I met the most remarkable woman yesterday. We’d been emailing for weeks (months?) about our daughters. The woman lives in town, friend of a friend of a friend. My daughter is 5; we found out she had Down syndrome when she was several days old. Still, I remember the time before the diagnosis felt like eternity. […]
I was really excited for Halloween this year, and not just for the usual reasons. I couldn’t wait for the Kindergarten Halloween Festival and, finally, a chance to spy. It’s a tradition at the girls’ school. (The festival, not the spying.) Every Halloween, all the kindergarteners — and only the kindergarteners — parade through the […]
The other day, Sophie pointed to the top pocket of the thing hanging on the back of her closet door, (as opposed to the thing hanging on the front of her closet door, the thing hanging on her bathroom door, on my bathroom door, in Annabelle’s bedroom, on the back of my own bedroom door — you get the […]
“Hey, kids, we’re going to see the world’s second largest ball of twine!” Ray called out to the backseat, in his best Clark Griswold imitation. It did feel that way, as we set off for our Fall Break road trip last Tuesday. We were headed north to Winslow, Holbrook and Flagstaff, stops along Route 66, […]
This morning I walked by the playroom, where the constant churn of the piles of toys yields a new view every time you pass, and I noticed that damn Cabbage Patch Doll. I never really liked Cabbage Patch Dolls. They peaked in the 80s, when I was in high school, becoming valuable collectibles (someone didn’t […]
Just when I think we’re just fine, making do with what Sophie’s being handed (or not) in kindergarten, something happens to knock me off my clogs. (If you’ve never worn clogs, you won’t understand that saying.) I reconnected this week with a lovely woman in town whose daughter is just about Sophie’s age, and also has […]
Kindergarten is a quarter gone. We had our parent/teacher conferences yesterday. It’s still well over 100 degrees — heck, it’s barely October — so it just doesn’t feel right to call the semester half in the can. But it is. Sophie is halfway done with her first half of kindergarten. And Annabelle’s half done with […]
As soon as we walked into Old Navy and I saw that there were no shopping carts, I knew it would be a short trip. It had already been a long day (note to self: Sophie’s still not ready to sit through a full-length feature film in the theater) and while I constantly battle the […]
Most afternoons, the phone rings. Ms. X. swore up and down she’d keep me posted about Sophie’s trials and tribulations this year, and as far as I can tell, she’s kept the promise. The news varies. Often it involves an indiscretion or safety breach. For example, on Monday, Sophie announced to some other kids (but not […]
When I pulled up in front of the school yesterday morning, I noticed the “word of the week,” posted on the school sign, is INITIATIVE. I had no clue how to apply that. And by the end of the meeting with the principal, my cluelessness was evident. Also my bitchiness. “Were you raised in New […]
