When eleven-year-old boys walk and talk their whole bodies are busy in the conversations and they weave in and out of one another as they go. Eleven-year-old city boys camping, ride bicycles freely as we once did, up and down the cul-de-sacs, no helmets, no curfews, no limits. Coming and going as they please, a… Continue reading On Freedom and Independence: Eleven-Year-Old Boys
Author: admin
Glamping
No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no. I don’t want to go camping. I definitely don’t want to go glamping. Glamping could be one of the most unforgivably cringeworthy words I know. It sounds like a vise. A tool that clamps. A glamorous clamp. Speculum to the stars. I’ve done it again. I’ve gone too… Continue reading Glamping
Downtown
Petula Clark was never trying to get there Summer 2015, Los Angeles. We’re going Downtown! to see one of the most beautiful public libraries in the world, I told my son. Noon, weekday, summer. It’s not rush hour. The Dodgers are not playing in thirty minutes. It’s a parking lot on the freeway though. After… Continue reading Downtown
The Giver
Eleven years old is the new thirteen. They are all pubescent and adolescent and so so over you. Mothering the eleven-year-old is all about being there but acting like you’re not. You gotta be there to say it’s enough computer time. You gotta remind them to eat a snack. You gotta tell them to put… Continue reading The Giver
Honor Your Mayfly
Did you know that some species of the Mayfly only have a lifespan of half an hour. Luckier varieties live for up to a full day or two. Evidently, kinder Mayflies have not mastered the art of honoring their parental ones. Honor your father and mother, that your days may be long upon the land… Continue reading Honor Your Mayfly
Baked a cake for a friend
I baked a cake for a friend today. We drank tea and sat on my mother in law’s porch watching the blue birds feed their young. It will forever be one of my favorite days I look back on the year I didn’t work, where I figured out a moment for me. Yes, I wish… Continue reading Baked a cake for a friend
Anne Lamott is a Better Mother Than Me
Yes, yes. Than I. WhatEVER. Yesterday, I read to my son excerpts from an Anne Lamott post on Mother’s Day: “I did not raise my son, Sam, to celebrate Mother’s Day. I didn’t want him to feel some obligation to buy me pricey lunches or flowers, some annual display of gratitude that you have to… Continue reading Anne Lamott is a Better Mother Than Me
On Throwing Out Things Other People Love
Say your son and husband built a dog house. And you love that they do projects together. Yes, you do. And you think it’s charming. And you also wish, right about now, that your husband was a real furniture guy so that they could both enjoy the project time together AND you might have a… Continue reading On Throwing Out Things Other People Love
Dentist
I was at the dentist’s office today. I’ve been seeing the same “gal” as my Grandmother would say, for years. And each time I am struck by the same problem. We’re trying to carry on a conversation as if she’s painting my toe nails. She asks a question and I “arsrwflaw—-” back and then she… Continue reading Dentist
Double Duty
Today I lined all the bedroom drawers with gift wrap paper from the Container Store and then covered them with clear plastic shelf liner. They have adorable drawer liner, but it’s scented. The unscented liner is white. I wanted adorable. So I did double duty on each drawer. Gift wrap then plastic shelf cover. Dogs… Continue reading Double Duty