11 Days into September of 2001, my daughter, just one among thousands, died. All victims of unlucky circumstance – terrorism or Turner’s Syndrome, the end was the same. All beloved. All gone into the space between one breath and the next. 10 Fingers adorned each perfect hand, 10 tiny toes covered with ink from being …
Read more “Dear Faith, 11 Memories of September 11 [On the day after your death]”
Man I miss Gary Larson! Pink rainbow panties over her diaper and a huge hair flower: That’s what passes for a swimsuit (or “smimsmoop”) for Jelly Bean and watching her frolic in the end-of-summer 93-degree weather it seemed perfectly appropriate. Diaper and undies – who says you can’t have it both ways? In an attempt …
Read more “What’s Your “Birthmark”? [Learning to love what we can’t change]”
I used to believe in fairies. Truly I did. I loved the whole bit – unicorns, wizards, sprites and talking cauldrons – long past the age when it was acceptable. It wasn’t just that I wanted it to be true; it’s that I needed it to be true. I wanted to be ethereal, beautiful, powerful …
Read more “Rekindling My Fairy Magic [Would We Have Been Friends In High School?]”
Becoming one with art at the outdoor sculpture park. Just what every mother wants to see: their children for which they labored long hours playing under 10 tons of precariously balanced rusty metal! Monkey bars used to be my thing. I don’t want to brag or anything but in elementary school I was kind …
Read more “Forced Family Fitness: Communing Awkwardly With Nature [America is Your Park]”
When my husband planted these grapes I thought he was nuts – we do not have the climate nor growing season for grapes – and yet look at them thrive! Lesson learned: Never underestimate the power of faith. And fertilizer. After a long night of anxiety- and thunderstorm- fueled wakefulness (two hours of sleep is …
Read more “10 Lessons I Learned From Our Garden (And none of them have to do with food!)”
I dread the day when this sweet little girl looks in the mirror and sees anything but a gorgeous miracle. In the meantime, this butterfly made her feel so happy! For days, even after it washed off, she’d touch her cheek and whisper “So pwetty!” There comes a day in every girl’s life when she …
Read more “The Cure For Not Being Good Enough [Pretty can be purchased but beauty cannot be bought]”
You’re welcome. Happy Monday morning! Due to a tragic laundering error involving a potty-training* toddler’s underwear and the family’s general laundry comingling in the dark recesses of my washing machine, I went to the gym the other day smelling like… At first I couldn’t figure it out as the scent of fecal matter was …
Baby Jumping: Officially the worst idea for a sport EVER. My fave is the dad holding up his little girl to watch like he’s all “If you don’t pick up your toys, you’re next!” Highlights of our Memorial Day vacation: Rain. Rock climbing in the rain. Hail. Archery in the rain. Lightning. Horseback riding in …
Read more “Go Jump in a Lake! [Motivating yourself to take that first step. Or fall.]”
See, this is a confession I can believe. Me too, buddy, me too. In the confessional age we live in, it’s not rare to hear a celeb start a sentence with “I have a confession” and then follow it with something really bland. I have a confession: I picked out all the green jelly beans …
Dieting has become the great American pastime. Ladies Who Lunch have been replaced by Ladies Who Do Pilates. And it’s nearly impossible to run into another woman and not hear some permutation of “You look great! Have you lost weight?” So I wasn’t surprised to see Dara-Lynn Weiss’ essay in Vogue this month (text not online) …
Read more “How Do You Help Your Child Lose Weight? One Vogue Writers Shows How Not To Do It”
