The mommy track trap, especially for older (single) moms.
Parenting Advice From Non-Parents – What Do You Think?
Those who can… do. Those who can’t… counsel? On parenting advice…
Small House Record (Seventeen!)
Seventeen. The magic number, apparently. One backyard, one clear night, 1100 square feet, and seventeen kids. No, this is not a commercial announcement for a crazy new reality TV show, though maybe it ought to be. No, this time I didn’t “just say no”. I said yes – to… count ’em… seventeen sleeping in my […]
Report Card
It’s approaching the end of the school year, and as my son prepares for a variety of exams and final papers, I think about the report card. Not his. Mine. As he continues his last push toward graduation, I find myself wondering what sort of marks I would receive as his parent. Of course, I […]
Why the Early Bird Doesn’t Always Get the Worm
“Out of bed now,” I say, though he isn’t on the bed. As usual. He’s on the couch, where he works on the computer, where he interacts with friends on Facebook, where he watches television then studies a few hours more, where eventually – he sleeps. I take in the beauty of him as he […]
Be Careful What You Wish For
Is it love? Is it money? Is it just a day or two to yourself? Is it something harder to generalize, impossible to articulate, or too private to admit to? Do you have a foolish little dream – or a glitzy big one – something from childhood – shelved and dusted off, shelved again, only […]
Anger or Impotence
While visions of Reality TV and sexual athletics may be dancing through my head in the early a.m. – as I am extricating myself from dreams – within a few minutes of brewing my coffee and scanning a few headlines, other thoughts quickly take precedence. In keeping with yesterday’s theme – the “human” side of […]
Time on Your Hands?
Spare time? Are you kidding? What do you do when your friends or partners can take time off, and you simply can’t? When your schedule is bursting at the seams, even on the weekends? What if you feel like there’s never time to catch up, to take stock, to plan productively, much less to snooze, […]
Flop House
I tripped over shoes in the living room. It was dark, and the shoes didn’t belong to either of my sons. This is not new. The body on the couch was longer and broader than usual, mumbling good morning as I covered him with a fallen comforter and went to my younger son’s room and […]
How to Help When You Have No Words
When comforting our children feels next to impossible.