My daughter was ushered into a sorority yesterday: the sisterhood of the pierced ear. As I explained in a post written last September, I had originally told Zuzu that she had to be eleven — the age I was — to get her ears pierced. But after seeing how much Zuzu wanted pierced ears, and how [...]
We’re starting my favorite two weeks of the year. It’s not just Christmas and New Year’s that make it special. It’s not just that the girls are going to be home on break. It’s that my husband is on vacation for the next two weeks. My husband has a lot of vacation, a perk that [...]
When our twin girls were born, and I was in that sleep deprived, giddy bliss of new motherhood, a friend laughed and said, “Yeah, they are cute now. Just wait until they are teens yelling I HATE YOU. We’ll see how happy you are then.” Those words have stuck in my head. I know the [...]
A few years ago, another mom at our girls’ preschool thought I was their grandmother. It was a humbling moment to be sure. When I called my husband to tell him I said, “Well, this guarantees that I won’t go grey for a long time.” It’s one of the downfalls of being an — ahem [...]
We’re big amusement park fans. This year alone we’ve been to four different parks in three states. I’m embarrassed to admit our theme park adventures didn’t take us to Six Flags Great America until a representative from Discover Card emailed and invited us to Fright Fest. Fright Fest was a different adventure from what we [...]
One of the wonderful things about living in the Chicago area is that there are always a dozen fun things we could be doing on any given day. We’re always on the go doing something we think will be fun. If it’s also subtly educational, like listening to a concert or going to an outdoor [...]
Sometimes I wonder if we don’t all deserve the mess Illinois is in. We are in a financial crisis that threatens to destroy public services from schools to road repairs to health care in a way we cannot even full grasp now. Still, I don’t hear a lot of outrage. I hear people politely talking about [...]
I don’t know about you, but parenting is quite a whirlwind! As a single parent, it is a whirlwind times two! My problem comes in trying to soak it all in. 14 years later, I continue to make every effort in NEVER missing a game. The urge to be present for every word he writes [...]
Arts and crafts has long been a summer camp staple, but imagine a camp where kids paint, draw, dance, and create with professional artists in real studios and galleries. That is precisely the experience that the Oak Park Arts District Summer Art Camp offers. The Oak Park Arts District is an organization of the myriad business located along nine [...]
We were on our annual family get-away in Southwest Michigan, visiting the Children’s Museum in St. Joseph when a dad behind me in line chased his two year old son toward the stack of t-shirts for sale yelling, “No!” He caught the little guy before he even reached the display, grabbed an arm, and gave [...]
You know how you read something and it resonates, but you cannot figure out how to put it into action in a meaningful way? I’ve been that way for a while now regarding shopping locally. I agree that it is important, but I always wonder if the shops I patronize are really helped by my [...]
One of the things about living here is we tend to wax poetically about all the simple joys of summer. We talk about spending time outside, enjoying the warm weather and smelling the summer flowers. We talk about taking bike rides and swimming for hours. It’s about this point in the summer season that I wonder where those [...]
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