“Kathy, your son just drove away with my car,” said my husband, laughing, as he came in the front door after mowing the lawn. We looked at each other in disbelief that the same child who spurred us to purchase the black Camry is now driving it. Even if it’s just to my parents house six blocks away. Neither one of us would be comfortable with him driving it much … [Read more...]
Some Rules are Made to be Broken or How Ice Cream Became My Kids Favorite Weekend Breakfast
I’m a very prolific player in the markets. Not the financial kind. I’m talking about the one all moms are familiar with, the guilt market. I don’t want to brag, but in my 18 years of motherhood, 12 as the mom of three, I’ve developed a prowess for picking value and finding fault in my parenting that rivals anything Warren Buffett can do. Name a sector -- food, discipline, … [Read more...]
The Parenting Lesson My Youngest Child Taught Me
Our youngest child has always had a talent for building things out of just about anything he can get his hands on. Blocks, train tracks, vegetables, sticks, cups, or paper clips, are mediums he has used to create towns, castles, schools, and shopping malls. It’s not uncommon to see a trail of paper shreds leading to Peter sitting at the dining room table deep in thought as he … [Read more...]
The Real Story About How I Got My Name
When I was growing up, I always loved to hear my mom tell the story of how she picked my name. I would happily curl up next to her and listen intently as she told me for the hundredth time, that she had originally picked the name Christina for me, if I was a girl. And she planned to call me Tina. But, and she would make a big show of the word “but,” giving the word a … [Read more...]
Learning To Say Goodbye
Our son, who will be starting his freshman year in college this fall, met with the school’s counselors last week to set up his class schedule. Why I thought my husband and I would be involved in this process is beyond me. Tom has been handling his own scheduling issues and any other problems that might come his way since high school. He’s quite skillful at it. I knew he … [Read more...]
