Boy, she's pretty much inescapable these days, that Sheryl Sandberg. Lately I feel like she done leaned right on into my livingroom. The other day at the gym I was reading Time's cover article on Sandberg while watching a CNN piece on Sandberg that referenced a Vanity Fair article on Sandberg (in an issue which perhaps ironically has Taylor Swift on the cover...contrasts). The woman's gone meta. I have no real quarrel with Sandberg. The Mommy Wars aren't really my thing, and anyway, she's obviously talented, smart, and ambitious and her career savvy has paid off handsomely, and why ... [READ MORE]
Life, Death, and the School Run
March 12, 2013 by Leave a Comment
It is 8:11am. The sun beams through the windshielf and with my right hand I'm rooting around for my sunglasses in my bottomless purse. "It's Friday, guys!" I chatter to the kids. "The weekend starts today!" "Star Wars pancakes tomorrow!" shouts LittleMan. "Dee-too-dee-too! Yay!" chimes in Babygirl, clapping. "It's R-2-D-2, Babygirl!" corrects LittleMan. He finds my eyes in the rearview mirror. "Mommy, I keep trying to correct her." The person in front of me is looking for parking and has slowed to a crawl. I switch on the left indicator to go around him, glancing quickly over my ... [READ MORE]
Pacify Me
March 5, 2013 by Leave a Comment
It's funny the things you develop senses for once you become a parent. For example: I can hear, through a wall and a door and a haze of sleep at 4:30am, when Babygirl makes the first of many decisions to slowly push her pacifier -- click, rattle, thump -- through the bars of the crib and onto the floor. (Or, even better, into the book bin at the foot of her bed, or behind her crib in the dark recesses of the room. Because the only thing more frustrating than retrieving a pacifier at 4:30am, is hunting for a pacifier at 4:30am.) The sound is whisper-quiet, but the act is a ... [READ MORE]
A 60-Day Timeline
February 26, 2013 by Leave a Comment
"It's a process," the woman on the phone admitted. "But we walk you through it." I had finally reached the expert in question, the woman in charge of preschool assessments for special education services, after listening to the lengthy directory on the main line of the San Francisco Unified School District and calling three of the numbers I thought might be the right fit -- Assessment and Intervention, Special Education, and Other Assessment. I am not dealing with the City by choice. There are very good public schools in San Francisco. A few. They are spread throughout the City, not ... [READ MORE]
Yo-Ho-Ho (Now Mommy Wants a Shot of Rum)
February 21, 2013 by 1 Comment
There are certain things in life that defy all reason or explanation, and one of those things is Comcast. Why, for example, must I pay for Downton Abbey On Demand when the series itself is a public broadcast, meaning its existence (in the U.S., at least) is financed by my tax and pledge-drive dollars? And why (oh, why!?) do I get Disney Junior some days but not others? Over President's Day weekend we got Disney Junior all three days. We got it live, on DVR, and On Demand. Then all of a sudden, this Wednesday morning, when Jake and the Neverland Pirates was very much in-demand, it was no ... [READ MORE]
I Adore Being A Girl
February 13, 2013 by Leave a Comment
For the first many months of her life, Babygirl did not really have her own toys. She had plenty to play with -- our apartment is chock-a-block with playthings -- but none of them were hers; they were LittleMan's hand-me-downs, or (even better!), his favorite cars/trucks/Legos...In other words, if LittleMan is interested in it, it has to be good. As she has become increasingly mobile, this has become an increasingly fractious issue; in fact, at Christmastime Santa wisely delivered TWO Toy Story action figures and TWO "LittlePeople" vehicles and TWO sets of Legos, thereby offsetting (or at ... [READ MORE]
Stormy Skies
February 7, 2013 by Leave a Comment
I drive to work every day now, on account of The Routine. Depart home 8:05am (or earlier...or usually later, which is stressful). Drop off Babygirl 8:15am. Brave the parking lot at LittleMan's School 8:19am. Sign LittleMan in 8:20am. Do morning paper with LittleMan. Read short book with LittleMan until the bell rings 8:33am. Get in car. Get gas. Stop at Trader Joe's to buy non-perishable groceries. Make friendly chit-chat with check-out guy. Drive to work. Work 9am to 2:40pm. Drive (too fast) to LittleMan's school for 3pm pick-up (change into flat/comfortable shoes at ... [READ MORE]
