Inspirations

Show Biz Babies…Oy!

The other night I had a rare treat – dinner and a movie with my two teenage daughters. Since they are more than four years apart, and the 17-year-old’s non-stop social engagements materialize as spontaneously as text messages, we don’t all get together much. I’ve recently instated a policy for myself — if she ever wants to do anything with me I drop everything and say, “Yes!”  Dinner on the patio...

Can You Say “Yes”?

My sisters and I had my mom pegged, and we never grew tired of teasing her about it. When we asked my mom for something and she said, “We’ll see”, it always seemed to lead to a “no”. “Maybe” usually turned out to mean “yes”. So we would whine and beg, “Just say maybe, pleeeeeze!”  Now that I’m a mom and have learned that parenting is an endless list of really hard decisions that can make...

Do Wired Parents Need Time Out…Or Less Guilt?

Sometimes we read things that hit a nerve, and although the truth can set us free, it can also make us feel really uncomfortable. A recent NewYork Times article, “The Risks Of Parenting While Plugged In”, did just that. While I don’t dare own a Smartphone, lately I do spend much of the day glued to the computer, an absorption that often overflows into time that used to be spent with my children. New to the...

Games My Kids Beg To Play

This is my kind of silliness. These family games are creative, simple, and spontaneous. They need almost no preparation and only minimal equipment, just household stuff. They are unplugged, screen-free, non-board games that un-bore children, and they are all about playing rather than producing something, or winning and losing. Best of all, they don’t cause mess-ups that disappoint everyone and make a parent...

Parenting Highs – Finding More Bliss With Your Baby

When my children were babies, I dreaded the end of Mother’s Day. As that magical respite of appreciation and pampering came to a close, I felt my ball gown slowly unraveling and transforming back into rags. The next day I’d return to servitude, subverting my whims to fill the needs of others, Cinderella once again.  There is no question that parenting, particularly for the first years, requires tremendous...

Do We Discourage Our Baby’s Awareness?

In the New York Times Magazine article “The Moral Life Of Babies,” Yale University psychology professor Paul Bloom reports a striking conclusion after ten years of study: infants may be born with the beginnings of a moral code, an awareness of right and wrong behavior.  The babies in Bloom’s studies, conducted at Yale’s Infant Cognition Center, witnessed a mini-drama acted out by objects or puppets. After...

Back To The Sandbox

Oh, for those simpler days when the children were small. It sure didn’t feel easy back then, but taking in the view through our kitchen window in the early evening light, I can’t help but reminisce about blissful times with my babies, before they became: 1) a teenager accelerating down PCH; 2) a sage, but moody adolescent growing an inch every month; and 3) a rambunctious boy who has to squeeze time in between...

A Disabled Mom Not Fit To Love

Abbie gives birth to triplets and almost dies in the process. She survives with severe brain damage, incapable of speech or movement, but able to think, read, smile, and cry. Her husband divorces her, leaving her in the care of her parents, and has not allowed visits from her children (now 3 years old) for nearly two and a half years. In fact, the children do not know that their mother exists. The father’s...