BulgingButtons

Not bad for a fat girl

Category Archives: Parenting


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Where Were You on September 11?

twintowers1I was getting ready for work, early, and the phone rang.

It was Mom, back east.

I turned on the tv.

Just then a second plane hit.

I couldn’t process what was happening.

A tower collapsed.

All those people.

All those lives lost.

I couldn’t make sense of it.

The sky was empty and silent.

Even the birds were grounded.

I needed stories.

I needed to hear about the people.

It was too big to grasp.

I needed human faces to make it real.

I kept my child away from the tv.

He saw anyway.

He crashed block towers.

Just like the bad men.

I was heartsick.

How could I protect him?

How could any of us feel safe?

September 11 changed us.

September 11 changed the world.


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My Real Fear of Flying

I’m going on vacation in a few weeks, and I’m very excited about it. I’ll see friends and family, and I’ll go to the beach and a couple of parties. I’ll celebrate my birthday and the Fourth of July and generally have a great time. I know all of this. But I’m dreading going.FEA040

Why?

The flight.

The last time I was on a plane was back in January, on my way home from London. It was a glorious trip, but the flying was not fun. I was squished, and I’m sure I squished my sweet, ever-patient son, who was stuck next to me. He will once again be stuck next to me, and we will both, once again, be squished, but this time it’s not just the discomfort that has me worried. It’s the seatbelt.

I’m afraid, that for the first time ever, I won’t be able to buckle it.

I was hardly skinny back in January, and I’m even less so now. What if it doesn’t fit? What if I have to request an extender? Will I die of embarrassment? Will my son?

I have a couple of weeks. Maybe there’s time to make a dent. It’s worth a try.


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Letting Go of the Wheel

My son is seventeen. Frankly it sort of hurts to say it out loud. It just seems like he shouldn’t be quite this close to adulthood.teen-driver

In many ways he’s your average teen and in other ways he’s quite different. For one thing he’s quite bright. He just “gets” things that it takes other people a great deal of time and effort to understand. He learns complex material quickly and thoroughly, and he retains it. He also has a knack for figuring things out on his own. As a result he does fairly well in school. When he remembers to turn in assignments. Or makes sure that he completes all parts of them. Or uses the format the teacher prefers. These are the types of things that challenge him. The trivia of life. Continue reading →