Because natural isn't always possible — or easy.
Posted in Emotional development on Dec 14th, 2010
It’s cold here in New York — too cold for a two-year-old who doesn’t like gloves or hats. This is why, every morning this month, I’ve sending Big Girl out to the bus stop by herself. Ever the helicopter parent, I park myself in front of the window so I can watch her obsessively until [...]
Posted in Emotional development, Health on Nov 20th, 2010
My writer friend Joan Price is pretty incredible. She’s a fitness and dance instructor, motivational speaker, and an author. She reviews sex toys. She line dances. She’s written two books: Better Than I Ever Expected: Straight Talk About Sex After Sixty and her soon to be released tome, Naked at Our Age. Not surprisingly, she [...]
Posted in Emotional development, parenting on Nov 9th, 2010
I must be. Really, I must be. Because, you see, my daughter told me she hated me in front of an entire room of catechists. Tonight was a mandatory catechist meeting. Mandatory. There was one earlier in the day at 10 a.m., but I was working at the time. Moderating a webinar. Not something I [...]
Posted in Emotional development on Nov 8th, 2010
I spent my childhood gobbling up books. I loved Little Women, all the Shoes books by Noel Streatfeild, Nancy Drew, A Wrinkle in Time, A Little Princess, anything Judy Blume. All the Little House books, Cheaper by the Dozen. I burned through the young adult shelves often rereading my favorites over and over again. One [...]
Posted in Emotional development, parenting on Oct 8th, 2010
The news is filled with stories of bullied kids committing suicide. Just this morning I read a story about an Ohio school that buried four kids who killed themselves after being mercilessly taunted for being gay, foreign, or just plain different. The most chilling part? When the reporter explained how some of those bullies had [...]
Posted in Emotional development on Oct 4th, 2010
I spent the wee hours of Saturday night into Sunday wondering why I let myself be talked into a Jell-o shot. We had gone to a party at our beach club — the Bash After the Splash. It was a BYOB event. Everyone contributed either an appetizer or a dessert, and brought their own drinks. [...]
Posted in Education, Emotional development, parenting, School and education on Sep 7th, 2010
Today at 9:18 a.m. I got into my car and cried. I had just dropped Big Girl off at the big, scary public school. Today I picked her up at 3:15. I want to cry again. Our conversation: Me: How was school? Big Girl (BG): It was good. Some things were the same, some were [...]
Posted in Education, Emotional development, parenting on Sep 1st, 2010
It’s not like me, right? I’ve been a good little blogger, checking in at least every other day since I started this blog way back when. And yet the last month all you’ve seen is the equivalent of chirping crickets. I’ve got a lot on my mind, and I just don’t feel like blogging. (Plus, [...]
Posted in Emotional development, Friendship, parenting on Aug 27th, 2010
Friends come to my house and often leave richer. Yes, my company is great, but they often take stuff with them, too. I don’t know how many times I’ve done it, actually. Food, old toys, clothing — you name it, I like to give it away. It should come as no surprise then that Big [...]
Posted in Emotional development, Friendship, New York Times on Aug 17th, 2010
I just read a beautiful essay in the New York Times. The essay, Coping With Crises Close to Someone Else’s Heart, chronicles an especially tough year in the writer’s life, and how many of her friends simply disappeared during that time. She explains the reason: that people are so terrified when confronted with bad things [...]