I couldn't put up a column yesterday because apparently bad days can carry over into the next day, as well, and Wednesday was such a train wreck of a day that my faculties were completely gone by the evening, when I usually write, and all I could do was lie on the couch, watch House Hunters International, and feel jealous of the attractive young British woman who bought the world's coolest loft apartment in the heart of Amsterdam. [more]

A milestone will be passed in schools around my city this week, because yesterday was the first day of school for the rest of the public school kids, and Tuesday and Wednesday will be staggered entry days for the brand-new kindergarteners. At the pool yesterday, moms and dads were abuzz with discussions of school-supply lists and first days and teachers' names. I felt a little like an outsider, since L. has been in school for almost three weeks now. But it also felt good to have our first day of third grade over and done with, and the school routine settling down a bit for us. [more]

Last weekend, when we were at our friendly local Asian market to stock up on supplies for Family Cook Night, we noticed a large, prominent display at the front of the store, with a little crowd of people gathered around it. When I took a closer look, I saw that the shelves were loaded with beautifully decorated tins. Customers were scrutinizing the tins--picking them up, examining them, and then carefully choosing the design they liked best. I watched while an elderly Asian couple chose a red tin with gold lettering, and a young woman picked a black and red one. [more]

While many kids around the country are trying to squeeze the last remaining drops out of summer, over here at Professor Mom's house we've been back to school for almost three weeks now. And now that the dust has settled somewhat for us and for the other parents of kids at L.'s school, a new topic of conversation is springing up in the walk-up line: homework. The other day, a mom in front of me in line was lamenting to another parent about how her middle-school-aged daughter threw a two-hour tantrum over a spelling assignment. [more]

On Saturday we had one of those perfect dinners where the kids ate like normal people, and no one threw food, and we had an actual long conversation where everyone lingered over their meal and didn't catapult out of their chairs the minute they felt full (and with those little kid tummies, that usually takes five seconds around here). The conversation started with trying to help L. process two "bad" days he had last week--bad because he had different substitute teachers on Thursday and Friday, never a good thing for L. [more]