A few months ago, while still living in PA, I submitted a little travel essay to the Philadelphia Inquirer: a fun, upbeat little piece about our vacation to Jamaica. If the paper runs your piece, they pay you 25 bucks. That’s two bottles of Pinot Grigio, and not even the ones on special. After a [...]
It’s been three weeks since school started and I’m completely burned out. It feels as though we’ve gone from 0 to 60 mph as fast as you can say Algebra I. And make no mistake. We are talking Algebra I in my crib. And Western Civilization. And Honors Language Arts. Oh, how I miss the [...]
Once and a while I discover a book that utterly rocks my world. I have found that in Cheryl Strayed’s Tiny Beautiful Things: Advice on Love and Life from Dear Sugar. Tiny Beautiful Things is a compilation of Strayed’s online advice column for the website The Rumpus. Writing under the pen name “Sugar,” Strayed replies [...]
Today is Rosh Hashanah – the Jewish New Year. Ten days from now we will observe Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. We are told to spend the weeks leading up to these high holy days in preparation, taking inventory of our lives, asking for forgiveness, and seeking ways to be better. Every year I [...]
I deluded myself into thinking potty training Phoebe would be easy. Maybe because, in general, she’s pretty easy. Or maybe, right now, amidst the chaos that is our life, I just need SOMETHING to be easy. Anything. Which of course ensures that nothing will be. I started by casually introducing Phoebe to the potty seat. [...]
I have never been one to gush about the “magical experience” of parenthood. That is not to say that I find parenting to be unfulfilling or unpleasant. Quite the opposite. I love my boys fiercely, but quietly. And for me. most days being a Mom is a practical exercise of equal parts frustration and satisfaction. [...]
I assume that every parent goes through phases when communicating with your child feels like getting your hand caught in a meat grinder a challenge. This summer has been one of those times. Anytime I start to feel a little insecure in my parenting abilities, I visit The Box. The Box is my box of parenting [...]
School starts today and the brothers will inevitably arrive back home this afternoon with their 2012 school supply list, eager to hit Staples and fill a shopping cart or two. In the spirit of starting the year off with some good old fashioned snark, I have taken the opportunity to edit the anticipated supply list, [...]
