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Monthly Archive for May, 2009

The Tally

I am unteachable. Dear friends Ian, Christine, and Alise are due to arrive in Louisville for a visit in 8 1/2 hours. Not content to clean up the status quo, I undertook a few projects to spiff up the place before they arrived. I did this at a time when Matt worked long hours, school […]

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Dawn of a New Era

Today was Simon’s last day in the Itsy Bitsy class. It’s hard to imagine, but he spent nine months in Ms. Lana’s class. The day he began, he was 33 ½ inches tall, clung to Dirty Dog like a life preserver, and used a pacifier when stressed. Today he stands over 37 inches tall, piles […]

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Memory

There’s an author I worked with, whom I also consider a friend, who has a son about six months older than Simon, also named Simon. [I swore to him at the time, truthfully, that “Simon” was on our short-list before I learned his son’s name.] We meet up at conferences about twice a year, during […]

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Color Me Amused

From a NYT article about the creation of Rebecca, the new American Girl doll, who is a Russian-Jewish immigrant living in New York City’s Lower East Side in 1914: “Hair color was a big issue, debated for years. At first it was a dark auburn, but it was thought that might be too untypical. Ms. […]

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Summer of ’95

In the summer of 1995, I volunteered on an excavation at Tel Miqne/Ekron in Israel. It was, in most respects, an awful experience. My first square turned up nothing but mud. The students in my second square spent all their time complaining and/or sick. The food was unimaginably horrible (hot dog and French fry casserole, […]

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Mommy Martyrdom

Certain sayings are trops of motherhood. Especially of mothers who end up getting quoted. For example: When you become a mother, you are supposed to love your child more than you have loved anyone ever in your life. That was true enough for me. You are supposed to feel immensely protective of your child, preferring […]

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Looming Boyhood

One Thursday, about a month ago, I happened to catch a glimpse of Simon on the couch at his grandparents’ house while he was watching “Racecars” on their TV at the end of a very busy spring day. He was leaning back, eyes fixed on the screen, a slight slouch to his posture, with one […]

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Mambo!

Thursday night, Keneseth Israel Preschool held its annual spring program. I, alas, was scheduled to be in Indianapolis for businesses through Friday morning. When I first realized this, I was just a little bummed. These things happen sometimes. Then, as I learned more about the program, I became more bummed. I was missing the big […]

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Spending Priorities

A new season of shopping has dawned, and I’m finding my approach much changed from seasons past. When Simon was a baby, and even more so when he was a baby-on-the-way, I was a retailer’s dream. Nothing was too good for my baby. I shopped long and hard for his crib, and I splurged on […]

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A Song of Ascents

The boy understands the importance of timing. Three years ago Simon gave me his first real kick in utero on Mother’s Day. Two and a half years ago, he held his head up for the first time on Thanksgiving. Last year he took his first steps on Father’s Day. He called Evie “Grandma” for the […]

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