FamilyEducation Blogs

June 26, 2009

Peachy

A very good friend of mine flew in from Rochester, New York yesterday to spend a long weekend with us. I haven't seen her since 2001, when Scott and I packed up 12-month old L., the cat, houseplants, suitcases, and a high chair into our old Dodge minivan and drove south, leaving behind those graduate school days, and too many friendships. The other day I looked through an old photo album, trying to find some pictures of this friend to show the kids. I was looking for one in particular: in it my friend J. is sitting on our old couch, holding a tiny, brand-new L. in her arms. [more]

June 23, 2009

Unrequited

On Sunday we went out to eat at Scott's favorite Ethiopian restaurant--and while we were there L. surprised us all by striking up a friendship with an eight-year old Ethiopian girl who was also there eating with her family. The people who own the restaurant were friends of theirs, or family, perhaps. They seemed to know each other very well, and not to mind at all that the kids (three of theirs and our two) took over the restaurant and made it their own personal playground. The girl was, as girls L. [more]

May 4, 2009

Derby Day (disasters and delights)

Lately when something doesn't go right at school with T.'s friends, or when her feelings have been hurt by her brother, she'll disappear into a room and play with her "imaginary friends." Sometimes she does this even when things just haven't gone her way, and then I'll feel badly--like she needs to turn to these perfect friends, the ones who don't let her down, because she feels unliked. [more]

April 21, 2009

Baggage

L. had to learn a hard lesson this past weekend: it had to do with trust and friendship, and it was a lesson I think he is too young to learn. I was lucky that I didn't have to learn such lessons until college, but when my trust in two friends was betrayed, on two separate occasions, I remember feeling devastated, disappointed, and alone. Because the parties involved were adults, it was more difficult for me to reconcile what had happened. When the friend is an eight-year old child, though, this is a very different matter. [more]

April 7, 2009

Rich

My daughter loves her friends; there is no mistaking this. She pours her heart and soul into her friendships. She's attentive to her friends, compliments them for their pretty shirts or outfits, and always takes note of who wore a bow in their hair at school, or who got a new haircut, or is sporting a new new pair of shoes--she's a people-person, through and through. She looks to make friends wherever she goes--sometimes too much; an outing to the park is not complete for her if she hasn't made a friend along the way. [more]

February 18, 2009

Sunday at the park

This past Sunday we finally broke free from the house and took the kids on a family trip to the library (more Junie B. Jones books--help us!) and then to this store to replace the little jeweled box of chocolates we got for L. for Valentine's Day. The dog swiped the box off his side table a few hours after he got it, and only minutes after he'd arranged all the chocolates just so in the box. [more]

January 26, 2009

Samosa Sunday

While I really do love Sundays, there is something a little soulful about them. Everyone is happy to have slept in, to stay in pajamas, and eat pancakes with maple syrup for breakfast, but there's a pinch of discontent in the air because, as the day wears on, we all know that Monday is just around the corner. Sundays are busy days for me--and for Scott, too. Because of how much juggling we do, Sunday evenings are almost always turned over to work, with the added weight of having to prepare the kids' things for school the next day, and line up childcare provisions for meeting weeks. [more]

November 6, 2008

I get by with a little help from my friends

While I’m tremendously happy that the election is over (and still tremendously disappointed in my home state), it brought up a world (literally?) of issues, thoughts and (obviously) commentary. And while we were mired in debates (and mudslinging) about war, the economy, healthcare, education and experience, I kept thinking about parenting. I kept thinking about K-Man. What kind of a world is he going to grow up in?
October 9, 2008

The best of everything

I had the chance recently to have coffee with a good friend of mine from high school, whom I hadn't seen in 21 years. We reconnected through the marvels of Facebook, and further happy coincidences gave us the chance to meet for coffee for a few hours on Saturday. It was wonderful in every way. Sometimes you have these encounters--friends coming together again after years and changed circumstances and relocations and life's twists and turns--and you find out you can't really be friends anymore (has this ever happened to you?). [more]

May 19, 2008

Friends to feed the soul

This past weekend was a little out of the ordinary for us in two ways: 1) we did a lot socially and 2) we slept in. The sleeping-in part is a little unusual, although one of the perks of having older children is that they do sleep more as they get older – even difficult, hands-on sleepers like ours. So don't despair, if you do have early-risers like we once had; even a year ago, I never thought I'd see the day when I'd wake, peer at the clock, and find it reading "8:15" and, better yet, discover that although L. [more]

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