People complain about television. They always have their reasons, but mostly parents worry about its impact on children. Anyone can see how that might be true. But let me tell you about an astonishing connection Maggie made through television when she was a toddler. This begins with my mother who became a widow at forty-six,…

You already know this, but you've probably forgotten. If you're my age, in first grade you were handed a wooden ruler stamped with The Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Bulletin boards brandished the slogan. Teachers recited it to unruly children who had to be separated at recess.…

Everyone hates Monday. It's a flashing signal warning us to get back on the school bus or to grab the broom or to log on at the office. There are chores to complete and deadlines to meet. Fun finished for now. So imagine my shock when I answered the phone at 11 am this past…

Fair warning: Nancy and I have been friends for 35 years, give or take. If you think that will influence my remarks about George & Lizzie, you’re right. Without a doubt. In the late 1980s, I worked with Nancy in a Tulsa bookstore. She was the impressive manager who knew each book right down to…

Well, there was all that about my kindergarten experience, if you read my previous post. I left out the part about being swatted when I left my chair once. I'd never been grabbed and shaken in my life. I was incredulous and scared. I did not leave kindergarten with a high opinion of that teacher…

I entered kindergarten in Carmi, Illinois. My mother used to say I was a happy child until then. When she said it after I married Cliff, a kindergarten teacher himself, he asked me what I remembered about my first year of school. My earliest recollection with the teacher happened when she sent us to the…

Because I'm an only child, I spent most of my early years creating story lines by myself. Sometimes I served as narrator of a tale. Other times I played a character in the action. One of my favorite stories involved the daffodil fields in my grandparents' chicken lot. I assume my grandmother planted the bulbs…

When Cliff and I first got together, he loved recounting his teenaged summers with friends, traveling across America to hear Janis Joplin, The Yardbirds, Jimi Hendrix, The Allman Brothers, Jefferson Airplane...The whole suede fringe set. He'd often ask: "Do you know who that is?" I listened politely. Every time. One day he told me again…

Easter happened one week ago with particularly cold, blustery weather. Our next-door neighbors rallied, nevertheless. Three generations shared games outdoors. Bundled up in coats, little girls ran with a big neon egg. Their pastel dress hems flapped in the wind. Indoors, candy-filled baskets delivered by the Easter Bunny undoubtedly lined the hearth. Easter, beyond the…

I went into motherhood thinking I'd create one treasured moment after another in Maggie's childhood. The house we bought in North Carolina was bordered by brilliant azaleas and pink and white dogwoods. It looked like a fairy squadron descended on us each spring. I decided we should establish beautiful gardens for an equivalent ground game.…

I grew up with powerful parents. Not because they were rich and famous, but because they knew the value of daydreaming. My father once brought home several huge empty boxes from his office and asked me to imagine what my perfect playhouse would look like. I drew it. He cut and taped boxes together in…

A story precedes every child. Some are happy. Some, horrific. Our daughter's first chapter was written in desperation. By four adults. On both sides of the ocean. After Cliff and I settled in Wisconsin, becoming parents was the hardest challenge we ever faced. In and out of medical offices for years, we were finally referred…

You have no idea what you'll learn during the first year of marriage. When I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies, Cliff commented, "The recipe says four dozen. That's not what you got." "I eat a lot of dough," I replied nonchalantly. When he made a cake, I noted, "It didn't rise much." He…

I woke up to overhead scratching outside at 5:25 am last week. From her pillow on the floor, Maria's head shot up, too. The noise moved along the eaves, followed by a persistent clawing at the wood. I knew this sound from two years ago when a snowy owl slept in our attic. When the…

August marked our second year in Milan, Ohio. To borrow one of my mother's chipper expressions, we are "right as rain" in this curious place. Cliff has become a gentleman farmer, planting tomatoes, asparagus, strawberries, and squash. (Read my post Ohio Gothic for clarification and pertinent picture.) He scouted for a volunteer opportunity and chose…

Because Christmas has a lot of moving parts, I begin holiday hamster wheeling in October. Where to set the tree? Same room in the corner? A different room? Color theme for the paper and ribbons? Depends on where I place the tree, of course. Cookie assortment? What goes in the new front porch flower pots?…

I admit to being obsessed with things that most people call unimportant. I fuss relentlessly over stuff: figurines on a shelf, pumpkins on the porch, ornaments on the tree. More over here. Less up there. No one else sees it, of course. But I can't help taking note of small details. Several people have pointed…

When I published Part 6, I thought I was finished. Honest-to-goodness, I did. However, a guest blogger from the twelve student reflections insisted I had more to say. She believed readers would wonder how I ever went on, after experiencing such verbal and emotional pummeling. I saw her point. For months, I've written and deleted.…

You just never know. When Cliff and I got married, we were school teachers in Tulsa. However, we'd both planned on other careers: technical theater for me and pre-law for Cliff. If we'd stayed on those tracks, chances are we'd never have met. But we did. It was a blind date I agreed to so…

Iunderstand the purpose of a fence for holding things in--wayward dogs, wandering toddlers, windblown lawn chairs. But a fence raises questions; unbordered space offers answers. Our block contains five open back yards without a picket or chain link. All summer long this unfettered rectangle has bloomed and buzzed, unconcerned with crabgrass or heat. Owners…