To my dearest, darling children,
It has been a wonderful summer. If you were old enough, or I were so inclined, we could've hashtagged the hell out of it—the beach, the ice cream cones, the fireflies, and fireworks. It was all so much fun and I'm so grateful to have had this time to spend together. And now, loves of my life, I need you to get on that bus. Immediately, if not sooner. And since I so rarely tell you what it is I need—here is a list:
I need breakfast to be something that happens perfunctorily as you run out the door; not an endless parade of waffles, cereal, yogurt, and fruit that goes on for an hour.
And speaking of food, I need to go grocery shopping without four extra hands trying to sneak things into the cart (did you really think I wouldn't notice the peanut...
Lifestyle
Dear Kids,
I’m doing the best I can.
I know I’m not always perfect, but please know that I’m really trying to do the best I can for you. It may not always seem like it, but I promise you I am trying my hardest to keep all things balanced—kid time, family time, work time…really, just time in general —balanced. It’s all just one big heap of minutes and seconds that are flying by me as you get older and move closer to the gates of college.
While it’s whizzing past me, please know these things:
Just because we have cereal for dinner doesn’t mean I don’t love you.
I know it’s not the best thing in the world to make, but sometimes after dealing with clients all day, returning a plethora of emails and fulfilling every business need that hits the front burner all I want to do is...
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Dear Sweet Child,
First off, I just wanted to start by saying you are strong, even when it feels like the world is crumbling beneath your feet.
Secondly, I wanted to say how sorry I am for the loss of your parent in your most crucial years of needing love and words of encouragement. A piece of your world was stripped away from you, and that will never be replaced. Which I know personally, stings so deep.
As you continue to grow throughout your life, I wanted to address some aspects that I have learned on my own are not the easiest to conquer; that in most cases people do not understand.
1. It's okay to cry, on the real: Forget those people who tell you crying is for the weak. You go ahead and cry; you probably need it.
2. Every holiday is like ripping a Band-Aid off over...
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My dear girl,
Before I delve into serious topics and lose your attention to Instagram, several things:
You left the lights on in the bathroom
Your shoes are in the middle of the hallway and I tripped over them twice already
You left the lights on in the kitchen
There is a collection of candy wrappers, dirty tissues, and remnants of popcorn in the living room
You left the lights on in the den
Please attend to the above before I am forced to walk into your room and attempt to confiscate your electronic devices. We both know this doesn’t usually end well.
Now on to more important issues.
When it comes to household chores, asking you to unload a dishwasher or walk the dog isn’t the same as making a Cinderella out of you. Plenty of people get out of bed before noon to take out their...
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Dear Daughter,
Take my hand. And please listen.
I'm writing this not to let you know how much I love you, and I do. So much.
Not to tell you how proud you've made me and how talented you are. You have. You are.
Not even to gush about how bright, intelligent and funny you are. Or how adept you are at braiding your little sister's hair. (Seriously.) You are all those things, and more.
I'm writing you to let you know that I understand. That I care.
I understand the changes you're experiencing. The feeling that you're walking around in somebody else's body. Been there. Done that. (I have the diaries to prove it.)
I understand the challenges you're facing. School, friends, feelings, stuff. I get it. I really do.
I understand some, not all, but some of the frustrations...
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Dear Teachers,
It’s that time of year again.
It comes every winter with the first snowfall. I can read it between the lines of the emails you send letting me know my son’s failing every subject. I can hear it in the exasperation when we speak on the phone and you carefully craft your sentences, trying not to let on that you have no more solutions and have run out of patience. You’ll never say the words out loud but I see them there behind everything you do say: you’re giving up on my kid.
My son has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). He was only diagnosed with it late last year but we’ve been struggling with his inattentiveness, disorganization, and lack of focus for much longer than that. We’ve had years of missing homework, unreadable handwriting, half-assed...
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Dear Summer,
You have finally arrived! We have waited for you to get here since our Christmas break. After a year of too many illnesses and too many school projects, we were overjoyed to start counting the days until your arrival. You bring us hope, joy and mornings where we can sleep late. You bring us long evening walks, late night movies and trips that can last longer than a weekend. We love when you show up and every one feels a very heavy burden lifted from their shoulders. In fact, I could go as far as saying you are our favorite time of year.
However, I do have a few requests while you are here.
First, could you please keep the temperature and/or heat index below 100 degrees? I am not sure I can deal with my kids whining about how hot they are as they lie around the house...
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Dear teenage boy at skate park: You're probably ...Mean yaare Old, so I don't expect you to be very mature or for you to Want a Ilftla girl on yOur Share ramp f or that matter. Mat you don't know is that my daughter has bean wanting to skateboard for months. I actually had connnce her that sKataboarlIng wasn't f or just for boys. So when we walked up to the skate park a. MY that ft IreS tull of teenage boys who wore smoking a. swearing she immedlataly wanted to turn around and go home. I secretly wanted to go too because ClIdn,rent to have to put on my mom voice and exchange words with you. I also didn't want , daughter to fool Ilk° she had to be scared of anyone, cr that she waisn't antftled to that skate park Just as much as you were. So when she sald 'Mom it's full of older boys. I...
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When I was 7 I wanted to be 8. When I was 8 I wanted to be 12. When I turned 12 I just wanted to be 18. Then after that I stopped wanting to be older. Now I’m ticking 16-24 boxes just to see if I can blag it! I feel like I’ve spent my whole life so far wishing it away. Always wishing I was older, wishing I was somewhere else, wishing I could remember and wishing I could forget too. Wishing I hadn’t ruined so many good things because I was scared or bored. Wishing I wasn’t so matter of fact all the time. Wishing I’d gotten to know my great grandmother more, and wishing I didn’t know myself so well, because it means I always know what’s going to happen in the end. Wishing I hadn’t cut my hair off, wishing I was 5’7”. Wishing I’d waited and wishing I’d hurried up as well.
My last record...
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Dear Deepika,
Ever since I heard about your coming out of the closet, so to speak, about your struggle with depression, I have wanted to write. I have swung between many personal and political issues concerning mental health since listening to you.
I had to remove your celebrity image in my head and look at you as a human being in order to write this. I've self-harmed as a child and continued through adulthood. Often, I have bouts of severe depression where I feel I'm choking for days or weeks, and then, as if with a flip of a coin, I spring up to a high and prance about like the world is mine before I hit a different nerve and drift way into a fantasy land of zombies, ghost and what not. I have my version of depression but that is not what my label is. The one I carry- Schizophrenia-...
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