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5 Stars
Living in DC means taking cabs. Shawn and I took plenty of cabs for the 13 years we lived in DC together, and he always loved chatting with the drivers. I remember one time when we were going out he got into a long discussion with our driver who had fled Iran during the 1979 revolution. Our friends who were also in the cab were blown away with how much Shawn knew about the revolution. Our driver, who became Shawn’s newest best friend, was pretty impressed too. But now I’m taking cabs alone, so I prefer using a car service where I can see who my driver is. I especially…
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It’s Just Me
“Mom, where is my purple headband?” Claire yelled at me. “I asked you to put it in my drawer last night and it’s not here!” “Claire,” I answered, “I don’t know. I can’t deal with that right now.” It was 7:30 in the morning and I had three kids to get up and dressed and out of the house. I’m pretty sure I don’t need to describe the scene that lay before me, but it was filled with dirty dishes on the counter and pull-ups that needed changing and papers strewn everywhere. “Mom!” Claire continued to whine, “this is important!” “Claire,” I said sternly, “it’s not important that I find…
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So Proud
The end of the school year is really a crazy time for parents. In the last week and a half of school, Claire and Austin have a combined seven school events. All of them, of course, are during the middle of the day, which makes things really difficult for working parents. Particularly single working parents. On the way to school on Friday, Claire asked me whether I was coming to the end-of-year party. “No,” I told her, “But I’m coming on the all-day zoo field trip the day before, so don’t worry!” “But everyone else’s parents are coming to the party!” she whined. Let’s be clear here – everyone else’s parents are…
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Full Time
For the past four years, I have walked my kids to school every day. When Tommy was born, I went to part-time and the flexibility allowed me to take my kids to school and pick them up most days. Shawn walked them some mornings, especially as the kids got older and there were different preschool and elementary school drop offs that we needed to share. In fact, the last morning he had with them before he entered the hospital, we walked the kids to school together. We had to drive part of the way, but he soldiered on and we made sure to drop each of them with their respective…
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Brave Through It
I woke up Wednesday morning with a smile on my face. I can’t remember the last time that happened. The night before, I received a text from my closest friend at work that she had delivered her first child, a boy. I had lived through her pregnancy in a way that I hadn’t ever done with my other friends. I remember helping her navigate the early days of pregnancy, getting baby bump pictures while I was in the hospital with Shawn and watching my daughter tenderly touch her belly at Shawn’s funeral. When I came back to work, we talked a lot about my life, which was sad, but we…
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Why Do All the Damn Parents Die in Disney movies?
A few weeks ago, Claire was invited to a birthday party at the movies to see “A Wrinkle in Time.” It’s a movie about a girl who has to find her lost father. Thoughtfully, the mother of the birthday girl texted me to see if I thought it would be a good idea for Claire to watch the movie, or if it was better to plan a separate event for our two kids. I talked to Claire about it, and we watched the trailer together. She was excited about the movie, and didn’t seem upset by any of it, so I let her go. But this got me thinking. If…
There’s No Handbook for How to Do This
