The Book Journey

11 Blogging Secrets I Learned In 2011

Ah, the irony. Two and a half years ago I was rarely online and didn’t know what a blog was, and here I am sharing blogging tips. But since my learning curve has been steep, especially this last year, I thought I’d pass along some stuff that I wish I’d known earlier. Granted, you may know all of this already, but here goes… 1. Listen Turns out, blogging is less about speaking one’s mind than it is about...

I Can’t Part With These Books

As I was packing up mountains of ‘baby’ books from the shelves in my 9 year old son’s room recently, his 14 year old sister and I had a revelation. Several of these books (moved to his room years ago when both big sisters grew out of them) have become much, much more than just books to us. They’re part of our family lore. And they’re not going anywhere. We’re saving them for the precious memories…and...

To My First Baby

This one’s personal…a graduation letter to my daughter that I never intended to post. But then it occurred to me that these reflections and recollections (some of them found in an old journal) might inspire you to record some of your own. Dear Charlotte, Such a monumental time in the life of such a monumental girl (funny, I kept typing “momumental”), which must be why this letter has been hard for me to...

Date With My Boy

My 9-year old son recently led me on a spontaneous early morning adventure. I wish I could say I was gung ho, but the truth is he had to cajole me. It was almost time for me to take him to the school bus and his sister to her carpool, but she wasn’t feeling well and decided to stay home. My boy seized the opportunity to break our routine… “Can we go to Starbucks and then meet the bus at the second stop?”...

A Child Molester In My Circle

I never imagined I’d be writing a post like this one. The last thing I want is to be the bearer of bad news, stir up worry and paranoia. I want to share inspiring, hopeful messages about raising children, not scary, disturbing, cautionary ones. But last week I heard something incomprehensible: my chiropractor, a friend for 18 years, is in jail after confessing to child molestation. I’m sharing this scenario...

Magda Gerber – Memories Of A Mentor

Magda Gerber dazzled me. Growing up in Los Angeles acting and modeling, I’d met plenty of celebrities in film, music and politics, but none gave me the thrill Magda Gerber did.  A petite “pixy”, as Laura Huxley describes her in the video “Seeing Infants With New Eyes”, Magda radiated big, bold and bright.  She was in her eighties when I met her and still sat cross-legged on a pillow on the floor during...

Two Words – A New Parent Survival Mantra

Thank goodness there are people out there reminding me. Whether it’s a trivial reminder like my hormonal teenager commanding, “Get dark chocolate,” when I’m rushing off to the store, or the more profound “Aha’s” I glean while hearing a sermon at church, or from reading a story, article, even Twitter occasionally (yup) — I depend on others to set my priorities straight. And I seem to need these...

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...