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A Boston native, I recently moved to Tampa suburb in search of more sunshine, literally and figuratively. The perfect storm of a pandemic, a divorce, and a medical scare facilitated a half-life crisis I could not…

Kirkus Reviews just released its take on my new children’s book, “Goodnight Star, Whoever You Are“, and it’s beyond amazing. If you look on the back of any New York Times bestseller, you…

Yesterday, I drove from Washington, DC to Savannah, GA (after driving from MA to DC a few days earlier). It took about 10 hours, and I heard zero complaints or “Are we there…

Hello and welcome to a special Mother’s Day episode of The Library Laura Podcast, your week’s dose of book recommendations, library love, and literary enthusiasm. Today’s guest is author Jodi Meltzer, here to…

My new book is earning some awards prepublication this time around! Here’s a synopsis: One fateful night, a child notices a magnificent star that looks like it’s following him during a car ride…

I am thrilled to announce that “When You Lived in My Belly” was selected as a featured title for the Picturebooking Podcast, just in time for the holidays! (As a keepsake, it really…

Out of hundreds of submissions, “When You Lived in My Belly” earned a spot as a Top 10 Finalist for an Author Elite Award! Voting is open until October 23rd. If you’d like…

It has been such a source of internal distress for me that my mom has never appeared in one of my dreams. I am going on 7 long years of managing to function…

My son just told multi-platinum artist Andy Grammer that he’s available to play drums on his next tour! 😂😎💯 How could he possibly reach the singer of hits like “Keep Your Head Up”…

So thrilled and humbled that “When You Lived in My Belly” earned a First Place Purple Dragonfly Award! The Purple Dragonfly Award is a big one in children’s literature with submissions from across…

Imagine how honored and humbled I was when a reader asked for my permission to translate my book, “When You Lived in My Belly,” into Spanish? 😱❤️ That’s exactly what Reading with Rita…

I am about to tuck and roll into my seventh Motherless Mother’s Day. The intense, cyclical crush of grief, longing, and loneliness is familiar and expected at this point, but, now, during the…

What do Jessica Simpson and I have in common?  It’s not the blonde hair. Pretty sure she was born with hers and I…wasn’t. It’s not our vocal prowess. That girl can seriously sing…

Flashing back to that incomparable time when my son lived in my belly.  I was 37-years-old, an over-the-hill “later mother” who kept doctors’ guessing. I mean, referring to to mine as a “high-risk,…

I had such a great time chatting with Reading With Your Kids Podcast about my book, “When You Lived in My Belly“. We discussed pregnancy, the (intensely annoying) stork myth, and the second…

My son lost his Dad on September 22, 2018. Last week, a kid at school made fun of him for it. They were working in a group in music class. Just four students…

It’s mind-numbing to think about all the possibilities that are ushered in by a new decade, if my last one is any indication. In ten short years, I experienced both the best and…

This holiday season, give your children the gift of learning the symptoms of PANDAS, a devastating illness that can affect any child diagnosed with strep throat.Imagine if your 8-year-old child stormed off the…

During the past week alone, my son has twice woken up in the middle of the night, completely traumatized. He has vivid, horrific nightmares of his dad dying (he lost him in 2018,…

I call my son a sour patch kid. He can be sour sometimes, but his heart is pure sweetness. As I was changing into comfy clothes after a long day, I noticed a…

I took an unconventional road to motherhood. The proverbial stork dropped you–a sweet, precocious, creative, smart, and stunning 8-year-old girl on my doorstep first. You rang my doorbell and smiled widely when I…

Yes, this is how I greeted my children this morning. They have come to expect their mom/bonus mom in costume, with spooktacular treats prepared for breakfast. I do it all in my mom’s…

  According to the CDC, 186 children died from the flu last season.  Of those, 80 percent did not receive their flu vaccination. This is a startling and heartbreaking fact many of us…

Barnes & Noble’s Local Author Event I’ll appearing at a local author signing panel at the Barnes & Noble in Warwick, Rhode Island this weekend. They’ve made sure to have a diverse committee…

Author Jodi Meltzer, a Sharon High School graduate and Franklin resident, will host a reading and discussion for her children’s book, “When You Lived in My Belly,” at 11:30 a.m. Oct. 12 in…

My Guest Appearance on the NEXTfem Podcast I’m so honored to be chosen as the only guest for the NextFem podcast! I recently did a deeply personal interview with Host Tara Padua (link…

  Share a #FunFact about yourself below and you can win a copy of “When You Lived in My Belly”! I will choose the most intriguing (or outrageous) #FunFact and announce the winner Sunday…

“What was it like when I lived in your belly?” That was the question that prompted author Jodi Meltzer to write When You Lived In My Belly, a book Kirkus calls “A reassuring book with…

