A few days ago I was watching a documentary on the 1970’s vocal group, The Carpenters. (It is at this point that I feel compelled to tell you that if after reading this statement you feel the need to quickly get off my page and forget you ever knew me or my possessed dishwasher, I totally understand.) As I was thoroughly enjoying my show my 11-year-old came into my room, … [Read more...]
On Loss and Learning
As a busy mom of three kids, 17, 14, and 11, I don’t spend much time thinking about the difficult road my husband and I had in becoming parents. As the song says, I haven’t got time for the pain. But in the past few weeks circumstances have occurred that have brought me back to that very difficult and painful time in my life. Earlier in the week I received an email from a … [Read more...]
With Age Comes Wrinkles & if You’re Lucky, Wisdom
When my first child, Tom, was a baby I made sure the two of us got out of the house and went for a walk every day we could. Unless it was raining, snowing, or 10 below, I bundled him up and either put him in a front pack, or his carriage and we would walk the streets of our Queens neighborhood. Often we would stop to get a coffee, (for me, not him) or stop in the market, the … [Read more...]
Rites of Passage
The breeze hit my face and gave cool relief to my sunburned skin. I looked out over the ocean and felt sheer gratitude. The plan I hatched in September with my girlfriends over lunch in the senior cafeteria had come to fruition, we had skipped our prom in favor of a weekend at the beach. I was very animated when I proposed the idea of forgoing the old fashioned idea of … [Read more...]
The Motherhood Survival Kit
Much is made of the bag a mother-to-be should pack for the hospital in anticipation of the birth and homecoming of the new baby. But really, the thing new moms should be told to prepare is their Motherhood Survival Kit. Remember ladies, you will need this kit to get you through at least 18 years, (in reality, much, much, longer) of raising a child from a helpless infant, … [Read more...]