Heat Weirdlastname When I moved to Arizona 16 years ago, I was a pretty conservative food consumer. I didn’t eat many foreign foods (Americanized or not). Some Polish (see: weird last name heritage), some Italian (see: married to the Pole), Chinese as long as it came in one of those highly-recognizable paper boxes. Tacos. In grad school, … Read more
There was a guy at The Kid’s last track meet. We called him Yellow Screamer Guy, because he was dressed in yellow and walked up and down the length of the straight, yelling at runners. It didn’t matter where they were on the track. Opposite side? Still yelling. I made a comment that years of … Read more
When you think about the 80s, one of the first things that probably pops into your head is big hair, Aqua Net, or something in that vein. I grew up in the 80s, and I never had big hair. That’s my evidence for how little I care about doing my hair. It was long throughout … Read more
So yesterday I wrote about the consequences of giving kids free time at school. Those thoughts definitely 100% do not apply to kids at home. Kids need free time. Kids need free time to play, to be bored, to imagine, to create, to be with friends. Also, adults need free time to play, to be … Read more
I’m a teacher. Years ago, I had an excellent assistant principal who said, as the year wound down, “Free time isn’t free. Someone always pays for it.” The message was: keep kids engaged and learning all the way to the end. Most of the time, the teachers are the ones who pay for the free … Read more
As I mentioned a bit ago, I have been bingeing on Where Should We Begin? by Esther Perel. The first episode of the second season (“You Need Help to Help Her”), she’s talking with a couple who has a young adult daughter with problems. Most of the details of the episode aren’t relevant to this … Read more
May 20. It’s in the 60s. Predicted high for today is in the 70s. The current temperature is cooler than the average low for May. Average high is in the 90s. I could have used a jacket this morning. People all over the Valley of the Sun are rejoicing in the beautiful weather today. But … Read more
Victim-blaming is almost a national past time. My [expensive thing] was stolen from my [car/house/desk/anywhere]. “Was it locked?” She was raped. “What was she wearing? Was she drinking?” (I could make a giant list of victim-blaming that applies just to women.) My purse was stolen out of a shopping cart. “What did you expect?” Kids … Read more
…you actually want the answer. This is a thing that makes me a little crazy. If you ask for an opinion, you need to be able to receive the opinion. If you ask to hear someone’s experience, you need to be open to hearing their experience. So often, we ask a question and are open … Read more
We went to a baseball game tonight. Diamondbacks were playing the Giants. I like baseball, but I completely understand why anyone would not like baseball. As with most games, there were some plays with a lot of hustle and some plays without. (I have no patience for them being lazy or playing without hustle. The … Read more