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Navigating life as a (second)wife, (step)mom, and (frazzled)bear with inappropriate laughter and near-perfect hindsight.

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Peter, we did this for you.

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Regular reader? Audio reader? Click the WTEWYWE tab to purchase my best-selling memoir in the format of your preference!

Click here for interviews about What to Expect When You Weren't Expecting. These people were very brave to have no delay.

Aren't all writers gazillionaires? Yes, that's why it's so easy. Just kidding, writing is not only not easy, but it also does not feed the cats. Well, maybe it feeds Colleen Hoover's cats. If you love to travel and love to have someone else organize your life ... reach out to me via the Bearly Home tab! Your adventures keep me writing!

Other Places I Write:

Today.com: Parenting Team
Funny Pearls UK
Grown and Flown
Ryan's Crossing
Herring Homes
JSJ Builders
Triangle New Home Guide (print magazine)

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Jyl Barlow and Which Way’s Up are also on Facebook!

Jyl Barlow and Which Way’s Up are also on Facebook!

Blending (Family) Territories

One of the struggles in a blended family is the constant vying for that slippery “Parent of the Moment” trophy in a family unit that includes a variety of parents and definitely more than those two traditional ones.

Territory wars? Table to two.

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by Jyl Barlow April 22, 2024April 19, 2024

University of Heartache?

Originally written for and published by Grown and Flown. Click here to read on Grown and Flown. As of November, my son had applied to one, and only one, college. We weren’t too bothered by the tiny number as we had no doubt he would get in and the pace of this college seemed to…

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by Jyl Barlow April 15, 2024April 12, 2024

The Exit Interview: Vacation Remix

Somebody’s on vacation and her name is ME! I wanted to touch back on a previous blog this week because, well, I’m on vacation and am really trying to honor one of my 2024 goals of allowing myself time off by either working ahead or skipping a week altogether. This is a working ahead version.…

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by Jyl Barlow April 8, 2024April 13, 2024

The Ship Left Us Behind (No, It Didn’t)

I hate when stupid people force me into taking time off from my vacation because I have to clap back on their misguided outcry for fairness.

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by Jyl Barlow April 3, 2024April 13, 2024

The Most Unqualified Interview, Round One.

Early in 2023, when I thought starting a podcast seemed like a terrific idea, my new co-host, Kathy, immediately asked if she was going to get to interview me. ME? Um, hello?

I had just published my first book, but really…this is an era where everyone with an ink pot and a quill is…

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by Jyl Barlow April 1, 2024April 13, 2024

The Packing Game

My husband has an unwritten rule that we have to wear everything we take on our trips.

For me, that means lots of tough calls as I decide which of thirteen pairs of shoes will make the cut.

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by Jyl Barlow March 25, 2024April 13, 2024

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