from the mixed-up files of a middle-aged mind

If you don't know her already, let me introduce to you a fabulous blogger, mental tesserae, via one of my favorite posts ever , lather and rinse . It is a rare gift indeed when someone can sum up almost two decades of one of your most deeply personal internal confllicts and its ongoing resolution in a single post.

( Thanks for the tag conqueso .) ...and say "please" and "thank you" at pretend tea parties. Real moms know how to laugh when they could very well cry ! Real moms (with teenagers) promise themselves they will never curse their own kids with kids just like them. Because now they know what it feels like when what goes around comes around. Real moms DO bake cookies ! Real moms learn to be prepared for whatever's next when the neighbor across the street begins her sentence with, "I just thought you should know" ... Real moms say "I'm sorry" when they lose their cool. Real moms get real with their daughters. Real moms will march right down to the principal's office when necessary. And let it be their child's fault. At least when it really is. Real moms know how to appreciate the simple things in life. Even when it means being tolerant of creative play. And knowing long-awaited appreciation is a fleeting thing. Real moms lea...