Ray told the girls about Ernie last night before bed. I didn’t know it was coming. I walked into the living room to find the three of them on the couch, Ray and Annabelle in tears. Ray had told them simply that Ernie got sick and died (no gory details), like our dog, Elliot, who met his […]

It’s horrible, losing someone you loved. It’s also horrible, losing someone you hated. Ray opened the back door and walked into the kitchen. He shook his head. I hugged him hard. True, the tears in his eyes were more abundant than the tears in mine, but still, I was a little damp. I was sad. […]

I’ve long believed that the ability to tell a white lie — and make it stick — is a sign of great intelligence. Yesterday I learned that Sophie’s capable of at least half the equation. “Moooooooooooooooomy, come in here right now!” Annabelle called from the bathroom. “Sophie put a whole roll of toilet paper in […]

Sophie has no friends. There it is, a brutal statement, but true. I was going to write about the cats, but I’m trying, with this blog, to push myself to write about hard stuff. So today, Sophie. Friendless Sophie. Not lonely Sophie, she’s by no means lonely, or unhappy. She always has someone to play […]

Years ago, I decided that I’d need to be diligent about protecting Sophie from fashion mistakes. I’m not proud of the fact that I won’t let my kid wear overalls or sailor tops, but I won’t. I feel that Sophie has enough challenges and anyhow, overalls remind me of “Of Mice and Men”. (At least, […]

In the time it took for me to close Sophie’s car door, open my own and plop behind the wheel, a conversation had begun in the back seat. “Oh Sophie,” Annabelle was saying, in her sweetest voice. “YOU get to go to water play today! That will be SO MUCH FUN. Not like boring old […]

It’s either a good thing or a bad thing that I started this blog when I did, on May 21, four days before The New York Times Magazine came out with its cover story, “Post-Blog Confidential” — an unwitting homage to everything I dislike about the blogosphere, including Gawker, which I admit can be irresistably […]

This afternoon I had to call a guy who may or may not have been trying to impersonate a writer at the paper where I work. I found the whole thing somewhat comical. Most of the time, no one in this town would dream of pretending to work at New Times. We’re not so popular and […]

  This just in: Stupid flies live longer, according to a study by some Swiss scientists. I’ll just say the politically incorrect thing: When you have a kid with Down syndrome, stories like that are of great interest. I clicked on the Yahoo headline link just as Ray and Sophie were walking into the kitchen. Ray […]

Our newish sitter, Julie, was standing at the stove making herself some banana pancakes last night, when Annabelle marched into the room and farted just about the loudest, juiciest fart I’ve ever heard. (At least, the loudest/juiciest I’ve ever heard come out of Annabelle.) I held my breath for a minute. You know, not everyone’s […]