I’m a (mostly) stay-at-home parent who told Liesl I’d be glad to post to the new Voice parenting blog in an apparent (get it????) fit of insanity. I’ve probably seen a blog once or twice, why in the world would I think I have anything interesting to say in public about being a mom? But it seemed like such a good idea at the time.

In one of the emails planning this blog, someone implied that the group of people writing were to be an "expert resource." I have to laugh. I am in no way an expert about parenting. Just listen to me yelling "Try that relaxing breathing right now, or you're going to lose TV!" I find that being a parent has shown me most clearly my faults and actual limitations.

I'm a stay at home Dad in Takoma Park with two kids, six and two years old. I maintain a website in my basement that aspires to capture the collective best advice of people on a local parenting listserv. My daughter goes to Takoma Park Elementary School in the first grade. My son isn't in school yet, just a play group where he tends to scare the other two year olds in between trying to play with them.

Our Web Goddess, Liesl, has invited us to introduce ourselves...My name is Emory Luce Baldwin, and I have a couple of kids. My son is 19 and a freshman at the University of Maryland. So I now have one chick out of the nest. My daughter is 14, and a freshman at Blair High School. I have raised my children in Takoma Park--we moved here when my son was only a few months old. We have been through babysitting co-ops, nursery school co-ops, Takoma Park and Piney Branch Elementary Schools and Takoma Park Middle School.

Welcome to "Apparently," a new blog for parents.

One of the funny things about living in Montgomery County, where there is so ever-lovin' much to do and parents are often busy, busy, busy, busy, is that we start planning our kids' summer break right about now (or a month ago, if you are really on the ball). So as the temperature dips to the teens and the roads are treachorous with ice and packed snow, many parents are booking swimming lessons and summer camps for their school-aged children. It's just a litte weird.