After two tardy slips this week, I was determined to get Sophie to school in plenty of time to make the bell, and in my rush I didn’t notice that she’d left the house in patent leather party shoes and sweatpants. It wasn’t until she’d leaned over from the backseat for several goodbye kisses, handing […]
Yesterday afternoon, I snuck out for lunch with someone I met on the Internet. I didn’t tell my husband about it. I had an awesome time. And you know what? I’ll do it again. I’m not sure how I met Lisa — maybe on Instagram, or through this blog. But for a while, I’ve been […]
This past weekend, Sophie performed onstage at the Herberger Theater in downtown Phoenix for the third year in a row. The production is Snow Queen and as far as I know, Sophie’s the only kid with special needs (definitely the only one with Down syndrome) who’s ever been in this show, sort of a Nutcracker […]
This semester, Sophie’s older sister, Annabelle, was asked to write a “This I Believe” style essay for her seventh grade English class. Here’s hers; it’s about Detour, a local theater company. Annabelle and Sophie were part of the cast of “South Pacific” in June 2012. I Believe in Art Art is for everybody. The […]
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 did it. I’ve been talking it about (a lot — apologies to those who have listened to me go on) and today I finally did it. I sent in Sophie’s Special Olympics registration. For cheerleading. What follows is a piece I read last month at an event sponsored by a group called the Lit […]
I heard a small voice behind me. “Where’s Sophie?” I’d been wondering if anyone would ask. It was almost halfway through the Saturday night performance of the Snow Queen, and the sprites — already covered in green glitter, hair teased in ponytails all over their little heads – were putting on their unitards and wings, getting ready for their […]
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 […]
When I was almost 7, I had all sorts of ideas as to what I wanted to be when I grew up. Most of the time I wanted to be a poet. I was reminded of that ridiculous notion for the gazillionth time this morning as I listened to some particularly fantastic poetry on “Morning Edition” […]
