ME: Honey, do you know why all the sales people kept telling you how pretty your eyes were today? RUBY: Because I have brown skin and they don’t think brown skin is very good. ME: Well (crap), no. (Think quick.) That’s not why. (Address it or not to address it, that is the question.) I [...]
My big almost-kindergartener. Who’s buying me the first cocktail?
This picture was taken when Ruby was three weeks old, during my second week of mothering. It was early in the triathlon of late night feedings, diaper changes, and the seemingly endless shooshing of a crying baby, and already Sam and I were exhausted. We’d had 36 hours—not 9 months—to prep ourselves for parenthood (the [...]
I never really understand why people are hesitant to take their kids to the Gay Pride Parade. Over the weekend, I had several different conversations about it—since I’d planned to take Ruby—and got several interesting reactions. One couple I met at breakfast this morning said that they’d always wanted to go, but motioned toward their [...]
“Aw, shit,” I said to the car radio today, forgetting all about my impressionable roommate in the back seat. “What, mama?” Ruby asked. So I explained to her that there was a big accident that had caused oil to pour out from a broken pipe deep in the sea and that it’s hurting a lot [...]
If you happen to be free tonight (Tuesday, May 4), come by The Loft for the opening reception for “Exploring the ‘M’ Word,” a student produced art exhibition highlighting the complexities of motherhood. The show, curated by Aimee Harlib and co-sponsored by the UCSD Women’s Center, runs through May 21st. I will be reading a [...]
Today was the first day of the year that felt like summer. It was warm out—not hot—with a mostly cloudless sky as blue as a Popsicle®. It was quintessential Southern California, the kind of day that begs you to toss your obligations out the window and head directly for the beach with your Coppertone, a [...]
Within a week after the news that Torry Ann Hansen had put her 7-year-old adopted son alone on a flight to Russia carrying with him her resignation letter, we received a thick envelope from our adoption agency. I thought it was a request for a donation, so when I read the contents, my stomach dropped. [...]
I knew we were in trouble before we left the house as I wobbled on one foot in the kitchen, pulling the strap of my sandal over the other with one hand, while simultaneously tossing the breakfast dishes into the sink. Ruby’s clear plastic cup with the floating monkeys and bananas and glitter hit the [...]