My son, Cole, was mesmerized by fish as a child. So, as a surprise for his fifth birthday, I bought a one-gallon fish tank. A few hours before his party, I sent my husband to fetch a resident for the tank, and he came back with, “Goldfish.” That night, as Cole stared...
By Michelle Loveless (with Shannon Popkin) It had already been a long day in Urgent Care. Now I was in an unusually long line at the pharmacy. I had my three kids with me, whom I had just picked up from school. They were tired and bored; not a good combination for...
I’ve been noticing that there are two types of Control Girls. I wonder if you agree. Control Girl, Type 1 She chafes at limits. Go ahead and tell her that the principal is only available on Tuesdays and Thursdays, between 8 and 11 a.m. Tell her that the 16th floor of...
I walked into the kitchen and saw six glasses, filled with water lined up on the counter. I asked my son, who was busily working on something, “What’s the water for?” He said, “Oh! On the back of the macaroni and cheese box, it says first I...
I heard about a little girl, who had a picture of her extended family pinned up in her room. Three of the people in the picture had died, and so she crossed them out with a thick black marker. But she hadn’t done it in a gloomy way; she said, “I am so...
When I was in kindergarten, my mom made pink frosted cupcakes, for me to bring to school on my birthday. I couldn’t wait to carry them in to my classroom. Those cupcakes would make me the immediate star of the day; everyone’s best friend. But when we got...