“I like the nerdy one on the right!” I shouted to my friend Deborah, as I struggled to see past the crowd to the stage, avoiding the beer bottles rolling around our feet at the Vampire Weekend show last night at the Marquee Theater in Tempe, Arizona. “You know which one I like!” she shouted back, [...]
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 [...]
Parenting a little girl (that’s all I know about, sorry boys) is such a balancing act, a constant system of checks and balances, and it changes constantly. TV is bad. Except for Baby Einstein. And the Wiggles and anything on public television, but definitely not Nick Jr. Well, OK, Spongebob once in a while, but [...]
Yesterday was a big deal. Sophie’s first day of ballet. For years now, friends have kindly murmured things meant to be nice — things like, “Maybe there’s something else Sophie can do for a hobby. She doesn’t have to do everything Annabelle does.” Ray told me I was ridiculous to push it. And I have [...]
Quite a bit happened today, not all of it good, so I think i’ll focus on one of the pure, joyous moments of childhood and parenthood: the loss of a tooth. This was Annabelle’s third tooth. Sophie insists she has loose teeth that are going to fall out “in 15 minutes” but so far, only AB [...]
If it were up to Ray, I’m quite certain there’d be an X Games version of the Special Olympics. He’s my daredevil. The guy hikes Camelback Mountain in the dead of the Phoenix summer; tosses himself and his mountain bike down South Mountain; and last week, he insisted on soloing a climbing route that had recently [...]
Today was a darn good day. With one exception (a big one, she left the playground at recess) Sophie did well in kindergarten. Annabelle continued on her merry second grade way. We had gelato with Ms. X to celebrate Sophie’s Week One successes, and dinner after that (yes, we had dessert first, shoot me!) with [...]
My grandpa is dying. He has been, off and on, all summer, but this week, i fear, it’s for real. My husband Ray (it’s confusing – my grandfather and my husband and his father AND grandfather are all Raymond) wants to know why I’m not more upset. He keeps nagging me about it. It’s true, I [...]
Growing up, I always heard the adage, “Never put anything in your ear that’s smaller than your elbow.” (Good advice, though be honest: Who among us doesn’t enjoy a good session with a few Q-tips?) No one ever said anything about noses. Except not to pick, of course. Which is why I was annoyed the other day, [...]
