A couple weeks ago, I “snuck” some time with Sophie and her classmates. Each of them decorated a heart for Miss Y, and we made a bouquet of Valentine flowers for the teacher. With the beating public education is taking these days — not to mention the challenges in Miss Y’s particular classroom — there’s […]
Ever since I started embroidering (or ‘broidering, as Sophie calls it) — and showing off my not-so-handiwork — I’ve heard the same thing. Don’t worry about the back! It won’t show! Who cares?! Yeah, the back doesn’t matter, I learned the hard way, til you go to try to frame the piece. Smoosh this stuff down […]
The girls and I were in full valentine production mode last night, when Annabelle raised an eyebrow from across the dining room table and pointed. “How is anyone going to be able to read those?” she asked, not unkindly. She was referring to the treat bags Sophie was decorating with foam hearts and Yo Gabba Gabba stickers, […]
Saturday was a melancholy day — the one-year anniversary of the last time the girls saw their Grandma, the day we took her to tea at the Ritz. Of course, the girls didn’t remember the date (ah, to be 8 and 6) but I did, and my mom and I decided to mark the occasion with a […]
I can’t shake the bit of melancholy that’s been hanging around the edges of my world, this whole holiday season. Usually it doesn’t come til it’s time to take down the decorations and get ready to go back to school, but this year I have to admit that it’s been with me all along. Maybe, […]
School’s back tomorrow and, frankly, not a moment too soon. For me, at least. And for Sophie, I think. The need for structure is a pretty sophisticated thing to articulate, so she’s not saying so, but I know she has it — she shows it, every time she puts up a fight (as in, every […]
My husband discovered WalMart this year, which means that now, post-Christmas, there’s a lot of cheap plastic in the house (all given with great love; he was excited to shower the girls with gifts) but Santa brought a few notable items, as well. Annabelle received ZhuZhu pets (again, procured by Ray, who was smart enough to spot […]
I think I’ll be visiting my parents’ home a lot more from now on. Sure, it’ll be nice to see them, but I’ll also be stopping by to see the girls — in the form of my mom’s holiday gift, a painting by Amanda Blake, creator of the girl in the party hat and one […]
Here is a piece I wrote and never had the chutzpah to submit anywhere. If you are a regular Girl in a Party Hat reader, you might know some of the details already, so apologies in advance. Also, there are no pictures from last Christmas; I looked. But here is a photo taken the day […]
From the “now I’ve heard everything” category, a while ago there was a piece on Marketplace about the Slow Media Movement. Like Slow Food, but with real mail and landlines. Of course, as the story admitted, the movement’s being promoted on Facebook. Ridiculous. But I will say that while I’ve become a texting/googling/emailing/multi-tasking fool, I do […]
