Blog

It’s May 1, people. Yes, May Day. But, if you have a child who applied to college this year, today is significant for another reason. It’s Decision Day. Deposit Day. Damn But They’re Really Leaving Home Day. I thought we were going to have to wait until 11:59 tonight...

Just a short while ago my 17-year-old daughter left to go to Greenwich Village for a Princess Valentine’s Day party with a group of friends, fellow seniors from her high school. The rule was to wear a dress in pink or purple—later stretched to allow red—and bring a...

Yesterday, I cooked Thanksgiving dinner with my son, daughter-in-law, daughter-in-law-to-be, and daughter, with a slight assist from my granddaughter-to-be (a five-year-old who’s a whiz at snapping green beans in half).  Not too many cooks, but we had to take numbers...

Today I am wearing three Rainbow Loom bracelets made out of rubber bands. That wouldn’t be a surprising statement coming from an eight-year-old girl or even the mother of an eight-year-old girl. But my daughter is 17. She found out about the Rainbow Loom while she was...

A teacher at my daughter’s high school once asked her what she did to relax— and she answered, “Babysit.” She loves to babysit. She loves kids. She’s really good with them, too. She’s the one who can make the shy kids comfortable, get them to talk. The one who got a...

Despite the fact that my name is Wing, I am not a frequent flyer. I travel by plane maybe three or four times a year for vacation or to visit my son and his family in Chicago. Maybe I'd take planes more often if I, like so many others, didn't hate the experience of...

Beanies We Hardly Knew Ye This morning my older son’s fiancee posted a picture of him walking her five-year-old daughter to her first day of kindergarten at a Chicago public school. (While the little girl is not officially his daughter, he considers her to be so and...

A few years ago I attended an event at Lincoln Center. At one point I went to use the bathroom, and chose the stall designated for the handicapped. I was greatly amused to see that the flush was a foot-activated pedal. Not a major incident, but I thought about this...

So I’m reading the New York Times book review today and guess what? Natasha Farrant’s published a middle grade novel called After Iris about a girl whose twin sister has died. Almost the same title, same subject matter as After Isaac, my young adult book. But I’m not...

My daughter, a junior in high school, my husband and I spent most of her spring vacation visiting colleges. We got to a mere 10; we know a family that visited 13 schools, and I'm sure there are others that would scoff at our puny efforts. Not that we're finished...