SubscribeFebruary 2011
Finding a new passion (0)
2/16/11 •
Sometimes we find our passions by accident. That’s how I ended up starting Unlock A Voice, a non-profit organization dedicated to offering support services for children and adults who stutter or have other speech differences. I’ve been smitten by journalism since I was a preteen writing stories for my junior high school newspaper. I’m still [...]
Melting the middle with friends (0)
2/03/11 •
The other evening, I went to my first pilates class, uneasy about what to expect and whether I would be able to stretch my body into all of those flexibility movements. I couldn’t do a few of them but by the time the class was over the instructor was praising my first-time abilities. Of course, [...]
January 2011
Selling Girl Scout cookies (0)
1/20/11 •
My daughter is a longtime Girl Scout, which means I’m a Girl Scout mom and like millions of other parents across the country, I’m selling cookies, too. Eating Thin Mints, Trefoils, Tagalongs and the other five types of cookies during the beginning of the year is almost as important in our national psyche as celebrating [...]
Creating a space for scrapbooking (0)
1/12/11 •
Snow and ice has forced us to stay inside over the past few days here in Charlotte and the break from taking my daughter to track practice in the evenings has given me some time to work on my scrapbooking space. I got hooked on scrapbooking more than a decade ago, when my daughter was [...]
No more New Year’s resolutions (2)
1/06/11 •
For the past six days, we’ve all been bombarded with advertising urging us make a New Year’s resolution to buy a Nutrisystem food plan, sign up for Jenny Craig, invest in a treadmill or run to the nearest phone to order an it-will-change-your-life set of exercise DVDs. This year, I’m ignoring all the hype, this [...]
December 2010
My daughter is Sweet 16 (0)
12/30/10 •
On Christmas Day, my teenage daughter turned 16. I made a red velvet birthday cake. Her grandma, who turned 80 last month, and other relatives gave her lots of hugs and kisses, and some birthday gifts. We sang a hearty rendition of the birthday song. And, it snowed. She’ll also celebrate with friends after the [...]
Finding the spirit of Christmas (0)
12/22/10 •
A few weeks ago, my daughter was unusually quiet as we began decorating our Christmas tree. We had pulled out our collections of ornaments –I have ethnic inspired angels and other pieces while my daughter’s set includes ornaments she has made since elementary school and the ones I have given her every year since her [...]
Learning to cook in bulk for mom (0)
12/15/10 •
These days, my mother rarely wants to eat chicken, no matter how it’s prepared, and she isn’t interested in tasting any new recipes for the foods she does enjoy. Like many aging adults, my 80-year-old mother is becoming a finicky eater in her golden years. Many seniors face a loss of appetite and more than [...]
Are we raising confident, self-reliant children? (0)
12/01/10 •
Are most of our African American children ready to withstand the pressures, difficulties and disappointments they’ll inevitably face as adolescents and adults? Are we parents doing what we ought to do to raise confident, self-reliant children? At my Baptist church here is Charlotte, building confidence among our youth has become a priority. A couple months [...]
November 2010
Celebrating the power of traditions (0)
11/24/10 •
I am grateful for many things, among them my health, my daughter, my family and of course, the traditional Thanksgiving meal that I grew up eating here in North Carolina. I didn’t always understand the power of this annual meal, particularly after I moved away from the South and began to eat a greater variety of [...]
Trying to melt the middle, again (1)
11/08/10 •
I’m already imagining Mother’s Day 2011. With my daughter watching, I’ll pull a tape measure snugly around my waist and read a measurement that is inches smaller than it is now. My friends Nzinga and Patrice similarly report smaller waistlines. We have reached our goal, after seven months of energetic exercise and healthy eating. That’s [...]
Celebrating my mother’s 80th birthday, Part 2 (0)
11/04/10 •
My mother’s 80th birthday is only a few weeks away and after considering several ideas for how to celebrate, my sisters and I have finally come up with a plan. But let me tell you first about the one that won’t happen. My mother asked us not to put together a big birthday dinner party. [...]
October 2010
Getting together with friends for exercise and adventure (0)
10/27/10 •
Our gatherings started the way many do when a group of friends decide to connect: we met at a restaurant. The three of us are former co-workers and left the Washington area at different times to move to Charlotte. Our initial reunion was a celebration over Jamaican food. Since then, all our other outings reflect [...]
How much privacy should teenagers have? (0)
10/18/10 •
I was driving my daughter to the dentist one day after school when I decided to turn on the radio. It’s usually off when we’re together in the car, as that is a time I reserve for spontaneous, and planned, mother-daughter conversations. Michael Baisden’s voice boomed . ”Callers, how much privacy do you think teenagers [...]
Say it loud: there is no privacy on the internet (0)
10/11/10 •
My 15-year-old daughter and I were on the way from church when I decided to seize the opportunity. When I asked her to remove the earphones of her IPod for a few minutes she looked at me with the pained expression of a teenager who at that moment wanted to listen to music rather than [...]
Time to talk about the meaning of commitment (0)
10/06/10 •
The mistress of ceremonies at the recent 50th wedding anniversary celebration for my aunt and uncle waved a gift in the air, offering it to the couple who had been married the longest. She was clearly expecting to honor only one husband-wife pair. Two couples spoke up, both of them married for 60 years. Then, [...]
September 2010
Celebrating my mother’s 80th birthday (1)
9/28/10 •
My three sisters and I recently began discussing ways to celebrate our mother’s upcoming 80th birthday. Perhaps we’d give her a nice dinner, inviting family and friends to festivities during a catered meal. Or, maybe a dessert reception might be better, featuring Southern favorites such as red velvet cake, banana budding and sweet potato pie. [...]
The joy of walking (1)
9/03/10 •
It is during my early morning walks that I reflect on the joys of life: my relationships with my daughter, mother, siblings, family and friends, the magic of sunlight filtering through dew-soaked trees, the art of spider webs, the power of faith. I’ve found a trail near my home that stretches for six miles through [...]
August 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. [...]
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.
