The kids have this writing curriculum at their school in which every year begins with "small moments". As a writer I get this: the moment begets the scene, which begets the idea, which begets the plot and so on. (I love this about their school.) If the blog died a quiet death in 2017 it wasn't for lack of small moments. It was because those moments weren't mine. The year belonged to other people. Other people's battles. Other people's pain. Other people's triumphs. The false starts and the great, big, smiling, deep, breaths. I was a bystander, and a support system. I ... [READ MORE]
Please
December 21, 2017 by 1 Comment
To my readers, I present...a letter (this is a real letter, BTW. Real estate is EXACTLY this crazy-cakes in San Francisco). __________________ To: The Owners of our Future Home From: Us, the Hapless Desirers of Said Home Date: October 12, 2017 RE: Purchase Offer To Whom it Concerns: For the past eight years, we have been raising our son (9) and daughter (6) on the 15th floor of a high-rise just blocks from your condominium. They have grown up looking down at the buses, watching the commuters and tourists (and parrots!), marking the time by the Ferry Building clock. They ... [READ MORE]
Jump
July 17, 2017 by 1 Comment
This morning, I woke up and I remembered I like to write. Maybe it was the journal my friend gave me yesterday. (Maybe, the journal was a hint.) Maybe it was reading a blog post my sister texted me in the night, that struck a chord. Whatever. This morning, I woke up and I remembered: Yeah. This is a thing I do. In June, I watched my daughter -- little Babygirl! almost six years old! -- slide off the side of a pontoon boat in the Pacific Ocean to swim with sea turtles. LittleMan screwed his courage to the sticking place and leapt from the deck. It never stops blowing my mind, that we ... [READ MORE]
The Ostrich
April 5, 2017 by Leave a Comment
Is it okay if I just hide in one of these for a while? One year ago this week, I sat next to my mother on a flight to London. We were both wearing Ostrich Pillows -- these lovely squishy turbans that double as eye-masks -- that she'd picked up at one of those hipster-y travel stores, along with wildly unstylish flat, stretchy slippers. Every time we made eye contact in we collapsed laughing at ourselves. Then the lights went down and she slept, which she can do -- seriously, anywhere -- and I watched about fifteen movies, paced the aisles, and cursed that the eye mask caused all my fake ... [READ MORE]
Six Year Itch
October 4, 2016 by 2 Comments
I came across this article today and it touched a nerve, largely because this is a topic I've been wrestling with a great deal lately. I'd love to hear some reader feedback on it, honestly...this blog has been around for six years now and it continues to evolve, and in recent months I've really grappled with the fine line between sharing myself and sharing my children in a public forum. They never asked for this. When I started Less on the Floor in 2010, it was a blog about food. Baby and toddler food, specifically, and the experience of interacting with my then-two-year-old son ... [READ MORE]
Love is a Battlefield
September 19, 2016 by Leave a Comment
Babygirl does not want your help. She does not want your help with her zipper. She does not want your help pouring the milk. She didn't ask for your opinion about whether those shoes are appropriate for school. And she sure as hell doesn't want you brushing out the nest that is her hair in the morning. She wants many things: hugs, treats, your undivided attention at all times and it doesn't count if you're not watching me with both your eyeballs. But if it's help you're peddling, you'd best move along, because she's not interested. Like right now, for example: I'm typing, and ... [READ MORE]
