News — Parenting
Hill turns two in a month
Partly because he is a second child and partly because he has lived over half of his life in the strange conditions of a global pandemic, a little piece of me flags as I prepare for this birthday and think back on all of the firsts and lasts and could-haves that have slipped by unannounced. There were entire months over the past year in which I existed in pure survival mode, barely blustering my way through the day, and when I’d close the door to his bedroom at night, I’d stand there in the dim light of the hallway, wavering...
Twenty two days of quarantine under our belts — ooooof.
Really fishing around for the slices of joy right about now — and you? The above picture captures a bit of the isolation that defines this chapter in our lives: empty chairs, knees hugged to our chests, the suggestion of wait — though what would I give to be passing more of this time outside, beneath the umbrage of trees? May I never take a single step in nature for granted. Mini’s school started an e-learning program earlier this week (bless them! these teachers are angels with their calm and reassurance — did I or did I not dab away...
When I was growing up, my parents would take me to the library and set me to work going through reels of microfiche films to help them work on our family genealogy project
They taught me how to look up census records, and birth and death records, but I became fascinated with all the stuff in the middle. I wanted to find out about what my ancestors did between those two events. The dates on their vital statistics records announced that they were born and then died. Their stories showed us that they lived. For the last few years, I’ve been conducting research for the book I’m writing about my grandmother and my dad and uncle. My favorite sources are the books filled with journal excerpts and interviews - first-person accounts - with...
Q: What chocolate chip cookie recipe do you use?
A: The OG: the recipe on the back of the Nestle Tollhouse chocolate bag. However, I use the best ingredients I can find, like good butter (Plugra and Kerrygold are widely available and excellent) and Nielsen-Massey vanilla. They make a huge difference. Q: Looking for a baby girl bonnet that isn’t $75. Suggestions? A: Etsy to the rescue! These are a dead ringer for the Beaufort Bonnet Company ones I assume you’re referencing, and you can add a monogram. If you want something a little less frou-frou, these are precious and this floral is sweet (mini owned this exact style...