Sophie headed off to school yesterday with a new lunch bag, a Hanukkah gift. By the time I got home — it was only 6:30 — she was passed out on the couch. It was a big day, the first day back after the holiday, she had cheer practice, and she’s just getting over the […]
The principal called this afternoon. Not the principal of Sophie’s school, the principal of the gifted academy next door — the one that offers the drama elective she wants to take. He was polite but I got his message loud and clear: Tell your kid to leave me alone! Last week I posed a question […]
“Who are you talking to?” I stage-whispered. It was early, too early for most of the regulars on Sophie’s call list. “Papa,” she whispered back, immediately turning back to the call, happily snuggled on the living room couch under several soft blankets. I stood, waiting for it to end; my father is not a big […]
Last week, Annabelle and her good friend Sophia performed a song in front of their entire school. I’m partial, but I can’t stop watching the video — or asking Annabelle to perform the song for me again or to write down the lyrics. Annabelle wrote the song (among others) and taught herself to play the […]
This morning an errand took me to the Broadmor school office. Sophie’s old school. I hadn’t pulled up to the school since her last day, and I wondered if I’d get emotional. There they were, just as we’d left them, the office staff and our beloved principal. He insisted on a hug even though I […]
Yesterday was Sophie’s first ballet class with a new teacher — her grandmother. The nanny took her, but I snuck out of work early and hid in the hallway of the ballet studio, barely peeking my head above the observation window to catch a glimpse. Despite my attempts, Sophie saw me immediately, smiled and […]
This morning my husband, daughters and I each took the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge. I can think of worse ways to spend 15 minutes on a Saturday. There’s been a lot of curmudgeonly talk about this latest social media phenom, and I’ll admit to feeling a little icy toward it myself in recent days, as […]
The line dwindled, the authors stopped signing books and were chatting with each other, looking bored. It was time. “Okay, Annabelle,” I said, nudging her. “Let’s go introduce ourselves.” As a rule, I don’t line up to meet authors. Not authors I like, anyway, not since a bad encounter many years ago with T.C. Boyle. […]
This past weekend, we held an early celebration for Annabelle’s 13th birthday. I made her cake with simple recipes for white cake and buttercream frosting I found online. It did include four layers in varying shades of pink, per the almost-birthday girl’s request, but otherwise it was the simplest of cakes. And it was a […]
Mother’s Day came and went like the wind this year. I told my family it was the best one ever, and it’s true. And not just because of the gifts, though there were gifts. We were in Denver for my nephew’s Bar Mitzvah (he knocked it out of the park!) and my sister wisely made […]
