It Was Just Lunch: How A Meal Can Remind You of Who You Are
We made plans to meet in a place miles from home. It’s just lunch, I told myself. I’d never done anything like this, so I suppose it was normal to be nervous. I was excited and hungry. It felt wrong, and yet right. With first date-type jitters I put on fresh lipstick in the parking [...]
Firsts vs. lasts: remembering the parenting moments we don’t celebrate
My son doesn’t take baths anymore. Now, before you call the health department, rest assured, he does still bathe, but he’s switched to taking showers. All by himself. All of a sudden. I can’t even remember exactly when it happened. I just know that there used to be three little wet, wiggly ones in the [...]
Back-to-school blues: A mom mourns the end of a beautiful summer
‘Twas a few nights before school starts And all through the land, The packing of backpacks Was almost at hand. (And making lunches, and remembering gym shoes on Fridays, and oh by the way Mom, there’s a bake sale today and we’re supposed to bring 4 dozen cupcakes) The kids were all sleeping, Bedtime stories [...]
The Olympics and parenting- what do they have in common?
It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Make that the most wonderful time of the quadrennial! (And yes, I did just Google “What do you call a four year period of time?”) Chills? Check. Shakiness? Check. Am I ill? You bet- with a massive case of Olympic Fever! I absolutely love the Olympics, particularly [...]
Belated birthday wishes for my little girl
My sweet little Ceci Bear, I can’t believe you are three years old! OK, technically you are more than three, since your birthday was a full month ago. Believe me, I do realize that some little girls have mommies who would have had an official birthday message prepared in time for the big event, printed [...]
Safety Town: A mom’s lesson in growing up
So there I was, for the second time in as many months, sitting in a tiny school gym on chairs designed for much tinier behinds than mine, watching my almost five-year-old walk across a stage in a makeshift cardboard mortarboard with Pomp and Circumstance playing in the background. The first time, it was for his [...]
A sprinkling of anger: a mom’s quest to find her voice
It was one of those moments that seems to happen in slow motion. I saw her reach for the jar of sprinkles, then begin to shake it up and down. “NOOOOOOOOOOOO!” I yelled, but it was too late. Hundreds, no thousands of teeny, tiny brightly colored balls went flying into the air, then landed with [...]
A tale of two aunts and two recipes: Life lessons learned in the kitchen
This is the tale of two aunts. Two dearly departed aunts who both had a profound impact on my life. It is the story of two women with seemingly nothing in common, the similar paths they carved through our family, and the recipes they left behind. First, my aunt Nabila, my mother’s sister. She was [...]
