My, what a year can do. Austin’s last day of preschool last year: And Austin’s last day of preschool last week: Which of course brings us back to that pesky old question: Was that his last last day of preschool? Weeeellll, I don’t think so. I’ve been leaning more and more in the direction of […]
There were many years when Mark and I planned our springs and summers around weddings. Weddings of his friends, my friends, family members. Weddings in Cleveland and Chautauqua, Chicago, Florida, New Orleans and Boston. And then suddenly, right when we were complaining about too many weddings, they stopped. We got old, I guess, and as […]
Early in Austin’s cancer journey, when I first requested wishes to transcribe onto the stars dangling from his hospital room ceiling, several people mentioned “homemade cards” in their wishes. As in, “I wish you live long enough to make plenty of homemade cards for your mom and dad.” At that point in my parenting career, […]
Soooooo, today was kindergarten registration day at Fairfax. My PTA job doing outreach to the incoming kindergarten families required that I be there for the entire two-and-a-half hour event this evening. I oversaw an art project for the kids who came along with their parents, took families on tours of the building, and answered lots […]
You know how once you start thinking hard about something, it seems to pop up everywhere? Well, this kindergarten things seems to be popping up everywhere. Yesterday, I read this article from a recent Newsweek, which focuses on parents who hold their kids back from kindergarten (often upon the recommendation of the private schools to […]
OK, this will be my final public mulling over when to send Austin to kindergarten. For a little while at least! My big issue right now is that I feel like sending him this coming fall is the RIGHT thing to do. Yes, he would still be only four for the first few weeks, but […]
Thank you for the many thoughtful comments. A few responses: I have certainly talked this over with his preschool teacher, but that has still left me hovering between my two choices. She thinks that he is ready both academically and socially for kindergarten. Her concern is the much less predictable “What about when he’s 10 […]
You know, it’s sort of funny because last spring and summer when we were dealing with the enormous burden of deciding whether or not to remove Austin’s kidney — and even back into the previous fall and winter when we were dealing with the same enormous burden — I kept saying how I wished I […]
I’ve been asked to chime in with my thoughts on the whole Tiger Mother debate. Of course, the entire thing has been commented on by thousands and thousands, but you know I have an opinion, so here goes. First of all, we simply must accept the fact that everyone has the right to parent in their […]
A rousing goodbye from the Gallagher family to 2010. It has had its high points, that much is true. But, boy, has it had its lows. Last New Year’s Eve, Austin was in the hospital for chemo and radiation. It was, remarkably, our very first holiday to spend in-patient (but not our last). Braedan went […]