I watched Dumbo with the twins recently and it wrecked me. I had just dropped Charlie off at his special needs preschool while the twins stayed with my mom. I walked in as the credits ended and the action began. We pan in on the stork on his cloud, holding the bundle of Dumbo by a thread. That sight, the bag slowly sinking into and then under the cloud while the stork reads his directions (no …

Travel is fun! Just ask Jack Kerouac. The call of the open road. The wind in your hair. Destination unknown or unexplored. And then you become a parent. And destinations are meticulously planned and packing takes twelve days. It can be exhausting before you even start. But if you’re a parent of a special needs child, it takes a super dose of strength and bravery to get out the door. So in honor of your …

When I read the article “What Happens When Parents Are Rude in the Hospital” in The New York Times, I had to say something because the mom guilt came crashing in and almost swallowed me whole. I do not believe that my attitude took away from my son’s care and I want to tell all the other moms to let go of that burden right now.   Thanks for letting my Think Out Loud Save …

Today, March 8th, is International Women’s Day and it is also a day in America’s history where women are banning together to show the world what it would be like if we weren’t around. No waitresses in your favorite restaurant, no VPs at your bank, no nurses or nannies or CEOs. Today, women are on holiday. If the world feels off-kilter, now you know why. Adam’s lost his Eve, temporarily. The goal of “A Day …

I have taught public and private and home school. I have taught classes of almost forty and classes of one. I have taught special needs and advanced placement. I have met all kinds of students and parents. I have heard things said that sound like the beginning of a joke. So when I read this note to the editor from a retired teacher, entitled, “Parents are the Problem,” I couldn’t let it go. Here’s my …

Our dog loves the hair dryer. She’ll come bounding from the opposite side of the house at the sound and rub up against me like a cat (despite the fact she’s the size of a small deer) until I blow it down her back. It’s like a warm caress, I suppose. Too bad I blow my hair dry about once a month… date nights and big holidays (we’re talking Christmas, not President’s Day). The twins …

Bucket lists stress me out. I’m much better with the random. I bought a cello once on Ebay. I don’t play the cello. I bought a hundred dollars worth of oil pants and canvases and an easel. I can’t paint. But it was all in the name of fun and experimentation and forgetting the “rules.” So forget the spring bucket list and check out some of these random days to get silly in the spring …

Yesterday I had the honor of being featured on Liz Shaw’s website, Bumps to Baby. I talk a lot on here about life AFTER babies. About Charlie and special needs and twins and grace and prayer and stress and tears and laughs and all the other things that go along with motherhood. I think I have a touch of PTSD from our infertility struggles. It was SO hard for SO long and there were so …

Things have been heavier over here on the blog, so how about a little fun? I miss the 80s. The scrunchies. The off-the shoulder sweatshirts. The cartoons that weren’t in 3D and didn’t stop to talk to you. And I miss Patrick Swayze…the Swayze of Dirty Dancing in his tight black t-shirts and jeans. It only took ten minutes of a re-run on cable last week to get me completely dissatisfied with life. It also …

We all know diversity is a good thing. We all know it’s a fight worth the undertaking to expose our children to different religions, races, disabilities, thinkers. What would the world be if Pollock tried to paint like Renoir? Or if school only taught science? Or every kid spoke the same language? Unfortunately, it’s getting harder to fight the good fight. So if you’re a parent out there in the midst of it, here’s a …