Word around school this week is that Sophie’s been swiping other kids’ drinks at lunch. She drains her juice box and nabs someone else’s drink, particularly if it’s strawberry milk. I stuck 35 cents in this morning, so she could get her own, which she thoroughly enjoyed. I didn’t mean to be in the cafeteria during […]

So the Elmos aren’t working, as you already know. It looks like the tough love approach might be the ticket. Ms. X called the other day to report that Sophie had had a pretty terrible morning. In the afternoon (and without any interns to help out) Ms. X tried a new tactic. She sat Sophie […]

Amphibious by Erin Murphy My daughter wants to take  a framed oil painting to school, a nude with loose breasts and a belly ripe as the full moon. Why? Because we’re studying frogs, she says, and it’s a frog. I cock my head to consider the angle of the draped arm but can’t get past the female […]

The Elmos aren’t working. Not so much, not anymore. At first, they worked so well, it seemed like a miracle. But I knew it wouldn’t last. Like most souls, Sophie is very interested in a good bribe. I see nothing wrong with that. Positive reinforcement is what it’s all about, as far as I’m concerned. […]

Yesterday Ray emailed me a picture from his phone. The subject line: “Ya ain’t gonna believe this…..” He’s right. Ya ain’t. For a long time now, he’s been taking the girls to the Phoenix Rock Gym. Annabelle scampers to the top of the wall, but for months, Sophie’s been stuck at one move — maybe […]

A couple days ago, the Glo-Worm emerged from the pile. It happens sooner or later with all toys in our house — they show up, poking out from a basket or under the couch. Sophie pressed the worm’s belly, and it a played a song. Instantly, I was in a dark hospital room, pressing that belly […]

I met the most remarkable woman yesterday. We’d been emailing for weeks (months?) about our daughters. The woman lives in town, friend of a friend of a friend. My daughter is 5; we found out she had Down syndrome when she was several days old. Still, I remember the time before the diagnosis felt like eternity. […]

Without a doubt, I pulled the shortest straw yesterday — the worst place to be in America last night was the Arizona Biltmore. Several of us got tipsy on strong cocktails at the last McCain party at the Biltmore resort (where the Reagans once honeymooned and the Hollywood stars hung, a beautiful place designed by […]

Can people with Down syndrome vote? That has got to be the worst question I’ve asked since Sophie was born. The second worst: When Sophie was three months old — and about to have open heart surgery — I asked the geneticist whether people with Down syndrome ever have curly hair. (He gave me a […]

I was really excited for Halloween this year, and not just for the usual reasons. I couldn’t wait for the Kindergarten Halloween Festival and, finally, a chance to spy. It’s a tradition at the girls’ school. (The festival, not the spying.) Every Halloween, all the kindergarteners — and only the kindergarteners — parade through the […]