Sophie wet her pants at school on the first day of the second week of fifth grade. “Well, accidents happen,” I said to the school nurse when she called to explain why Sophie would be coming home in different clothes. I wasn’t so concerned at first; Sophie almost never wets her pants (I think maybe […]

We went to a giant water park on the west side of Phoenix yesterday. That’s not typically my idea of a good time, but it was Father’s Day and Ray was so excited I couldn’t say no. He can’t manage that kind of outing solo. Annabelle will go on all the slides with him — […]

I dropped a penny in the check-out line at Safeway the other night. Knowing she’d be into it, I called Sophie over. “Hey, there’s a penny! Make a wish.” She crouched down, confirming the penny was heads-up (I’m raising my daughters right, after all) before picking it up. Still squatting, not caring that she was […]

The other evening, at bedtime, I was reading Sophie a book called Moo, Baa, La La La, and my eyes landed on a book I had put on her shelf before she was born, the young adult classic A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle. I was suddenly sad, thinking that Sophie probably will never […]

She’s quiet, so I really have no idea where this came from. Well, technically, it came from the back seat of the car, as she fiddled (I thought it was fiddling) on her lap top yesterday afternoon. She’s growing up, my first born daughter — but not too fast. On the brink of 12, she […]

Last month, a local chef came over to make cookies. I knew what she’d say when she walked in my kitchen. “Oooooh, look at that stove!” The oversized, white enamel Gaffers & Sattler stove came with the house, which was built in 1948. Previous owners remodeled the kitchen in the late Nineties, putting in pink […]

Funny how something as simple as giving can seem so complicated. Do you give the drunk homeless guy on the street some cash, or your leftovers from dinner, or nothing? Stop for the veteran with the tattered sign by the freeway? I have a friend whose kid spent weeks trying to get ahold of the […]

Sophie started a book club — and you’re invited. Just don’t expect much to happen.  She’s calling it “Sophie’s Book Club,” but I think it should be called “The Best Book Club Ever.” Last Sunday it was about a hundred and a million degrees out — even too hot to swim — and I was […]

I can’t believe Sophie’s in fourth grade. Neither could the girl behind the counter at our bagel shop. “It’s the first day of school,” I told her. “Cool!” she told Sophie. “What grade are you in?” “You tell her!” Sophie said. “Fourth,” I said. “Really?” She peered over the counter to take a closer look. […]