Category: Parenting
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Family documentation
Recently my son was reminiscing about his imaginary friend. This friend had appeared around when my son was two. I noticed that my son was walking around with his hand raised and his thumb and forefinger together, as if he were carrying something very small. When I asked him what it was, he said it…
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A Natural-Born Teacher
When my son and I went to look at Mount Madonna School as a possible school for him to transfer to, we knew there were a lot of reasons that he shouldn’t go there. It was an hour’s bus ride from our house. The tuition would eat into our household budget such that we wouldn’t…
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Siblings
Things have been pretty darn quiet around our house the last few days. Our son has been off on a school trip to Yosemite, so our daughter is living the life of an only child. What a relief! Don’t get me wrong: I adore both of my kids. I couldn’t imagine life without either of…
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Crippling self-doubt
I had a conversation recently with someone whom I respect greatly. She’s a great person, a loving mom, and has a successful career. But partway through our conversation, I had a realization: She suffers from crippling self-doubt. I didn’t mention it to her. Perhaps it’s just me projecting, but I’m somewhat of an expert on…
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D.I.Y. Bar Mitzvah
When my husband and I started talking about having kids, the first thing he said was, “I want to raise my kids Jewish.” I answered, “What does that mean to you?” And we’ve been trying to figure that out ever since. We are not a religious family. I was raised Catholic by scientist parents who…