the week or so before school ends, I start to get panicky at the thought of having them home for the whole summer. Yes, I love summer and all that it offers. But right now, I am freaking out that I am not going to get everything done that is easier to get done without the kids around. I had wanted to get a pedicure. I had wanted to take an hour or two to sit on the beach by myself. I had wanted to get another trip to Costco in. I had wanted to shop leisurely for a …

The circling of the ice cream truck has begun. It seems that some days, the circling goes on indefinitely. And it is always on those days that I have no cash in my wallet or my kids have already had enough sugary snacks for the day. Sometimes I will catch the first note of the truck’s song and run around slamming windows closed, turn on the AC and blast the television hoping to avoid the entire process. It doesn’t always work. I think kids have dog-like hearing when it comes to the ice cream truck’s catchy tune. With the very first note of the song, possibly coming from miles away, my kids …

My first baby lost her last baby tooth this week. She was thrilled! So excited! I was not so much. The loss of the last tooth was another reminder that my baby is growing up. It seems that this 10-year-old time is a time of stretching their wings, seeing how far away from home they will be allowed to go. Can I ride my bike around the block? Can I ride my bike to my friend’s house? Can I ride my bike across the neighborhood? It’s a challenge to know what to do. How far is too far? With my oldest, I am struggling with these choices. Sometimes, I am not so nice to her about it. "You just can’t …

It only took her about three days. Only three days for a robin red-breast to construct a bird’s nest on the gutter down spout on our front porch. We wondered about her placement of the nest. Would it be safe there? Would we scare her every time we opened our front door, just a few feet from the nest? But the mother bird was determined. One piece of dry grass at a time she built a perfectly symmetrical, tightly spun, sturdy nest using only her mouth. My kids wanted to peek into the nest but it was too high. Thanks to my neighbor’s brilliant, quite logical idea, we invented a contraption to …

Sunday, 5:00 p.m. It all started because my husband had a bad day at work. I knew it the moment he walked in the door. I wanted to talk to him about what had happened. But you know how it is with kids around. Our grown-up conversations often have to wait. It was time to eat dinner. 5:25 p.m. After we finished eating, the kids went into the family room to do God knows what.  My husband and I tried to use the brief reprieve to talk about his day. 5:30 p.m. Shouting and what sounded like wrestling came from the adjacent family room. The noise from the kids got louder and louder. I sawmy husband …

I am now recovering from my daughter’s First Communion party at our house. Getting the house ready for the house to be wrecked is always a big undertaking for me. This time was no exception. The day before the party, I said to my oldest, “You need to straighten up your room before tomorrow.” “Why? No one is going to be in my room. And even if they are, it will just get messed up anyway.” She had a point. But the party was a good excuse to give the house a good scrub down. For instance, I noticed how dirty our window blinds were and spent one evening whitening them up, but I can’t say I recall…

We never go away for spring break because my husband can’t take vacation at this time of year. So I am left to come up with “really fun!” things to do to occupy my kids for their week off from school, while I live vicariously through my friends’ Facebook posts of Florida and various other tropical locales. After it was all said and done, I asked my kids what was the Best Part of Spring Break. The answer wasn’t one of the many plastic and fairly useless items the Easter bunny packed into their Easter baskets (Note to self – spend less next year). Their top choice was our trip to Medieval Times…

The other day, I had an extended moment alone with my oldest daughter. We sat across from each other at the kitchen table eating our breakfasts. No one else was in the room. It was fairly quiet in the house. I looked at her for a long moment. She looked up from her Frosted Flakes to find me staring at her. Our eyes locked. “What?” she asked. “Nothing,” I said. “What’s wrong?” she asked. “Nothing,” I said and I looked away. Nothing? Nothing was not at all what I had been thinking about. What I had been thinking was, My God, you are so beautiful. You are so smart. You are growing up so fast and…

It is all I can do not to pick up the dirty laundry strewn across the floor of my oldest daughter’s room. But I am standing my ground. I want her to learn that if she doesn’t pick up her dirty laundry and bring it to the laundry room, it will not get clean. I do all of the laundry in our house. With five people, that’s no small task. I sort, wash, dry, fold and put it away. I would be remiss if I didn’t give credit to my husband who does help to fold quite often. And, occasionally, I make the kids put away their clean laundry. But I am not consistent with assigning this chore. To be honest, I…

I have never been very good at homemade Halloween costumes. I am much more apt to buck up and go for the store-bought variety as it usually makes my life easier. So when I found out that my oldest daughter would have to dress up as a rainforest animal for her class’ Rainforest Café event, I immediately figured I was in the hole for at least $50. “A butterfly” is what my daughter at first decided to be. I scoured the Internet looking for a butterfly costume that would not only fit her but would cover enough of her. She is in that in-between size where she no longer fits into the cute, innocent…