Planet Denial
Fun fact. When Texans move back home after living abroad (abroad meaning anywhere but Texas), we often forget our main reason for leaving: the heat. When I moved back, lo 20+ years ago, I, too, had forgotten. So in early September, my boss attempted to comfort...
Queen of the Babysitters
I was eleven years old and ready for adulthood when I took my first babysitting gig. Bring on the money, solo TV watching and being home alone (with Baby Hector, of course). “Help yourself to whatever you like!” Mrs. Carmichael said, waving her hand around the...
Pick Your Weird
In college, my pal, Martha, embarked on six weeks of The Red Diet. She ate only red and white foods, while red lights flashed on her tummy and drumming music blasted through the stereo. We chuckled watching her gobble up sirloin steaks (red meat), vanilla ice cream...
Look Up!
Yesterday, as I sat on Mopac, fuming, as one does in Mopac traffic, I spied the Frost Bank Tower. It’s now overshadowed by the higher, hipper skyscrapers, of course, but I remembered the balks and groans during its construction. “Have you viewed the monstrosity? You...
Dad Makeovers
I used to stroll around Target with two babies born thirteen months apart. What mom doesn’t kill a day with air-conditioned zombie-walking, mainlining Starbucks like a boss? I’d pass the little boy’s department, well-stocked with graphic tees. My eldest was a serial...
First Mother’s Day
“People should know,” the therapist said, “parenting is not gratifying.” I released an awkward “HA!” Did he just say that? Out loud? New mothers really shouldn’t hear this. Or any mother, rookie or veteran. The proclamation was irresponsible. (And thrilling.) And...
You Can Do Dinner
You’ve made it to the grocery store. Start in the produce section with the endless plastic bag hoo-ha before hitting canned goods. Don’t use up your reserves. You’ve a long journey. Next up, heavy lifting in aisle thirteen. My troop bathes in red sauce, apparently,...
We Always Have Sea World
I love to travel more than anyone in Austin. It’s a bold statement but I’m resolute. For our honeymoon twenty years ago, my husband and I splurged and flew to Italy. We spent two weeks romping around Florence, Tuscany and the Amalfi Coast. Our travel agent (remember...
Team Dishwasher
We are a mostly “individual sport” type of family. Drawing, Spotify-listening, solo excavations into our own imaginations -- that sort of thing. But I do long for moments of us working as a team. There was the sharing of the remote that one movie night. I don’t have...
To The Peace Rock!
Like good Austin parents, we sent our kids to an enlightened preschool. And I mean this in the best possible way. The kids called the teachers by first names, they celebrated birthday fruit instead of cupcakes, and conflicts were “discussed” in lieu of discipline. On...
O’ Christmas Tree(s)
When I married my hunky Jewish husband, he had no idea I was such a Christmas-head. We’ve had our holiday issues. Said hunk wasn’t that into my Christmas tree. In fact, not at all, bless him. But as our years together seasoned, my tree collecting...
To Pie or Not To Pie
Yes, yes. First— it was the pandemic. Then the long summer with nowhere to go. Certainly, the kids never departing the house for school added to the extra cinnamon roll or seven. So, I radicalized myself. I stopped eating anything with flour or sugar. You got it. The...
