When she came home at the end of the school year in May to find moving boxes still on the floor of her mother’s office and pictures stacked against the walls, my youngest daughter finally realized she needed to take matters into her own hands. By that point, we’d been in the new house for wellRead more…
Time management has never been my strong suit. I begin most days well-intentioned, with big plans to DO THIS and DO THAT, which mostly degenerates into watching videos on Facebook and taking quizzes to determine who was Rory’s best boyfriend on the Gilmore Girls. So I was really struck by a recent piece in The NewRead more…
I was standing in the kitchen talking to my 17yo daughter this weekend when I noticed her looking over my shoulder. This is nothing unusual. Nobody really pays any attention to what I have to say around here unless it’s what I’m making for dinner or that I don’t have $300 lying around to helpRead more…
Here’s another exciting fun fact I learned about myself the other day, something I think we can add to the list of interesting tidbits we already know about me, which include my oft-noted thin ankles (dudes, it’s the only naturally small part of my body) and that I am a skilled armpit farter (truly, anotherRead more…
During the many years that I stayed home to care for my young children, I made it a point to avoid any and all supermarkets/warehouse clubs on Saturdays and Sundays. I could do that because I had the luxury of being able to hunt and forage for pantry staples like Pop Tarts and Tostitos whileRead more…
By now, we are all well-versed on the potential hazards posed by the record-breaking temperatures that have plunged the country into a deep freeze. Just turn on the TV for a couple of minutes and you’ll be immediately terrified by the mighty wrath of the polar vortex. There’s hypothermia and frostbite to combat and slippingRead more…
Anyone who agrees with T.S. Eliot’s assessment that “April is the cruelest month” has obviously never spent time trying to be a mom in New Jersey during November. This week alone, my fifth grader has three days off. Three days. I didn’t even know about one of them until this weekend. Out of the possibleRead more…
People ask me all the time, “Amy, how do you manage to get absolutely nothing done, day in and day out?” I mean, think about it: I wake up at the crack of dawn most days, with hours of potential productivity stretched ahead of me. But other than checking off my list the things thatRead more…
Before going back to work full time three years ago, I was home taking care of the kids for 18 years. And while a lot has changed in our family over the last few years, working from home has allowed me to still be around for them when they get home from school each dayRead more…