I am Monica Beyer.

Does this say it all? I wish it did. I really don’t want to be famous, but being rich would be nice.

I am a 36-year-old woman, born and raised in the Midwest. I come from a home that features a mom and a dad and an older brother. We all still live close to one another and I totally love spending time with my ever-expanding family.

I have a variety of interests including (but not limited to) feral children, medical anomalies, fairy tales, the art of Arthur Rackham, fairies, football (not kidding), reading, online shopping, sign language,  eBay, traveling (or dreaming of travel), did I mention buying things?

I had a very good home and great parents but I had a terrible time in school. I was constantly teased and tormented by classmates and so-called friends. Even non-malicious people thought I was a boy – for example, I remember walking home when I was probably 7 or 8 years old, and wearing this rad “I’m a Pepper!” t-shirt, and a mom pointed out to her child, “Look, he’s a pepper!” I have been blessed cursed blessed with naturally curly hair, and when I say curly, I mean curly. I have always loathed it but have now come to accept it (i.e., I let it do what it wants, or perhaps I don’t want to bother with it).

I wound up growing up anyway despite it all.

My first son was born in 1995. Of course, as you know (or maybe have heard this?), my life changed and has never been the same.

I have been married since … um. Let me think. 1998? Yes. 1998. It was a sweltering hot day in mid-July. The best part of the wedding was when my husband tried to cram my wedding ring on the ring finger of my right hand. Oh, and the fact that my ex-sister-in-law “videotaped” the ceremony but the tape was completely blank.

No, really, it was the tears in his eyes and the smile on his face when he finally found the right finger.

Followed by son #2, college graduation, “real job,” daughter #1 and resigning from “real job.”

Somewhere in there I made this great web page about signing with babies when Corbin (son #2) was small. Luckily it really took off and led to my first book, which (in addition to the help of a wonderful friend called Liz) led to my second book.

I don’t look like a typical mom but I rock the job anyway. Most days I am up to my eyeballs in insanity but I love my family so much. I am so freaking busy and contemplate running away from it all on a semi-regular basis, but I wouldn’t trade being a mom for anything.

These days I spend a lot of my spare time picking up the house. It’s really nutty how much “stuff” is involved in a home with three four children.

I have had several blogs over the years. Mostly to post about the daily grind, which after awhile becomes a grind in and of itself. This time I want to have a place to document how toxic our lives have become (by “our” I mean our society) and what we can do about it.