As adoptive parents, some of our kids have issues that have nothing to do with us. While liberating in a sense (for us), for them, it could spell disaster: poor executive function, nonexistent social skills and cues, problems with impulse control, reading comprehension that’s not even on the Richter scale. On the other hand, most…
Up in the middle of the night, it was Monday morning and time to saddle up and head on out. My son was due at another tennis event. Through rain, snow, sleet and hail, he and Mama had to prevail. The forecast was for snow. It had started snowing in DC the night before, however,…
My younger three kids are troopers. They haven’t been around as long as our eldest, therefore a lot of trust issues are still toying with them. In general, if Mama suggests a course of action, an article of clothing, or a specific food group, it’s probably been offered in order to maim them for life,…
Somebody’s telling a Fib, a Big Whopper, if you will. We have not received our son’s PSAT scores in six months and it looks, by all indications, that all of the involved parties wish to cooperate, but I don’t know if this is One Big Snow Job, rivaling the snows whipping through the Northeastern US…
Here is an update from the situation that just refuses to be solved. Hopefully, we are closer to some answers. The bungling, the incorrect answers, the passing the buck, the attempts to help, but not understanding how the system works, or how it breaks down…. So, it was back to the drawing board, sending an…
I give up. Really. “Uncle!” Enough is enough. It appears that the educational powers that be are conspiring against… our children heading to college-! Shocking, surprising, unbelievable if we were not going through this for ourselves. We have been placed smack-dab in a holding pattern that feels like a noose around the neck. What am…
You know that we believe in keeping our kids’ Russian language alive. Well, at least lukewarm. I could quiz them myself and put them through the paces, but then that would simply build up more reasons as to Why Mama is Ruining My Life. Better that we pay someone and they can be the object…
Internationally-adoptive parents often have questions about their child’s acquisition of English. Will it be easy? Will it come quickly? Will that cute baby have a heavy accent for the rest of his or her life? That would be yes, yes, and no. But your mileage may vary. It all depends on the age at which…
My son won! This was his first-ever high school tennis match and he won. There I was, out in the 40-something degree deep freeze as he and his opponent volleyed a thousand times over. Teammates quickly finished off their competitors, but his match kept going and going. The two young men were very well matched….
Yes, it’s true, a little-known side of moi: I am a pencil warden, running a pencil prison where wayward pencils reside. It’s not just that they’ve gone astray in life, it’s that they are worn down to a stub, and my second son insists on using them. Now, don’t get me wrong. I don’t believe…
