I keep a small green box on my desk, and inside are all the letter tiles from an old game of Scrabble. When I sit at my laptop to write, and the words won’t come, I remind myself that inside this box is every sonnet, play, song, and story ever written. Romeo and Juliet. Little […]
I think of you as a person sometimes. I really do. You are the third wheel, or the uninvited guest to a party—the one who shows up empty-handed and eats all the chips with the good dip and stays way after everyone else leaves, telling boring stories and bragging about the glory days of high […]
I went back to work when my first son, Joey, was six weeks old. He went to a charming little day care around the corner for my office, and we just loved it. Except for one problem. When he moved into the toddler room, he was in class with a kid who bit. Day after […]
First of all, I want to apologize for tonight. I’m sorry about the way my son Jack stood in your way while your daughter was singing her solo. I’m sorry we could not get him to sit down and be quiet. I’m sorry you heard him tell my husband Joe—his father—to shut up. This was […]
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 […]
“I’m thrilled to have Jack start our summer program. I just don’t know if he’ll be able to go on the camping trip the second week with the group. It’s for two nights, and I’m not sure he’ll be ready,” the program director said kindly. “No,” I cradled the phone against my shoulder while I […]
When it comes to food, I’ve had the same guidelines since I was in college. I eat when I’m hungry. I stop when I’m full. I only eat food I enjoy. When it comes to exercise, I’ve had the same routine for the last six years or so: I do something that makes me sweat every […]
(Editor’s note: I wrote this from Jack’s perspective, based on conversations and observations of him in Disney and in life.) Dear World, Last week my family went to Disney. We went to the one in Florida, not California. The one in California is called Disneyland and it opened on July 17th, 1955. Disney World opened in 1971. Anyway, […]
My 11-year old son, Jack, is now pulling out his own teeth. He starts picking at them in the morning, wiggling them loose by the afternoon, and by dinnertime he presents me with a baby molar he wrenched free. Then he runs upstairs to carefully place it in a long line of teeth he pulled out […]
To my middle child, There is a lot of debate about how birth order affects your life; everything from your personality, your temperament, even what you choose to do for a living. See, the middle child is not the oldest, and not the baby. They don’t get the freedom of the first-born, or the love […]