How Clean Should a Home Really Be?

Thoughts I have while cleaning.

I was just vacuuming the kitchen, you know, digging into the trim along the floor underneath the sink, a place that never seems to get totally clean. I got all the vaccumable stuff, but still. My inner goldbrick spoke up, “Aw, that’s good enough. Consider the dirt a sign of life ongoing.” Then I thought back to how perfectly immaculate my childhood house was. What did that signify? I also thought of how some of my mom’s ashes wound up in a vacuum cleaner. more…

Our Family Knock-Knock Joke Redux

A time-traveling knock-knock joke

Just a quick note about those interrupting cows. Doc has a new version of the knock-knock joke that has seven-year-old SD delightfully baffled. more…

Grade-School Valentine’s Day Deserves a Stake Through the Heart

The pointless torture of little kids on Valentine’s Day.

Every year about this time, it’s the same thing for parents of young grade-school students: Time to buy a box of cheap Valentine’s Day cards for everyone in their child’s class so that no child gets more, or less, declarations of love than anyone else. more…

Signs Point to An Awesome First Grade

Now we’re talking.

It’s one of those good signs, no question. The other day, SD was telling me about a new classmate she wasn’t so sure about: “He doesn’t listen to the teacher.” Wait, what? more…

While the Whole Band Is Still Together

Meet the Beatles.

As far as I know, no photos, and certainly no videos, exist of my childhood family dinner table. What would I give to see, seated across the table from me, my older sister and my late parents? more…

How Long Does It Take To Fall In Love?

First, trust.

When we first met FD in Wuhan, it felt like we bonded with our new daughter incredibly fast. I’ve read so many accounts of other adopting parents reporting the same experience: The match is magical, the connection nearly instantaneous. Boom. In Love. Um, maybe. more…

Teaching Is Not the Job for a Wimp. I Am a Wimp.

A special kind of commitment.

A week or so ago, Doc forwarded me a a part-time listing. (As a freelancer, I’m always on the hunt.) The local school district is looking for substitutes, and according to the listed requirements I qualify. I didn’t apply. more…

Sleeping with the Light On

Oh, Mini-Me, don’t be scared.

I go to bed long after everyone else, and the last thing I make sure to do is look in on my girls. Last night — this morning, really — I found SD sleeping with the light on. It’s confusing, jarring even, to be standing over her in a brightly lit room this way. But I understand. more…

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