To give the big guy up or keep him under wraps, that is the question. My son came home today and informed me that a girl in his class told him Santa isn’t…

  Great book signing yesterday! The Barnes & Noble location sold out of “When You Lived in My Belly” and invited me back for a second signing on October 6th! So, I’m in…

Parenting writer and author Jodi Meltzer is coming to the Barnes & Noble in Fairfax on Sunday, Sept. 22 at 1 p.m. to read and discuss her children’s book, “When You Lived in…

Today was a typical Monday morning rush, trying to balance a dog who needed walking and a kid who needed to get to school (and, somehow, get myself ready, too)…until something extraordinary happened…

The dire warnings against mingling money with friendship date back to Shakespeare, when Polonius, the chief counselor to King Claudius in Hamlet, says, “Neither a borrower nor a lender be, for a loan often…

AGE: 46 RESIDENCE: Franklin, Massachusetts I am a blogger on my personal websites, Jodi Meltzer and Mommy Dish, and a parenting writer/contributor for several publications, including HuffPost, The Mighty, and Scary Mommy. I am also the author of a novel…

Besides the HUGE picture of me on tier Faceboook, this was a fun Q&A with some great Alex quote!. Mascot Books’ August Featured Title: When You Lived in My Belly Our August featured…

To say yesterday morning was exceptionally emotional is an understatement. My little guy boarded a bus full of strangers to Maine, off to Experience Camps –an amazing week-long program tailored for children who have experienced…

Your responses to my contest to win a copy of When You Lived in My Belly were incredible. Some made me laugh out loud, and some made me a little emotional. All were…

Here I am, the day before my children’s book, “When You Lived in My Belly” makes its big debut after nearly six years of endless work to bring it to market, smack dab…

I’m very selective when it comes to books for my eldest daughter. I don’t only want them to be age-appropriate – I also want to make sure they are easy to read and…

Here I am, the day before my children’s book, When You Lived in My Belly, makes its big debut after nearly six years of endless work to bring it to market, smack dab…

Early buzz about When You Lived in My Belly As a part of the press tour I’m currently on some very exciting people and publications have started to rate and review When You…

Based on preorders, When You Lived in My Belly is debuting as the no. 1 selling book on Amazon in the…wait for it…Children’s Sexuality category… (oh how I would have preferred it if…

The Sweet Title Was Local Author Pays Loving Tribute to Her Son My son and I made the front page of the local newspaper for When You Lived in My Belly! I wrote…

Alex Meltzer Is A Precocious Nine-Year-Old. He’s The Focus Of A Book, Whose Author Happens To Be His Mom. Alex Meltzer is the star of the show. “Mi casa es su casa,” Meltzer…

When You Lived in My Belly comes out two weeks from today–August 6th! And I will be reading it at the Barnes & Noble in Bellingham, MA on August 10th (more information and…

Here’s the press release for When You Lived in My Belly, available for presale now and out August 6, 2019: Popular Parenting Writer Publishes When You Lived in My Belly Mothers of curious…

Happy Saturday! Stay cool by reading another review of When You Lived in My Belly. You can preorder on Barnes & Noble and Amazon! “I’ve started collecting books for new mommies and mommies-to…

When You Lived in My Belly has been getting some great reviews from industry mainstays like Kirkus Reviews to mommy bloggers to everyone in between (no negative ones so far; fingers crossed). I…

Today is already shaping up to be this kind of day: Sunglasses for no reason except daylight (even sans sun) seems way too bright. Oh, and they work as a makeshift headband for…

Soooo…let me tell you about my upcoming weekend. ✔️ My beautiful, brilliant bonus daughter is graduating from college tomorrow. When I met her, she still believed in Santa Claus, and I absolutely adore…

My son–my sun–turned 9-years-old yesterday, and, for the first time ever, he didn’t run down the hall to greet me with a kiss at 6:00 a.m. (due a terrifying medical emergency I had…

My mother stood in front of her ornate china cabinet, crammed with crystal and glass and silver, and traced her tired, swollen fingers across a weathered bowl. “This is an antique,” she said,…

This is 100% MommyDishMondayMotivation. If parents’ priorities were straight (ahem, Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin), they would be happy supporting whatever their kids’ dreams and aspirations are (elite college or no college if they…

First WTF occurred at 4:57 a.m. I got up and couldn’t fall back to sleep for the following reasons: 1. I began the involuntary process of trying to solve all of my problems/the…

My beloved 8-year-old son lost his father 8 months ago. At such a tender, impressionable age, he hand selected the dapper suit and tie he would wear to his dad’s funeral, he delivered…

