Scene: a grim, slushy, rainy day in Mud Season. I’ve got PMS and the late winter blues. Now I’m staring down a long afternoon alone in the house with two cranky sisters who can’t stop fighting. How to avoid our usual cycles of sibling squabbles and snappish mom interventions? Answer: conduct a “science experiment!” I’m [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Girls'
The Marshmallow Test
March 29th, 2011 5 Comments
Tags: children · David Brooks · Marshmallow experiment · The Social Animal · will-power
The Secret
March 17th, 2011 No Comments
“Is that you, Mommy?” asks A. She’s caught me perusing the Victoria’s Secret catalogue, where a 19-year-old Brazilian goddess pouts for the camera in a turquoise plunge push-up bra. Other than both having brownish hair and breasts, this nymphet and I look nothing alike. I feel the warm glow of pleasure that comes from a [...]
Tags: body image · Girls · self-esteem · Victoria's Secret
Sick Day
March 3rd, 2011 No Comments
Just when I’m getting pumped to step clean out of The Baby Cave– one high-heel stiletto boot at a time– and paradoxically going dewy-eyed over other’s people’s plump babies, the hormonal zeal for yet more procreation fueling my third-child fantasies– we get hit with a Tummy Bug. First my three-year-old falls asleep on Sunday afternoon, [...]
Tags: motherhood · mothering guilt · Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy · sick · The Baby Cave
Kindergarten Photography
February 10th, 2011 No Comments
What art arises when you cross a princess-loving 5-year-old with modern technology? Many blurry shots of the kitchen floor, yes. But here’s the best of A’s private photo shoot with my point-and-click Nikon:
Tags: kindergarten
It’s a Girl Thing
February 3rd, 2011 2 Comments
“Nobody likes me, ” says A. She’s sitting in a snow-pile outside her school, digging furiously in the snow with wet mittens, cheeks flushed as red as her snowsuit. “Oh honey, that’s silly!” I say. “OF COURSE people like you. I like you. Actually, I LOVE you.” But once you’re five, having Mommy as your [...]
Tags: friendships · girl social dynamics · Girls · kindergarten · Queen Bees and Wannabees
Is the Baby Cave an Igloo?
February 2nd, 2011 3 Comments
I can’t truly be in the Baby Cave anymore, not with a 5 year-old and a (gasp) 3-1/2 year-old. How is it possible that C, my baby, is almost 3-1/2, heading towards the developmental bursts and mini-adolescence of 4? Wouldn’t now would be a lovely time to have another nipper on the way, another colicky newborn [...]
Tags: Baby · Baby Cave · sibling rivalry
Do Your Snow Dance
December 20th, 2010 No Comments
Is there anything more grim than a bitter cold, brown December with no snow? Of course there is, and I’m grateful we’re not living in an earthquake zone or tsunami territory or a malaria-infested swamp. But I am hard-pressed to feel enthusiastic about the holidaze in this weather. Most afternoons, the girls refuse to leave [...]
Tags: cabin fever · Parenting · winter
Facing the Facts of Life (2)
December 1st, 2010 3 Comments
After revealing the secrets of procreation to my kids, I think back to my own childhood illumination. I can’t exactly remember how I learned about sex. My mom gave me a book called Where Did I Come From?: The Facts of Life Without Any Nonsense and With Illustrations, but at that point I already knew [...]
Tags: facts of life · preschooler · Sexuality · Where Did I Come From?
Halloween Hangover…
November 1st, 2010 No Comments
Last night we had our first true Trick or Treating experience. For the past few years we’ve marched as a family in the Halloween parade downtown, rather than going door-to-door. This year, we did the holiday with all guns blazing. Carved SEVEN jack 0′lanterns. Bought two bags of candy for our nonexistent trick-or-treaters. Went to [...]
Tags: candy · Halloween · trick or treat