You’re sitting in your office trying to make peace with your inner pout. You’re trying to remember where you put the last of the Christmas cards. You’ve got to jam just one or two more holiday errands into the lunch hour. OHMYGOD will you remember to tip the mail carrier and the mechanic and the […]
48 Hours
48 hours. Well, technically, it’s been less. But in the past two days, we’ve had some of my true drug of choice: sleep. My son has scored some serious snooze time, and I’ve racked up more zzzzs than usual, though I’m staring at a pretty depleted well after our marathon of days and nights this […]
The Zone
Your kid’s eyes are glazed over because it’s after three a.m. and he’s still working, and your eyes are glazed over because it’s after three a.m. and you’re still working, and while you’re the mother you remember being the kid – hanging on with everything you’ve got to pull it out at the end of […]
Do You Speak Your Mind?
Speaking up. Speaking out. Speakimg your mind… with confidence. Sounds easy, right? But it’s not. And you know what I just realized? I spend more time in conversation with adolescents than with adults. I think that’s a great thing. I am more inquisitive, more engaged, and more myself when dealing with those under the age […]
Role Reversal
There’s little question that if you ask me what my job is, I’ll answer “parent.” That doesn’t preclude the fact that I am a writer, and many other things; that my professional endeavors predated my maternal duties by more than a decade. But my primary job these days – as it has been for years […]
Bags, Mags, and Shags
The best Rx: Take two chick flicks and call me in the morning.
Pampering
I wouldn’t say I was a “girly girl” exactly. I’m strong. I’m opinionated. But I love the differences between men and women. Perhaps it is my years in France. Perhaps I should own up to a few girly girl tendencies all the same. But I’ve fallen behind. Way behind – in everything that enables me […]
Cynical, skeptical, or cautious?
We had both been waiting at the hospital for three hours. She’s a registered nurse, and was even more annoyed than I was. “I don’t know what could be taking so long for a few simple tests,” she says. “A little blood work and the basics. This is a woman’s clinic now.” I am sitting […]
Wits’ End
It’s another parenting morning during which I can feel the hairs on my head repainting themselves silver and the fist in my gut tightening. A typical morning with a teenager under stress and it’s become the rhythm of every morning for the most part, and I’ll sum it by saying: it’s rough. No matter how […]
Monday Morning Moments
After a really lousy few days, there’s nothing like a different sort of reality check. For example, everything that could have gone wrong that didn’t. On a Monday! For example: My computer didn’t crash. My car started despite the cold. I got the kid to school on time. His painting project is going well. I […]