When we moved to Rose Valley in the winter of 1995, we knew exactly nobody. Ian was 3, Hugh was six months old. Chris and I were still in a fog from the death of Hugh’s twin Graham, not to mention the stress of the move and the sleeplessness of the baby. Taking Ian to his [...]
Does anyone else remember Earth Shoes? They were hideous. Bulbous. Caramel colored and custom-made for Bilbo Baggins. The toe was higher than the heel. How this made you a friend of the Earth, I’m not sure. As I recall, my cousin Paul had a pair of Earth shoes in the 1970s, during his Jew-fro phase. Maybe it’s [...]
Car rides are where it’s at, when I need to have a meaningful chat with someone in my life. Many parents know this trick. To get your kid to open up, usher him or her to the automobile for some sort of longish errand, sit behind the wheel, pull off a complicated left turn, and throw [...]
A very exclusive Academy voted last night, choosing winners of Hollywood Awards. No, not the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Reynolds Academy of Cinema-Goers and Netflix Pickers. Chris, Ian, Hugh and I gathered in the kitchen to watch the big show. Malcolm is more interested in Facebook. We agreed that Steve and Alec were [...]
Clubs are an interesting cultural phenomenon, changing with the times. One of my grandmothers was a member of The Friendly Club, which got together mostly to eat. Another was a member of the Homemakers Club, which convened to discuss housekeeping and crafting tips. I would gladly join the first, but not the second. Luckily for [...]
Yesterday sucked. Here is proof. At breakfast, I sat at the kitchen counter, watching The Today Show, when a commercial came on for a smoking cessation device. The voice-over said “Stopping smoking sucks. Make it suck less.” I thought, “Huh! That seems pretty daring for daytime TV.” Half an hour later, puttering around and putting off [...]
Upon learning I was pregnant with Ian, the first thing I bought was What to Expect When You’re Expecting. It helped pass the time during those interminable 9-and-a-half months. When he was a few months old, we borrowed Dr. Ferber’s sleep book to “Ferberiz” him and he dutifully learned to sleep through the night. The same techniques [...]
For some time now, Chris and I have been pointing out to our boys that “kids nowadays” say “theenks” instead of “thanks.” They hotly deny it. “Nobody says that!” We tell them they’re wrong, and cite which teenage clerks at which local shops say “theenks” when we hand over our money. They remain deniers. But then [...]
By Day 5 of our Six Day Weekend, everyone was going a little stir-crazy. Too much TV, too much computer, too much texting, too much shoveling, too much rattling around the house. When the boys were little, this sort of scenario always meant getting them outside and letting them run. A playground, a field, even a sidewalk and a [...]
So there I was, stuck inside the house. A blizzard fell around us. The world outside was a magical, mystical scene, the snow transforming our usually dull state, with a flick of two letters in the final syllable, into the sparkling land of Pennsylnavia. A fire crackled in the grate. A batch of sugar cookies awaited [...]
