The Cast (Looking in the mirror)
Meet my family. You will read about them in the pages ahead, so let me set the stage.
First, I am changing their names to protect the guilty. Some of these stories are rather sensitive. Some are downright mortifying. I enjoy embarrassing my ex-husband and kids as much as the next person. Still, there are limits.
We will call my two boys Carter and Gabe. Twelve-year-old Carter is very bright, creative, and inclined to serious mischief. My little Gabe, at seven, gets trounced by Carter and his cohorts regularly. Gabe bears up, taking out his angst on household appliances.
We can call my ex-husband Fred. We get along just fine. Much better than we did when we were married. Like both of his boys, Fred is creative. Sometimes he is a bit too creative, as youll read in the chapters that follow.
People like visiting my home . . . once. Bedlam reigns supreme. If I earned a dime every time someone advised, "Nan, you really ought to spank that boy," Id be in the French Riviera instead of shoveling snow off my subzero Iowa driveway.