PregnancyNovember 11, 2009
To the cleaners
All the sunny, blue sky weather we’ve had for the past few days vanished last night. We woke up yesterday to heavy gray skies, and rain. The perfect day to wear my new raincoat, a spiffy black Ann Taylor coat I bought for $15 at my favorite thrift store last week. Except I had taken it to the dry cleaners on Friday and hadn’t picked it up yet.
- Tags: Parenting, Memories, Family, Children, Character Sketches
September 16, 2009
Sanctuary of food
I recently asked my developmental writing students to write up a descriptive piece about food: what foods they remember from their childhoods, and the associations these foods have now in their lives, now that they are out on their own for the first time, and growing into adulthood.
- Tags: Students, Parenting, Moms, Food for Thought, Family, Cooking, Children, Character Sketches
June 11, 2009
Keeping it real
One day last week I was sitting in the waiting room of T.'s speech therapy place, indulging in a rare few moments of magazine-reading. The magazine I was reading had a huge, splashy picture of Kate of Jon & Kate fame (infamy?) on the front cover, and some provocative headline about their crumbling marriage, or something of that sort. One of the "regulars" there--another mom (there are about five of us regulars who are there, same time, same day, every week.
- Tags: Television, Parenting, Moms, Family, Children, Character Sketches
June 4, 2009
Fear factor
When I teach freshman composition--which I do all the time, actually, I try and make an effort to assign my students readings that will help them understand and question the world at large. For years I've been giving my students readings from different cultures--whether they are cultures abroad, or cultures within this country, the one we all claim as our own. I try and shake up their perspective, in order to teach them the critical thinking skills I think are most important for success in this world.
May 26, 2009
Duty
I hope your Memorial Day was a little sunnier than ours. We did get lucky in the end, though. After hours of on again and off again sunshine, the rain clouds blew through around 4:00 pm and we ended up with a perfect window of sunshine for the annual potluck at our neighborhood pool. Also on again and off again most of the afternoon I cooked for the potluck (sesame noodles, banana bread, pasta salad) and listened to many remarkable stories on NPR about soldiers from days long ago, and recent days, too.
- Tags: Teaching, Students, Memorial Day, Holidays, Character Sketches
May 20, 2009
The waiting room
Twice a month I take L., to an appointment about 40 minutes from home. It's a public health service-type of place, connected to a hospital, and we go there because, frankly, it's the only place we've found (the hard way) that helps kids with the mental side of things AND that takes our insurance. Lots of people use that place; I have logged many hours in the waiting room people-watching and being a somewhat reluctant participant in many conversations; I have to admit, too, that I've spent quite a bit of time passing judgment as well.
- Tags: Parenting, Moms, Children, Character Sketches
April 1, 2009
Worlds apart
There's a beautiful little park in our city--downtown, not too far from L.'s school. I used to take L. there at least once a week when he was very small, and I love the park no matter what time of the year we go. But by far my favorite time of the year to visit the park is in March, when the flowers are just beginning to bloom, and the rides have opened up for the season. For a mere $1.00 you can ride a train around the park, or take a pint-sized boat ride, or ride a pony on the historic Dentzel carousel. And T.
February 19, 2009
That Place
I ran to the store for the third time in three days yesterday. I hate weeks like this week, when time constraints prevent us from making one big shopping run on the weekend, because I spend the week shopping in bits and spurts and spending too much money in the process, I'm sure--no, I know. The other day I joked with the cashier at Harris Teeter about a giveaway she was plugging--log onto the website and enter my name to win $1,000 in groceries.
"Wow," I said. "That won't buy much."
And she agreed, and we laughed, but it's really not funny, when you think about it.
- Tags: Parenting, Moms, Coping, Children, Character Sketches
June 11, 2008
Too much
We've been having record heat for the past four days--triple-digit heat, in fact. When I open the back door in the mornings to put out the dogs (yes, dogs in the plural--we're dog-sitting my in-laws' early-rising beagle--I'm convinced he's part beagle, part rooster, actually), the heat hits my face like a blast from an exhaust pipe. The grass is brittle, the air is almost tangible, it hangs so heavily over everything.
April 17, 2008
Sisterhood
I was supposed to have a meeting today. A meeting I would have had to tear out of early at noon sharp, so I could race across town in time to pick up my daughter at 12:30. Then I was going to rush home to type up a post for today (subject matter still undetermined at that point), since the Internet has been down almost all week at work. After that, I was going to race back downtown again to pick up L. at 2:30, then head over to my office to leave the two kids there with their babysitter while I sat in a meeting from 4:00 to 5:00.
