Hindsight

When Timothy was 3 and Sarah was a newborn, there was a problem in play group.  One of the mothers had an unpleasant, violent  child.    To make matters worse, the mother rubbed us all the wrong way from the get go (she was fairly new to the area) and people were leaving the group because [...]

Falling

I have always loved Autumn.  As a child, I always loved returning to school – even when I “hated” school  the fact that I would see my friends, be out of my house and be back in a regular routine in a place where I could excel if I chose to do so was comforting.  I love [...]

Harriet the Spy & I

When I was a little younger than Timothy, I was obsessed with Harriet the Spy by Louise Fitzhugh.    I got the book as a gift at the end of the school year.  As soon as I finished reading the book, I rode my bike  over to the drug store/stationary place in town and bought [...]

Children in the Mist

Timothy has a TSS worker this year.  I put up a bit of a fight against Timothy having what I think of as a personal assistant, but the school won.  They fight dirty,  all finger pointing and hair rending, threats of  “special schools”  and teacher break downs.    Alright, so the hair rending and finger pointing [...]

The Girl

The phone rang at 7 am, jolting me awake and flailing, sending the phone skittering onto the floor.    I didn’t worry about it breaking, it was a five dollar phone and only fell about 6 inches from the frameless mattress to the dirty carpet. 
A heavily accented voice demanded Is this Laura?    Angry about being woken, [...]

Not so Suburban Soccer Mom

Sarah wants to be the next Mia Hamm.  She is a force to be reckoned with on the field; a bundle  fiercely competitive  sinewy muscle with boundless energy.  She has that amazing combination of pride and sense of team that makes her perfect for sports like this.   Every time she makes an awesome pass or [...]

In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida

Oh won’t cha come with me, and walk this land?
I know it won’t be a long walk, but since I have posted quite nearly nothing at all about my own beloved gadda da vidda this summer…

This is my little container garden.  It’s made up of  freebies from the garden center (a perk that I cannot [...]

A sign

“What’s wrong with your kid?”  The question startled me.  The little girl, about 7 or 8, peered at me behind long blonde bangs.  Her wide set blue eyes blinked rapidly in her dirt smudged face.  She was thin, and dressed in a Sarah-esque manner… multi-colored polka dotted black ruffled skirt, striped socks, plastic high heels [...]

Happy Thoughts

“Remember, think Happy Thoughts!”  trilled Betsy as Timothy just about skipped out of the office waving a paper plate, yarn and feather dream catcher.  Timothy said good bye unprompted and even added “see you later!”.
Betsy is Timothy’s new therapist.  She is a pretty woman of about my age, soft and approachable looking in a not-too-matronly [...]

Left Handed Pencil Sharpeners

Timothy loves a few things in life a great deal.  One of those things is sharp pencil.  We go through a lot of pencils in this house, as well as a lot of erasers and pencil sharpeners.  Somehow we are blessed with a seemingly never ending supply of  free pencils advertising local businesses, children’s birthdays  [...]