FamilyEducation Blogs

July 14, 2009

Food Mentors

I come from a family that cooks. My mom had me at counter level as a preschooler, measuring, mixing and pouring. My dad used to make his famous spaghetti sauce when I was a child, allowing me dictate small things like "3 bay leaves or 4?" as he created his delicious sauce. But beyond my immediate family I have aunts, uncles, cousins and in-laws that can all cook and bake like rock stars. [more]

October 28, 2008

My mother

My mother is avoiding me. I saw her this afternoon. She waited for me in front of the Boston Medical Center’s entrance, wearing a black leather jacket, talking with two women who obviously abuse a substance. She appeared to ask the women to walk with her to my car, but the women shook their heads “no.” My mother avoided eye contact with me. She walked straight to the back window, to my son. Danny said, “Hi, little nana.” Her face said, “I’m tired, worn down, and beat up.” Her eyes were sleepless and her skin dead.
October 27, 2008

My daughter

I remember that when my daughter was maybe 10 or 11, she was awestruck with the notion of ironing her own clothes. I allowed her to iron one day, and somehow she burned her face. A blister quickly formed underneath her eye. Now that I write this, I am thinking maybe I should say she was 13, because allowing a 10- or 11-year-old to iron seems irresponsible. [more]

May 5, 2008

Tooth and nail

On Sunday we had a total of 20 minutes of peace between the two kids. Those 20 minutes took place -- aptly enough, I suppose -- during Family Cook Night. L. was too busy chopping carrots and cucumbers (he even sliced a tomato, which was real progress for him! [more]

May 2, 2008

The spacing game

Last night, while dozing and resting with the kids during their respective bedtime routines (rituals), I realized yet another one of the many marvelous things about being a parent: It must be the only job (vocation? state-of-being?) where you can spend a solid 10 minutes with one child at bath time discussing the virtues of various body parts and, 45 minutes later when that child has drifted off to sleep, spend 20 minutes in a darkened room with the older child discussing evolution, the possibility of life in outer space, and the Big Bang theory.

********** [more]