It’s been a while! I have two new essays this month that I wanted to share: one serious tribute to Anthony Bourdain and a humor piece that addresses the excessive number of guys named Jesse in early 80s songs. “Exercising Mussel Memories” is about the deep connection between certain foods and memory. The literary magazine […]
I’m writing fewer parenting stories than I used to. My kids are teenagers and have definite opinions when it comes to me writing about them. Which is fair, although I’m pretty sure they occasionally post not-so flattering videos of me on their Snapchat stories (whatever those are). I also worry about sounding like I have […]
Hello! I’ve writing news to share, including a new website name. First, though: happy spring. One of my tricks to getting through winter is keeping out my two favorite Christmas decorations until spring arrives. Because aside from my daughter’s birthday, I’m not a huge fan of that last season. If promise was a color it would be yellow: […]
You are contemplating Marie Kondo’s best selling book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: the Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing, because it promises to change your life. But you are crazy busy and also you may have misplaced the copy that called to you from the bargain book aisle at Costco. (Pro tip: Good chance it’s shoved […]
Do you have a tenacious toddler? I did too. The kind who wanted to push her own stroller and water the plants and feed the dog all by herself. Some other signs your child may fit in the strong-willed category: she will say “I do” and “by myself” a lot. She will look at the outfit you’ve suggested, go […]
So this happened last week. You can picture it. On a rushed, early morning, a harried mother backs her minivan out of the garage. She failed to notice that the last person to drive it (not her!) had made a small (but crucial!) change to her typical parking job. And thus it was that the van just […]
Ah, the beach. Taking in a tan, body surfing, reading, napping… That was my vision. Then we had kids. The beach with little ones requires constant vigilance, not to mention digging, pail filling, pail dumping, more pail filling, sobbing, snacking, building, burying, losing, searching, and more snacking. Admonitions that you may not throw sand in your […]
This one’s for all of us who look at a minor crisis and respond with active imaginations, complete panic and (wait for it) a google search. Sharing my family’s story in the The Washington Post this week. It’s aptly titled: “Do you try the University of Google when there’s no time to get to the doctor? Maybe don’t.” […]
We suburban parents have something in common with a famous American icon. Because whether you’re fighting outlaws in the wild west or the Costco parking lot, everyone needs a trusty steed. The Lone Ranger had Silver; we have Burgundy. Ok, his was a horse, ours is a minivan. But still. According to lore (the old-fashioned word for Wikipedia), the Lone […]
Did anyone else watch the National Spelling Bee finals last night? My guys put on ESPN and were mesmerized. I laughed, drifted in, was hooked. Same with our teen. Spoiler alert: it ended in a tie. Co-champs Vanya Shivashankar and Gokul Venkatachalem made it through multiple rounds. They correctly spelled words like pipsissewa and zimocca and […]