SubscribeAugust 2010
Writing a back to school contract (0)
8/30/10 •
It’s back to school time and at our house we are trying something different this year. My 15-year-old daughter and I entered into a contract outlining the expectations for the school year. As a 10th grader, she’s entering critical parts of her high school experience, both academic and social. Now is the time when she [...]
Learning to travel alone (0)
8/23/10 •
A few days before it was time for my daughter to travel on Amtrak, I started having doubts about whether it was a good idea to send her alone to visit her grandmother. My primary fear was that some criminal-minded person might try to force her to get off the train prior to her destination. [...]
A passion for scrapbooking (1)
8/16/10 •
It was nearly 1 a.m. and I could barely keep my eyes open but I didn’t want to stop scrapbooking. So I finished cutting and pasting decorative papers on a small cardboard-like page, checked on my daughter and her friend, who were asleep on an airbed, and went to bed. My good buddy and scrap booker [...]
Volunteering at the animal shelter (0)
8/09/10 •
My 15-year-old daughter has been working this summer. As a volunteer. She mops and scrubs. She empties smelly pans. She gets to play with Sunshine, Minnie, Rascal, Chocolate Chip, Shiloh, Mama, Romeo, Rowdy, Minnie and other cats at an area animal shelter. She’s enjoying the experience. My daughter is volunteering at a no-kill shelter, where [...]
My mom’s excellent shopping adventure (0)
8/03/10 •
A few days before my daughter and I were planning to visit my mother, she called with a surprising request: “I’d like to go shopping. Will you take me?” Wow. My mother has not been in a grocery or clothing store in more than a year because it’s been difficult and painful for her to [...]
July 2010
My mom’s world is growing again (0)
7/29/10 •
My mother recently visited her sister, who lives in a neighborhood less than a mile away. Of course, the siblings see each other often and talk daily on the phone, but for more than a year my mother had not been to her sister’s home. The outing marked a significant change in my Mom’s life. [...]
Me & Grandma: Teaching my daughter to cook (0)
7/26/10 •
During the school year, my daughter wasn’t interested in eating breakfast. She wasn’t inclined to eat anything before catching a 6:30 a.m. school bus. So she grabbed breakfast bars, fruit, bagels and other convenient on-the-go foods to eat when she could after the 7:15 a.m. start of classes. This summer, however, she has found her breakfast [...]
Me & Grandma: Teaching my daughter to cook (0)
7/19/10 •
Of my three sisters and me, Barbara is the well-regarded cook, the one who always brings flavorful dishes to family gatherings or whips them up with ease and flair at her home. Many times when we’re talking by phone, particularly on weekends, I ask, “What did you prepare for dinner?” I don’t try to duplicate [...]
Gardening magic (0)
7/15/10 •
For nearly two weeks now, I’ve been eating tomatoes every day. Tomatoes and turkey bacon. Tomato sandwiches. Tomatoes, cucumbers and feta cheese. Tomatoes, squash and onions. Tomatoes and okra. Tomatoes and basil. Or, just plain tomatoes. My daughter and I planted a small tomato garden during the spring in a community garden plot and we’re [...]
Me & Grandma: Teaching my daughter to cook (0)
7/12/10 •
I enjoy grilling meat and vegetables during warm weather and do it as often as possible. I’m a devotee of using charcoal, preferring the flavor and scent it gives the food rather than the convenience of gas-powered grills. When we moved to North Carolina, I felt as if I lost a buddy when I gave [...]
A summer break for my daughter, and me (0)
7/08/10 •
My daughter started packing for a trip to Washington, D.C. and Maryland the day after school closed a few weeks ago. She had eight long days of waiting, which meant I was suffering too. She washed and ironed clothes, texted friends about getting together, grumbled about how time seemed to slow down. She reluctantly did the [...]
June 2010
Plenty of news about teenagers (0)
6/28/10 •
I found an interesting website recently that collects news about teenagers from around the world. I visited a while. The stories are diverse – teens and young adults in France are protesting a law which increases the retirement age from 60 to 62, a new Indiana law targets teen for blood donations, its tough this [...]
A blossoming friendship with my mother (0)
6/21/10 •
It occurred to me the other day after a pleasant afternoon with my nearly 80-year-old mother that she has become my friend. We were sitting in her bedroom, talking about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill –its impact on animals, the reaction of BP executives, the future impact on the environment. We chatted easily, grew [...]
Yearning to drive (0)
6/17/10 •
My 15-year-old daughter is daydreaming about growing up, so the activity on the top of her list now is learning to drive. The idea makes my heart flutter. Here in North Carolina driver education is taught through the school system, so high school students can sign up for after school classes as well as sessions [...]
Still trying to melt the middle (0)
6/10/10 •
It takes a village to lose weight, and keep it off. A little more than six months after starting the Melt the Middle Challenge with fellow blogger Yvonne Shinhoster Lamb, my waistline is still too thick. My journey to reduce my middle has been a roller coaster adventure, and along the way I’ve learned something [...]
Me & Grandma: Teaching my daughter to cook (0)
6/07/10 •
I suggested the dinner menu– cheese and sausage pizza with mixed greens salad– and my daughter was excited, at first. Then I told her we would be using flatbread instead of traditional pizza dough. I expected resistance to the idea. We’re eating too much healthy food, my 15-year-old complained. She already fusses periodically about having [...]
The last, lazy days of school (0)
6/04/10 •
My daughter has been grumbling about having to go to school over the next few days and waste time sitting in the cafeteria. It’s time for makeup exams at her high school and if students don’t have any, there won’t be much to do except chat with friends. Of course, my 15-year-old isn’t griping about [...]
Are you a senior? (0)
6/01/10 •
My daughter walked in the door after returning from our mailbox with a puzzled expression on her face. Before I could say anything she asked, “Mom, are you a senior?” For a few moments, I was a bit confused. The idea of being a senior is foreign to me. That’s not how I think of [...]
May 2010
A passion for camping (0)
5/28/10 •
My daughter and I started camping when she was a young Girl Scout, when I tagged along as a chaperone to help the troop leaders. Over the past decade, however, we’ve developed a passion for spending time in the woods. We’ll be meeting friends over Memorial Day Weekend for an annual summer camping adventure. Destination: [...]
Gardening magic (1)
5/20/10 •
Most evenings, I walk over to the small garden my daughter and I are nurturing and just stare at the growing tomato plants. My daughter likes to look at them too and has taken on the job of watering them nearly every day. She doesn’t like to share that pleasure with me so I just [...]
I am a member of the Sandwich Generation, a Baby Boomer raising a teenage daughter and dealing with the needs of an aging mother. I am a veteran journalist, having worked for more than three decades as a reporter and editor. Mostly recently, I was an editor with the Metro section of The Washington Post.
