Super...

Who saves the world when it’s in trouble? Who wears a cape and fights bad guys? Who’s powerful and brave and strong and comes from another planet? It’s Super Tessa and Super Calder! And they aren’t the only superheroes on the block. Superhero play is one of the most popular and enduring rites of preschool, and for good reason.  Superheroes strive endlessly for what is good and fair, but they aren’t afraid of what’s bad and unfair.  They balance power and friendship, reality and fantasy, ambition and limitation.  They struggle to make sense of a world most...

Ambition and the Opposite of Confidence...

I finally got around to reading Bad Mother. Normally I would have been all over it, but Ayelet Waldman really irritates me.  I confessed this to a writer friend who actually knows Ayelet and her very talented husband, Michael Chabon, and ticked off the reasons why: She’s a successful writer, and her husband is a successful writer, and they live in San Francisco (where their kids used  to go to school with my niece and nephew, so they’re friendly with people in my family, but not with me), and she’s inspired lots of conversation about motherhood and...

Monday Morning Surprise...

Sometimes it’s a struggle to remember that Tessa is not, in fact, me. That for all of our matching pajamas and moods, she is her very own person.  She will not share all of my passions, fears, and hopes – but she does share some. She loves words and images.  She longs for connections, for shared interests.  She wonders about blogs, and friends who have never met. And now she gets to find out.  Starting today, she has her very own bloggy friend. Rayne is five years old, and like Tessa, she has a mama who blogs.  Maegan and I found each other through...

Ambition...

Once upon a time, I decided to be a book reviewer.  This was after my plans for Olympic figure skating and pediatrics, but before museum director, best-selling essayist, or Flickr sensation. Now that I’m casting about for ways to make some money writing – ways to contribute financially without getting an actual job – book reviews sound promising again. I love to read, I love to write, I love to share my opinions, solicited or not. The only sticking point is that I don’t love book reviews.  Like any self-respecting smarty-pants, I used to get The New York Review...

Ode to the Mudroom...

I grew up in Virginia. This winter notwithstanding, we didn’t see a lot of snow.  An inch was enough to cancel school, and though we rushed out to build miniature snowmen, there was rarely a need for the kind of gear my children wear every day for months on end.  It still gives me a little thrill to bundle them up; snowpants still feel like a luxury to this southern girl. I knew I was missing out the whole winter wonderland thing, but I didn’t know anything about what came next. We had something called spring, with mild weather and green grass and cherry...

House Hunting Soul Searching...

It’s a funny thing, this looking for a house. Full of questions about who we are, what we value, how we live (and would like to live) – and those pesky matters of what’s available and what we can afford. It’s on my mind all the time, and I covet this painting because I’m pretty sure it’s a portrait of me.  I pore through books, magazines, and catalogs about home + design.  I look at houses online and do so many drive-bys that Calder spontaneously said “Mommy, that house cool” on our way to the Y yesterday.  I mentally...

Loss and Silver Linings...

We did some traveling over February vacation. But not because we wanted to. We went to see Old Pop, in his last days. He was 87.  With three children, four grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren, with two more on the way.  He was, by all accounts, a lousy father and a good grandfather, which shows the right kind of progress.  He was smitten with his great-grandchildren and every time he asked “How’s my friend Tessa doing?” I could hear the smile in his voice. Ari and his brothers stood at his bedside last weekend, and he told them he loved them....

33-12: From Fake to Foodie...

I’ve always been more of a reader than a doer. I mean,I do too, but one of the best things about reading is the way it lets me experience adventures I’d never take myself.  Case in point: I love Into Thin Air, but I can’t imagine why anyone would ever want to climb Mt. Everest. Cooking is not dangerous.  It can require all sorts of special equipment and training, but it doesn’t have to.  Millions of people do it – several times a day.  But here’s my little secret: I would much rather read about food than actually cook it. I am an...

Under Construction...

Notice anything different? I’ve been having an existential crisis of sorts, with what and how and why I blog right at the center.  Sure, I’ve been writing and taking photos and doing stuff, but I haven’t felt focused.  Maybe I needed something new – you know, since everybody else around here has a new job or school… So here it is: a new design.  I chose this the me because the thumbnail feature will prompt me to include photos with every post – something I love, but am sometimes too lazy to do.  I fiddled with my categories to...

33-11: Winterfest...

This town is ridiculously idyllic. If you don’t believe me, just wander over to the most beautiful library you’ve ever seen, and walk around the stone amphitheater in the park next door.  I hear there are concerts and movies there in the summer, but this time of year there’s Winterfest. We were in Portland last weekend, but the ice sculptures are still nestled in the snow, ready to be admired. So we oohed and ahhed and noticed the way the afternoon light glistened through the ice.  And then we warmed up in the library, where Miss Amy had pulled a stack...