When the students at your school compliment you on your tote bag, you know you've found a winner. Well, at least in the style category.

My tote bag is a winner in style and also in function.

It's last year's Ogio laptop tote bag. There's a 2007 version out, and that one looks great too.

Mine is in a hip bright green color. My favorite thing about it is that it has a… Read More

Oh, merry-go-round
in the mall.
How I love you.

Preferring vintage carousels outdoors,
I never thought I'd ride
the mall one,
all new and plastic-y and mall-ish,
so un-hip
when compared with wooden, fantastical animals
all covered with crackled paint on Griffith Park's old carousel.
And the whistling music of a real calliope
thumps in your heart, replacing your heartbeat
for the ride's few moments.

And churros or cotton candy afterward.

But then, babies -- … Read More

I saw a dad shopping at my school's spirit store recently. I taught his daughter the first year she attended the school, and now, six years later, she's graduating. Her shy smile is the same today as it was the first day I welcomed her to sixth grade.

He was holding variety of things to buy, a stuffed tiger mascot, a t-shirt emblazoned with the school's logo, and a few other cute spirit items. We met eyes, and I… Read More

I was chatting with a teaching colleague today, and we got to talking about our children. Somehow, the topic turned to kids and dentists, something I'm interested in because we'll soon be taking our three-year-old girls to their first visit.

My colleague said that he and his wife read the Dora the Explorer book Show Me Your Smile! A Visit to the Dentist to their daughter for a couple of weeks before they took her for her… Read More

The other day I had a couple of extra minutes, and I spent them loitering in the toy aisles at Target, indulging one of my favorite weaknesses -- toy browsing.

Across from the toy section is the outdoor section, and I overhead a woman saying, in a jokey-dramatic way, "Ooooooooh, what I think YOOOOOOOOOU want is a baaaaasketball."

Then I heard a few people laughing. I couldn't understand what could be so funny. What's funny about wanting a… Read More

Today for Memorial Day, we went for a quick walk around the block. It might not sound like much, but trust me, after being cooped up with one of our daughters sick all weekend, it felt like a trip to the moon.

Of course the well daughter enjoyed testing every boundary she could on our walk, since she hasn't been getting enough attention these last couple of days. And (of course) the almost-well daughter fell down and skinned her… Read More