Each day the news is filled with stories about the volatility in the financial markets. But there is one market CNBC and the Wall Street Journal don’t cover: the Guilt Market. Mothers are extremely familiar with this one. It starts the minute the line turns pink on your pregnancy test. Suddenly you feel guilty for the coffee you drank that morning, or the calcium you didn’t … [Read more...]
When Our Kids Ask Us Questions We Can’t Answer
In my seventeen years of being a mom, I’ve had my share of tough questions. The ones that induce the reddest blushes have to do with sex. What is sex? Do you and daddy have sex? When do you have sex? These queries are the tip of the iceberg in a long line of questions from my three kids that I’ve fielded over the years. They’re usually asked while we are all … [Read more...]
Children Will Listen
“Little pitchers have big ears,” is a phrase I remember my mother saying often when I was a little kid. She usually said it when she was on the phone and my sisters and I were playing at the table, or she was talking to my dad, while we were all eating dinner. I didn’t know why she was whispering about milk pitchers and ears when all I wanted to do was find out … [Read more...]
I Became an Adult the Day I Realized My Daughter Has Special Needs
If adulthood is defined as being completely self-supporting and living on one’s own, then I achieved that milestone when I was 23. If it is defined by getting married, having a child, or paying a mortgage, I crossed those off my list at 27, 33, and 35, respectively. But looking back, I now know I became a card-carrying member of the grown-up set the morning I … [Read more...]
A Star is Born
My daughter is destined to be a star. I just know it. She walked onto the stage Friday night in her pink and green costume with her lion mask on top of her head, and her mere presence made the crowd go wild. OK. The people who went wild were me, my husband Joe, our two sons, and my parents. But we were as excited to see Lizzy take the back row of the chorus in her school’s … [Read more...]
