I broke tradition and listened to some Christmas songs that I came across when station surfing in the car the week before Thanksgiving. Usually, I refuse to do anything Christmas-y before Thanksgiving has concluded, but with the two huge snowstorms we’d already had, it was beginning to look a lot like Christmas, anyway. I sang along with Frosty the Snowman, Santa Claus is … [Read more...]
My Son’s First Girlfriend
My husband and I went on a double date with my son and his soon-to-be first girlfriend (it was their first date). I didn't think about the magnitude of that until a day or so afterward, i.e., who actually wants to go on their first real date with parents? (They had been "hanging out" at school and school events for quite some time.) It was Saturday and my son, who had … [Read more...]
Sleeping, Eternally or Otherwise
I slept in one fall Sunday morning, which is a rarity for me. Usually, my body alarm clock doesn’t know the difference between weekend time to arise (variable depending on sports and church) and weekday rude awakening (anywhere between 5 a.m. and 5:45 a.m. depending on work and school schedules and sometimes our elderly dog Gracie’s harrumphing next to my side of the bed or her … [Read more...]
(No) Regrets: Bait-and-switch Birthday Invitation
My going-on-10-year-old son was invited to a “destination” birthday party at 2:00 one Saturday. It was going to be a trip to a local sporting event more than an hour away (the birthday boy’s parents would be driving) and my son was really excited about the party, especially since he’d had to turn down another recent invitation because there was a conflict with hockey … [Read more...]
I Made the Right Choice. Right?
“Hon, can you take your brother to the play tonight?” I asked my middle son. I really didn’t want to go. I had work to finish up so it wouldn’t pollute my weekend. “Wait, what? What play is it?” “The elementary school play. They’re doing Treasure Island. Same as the book you’re reading.” “Oh, yeah. Let me see if So-and-so is going.” “Yeah, call him.” “I can’t. He … [Read more...]
The Reason for the Season – What are You Grateful For?
When I hauled the three boxes of Halloween decorations and costumes back up the attic, I realized that the candy bowl I’d been looking for the week before – the one with the grabby hand and sound effects – was in one of two other boxes of Halloween stuff that I had completely overlooked. “Oh, well,” I thought. “All this will still be here next year.” Halloween wasn’t the … [Read more...]
Tweens and Cell Phones – The Phone Shaming Curse
“I pulled out my phone on the bus to text you, mom, and everyone laughed at me.” “Who’s everyone, hon?” “I don’t know. Kids. Even fifth graders on our bus have smart phones.” “I am sure not all 5th graders have smart phones.” “They do to, mom.” “Yeah, I know a kid in my grade that has a Samsung Galaxy S5!” his younger brother added. “In 4th grade? Who does he … [Read more...]
Unchaperoned at the Bus Stop (!)
I won’t be needing this anymore, I thought to myself with almost the same amount of wistfulness that the grandma in the Dunkin Donuts commercial had while retiring her baking pan when Dunks started making muffins. In my case, it was the 3:30 p.m. alarm I had set on my cell phone that I dismissed. I did not get up from my desk. My going-on-ten-year-old son had informed me on … [Read more...]
High School – The New Frontier?
It was silent in the car during most of the 25-minute drive to my son’s out-of-town high school for freshman orientation. He was reading a book that he was supposed to have finished during the summer, “but I don’t really have to have it done until Friday, mom. That’s the first real day of school.” I had told him he’d need to make significant progress on the book or I wouldn’t … [Read more...]
Coffee Talk: Savor (almost) Every Moment
Savoring the Moments with Your Teens Imagine the Air Jordan logo. Now imagine it rotated 90 degrees to the right. That was me standing in front of the blackberry bush, except I wasn’t doing anything with a basketball. I was reaching to pick berries from a cluster on an out-of-the-way branch, bracing myself against the barbs that threatened to disrupt my almost-precarious … [Read more...]
