Category Archives: family

Thanksgiving redux

December starts on a Monday? I hardly feel caught up from the crush of work before Thanksgiving and here I am, typing this post, wondering how it became December. That’s pretty much how I always feel about the passage of … Continue reading

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I’ll say it: Halloween is not a big deal

I’ve been thinking about Halloween a lot lately because as a parent with two small children, I’ve been sucked into this nostalgia that I simply don’t share.  Growing up, Halloween was just not that big of a deal to us. In the Leventhal house, … Continue reading

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Explain less, worry less

I explain myself too much. I explain myself to cover my bases, to be sympathetic and to be empathic. I explain myself even when no explanation is necessary. Sometimes, my explanations are apologies for nothing warranting regret. Explanations roll off … Continue reading

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I feel lightness….

I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea about my present state of mind. Re-reading my last few posts–laments on my August slump, my daughter’s first day of school, and my coming career exploration–I just realized that I seem melancholy. On … Continue reading

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What I want to tell my daughter on her first day of school

Baby-girl, You have no idea what’s about to happen. Well, maybe you do. People have been grilling you about your level of enthusiasm over this transition for months, asking you at every opportunity, “Are you going to Kindergarten? Are you … Continue reading

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August slump

I know I am not the only person caught in a serious slump. The summer is becoming a blurry afterthought as I cling desperately to every ray of sunshine, every ripe tomato, every minute of twilight in the driveway, watching the girls … Continue reading

Posted in everyday life, family, gardening, kids, lessons learned, personal, summer, Uncategorized, vacation | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Vacation hangover (and Chatham redux)

This time last week, we were on vacation. On Sunday, we returned from a trip to the beach, and it was mostly magical. We went to a favorite summer spot of my husband’s family in Cape Cod, where we had stayed … Continue reading

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Sometimes it takes a village, except when it shouldn’t

Last week a story surfaced about a woman in South Carolina, Debra Harrell, who was arrested because she made the conscious choice to let her 9-year-old daughter play in a public park while she went to work. I had already seen … Continue reading

Posted in community, everyday life, family, kids, lessons learned, motherhood, parenthood, personal, vacation, women, work, writing | Tagged , , | 6 Comments

Everybody’s free to wear [organic] sunscreen

When a friend casually mentioned the Environmental Working Group’s sunscreen report to me in passing, I should have nodded, smiled, and moved on. Instead, I asked her to share it with me. Like any curious parent, upon clicking open the report, I did … Continue reading

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Fringe benefits of parenting

If I would make a pros and cons list for parenting (and I would never actually do such a thing), I would be able to amply populate both columns. And it would be easy to focus on the negative things happening on … Continue reading

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