I am a detail freak. Let me correct that. I WAS a detail freak, until I had kids and realized any semblance of control I ever thought I possessed was a farce. No Tooth Fairy, no Easter Bunny, no Control. (That howling wind sound you hear is the Universe laughing.)

It used to be that Friday the 13th was a day of folkloric caution. Don’t walk under a ladder! Steer clear of the black cats! Don’t step on a crack! Never again will it be that innocent. As I—and many of you—tried to process what happened last Friday night, these kinds of thoughts dominated my […]

Like the dark wood leaf table, the frayed black-and-white photos of relatives long gone and the bottles of Manischewitz lined up in the bar, it was always there in my Pap and Gram’s dining room, leaning against the corner.

Thank you for the sweet giggles and the slobbery kisses. Thank you for always sharing your half-chewed food with me from your high chair. Thank you for your sassiness and your grumpiness and for always reminding your older brother that just because he’s a boy and he’s bigger than you, it doesn’t always mean he’s in charge. (A good lesson to hold onto for later in life, too, actually.)

In the short 36 or so hours since it happened, many words have been written about the Oregon shooting. Nine beautiful spirits shuttered because of one man. And no, I won’t say the shooter’s name. I hope you won’t either.

Today is One of Those Days.You know what I’m talking about. Have you had one lately?Up ALLLL night with a sick baby. Exhausted all morning. Dirty dishes crowding the sink. A toddler who very loudly decided he did NOT want to go to swim lessons this morning. A baby–dripping snot–who was literally attached to my […]

No matter how fast I walked the streets near campus on the evening of 9/11/01, the fear followed. And I’m a fast walker.

In my family, we jokingly call it the Tree of Life for its regal, storybook appearance: Massive trunked, straight and broad, with branches that fan out like so many veins in a heart.

First things first. I am an unabashedly positive person. Glass half full. Known to burst out in song. Hugging strangers. Eating chocolate after breakfast because YOLO. First one on stage at karaoke. Yada yada yada, etcetera etcetera and the like. YES, I have awful horrible bad days too, but overall you could say I’m pretty upbeat.

There are moments in parenthood where you feel so good about how you’re handling things that you practically fist-bump yourself and are all, “Yeah, I got this!”