
Temptations and Toddlers
(Today’s Chronicle story is provided by a guest writer.)
They’re here! They’re here! I hear them on the other side of this door. Mom! Come open this door! I’ll keep shouting until you open up. You never come to the door fast…

Soundtrack for a Saturday Morning
It’s a crisp, clear fall Saturday morning, and Small Sister and I are hanging at the park. Her mother’s in a yoga class nearby, and I’m happy to entertain Sis while my daughter gets an hour of stretching and peaceful introspection.…

Child-proofing: Another term for Don’t Kid Yourself
Quick! Twenty minutes on the clock. Go.
Living room: Art pottery whisked off coffee table, stowed on top of fridge. DVR remote up onto mantle, same place each time, in fervent hope I can remember where to reclaim it. Embroidered throw…

A Grandparent by ANY Other Name
When the news came awhile back that my first grandchild was on the way, it was, in all candor, a major shock--a two-step process, like an earthquake and its attendant after-shock. The first-wave tremors brought joy, of course; I knew my…

Zen and the Art of Negotiating with Toddlers
A brilliant, Harvard-trained Ph.D. who was teaching a business school class on negotiation that I attended not long ago added intriguing dimension to her lecture with an interesting personal anecdote. This insightful strategist, who consults…

Going Home (Part 3 of 3)
The departures gate creaks open, admitting the mid-day sun and a puff of air into my stuffy front hallway and illuminating the piles of luggage and Absolute Necessities that travel everywhere. The pile is crowned by the ragged and ubiquitous…

The Visit (Part 2 of 3)
A good Girl Scout or former camp counselor probably would have laid out a schedule, maybe even in writing, with proven estimates of time required for each activity, interspersed with breaks for healthy, pre-approved snacks. Instead,…

The Arrival (Part 1 of 3)
I don't know if you've ever been smack dab in the path of a tornado, as I once was, many years ago, but it's true what they say: There's an unsettling, yellow-tinged calm all around, just before the maximum-force winds blast through. That…

Born to Lean In
Two years after I skidded haplessly into the ranks of grandparents with the arrival of our mysterious man-child, the new generation gained yet another member.
And this one is a girl.
Aha! I nod to me, feigning confidence. Surely…