You know your kids have turned into grown-ups when they listen to your advice. I don’t mean take your advice. I mean listen – gently and kindly – as you talk away . . . Read more.
christina
Los Angeles — The Good, the Bad and the Truly Ugly
Los Angeles is an awful place. It is 469 square miles of bumper to bumper traffic, sinus clogging air pollution, starless nights and unrelenting summer sun . . . Read more.
It’s August, But It’s Not Too Soon to Wonder — Can Christmas Be Christmas Without the Kids?
Christmas has gotten to be a scheduling nightmare. Peter lives in Minnesota. Christina lives in Southern California. Jon and I live in Northern California. That puts 400 miles between us and our daughter and 2,000 miles between us and our son. Not exactly over the river and through the woods. Read more.
A Forgotten Gift From My Teenaged Daughter — No Good After December 31
Look what reorganizing my stationery drawers turned up: Coupons from my then 13-year-old daughter Christina promising to do chores around the house — including yard work, for heaven’s sake. Read more.
The Mother-of-the-Groom Diaries: The Day Before the Big Day
In a little more than twenty-four hours our son Peter would be a married man. But first, he and Jon had to pick up their wedding duds. My outfit was already hanging in the closet. Read more.
A Cry in the Night — ‘Mommy, I’m Scared’
The baby books assert that American babies and children are ready to sleep through till morning and grant their parents an undisturbed night’s sleep by the time they are a year or so old. Not so in our household. A story from the Mommy Years. Read more.
A Case of the Human Condition: My Daughter the Trash Heap
My daughter is beautiful. But I wonder if she wants to be. If she liked being beautiful, why did she dress up as a heap of trash for Halloween when she was 11? A “Doctor Who” space alien at 28? Read more.