Parenting
A Change of Heart
Dear Alicia, The first time I met you was about six years ago, at the town pool. I was the mom with the five kids and the big bag of towels spilling everywhere. I think my youngest son, Henry, was crying because I forgot to bring money for ice cream. But even with all the […]
Living Alongside Autism
I have lived alongside of autism for over twelve years, maybe even longer if you count the time my son spent in the womb, the complicated strands of his DNA twisting and bending. It is he and he is it. Yet it is not wholly him, nor he wholly it. It has tested my marriage, my […]
To the People of Tasty
You have changed the way I cook. See, cooking is not exactly my specialty, but I have five kids who love to eat and I need to be able to make dinner fast because otherwise they start to bug me for snacks and stuff. Making dinner fast means I do not chop. Or dice. Or […]
The Middle School Years
Three of my boys are in some version of middle school. And three of my boys are in some version of puberty. With a family of five kids and two adults, this means 42.8571429% of my household is beginning the long, jagged descent through adolescence. One of them—my 12-year old son, Jack—has autism, so as […]
Wildflowers
Hello. You don’t know me. My name is Carrie. I just wanted to say hi because I know about today. Today is the day that somehow divides a childhood, a marriage, and a family. It is both the beginning of something and the end of something all at the same time. There was before, and now there […]
This is Anxiety
Research tells us anxiety is an emotion, often characterized by inner turmoil, dread, and the expectation of a future event. It is not the same as fear, because fear is the response to a real, actual event. Science says there are six major types; generalized anxiety disorder, panic attack disorder obsessive-compulsive disorder, phobia, social anxiety […]
I Am a 40-Something Housewife
My birthday is this week. I will be forty-two years old. Anyone who knows me knows I love my birthday. I was born on September 21st—the first day of autumn—a time in New England when the weather is breathtakingly glorious and one by one the leaves on the trees turn a brilliant gold-red-orange. The sky […]
Why did we get married?
Do you ever wish you could see inside other people’s marriages? You know, like if they fight about changing the toilet paper roll or who spends more money at the grocery store or whether or not it’s time to throw away the smelly sponge sitting in the kitchen sink? I do. I wish I knew […]
It Won’t Be Easy
I imagine that, as a teacher, you come across all kinds of learners. There are the eager beavers—the kids who just soak up everything around them and can’t wait to dive into their workbooks and always keep their pencils nice and sharp. Then there are the kids who are very smart but also very lazy; […]