“Happy birthday to us. Happy birthday to us. Happy birthday, America. Happy birthday to us.” This is the holiday that gave us the freedom of speech and a good fighting spirit. Any kid in the world can appreciate the desire to reign sovereign over themselves. So, let freedom ring a little louder for them on this Fourth of July with some hands-on time in the kitchen. You should probably still man the grill, but we’ll …

The farmer’s market is a magical place, full of flowers and beef and freshly snapped green beans. Vendors really want you to eat from the mountain of blueberries and try a sample of that gluten free sourdough and meet the goat that made the cheese. The Saturday morning market will always be sacred because it was the first place we took all our kids as a freshly hatched family of five once our twins finally …

For me, the Fourth of July requires a series of pep talks, deep breathing exercises, and yoga poses that are supposed to open your chi or balance the yin and the yang or whatever. I’d feng shui the house if I thought it’d make a difference. From an outsider’s perspective, this holiday speaks all my love languages: grilling, swimming, setting things on fire. But because I’m not living in a Coca Cola ad, it’s what’s …

Summer in the 80s. If I close my eyes I can smell the Hawaiian Tropic tanning oil and hear Henley’s “Boys of Summer” playing on a mixed tape by the pool. If I don’t look too closely at my thighs in my swimsuit, I can still picture the boy’s initials painted in neon zinc oxide to be washed away later, a tattoo in reverse. I still have my sunglasses with the plastic frames that changed …

If Disney is the Magic Kingdom, this is the Magic Kingdom’s cooler sister. Morgan’s Island Water Park is the place where kids with special needs aren’t just included; they are ushered in with open arms and free admission. Yes, you read that right. All kids with disabilities get into this water-themed park for free, and that’s just the beginning of its charm. As the mom of a son with cerebral palsy, we know what “handicap …

When in comes to the great outdoors there are two types of people: those who rough it and those who glamp it. But what is summer without a good campout? Nature resets something in all of us that needs slowing. It’s a handy serving size of meditative contemplation and it reminds us what the world looks like on the other side of the window. Every kid needs to sleep in a tent, count the stars, …

Here’s a teaser from my latest book review on Literary Mama… “Fredrik Backman likes to make people cry. His writing does not punch the reader in the arm and run away, but instead pulls at the most delicate sensibilities, the ones that stay tender from childhood through old age. He covers the loss of a spouse in A Man Called Ove, the loss of a grandparent in My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s …

I miss Dick Clark. I miss watching old re-runs of “American Bandstand” and ringing in each year with his New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. He was like a cordial but distant relation stopping by to wish me good cheer. He was always happy, or at least it seemed that way as the decades passed and that smile grew wider and brighter and tighter. Of course, that’s what plastic surgery and a steady regimen of Botox can …

When my brother was eleven he fell asleep in the sun. And the sun took him for all his money. When he woke, his arms were red sausages pulsing at the seams. A few days later, like a piece of fruit sweating in heat, he grew blisters from head to toe, including the bottoms of his feet. He dripped and oozed and peeled and winced his way through weeks of cold showers and no sheets. …

Remember Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Eve” and all the crazy hijinks the sprites and fairies and humans got in to on that one crazy night? That’s the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. It’s a day to celebrate the rebirth of the sun and the end of our winter hibernation. So, on June 20th, the day before summer officially begins, get outside, loosen the reigns on bedtime, eat every meal al fresco, and …