As many of you know, I have a monthly radio segment, Hollywood Mommy Dish…but I cannot wait until the next show to weigh in on the Khloe/Tristan/Jordyn saga. Quick recap: Tristan Thompson is…

Tis the season for holiday parties! It’s time to unearth those Pinterest-worthy recipes and actually make them for friends who are no longer counting calories. It’s time to slip out of dog-hair-covered-leggings and…

Five years ago today, I lost the person I was closest to for the first 40 years of my life. My beloved mom died after a relentless fight with ovarian cancer–a cruel, horrific,…

I must interrupt my snarky memes to post this, which will hopefully increase understanding and awareness of ADHD. I love this! And, if you have anything similar about another condition that you’d like…

Special thanks to my friends over at Thyroid Survivor Network for sharing an article I wrote about my best friend Jill’s grueling thyroid cancer journey. Thyroid cancer is not the “good cancer.” When you read…

Starting the day with an epic search for my cell phone! Usually, I can turn all sources of noise off–including authoritatively sssshhhhhhhhh-ing my kids–long enough to hear the faint, tantalizing whisper of my…

It was a battle of wits last night in my home. The Tooth Fairy versus an insatiably curious and inquisitive 8-year-old who doubts her very existence. My son has only lost four teeth….

I recently inexplicably started the daunting task of sifting through old emails, trying to make a dent in the 20,000 or so that have been clogging my oldest inbox for years. During my…

I turned 45 recently, and I suddenly feel like a mom on the D-list. I am officially stalking 50 (hey, you always round up, right?), and half of my life is over, if…

“Today is Valentine’s Day. We had a code red at school. I was locked in a room. I thought I was going to die.” Imagine your child writing those heartbreaking words in a…

Bombogenesis. In all of my long suffering winters as a native Bostonian, I have never heard this term. Blizzard? Sure. Snowpocalypse? Yup. But bombogenesis? Yikes. Hearing the panic-stricken weather forecasters screech “bombogenesis” on…

My mom died four years ago today. I approach this day the same way every year. Grief rolls in like a predictable, incoming tide, beginning on Halloween. I see my then three-and-a-half-year-old son…

I picked my boys up after school yesterday and surprised them with a day at a farm I used to frequent as a kid. They climbed haystacks piled high for their enjoyment, and…

We all wonder–and, at times, obsess–about whether we are “bad moms”. Self-doubt comes with the parenting gig. Whenever you are questioning yourself about your choices, beating yourself up for your actions, or worrying…

It’s the first day of school for my kids! T minus five days until I am routinely stumped by second grade math homework. Fourth grade assistance might require a stunt double, industrial-sized margaritas,…

When I die, I will surely be remembered for my uncanny ability to choose the loudest, most obnoxious malfunctioning mofo of a supermarket cart in the entire store. Every. Single. Time. Add to…

Mommy Dish aficionados! I was recently interviewed on the show “HuffPost on Call.” If you have a spare half-hour, you can listen to my insightful chat with Dr. Jane Greer. We covered everything…

When you’ve endured as many motherless days as I have, you do everything you can to protect yourself from the heightened, stinging sadness associated with certain dates. Her birthday and death anniversary are…

My son was enjoying a rare pack of Starbursts before I dropped him off at his dad’s yesterday. The car ride was more on the silent side—peeling, chewing, and prioritizing colors demands focus!–but…

I am as liberal as they come, a “live and let live” kind of girl. Our current president is my most mind-numbing, gut-wrenching, stomach-turning horror show of a nightmare personified. Like millions of…

I am as liberal as they come, a “live and let live” kind of girl. Our current president is my most mind-numbing, gut-wrenching, stomach-turning horror show of a nightmare personified. Like millions of…

Like a car showing its age from driving thousands of miles on rough terrain, I have had many starts and stops, fits and sputters, and, yes, breakdowns on my road of grief. I…

Picture this: When I was young, maybe five or six years old, I was seated at a restaurant with my mom and younger brother, happily scarfing down my favorite meal-of-the-moment. Mid-way through lunch…

When did we become a bunch of “Mean Girls?” An alligator attacked a toddler frolicking at the edge of a lagoon at Disney World. Lane Graves died a mind numbingly gruesome death in…

If anyone is confused why Brock Turner, the spoiled, self-righteous prick who blames everyone but himself for brutally raping, sodomizing, and dehumanizing an unconscious, defenseless woman behind a dumpster at Stanford University, look…

Moms have been going at Michelle Gregg old-school, Hester Prynne style because her 4-year-old son ultimately caused a beloved, endangered silverback gorilla’s death by slipping, undetected, into his home at the Cincinnati Zoo….

I woke up on Mother’s Day at 6:45 a.m. to a symphony of sneezes well within my personal spray zone. My son went in for a kiss with a messy cold and completely…