We recently implemented a three-part economic system with The Kid. Part 1: Allowance He gets a weekly allowance. It’s not as a reward or payment for anything done. In our thinking, it’s a means of teaching money management, and it gives him some autonomy in a world where most of his decisions are made for … Read more
What if we respected aging instead of dreading and denigrating it? (I believe we only denigrate it because we fear it.) What if being in one place for 30 or 40 or 50 (or more!) years meant you were a source of history and information? A wealth of knowledge? What if grey was just another … Read more
Sophomore year of college, I went deaf in my right ear. Not completely—I have about 90% hearing loss. (It was from a mistreated ear infection—meds were for the vertigo, not the infection. Steroid treatment brought back the little I have. When it stopped working, the treatment ended, and that’s where it’s been for 24 years.) … Read more
A year ago, I was just beginning my extended school year as the result of a six-day teacher walkout in Arizona. Those days (the walkout; not so much the make-up days) were overflowing with so much emotion. Anger. Sadness. Worry. Emotions I can’t name. For example, being one of tens of thousands of people marching … Read more
Last night, The Kid approached me with urgency. “Mom! You have to do laundry!” Turns out, he was down to one clean pair of shorts. I do the laundry, but it’s his job to stay on top of it and let me know when he’s running low on socks, underwear, short, or pants. (He has … Read more
Things about me that make me “weird”: don’t watch TV don’t eat meat don’t eat much fried or sweet food don’t drink coffee don’t drink alcohol rarely drink other delicious crap (I miss you, chai latte!) avoid plastic don’t typically spend much time, energy, money on “girl” things (hair, makeup, clothes, shoes, purses) I have … Read more
Teaching has some qualities about it that are unique. Today—for better or worse, as with every year before—was one of those unique-to-teaching days. The kids left. They’re not coming back until July. (We’re on a modified year-round calendar in my district.) The oldest ones aren’t coming back at all. Every year, the clock starts on … 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
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