What do you get your craftiest friend for her birthday? Crafts, of course. At least, you do if the friend is Gilda, who along with being talented is one of the dearest souls I know — meaning that, among other things, she overlooks holes in the fondant and bumps on the embroidery. (Even though she’s the one […]
I don’t remember what I got for my 9th birthday. I remember the yellow Snoopy watch I got when I turned 7 (I wish I hadn’t lost it) and the “sewing machine” that used glue, and when I was 8 I begged for (and got) an Easy Bake Oven. But I don’t remember 9, or […]
I’m a big believer in thank you notes. Not voicemails or emails or texts or Facebook wall posts or tweets — the kind of thank you note that actually arrives in the mailbox with a stamp on it and handwriting inside. That’s not to say that I always manage to get one sent, or that […]
On my to-do list these days, among other things: 1. Amass a pile of summer books (with the goal of actually reading something longer than a blog post by August). 2. Plan Annabelle’s birthday party. Oddly, the two have intersected. At the top of my summer reading list is a book I keep seeing mentioned in […]
The party’s over. It was a good one. If I was one to nitpick, I’d say that there was not enough candy in the pinata, the music guys flopped (7 and 9 year olds are too old for “Five Little Monkeys”), the coffee was bad, and what was I thinking, skipping the adult beverages?! Minutes before guests […]
In two days, Sophie will be 7. This is a really big deal. We’ve been discussing it for months. After a lot of debate (and many family votes) the theme has been chosen: Olivia the Pig. (If you don’t know her, you should –you’d love her.) One nice thing about Olivia is that despite the […]
My poor mother. Today is my father’s birthday. Let’s just say he has not been his most pleasant self of late — or so I hear. Perhaps getting past the day will help. He’s not a gift kind of guy, so my sister Jenny and I — and our families — continued a tradition Jenny […]
I’ve come to the conclusion, after this weekend, that it’s as though Sophie’s emotional thermostat is broken. Or at least a bit off. Maybe it’s her social thermostat, rather than emotional. And maybe I shouldn’t say “broken.” I know I shouldn’t say broken. I’m struggling with how to explain it. Saturday afternoon, I took the […]
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. The way we honor birthdays in this culture is all wrong. The celebration should center on the mom, not the kid. If she has her way, this afternoon at lunch my own mother will regale a tableful of my friends with the tale of what a dick that […]
Yesterday, Annabelle and her friend Bhavini carved pumpkins. (These are their pumpkins, above.) Yeah, kids all over America carved pumpkins yesterday (I know this from Facebook) but this was special because it’s the third year in a row Bhavini has come over to carve pumpkins with us. She and her mom might return to India within […]
