I saw the mom of the 6-year-old with Down syndrome today. I didn’t say hello, not right away, since she’s been standoffish since I gave her the bag with the books and the Down syndrome information last week. But today she approached me. Turns out, she DID call some of the numbers I gave her. [...]

If it were up to Ray, I’m quite certain there’d be an X Games version of the Special Olympics. He’s my daredevil. The guy hikes Camelback Mountain in the dead of the Phoenix summer; tosses himself and his mountain bike down South Mountain; and last week, he insisted on soloing a climbing route that had recently [...]

All week, my dad’s been quoting Jon Stewart, who recently must have said something to the effect of, “War is God’s way of teaching Americans about geography.” I love that. And I love that my father is quoting The Daily Show. I don’t know much about geography, myself. I was never a good student when [...]

The 6-year-old’s mom avoided me yesterday, and I wasn’t the only one who noticed. Maybe she was having a bad day. Or maybe I came on too strong. (MOI????) Share:

I arrived at school today laden with backpacks and lunch boxes and kids, and one extra bag. In it, I had placed several books Sophie’s (finally) outgrown: one with signs for animals, another “touch and feel” and two musical books that she’d still play with if I let her. (I just had to retire the [...]

Today was a darn good day. With one exception (a big one, she left the playground at recess) Sophie did well in kindergarten. Annabelle continued on her merry second grade way. We had gelato with Ms. X to celebrate Sophie’s Week One successes, and dinner after that (yes, we had dessert first, shoot me!) with [...]

My grandpa is dying. He has been, off and on, all summer, but this week, i fear, it’s for real. My husband Ray (it’s confusing – my grandfather and my husband and his father AND grandfather are all Raymond) wants to know why I’m not more upset. He keeps nagging me about it. It’s true, I [...]

Growing up, I always heard the adage, “Never put anything in your ear that’s smaller than your elbow.” (Good advice, though be honest: Who among us doesn’t enjoy a good session with a few Q-tips?) No one ever said anything about noses. Except not to pick, of course. Which is why I was annoyed the other day, [...]

Ms. X called shortly after school let out today, to report that Sophie had a great day. One “time out,” but otherwise pretty darn good. “And she wrote her name today,” she added. “She what???” At all the meetings we had last winter and spring, to determine Sophie’s next step, the one face at the [...]

Four days in, and Sophie hasn’t been kicked out yet. The first week of kindergarten is full of growing pains for all the kids, and for Sophie I think it’s been especially hard because of the heat (you try going back to school — and onto the playground — when it’s 111 degrees out, and [...]