“How much longer? My arms are killing me,” my daughter said dramatically. We were visiting the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Seeing other visitors posing for pictures that looked like they were holding the tower up, I thought it would be fun to see if...
Grocery shopping was next on my family’s list of errands. It was sweltering outside and our car’s air conditioner was turned to max, our faces leaning toward the vents to get as close as we could to the cold air. As we waited at the stoplight of a busy...
I was waiting at the gate to board a flight back to Phoenix. The announcement called for unaccompanied minors to board. A mother walked toward the gate with her arms wrapped tightly around her two young sons’ shoulders. I overheard as she reminded them to...
We have a new video doorbell that allows us to see who approaches our house. For the first few days, I really liked watching who had come to the door while we were away, noticing where my packages were placed and screening visitors to decide whether to open the...
We were waiting in line to check out books at the library, and my daughter was passing time by walking backward in a straight line, pretending she was on a balance beam. The only problem was, her imaginary balance beam went directly into a woman who was waiting...
We were on a flight several years ago when my 4-year-old daughter turned to me and asked if I had met her friend Stewie. I told her I had not and wondered if she would share more about him. She told me he was very nice, loved to...
Five tiny caterpillars arrived in a plastic cup as part of a butterfly science kit. Each day, the caterpillars ate and ate and grew bigger and bigger. One day, four were hanging from the top of the cup. By that evening, these four were wrapped in their cocoons. But not...
There is a new instructor working at the barre exercise studio I attend. In the middle of the class, she walked over to gently correct my form and then patted me on the shoulder and said, “Nice job, Allison.” I’m used to people calling me variations...
On a Saturday afternoon, we visited a craft festival that was going on at a local park. One of the first tables we visited was an activity of stringing beads into bracelets. The beads – especially the metallic ones and those with unicorn and rainbow...
Tuesday was one of those days. I woke up and realized I was out of coffee beans, which made me want to call it a day and get back in bed. Then, while making the girls’ breakfast, I dropped a glass bowl – a tiny...