Peanut Lunchbox

The Perils Of Paté In Your Lunch Box

Anne Lamott believes school lunch has nothing to do with nutritional values and everything to do with nurturing your onion skinned self esteem. Anne distills the whole school lunch dilemma in her book Bird By Bird, using these words. “It was really about opening our insides in front of everyone.” This must be why I
Continue reading...

Our family and our dog Clarissa sitting on the couch

Family Dinner Is Our Favorite Hobby

Family dinner is good for the soul. When my children Matt and Emma were young, I read articles about the value of sitting together for meals. Family dinner saves lives, preventing drug abuse and reducing the likelihood of all kinds of social pathology. It even boosted IQs so I devoted myself to the ritual, using
Continue reading...

career choice

Can You Get an A+ in Motherhood?

I really wanted an A+ in motherhood, and I was completely devoted to the task. I read tons of parenting books and tried to do everything I learned. I’d give myself a B so far. Emma is my second child. My parenting style with her is a good example of what I thought excellent moms
Continue reading...

my son Matt age two

Learning to Parent With The Heart In Mind

My perspective on parenting has changed over time – a lot. I learned to parent from the heart instead of the mind. I focus on my son Matt’s inherent goodness and strengths not his struggles with dyslexia or ADHD. When Matt was a toddler I obsessed about his intellectual achievement, measuring his progress against benchmarks in books for
Continue reading...