Tag Archive for ‘parenting’
The unpredictable high school change
If you’re lucky, they don’t turn into hoodlums or druggies. Okay, I exaggerate. But it is with some trepidation that you should anticipate the changes that happen to your sweet, young child when he or she makes the big leap from grade school to high school. Much like Dr. Frankenstein, you might be saying, “Sweet [...]
Five things parents cannot live without
In my goal to raise good human beings, I’ve been impressed along the way with the quality of parenting I’ve encountered. Some parents are just so naturally good at it, and others such hard workers; but I have also learned, nearly all have a trick. Every parent I know has an item, something they feel [...]
Perils and perks of teens taking transit
It’s happened to you before. You’re taking the subway home one day, just beginning to zone out, gazing tiredly into middle-space, musing about what to make for dinner. And then you wake up in a great big hurry, registering HUNDREDS of teenagers pouring into your subway car. Where did they come from?! As the teens [...]
Creating a new generation of feminists
Remember the first season of Mad Men? I want both my girls (at the right age) to see it. Not because it’s so worthwhile for them to learn about the advertising trade. Instead, I want them have some inkling of what it was like to be a career woman in the 1950s. The humiliations, the [...]
Treasuring the sound of children’s voices
A treasure lies hidden in our children’s school, a precious jewel. Yet the adults who gaze upon it are few. I was one of the lucky ones this past June, when I attended the end-of-year student talent show at my daughter’s elementary school. The acts were swell, some outstanding. But the star act, in my [...]
The beauty of ‘spaced out’ children
I’m sitting in a plane winging it back to Canada from Paris as I write this. And how, you might ask, was I able to take this rare romantic trip with my husband if I have a 13-year-old at home? A good question. I credit the age gap between my children. Some parents have grandparents [...]
Dropping the ‘break bomb’
Time goes by, and that daughter of ours who had just skipped off to university was all at once in her third year. I still felt that ache there where she wasn’t, but independence was good for her. So, like so many other parents, we swallowed hard and tried to keep our sense of loss [...]
The fine art of applying for high school
Concerned mom (i.e., me, getting flustered): “Honey, it’s just terribly inconsistent to do it that way.” Fed-up 13 year old (i.e., my daughter, getting impatient): “It’s my portfolio, and I’ll do it my way!” Should she have followed my advice? Who’s to say? In any case, it was her portfolio, about her accomplishments, and her [...]
