There is one thing, I think, that should be brought back to every, single school. It’s a simple thing. It’s a signaling thing. It’s a sound thing. It’s The School Bell… The School Bell cuts through the morning silence with the promise of learning, of discovery, of magical lands and thoughts so far, far away. The School Bell signals kids [...]

I moved to NYC right after I graduated Brown University… It was always my dream to live there.  OK… in a way, I thought I wanted to be Carrie Bradshaw.  There were just 2 things that were preventing me (in a good way) from living out that dream. 1. I moved to NYC with Matt… so I was never actually [...]

When I was a kid, I used to lie in bed and pray that the weatherman was right, that tomorrow would be a snow day.  I wouldn’t just hope for snow, I was looking for an all out assault where Mother Nature unleashed all her fury, transferring Pleasant Hills into a winter wonderland.  Because when I was a kid, unless [...]

I was a 6’2” 230 pound tough guy in High School, but I had a secret.  I was scared of the dark.  Well maybe by that time my fear had passed, but I still slept with the hall light on until I went to college and had no other option but to sleep in the dark in my haunted dorm [...]

I’ve written before about Alexander’s love of handsome shirts (a.k.a. polo tees).  The kid loves to look “handsome.” We’ve all grown to “love” this little tidbit about Alex.  There are definitely moments in the morning when I want to pull my hair out because he’s so insistent on a particular handsome shirt, but I roll with it (as best as [...]

I constantly struggle with giving each one of my son’s enough time and attention. Having 4 boys so close in age, it’s not always easy. I’m used to… William wanting something at the same time Alexander wants something which is the same time Benjamin wants something… and – of course – my little Henry, too. It’s the way of the [...]

Of all things children, there’s nothing quite like SNOW… those dancing white crystals that change everything. Sidewalks and roads and open fields and hills become shadows of what they were and suddenly are the images of adventure. White blankets transform the ordinary into the extraordinary. Snow brings laughter. Snow brings creativity. If you listen carefully, snow brings the most delightful [...]

From my “computer window” I look down at a fairly busy main street.  Mornings are especially busy.  This morning, it seemed to be the morning of school buses. Dozens of them. They just kept rolling along… on the morning journeys that school buses take. I remember way back when I was a school bus rider, in junior high school, traveling [...]

Yep. This time to the mom at the playground who sat there reading a nice book in the warm last-day-of-September sun while her 4-or-so-year-old daughter asked every adult there to “push me”… “help me”… “get me up there”… “watch me”… and yes, “take me to the bathroom.” Dear Mom who just sat there, Yes, you.  I never got close enough [...]

While at the beach with my grandchildren recently, I saw a group of giggling young girls, maybe in the 9-10 year old range, who were sitting in a little circle on the sand under the warm summer sun.  My first thought, as a grandmother, was something like… “I hope they have sunblock on.” My second thought was something wonderful, remembering [...]