From restaurant meltdowns to iPad standoffs, parenting is a wild ride. The Meltdown Chronicles shares real moments, hard-earned lessons, and a call for your best survival tips. Let’s navigate the madness together!

After our last NYC family trip turned into a marathon of “Are we there yet?” and “My feet hurt,” I realized I needed a vacation from my vacation. Enter: a girls’ weekend in the city that never sleeps, featuring Shannon’s birthday bash and my much-needed sanity reboot. From thrifting triumphs to Broadway belly laughs, this trip was the perfect antidote to parental burnout. Here’s how we swapped snack packs for steak dinners and rediscovered the magic of the Big Apple—grown-up style.

I have not just asked these kids to clean their rooms, I have given them systems. Foolproof, there-is-no-excuse systems. I labeled bins. I bought storage furniture. I color-coded Amelia’s toys so she’d know exactly where everything goes (blue bin = dolls, red bin = chaos, green bin = whatever 7-year-olds hoard). I basically turned their rooms into a tiny, organized IKEA showroom, thinking, This will be it! This will finally get them to clean up!

Spoiler alert: It did not.