I have never considered myself a writer. Not since second grade, when I lost a poetry contest and realized I wasn’t all that — despite what my mother said (constantly). The first day of graduate school, I moved into a dorm with students from all over the university. “You must be the journalist!” the other […]
This morning Sophie and I toured a charter school in downtown Phoenix, our first visit out into “the field” as we look for a junior high for her. “That was fun!” she announced when we got in the car. “Really?” I thought to myself. “Because I feel like I’ve been through a meat grinder.” The […]
This morning I spoke on the phone with yet another special education professional about another school we might send Sophie to. This woman gave her school the pretty hard sell — unusual since so many others have dissuaded me from considering theirs, including a special teacher at the school Annabelle attends. But I wasn’t so […]
I have been immersed for months in a somewhat selfish pursuit: The task of finding Sophie just the right junior high. Parenting is selfish by definition, if you do it right. You fight and scrape for your kid. Damn the rest. That’s how I feel about charter schools, when it comes to both my girls. […]
Last Friday night was the school fall festival — which really means only one thing, if you’re Sophie. Last Friday night was the cake walk. For the uninitiated: A cake walk is painfully simple. Each player (a dozen or so can play at a time) stands in a big circle, each on top of a […]
I spend so much time angsting — over the past, the present, the future. But at the moment, not so much. As I type this, the temperature outside is perfect. And I’m outside in it. There are bubble lights and hot tea (that it’s barely cool enough for, but still) and I’m on my way […]
The other morning, Sophie emerged from her bedroom just as it was time to zoom out of the house, hurl ourselves at the car and drive three blocks at NASCAR speeds to make it to school before the bell rang. “I want to use this,” she said, something pink and familiar dangling from her fingers. […]
