Lena begged months ago for me to chaperone her final field trip of the year, and I agreed, not truly believing the day would arrive when I had to spend precious school hours shuffling through a damp cavern tour. The day arrived. Parents had to drive our own cars, and we could meet at Howe Caverns or… Continue reading School Bus + Train Tracks = ?
Category: Parenting
Standing Up to “The Pledge”
We were asked to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. I stood. I looked across the middle school “cafetorium” to the singing group assembled for the award ceremony, curious what Jesse would do. At dinner just a week before, we had talked about the mixing of religion and government. I told the kids that the… Continue reading Standing Up to “The Pledge”
Mother’s Day Retort
Stop telling me I’m intuitive. Stop telling me I’m nurturing. Stop telling me I’m tireless. You don’t know that I’d do anything for my kids, that I’m selfless, patient, or affectionate. All you know is that I’m a mother and it’s Mother’s Day. That’s the one day every year that people feel perfectly entitled—even obligated—to… Continue reading Mother’s Day Retort
Life With No After: A Child’s Lament
Jesse had gone to bed happy, with a new book, ten minutes earlier. Yet here he was in the doorway of the living room, about to burst into tears. Stifling my reflexive annoyance at his unscheduled reappearance, I said something comforting, like, “What?!” But he didn’t stop to explain; he just pitched onto the couch next… Continue reading Life With No After: A Child’s Lament
How to Start Your Own Holiday
Can you remember (without looking or guessing) what you did for dinner on October 12? No? How about on Thanksgiving? That’s my twenty-word argument in favor of holidays. Without holidays, the past dissolves into a smooth and pleasant blur. With them, our feeble brains hold onto at least a few moments each year.[1] But what… Continue reading How to Start Your Own Holiday
Church
I went to church this weekend. Just not the normal kind. When I was a sight-seeing child in Europe, churches were the salvation of my tired little legs. After dutifully examining the statue/triptych/stained glass of art historical significance, and before moving on to the next entry in the Blue Guide, I was permitted a few… Continue reading Church
On Saying “No” and No More
(If you haven’t already, read here how I got myself into this mess. ) ♦ ♦ ♦ You don’t have to explain. That’s what I kept telling myself. Just say it’s not going to happen. I had resolved to tell my father-in-law that his grandson would not be celebrating a bar mitzvah. And I had resolved to tell him… Continue reading On Saying “No” and No More
Letter from Santa
Lena wanted me to send this photo to Santa to let him know that she received his letter and was honored to fulfill his request. Also, she would be happy to help him again in the future. Below you will find Santa′s letter, which Lena discovered on a box in her room when we returned… Continue reading Letter from Santa
Rites of Passage
A little over thirteen years ago, my first child was born. We named him Noah Cohen-Greenberg, which maybe could have sounded more Jewish if we’d tried harder (middle name “Moses”?), but maybe not. Shortly thereafter, he was circumcised in the hospital by a sardonic Korean obstetrician. If you are Jewish, you may have already read… Continue reading Rites of Passage
Missing the Magic
She asked again yesterday, when we came home from “The Magic of Christmas,” the Albany Symphony Orchestra’s annual spectacle of red, white, and sparkly. “Why can’t we do Christmas?” Lena’s my third child, but strangely the first to ask. My eldest accepted our Santa-lessness as a given, the way eldest children do; he wanted to… Continue reading Missing the Magic