Birth Mom
July 12th, 2017 | adoption
This is the story of a confusing but important relationship.
My Children Far, and Near
July 1st, 2017 | adoption parenting
We’re just back from a week at family camp.
Summer Fever Dream
June 8th, 2017 | daily life
We’ve needed rain so much, and the Spring delivered. Rain, and rain, and more rain. We’re headed into the dry season but the plants are gloriously happy. The pollen shimmers in the warming air, and as the kids’ summer break speeds towards me I find myself in a strangely frantic lethargy. There’s so much to do, yet a strangely limp energy to work with. In the morning none of us can wake up, a wooly blanket over us when it seems like the early sunrise should light up our spirits.
Don’t Just Do Something, Stand There
May 29th, 2017 | daily life
I’ve been worried about Dad.
Saying No to the Spring Fling
April 13th, 2017 | holidays and celebrations
The speeding up of life has been well documented, but it continues to take me by surprise. Each annual event that comes along, Jay says “I can’t believe it’s time for that already, it seems like it was just a few months ago.”
Funeral
April 5th, 2017 | daily life
Jay’s aunt Leona Cohen passed this week. She was 91. The end was expected, but then it didn’t come for awhile. She rallied and had a good period. It felt like a surprise when she died on Sunday, but I guess death always feels like a surprise, unbelieveable even as it is unavoidable.
Flu Dog
March 17th, 2017 | daily life
I’m not sure about where a cold ends and the flu begins, but there’s a pretty bright line when I stop making dinner and take to bed. My husband and kids were on their own for parts of this week while I’ve been in an altered state.
Not Just a Sick Day
March 11th, 2017 | adoption
No matter how routine life gets, adoption has some special spikes in the road that are as predictable as they are surprising. I doubt I’ll ever be fully ready, but I’m getting better at it.
Persisting
February 27th, 2017 | daily life
There’s been plenty to have the winter blues about, this winter.
Not Ready For This
January 14th, 2017 | adoption
The horror movies that scared me most when young (back when I watched such things) were not the “jump out” gotcha movies, but rather the ones where there’s a slow-dawning realization that you’ve missed something important.
The House that Love Built
January 4th, 2017 | holidays and celebrations
I was somewhat alarmed about wrangling my kids through the wedding of my dear friends Kenny and Paul.
The Darkest Night
December 21st, 2016 | daily life
Sometimes I feel at odds with the whole world, in ways large and small.
The Love Boat
December 13th, 2016 | holidays and celebrations
I’m not sure anything could have prepared me for being aboard the Disney Wonder, the 2,500 passenger cruise ship that swallowed us up and took us away last week.
Fifty Three
November 15th, 2016 | daily life
Some random thoughts on turning 53!
The Second-Worst Day
October 24th, 2016 | adoption
Shayla is attuned to everything going on around her. Precisely aware, for instance, of what her brother is getting away with, and whether it’s fair. But she doesn’t like to dwell on the past, whether 5 minutes or 5 years ago.
Travel Madness
October 12th, 2016 | parenting
We’re just back from a whirlwind 4-day trip to Boston, and I know I should be celebrating keeping the kids alive through airplanes, subways, Ubers, and staying with friends. We had fun, we all came back, we didn’t get kicked out of anywhere. That should be a win, right? But it’s been hard to stop focusing on the little disasters or near misses.
Quitting
September 27th, 2016 | daily life gay dads parenting
Two recent endings have me feeling a bit deflated, though it’s been tough to figure out exactly why.
Puppy Medicine
September 19th, 2016 | adoption daily life
It wasn’t long after we started trying marijuana that we realized we wanted another dog. Even though the pot was being ingested by our elderly dog Finnegan, I’m sure more than one person hearing this news will think we’re high on drugs ourselves, but no.
My Dog’s Pot Club
September 5th, 2016 | daily life
Recent changes in our elderly Jack Russell Terrier had me looking for treatment alternatives.
Summer Storms and Switching Places
August 6th, 2016 | adoption parenting
I should know not to tempt fate. Maybe a year ago I started feeling cocky, like we’d gotten this parenting thing down. Nobody knows what they’re doing, of course, but I felt we’re going to survive it—the adults, the kids, our marriage. I felt that everyone will emerge, more or less, unscathed.