I’m thrilled to have published my first piece in the Washington Post. Last year, right after we attended Alexandria Symphony Orchestra’s, I knew I wanted to write a piece. The event is such a great opportunity for kids to be exposed to classical music, to instruments and to other art forms. I called the ASO…
writing
Blogging because nothing else can get done in 15 minutes
I can’t seem to face any projects. I never know if someone is going to call to come see the house, and my few (as in seven over two days) childcare hours are hardly my own with house stuff and with finally trying — in an admittedly half-assed way — to take care of my…
It’s a writing conference, and I’ll cry if I want to
I didn’t want to. I just did. Cry, that is. I was actually having a lovely time at the “Conversations and Connections” writing conference until we hit the moment of speed dating with editors. I froze. Choked. Lost it. Whatever negative verb you want to pick, it probably fits. The problem was partly that I’d…
Mama meets with other writers
“Mommy’s going to work all day tomorrow,” I told my son. “To work with your student?” Usually I leave for work only in the evenings, to tutor. When the sitter is here on Wednesday mornings, I say I’m working in the basement, usually for my “meeting” (new chapter of Holistic Moms Network). But tomorrow I’m…
A room of my own?
Nothing is for sure yet, but we are moving in the direction of buying a larger home not far from our house. There are a lot of reasons I’m excited about this and crossing my fingers that it happens without us losing our shirts on two mortgages or unexpected repairs/upgrades (“might as well before we…
You don’t have to breastfeed, and we don’t have to be best friends, either
So there’s another big to-do about breastfeeding with the publication of Hanna Rosin’s article, “The Case Against Breastfeeding.” There are debates/opinions all over the email list on DC Urban Moms and I’m sure every other moms list out there. I’ve looked over a few posts, but I’m blogging to say that I’m kind of sick…
My friend, a prize-winning author!
I just got back from a great meeting with my writing group — women who consistently challenge me and teach me, as a writer and as a mother. One of our members had to stay home with a sick child tonight, but it was great to see that she recently won the Silver prize at…
Little Mouth Speaks – a lot! A letter to my loquacious toddler
Today was the first day I’d had any childcare in two weeks. There was snow, then a fever, then my boy’s dad got sick and needed tending. Today’s four hours of babysitting went fast, but when they were over, I had a supremely lovely time with my son. It was a chilly rainy day, and…
Bye Bye, Book World
The Washington Post is going to stop printing its Sunday Book World insert. I know a lot of extra expense items are going by the wayside these days. I also understand that there are a lot of other publications out there that fit this bill, and I should be reading those. But this was my…
The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had – a novel for middle school aged readers
A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to attend Hooray for Books‘ book release party for The Best Bad Luck I Ever Had, a novel for middle grade readers by first-time novelist Kristin Levine. I did, however have with me my son (just a month younger than the author’s daughter), and keeping him from…
Mama likes to read
Nursing a sick kid sure does give you time to read. Come to think of it, having a kid who calms down more (and sometimes even falls asleep) when you read while he’s nursing than while you do anything else has also helped. I’d forgotten how enjoyable it is to get lost in a full…
Babysitting Bliss
When someone else’s child is in bed, this mama mouse gets to play in her head. I love babysitting. After bedtime, that is. I wrote recently about not particularly enjoying helping out friends during waking hours. It’s true that as my son gets older, he and his age-mates are better able to entertain each other….
So Many Words
I really had no idea what this whole blogosphere was about before I became a mom. What are all these people doing thinking they are so important that other people want to read about their lives? During my pregnancy, I joined a few Yahoo groups — DC Expectant Moms and a group for BirthCare, the…