Dear Reader, In the upcoming weeks we hope to touch upon the subject of HOME. We hope our homes, the ones we grew up in and the ones we raised our children in, will be the subject of some great discussion. In order to do this we have a few questions for your kids (see polls on the right). We would love their answers to these questions and we would love it even more if they could pass these polls along, by Facebook or other means, to as many of their friends as possible. There is no log-in, ... View the Post
Snow Day, Please
I have a request for some snow. Here, in suburban New York, we've had only a dusting or two, but now it looks like it is coming. Don’t get me wrong. I am no big fan of the white stuff as it was never part of my Texas heritage. After I moved North, I initially saw its charm but now, after too many difficult winters, it has lost its appeal. Beyond the Currier and Ives look of the first flakes, I see shoveling, black sludge building up in the street, and icy patches tempting falls. But you can’t ... View the Post
A Different Path
A Grown and Flown friend writes: When I was six months pregnant, something happened that changed the course of my life. A young man who worked for my husband, and his wife, had a six-month old baby boy who they left with a nanny while they were at their jobs. One day, the nanny violently shook the baby and he died. The story was all over the news -- even on Oprah. We attended the wake. The following day I went into premature labor, was hospitalized and put on bed rest for the remainder of my ... View the Post
Laughing Baby
A Grown and Flown friend writes: A colleague forwarded a YouTube video today that shows a baby gurgling with laughter as his father tears a sheet of paper in front of him. Every tear – the sound of it, the sight – sets off peals of happy laughter, unadulterated joy. My response? I cried. Not the sort of “laugh-until-you-cry” moment. Tears of loss and sadness as I remembered my own laughing baby. I have so few memories of my children laughing like that, or of laughing with them in ... View the Post
Work-Life Balance: Home for Dinner
Cathy, a Grown and Flown friend, writes her story about work-life balance: That little face. My daughter had a face like a kitten. Being an only, she had developed the ability to amuse herself on her own, just like a cat! To me, the middle child in a big family, this was a marvel. I was always in the fray. Unlike my child, I could not amuse myself and I never had the time or opportunity to try. When my daughter was born, I negotiated six weeks of leave with an extra two if I had ... View the Post
I Have a Confession to Make
I have a confession to make. I am a compulsive worrier. Had I rid myself of this tendency when our kids were little, my mothering might have been more serene and less stressed. I blame my early anxiety on becoming a parent without the least bit of experience - I was the youngest in my family and I never babysat. When handed my own newborn, I began to study Drs. Spock, Brazelton and Ferber but anguished over whom to believe when their advice diverged. Feeling like Dorothy getting directions ... View the Post