Our family situation calls for a very particular set of skills. We need the Navy SEALS version of babysitters. And I don’t know another mother with a child with special needs who doesn’t feel the same. We already get less free time, much less time away without worry over our children’s safety. We can’t afford to hand out freebies. It’s nothing personal. It’s business, the business of running our family. We need our people we …

I’ve done the printables – the bucket lists in a kaleidoscope of colors for every season of the year. I’ve used all the ink in my printer on reminders to carve a pumpkin and make spiced cider and go see Christmas lights and make homemade popsicles and wish on a dandelion. Now I’m done. Mainly because one of two things always happens: Either the list goes on the fridge and waves in the breeze of …

“There is no evidence on EEG to indicate abnormal activity or an active epilepsy. Assuming he has not had any seizures since I last saw him, we can proceed as planned to reduce the seizure medications,” so says our doctor, the expert. Whenever I hear the phrase “abnormal activity,” it sends me back to the good old X-Files days with Scully M.D. muttering over “paranormal activity” as Mulder scrambles down into some huge alien footprint. …

’Tis the season for all things Christmas. And yet, there’s so much more to winter. We have the Winter Solstice and Hanukkah and St. Lucia Day and Kwanzaa and Diwali and Las Posadas and the Lunar New Year. There is so much more to celebrate. Kids are continually charmed, as are we, by days demarcated as special and observed with ceremony. Mystery and wonder and culture fill these non-Christmas holidays. These seven children’s books will …

Let it be noted that my love language is not gift-giving. If you are the gift-giver extraordinaire and/or like nothing more than to receive the perfect something, then this tradition might not be for you. But it saved our Christmas and our bank account and for us, it’s the gift that really keeps on giving. For years we operated under the standard gift-giving and gift-receiving protocol. I paid much less attention to this before I …

The house smells of toasted pecans and butter. Outside, the sky hangs heavy and gray with cold – perfect for baking in a warm, well-lit kitchen. In one hour, I will leave to pick up my son from preschool and I will carry his wheelchair and his then-five-year-old self up the stairs and into this homey scene. “The cookies are nothing special,” I will say if anyone asks – my polite way of not giving …

Sometimes, the world aligns and gets to see your child just as you’ve seen him every single day since he was born. He is a blessing and his sweet face on the cover of a magazine is the most amazing testament to his story and the spirit of the season that he brings SUCH JOY not just now, but all year round. I am honored to by his mother. Click below to read my most recent …

Mattel pulled a much-anticipated and hotly-debated toy recently. Aristotle, a device geared for children anywhere from infancy to adolescence, was set up to be the kid’s version of Alexa. It boasted features such as the ability to soothe a crying baby, teach ABCs, reinforce good manners, play interactive games, and help kids with homework. Marketed as an “all-in-one nursery necessity” on Mattel’s website, it also offered e-commerce functionality that would enable Aristotle to automatically reorder …

It is 2000, I’ve just turned 18, and I’m excited to vote in my first presidential election. It’s Gore and Bush, in it until the very end. I watch the debates, register early, and read up on the issues. I ready myself for November. It feels momentous. I’d grown up in a house talking politics – always a one-sided discussion. They were tried and true red, through and through. But my grandparents were all blue …

In her notes on her debut novel, Lilli de Jong, Janet Benton writes, “The difficult work of mothers has long been drastically under-recognized. I wanted to tell a story in which women’s strength was crucial to the world’s surviving and thriving—as it truly is and always has been.” How could I not write about review about a book that is meant to celebrate all our hard work? How can we not cheer along with Benton …