Big Sunday Energy

Whoa, you guys. It's so weird to be here. Wild! I haven't blogged in ages (and not just because the word "blogged" is one of the most hideous words I've ever encountered. Seriously, it's bad enough as a noun, but the verb? Get out of here!); I haven't even opened this website. It's one of those things ...

Up to the moon and stars

Once upon a Cambridge spring, The stars did a dance and the moon began to sing. “She’s here,” crooned the wind, the sky gathered around her. “The best mommy’s been born! She’s here! We have found her!” You see, everyone thinks that when babies arrive They’re the most sacred things born from the sky. But the stars and the moon knew ...

Why am I so scared?

Dear friend, I hope this finds you well. Or, you know, as well as possible during this time. I hope you are finding yourself with as much health, both physical and mental, as one can muster. This time is (well, I don’t want to be trite, and refer to this time as “unprecedented” so I will, instead, use ...

Septembers past

Over the weekend, as we gathered around my parents' table for dinner, my kids, Kenny, mom, and dad decided to play a new mealtime game: Let's make fun of Becca!!!!! (is the working title, I believe). I have anxiety, and anxiety + pandemic + virtual school + the impending election + 2020 = MAJOR ANXIETY My kids have taken ...

11 things I’ve become obsessed with during quarantine.

Friends, you know me. You know that we are still quarantined, or socially distant, or in the red zone, whatever you want to call it. You know that COVID-19 is making me feel like a bad mom. There has been a lot of womp-womp-ing over here, and so, as I sit here in my living room, my favorite room in ...

Some days

"Is it whatsday or blursday?" Kenny asks me, not infrequently. Dad jokes abound in quarantine. Some days I roll my eyes and smile at him. Other days I roll my eyes and mean it. Healthy communication abounds in quarantine. On all of my days, I put a tremendous amount of pressure on myself to be a good mom ...

COVID19 is making me feel like a bad mom.

(What I have done for the last 2 months: yoga every day. What I have not done for the last 2 months: felt, in any way, relaxed, calm, peaceful, or zen.) *** try (verb):  make an attempt or effort to do something; an attempt to achieve or attain.  trying (adjective): difficult or annoying; hard to endure. Has any other homonym been more applicable during ...

My Top Five Tips For Parenting During This Scary Time

I was just straightening the pile of towels that the kids and I had folded this morning when it hit me: my kids folded towels, this morning. They are not folded in the perfect squares that make the control freak in me feel most comfortable, but nothing about our lives today, quite frankly, makes the ...

My children have a different accent than I do

"Now, everyone, take out your R and J," said Mr. Segal, as he paced, slowly but excitedly, at the front of the classroom. It was 2000. Mr. Segal was my high school English teacher, and he emanated passion an inspiration as only supremely gifted high school English teachers do. I was lucky enough to have him for both ...

Baby Ever After

"I know words, and I love words, but I simply do not have the words to express my gratitude for this book and for all of the people who made it possible." When I wrote this in the acknowledgments of Baby Ever After, it was my way of trying to convey the deep and profound appreciation I feel in ...