Technology Backlash
These are some of my daughter’s most prized possessions…rotary dial phones, typewriter, and Polaroid pictures. I didn’t steer her in this direction at all—I swear! Every time we see an old phone or a...
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Buyover
Yes it is nice to silently appreciate and value the reliable workhorse products we use on any (or every) given day, but one of my tasks today made me want to shout from the rooftops about my admiration...
View ArticleDeclare Your Own Holiday
This past summer on an ordinary Wednesday my husband declared that that, “Tomorrow will be Lolo Day.” Lolo is our son’s nickname for his much-loved nanny, Myrtle, a woman certainly deserving of a...
View ArticleThat’s Not My Name
When your kid’s friends come over, are you a Mrs, a Ms, or a first name only kind of mom? Some people don’t care…and some people care a lot. When I relocated from a relaxed city neighborhood to a small...
View ArticleIs it Okay to be Nude in front of Your Boys?
When my kids were younger I heard lots of moms say that you’d know when it was no longer appropriate to be showering with your kids, especially your boys, or of letting your boys see you (meaning moms)...
View ArticleVolunteering Guilt/Judgement
You might think since I wrote a book about how to raise money for your school that I never feel guilty and live at the school volunteering all day every day. NOPE! I’ve got as many hours in the day...
View ArticleEtiquette Lessons
It was after an uncivilized routine emerged at our family dinner table that I realized I could use some help. Night after night, I was trying to enjoy conversation laced with talk of bodily functions,...
View ArticleSalamander RIP
So remember those salamanders I was so excited about a few months ago? After three months, they’re dead. We’re not sure how or why, they both died within a couple of days of one another. My younger son...
View ArticleSchool Auctions: Experience Equals Priceless
Like many schools do, ours has an annual auction. Over many years and many school auctions, I’ve noticed this phenomenon: even though bidding for a good cause, once a dollar value attaches to an item,...
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Letter to the Industry: A Grocery Store to Copy
We were in Richmond, VA this week, and went to an amazing grocery story called Ellwood Thompson’s. We weren’t even out of the parking lot when we saw their rainwater collecting drum (above), and then...
View ArticleHot Topic/Old School
In case you wondered just how important recess is, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) released a statement recently, and to sum it up in just a word: crucial. We already knew this, yes? Recess is...
View ArticleThoughts on Girl Scouts/Guides
I never got to attend Girl Guides. By the time I was old enough my sisters were finished with it and my dad had died. Even if we had been able to afford it I think my mum knew better than to put her...
View ArticleStreet Crossing and Independence—When and How?
As I like to walk; I like my kids to walk; I believe it’s good to walk, especially in a place where it’s not hard to rely upon cars. My kids like to walk, too, not that they have a whole lot of choice...
View ArticleTricky Kid Question Answered
The other day, while watching a scene in a movie that pointed to racial injustice my son asked, “Mom, I notice that all the guys who ask for money on the street in our neighborhood have brown skin. Why...
View ArticleFrom the Headmaster: The Business of Overdiagnosis
Although I’m approaching the seventh anniversary of my “graduation,” a few people still ask if I miss being the headmaster of a school. My answer is the same as it has been since the day I left. I miss...
View ArticleGetting the Kids to School
My kids go to a public school in Brooklyn that is a bit out of our neighborhood. It is roughly a twenty minute walk depending on the focus and energy level of my six year old boys. The other options...
View ArticleFrom the Headmaster: Teaching Teens to Leave
I was just twenty-two when I became a teacher. Yet, from my first moment in a classroom, I was struck by my students’ youth, or more precisely by the myriad possibilities they embodied. I was only a...
View ArticleGlobal Mom Relay: Please Read and Share!
This is an excerpt from a piece that I wrote for the Huffington Post, which is part of the Global Mom Relay. All you have to do is share it and $5 will go to women and girls around the world. To read...
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L.L. Bean Hack
The L.L. Bean Boat and Tote is an American beach favorite–there is no doubt about it. It is big, durable, customizable, even stands up on its own, unlike its floppy competitors, and yet, I have a beef...
View ArticleReconceiving Loss
My friend and neighbor Tara Shafer recently launched Reconceiving Loss for anyone who has experienced a miscarriage or stillbirth. The site provides suggestions for writing prompts crafted by novelist...
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