by paige on August 5, 2010
I SWORE UP, DOWN and all around, that I would never raise another puppy. Puppies, I said glibly to friends considering getting their own, are like children, without benefit of diapers. What I should have said, instead: Be careful of the stone certainties, the pronouncements, the “I’ll nevers”–they’ll bite you in the ass, every time. [click to continue…]
by paige on July 16, 2010
I THOUGHT IT WAS ONLY PARENTS who felt (with guilt aplenty, of course) that they wished their children, sometimes, you know, just for a moment, time to collect one’s thoughts, or maybe just form a thought…could you all, please, just for a second, BE QUIET? Apparently, this is a sibling issue, too. [click to continue…]
by paige on June 16, 2010
RIVALRY? HA. THAT’S teeny, tiny potatoes. My resident little sister and big brother have tabled competition, in favor of all out war. It’s looking like Afghanistan in my house: no end in sight. [click to continue…]
Pleiades and Stardust. Credit: Rogelio Bernal Andreo (Deep Sky Colors)
MY KIDS ARE exploding this spring, turning into ever-evolving, endlessly fascinating, newly reinvented versions of themselves. And though I try to pay attention, it seems that many days, I’m just hanging on for the ride. [click to continue…]
by paige on April 23, 2010
Bedtime's not quite this peaceful...but it's close
F OR THE LAST few years, my family’s bedtime routine has been one of divide and conquer. The H would take bathtime, I’d deal with pajamas and teeth. One of us would read to the Rock, who generally demanded at least three books, one of which had to contain Clifford, while the River, for the longest time, was really engaged by Laura and the Little House, which I alone would read. But this spring, something had to give, and I feared reprisals. [click to continue…]
by paige on February 18, 2010
ON THE POSITIVE side: No one threw up. But what happens when you pack two not-so-copacetic siblings into the car for a four-hour ride? In our family: headphones, iPods, and a whole lot of discussion of just what makes boys so gross, anyway. [click to continue…]
by paige on January 20, 2010
WHILE THAT PATRICIAN gentleman above may not look like Dr. Spock or Dr. Sears, he was way ahead of his time when it came to advice for moms and dads. He’s Henry James, the august novelist, and if I had only had the sense to follow his rules, I wouldn’t have ended yesterday evening by yelling at my daughter…to stop yelling. [click to continue…]
by paige on November 5, 2009
by paige on October 28, 2009
APPARENTLY, MY SON THE RIVER’S skepticism does not extend to mythical creatures who claim lost teeth. Or who provide cash. [click to continue…]