Category Archives: Mental health

Overcome

(The following in italics is from a memoir project.) I sit in the kids’ room as they sleep and I think that a bottle of pills and a glass of wine might do the trick. I have plenty of both. … Continue reading

Posted in addiction, Family Life, It's All About Me, Mental health, New York City Living and Coping, Parenting Moments, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

Education of a Vacation

“You’re not getting food until the pillow is back on the couch.” My husband stands at the refrigerator in our beach rental. “YOU’RE NOT GETTING FOOD UNTIL THE PILLOW IS BACK ON THE COUCH,” my five-year-son repeats back. My husband looks back … Continue reading

Posted in Family Life, It's All About Me, Mental health, New York City Living and Coping, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Missing Preschool

These are the last days of preschool for us, and I’ve resisted writing about them, embedding them with meaning and sentiment with which I am not sure I am in touch. And then today I took my oldest daughter back … Continue reading

Posted in Family Life, It's All About Me, Mental health, New York City Living and Coping, Parenting Moments, Writing | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

These Hours

I asked if she did her homework. It was close to bedtime. “Yes, I did.” “All of it?” “Yes.” “I didn’t see you do it.” “Because you’re always on the computer.” Or looking at my phone. It’s the truth. I admitted … Continue reading

Posted in Family Life, Mental health, New York City Living and Coping, Parenting Moments | Tagged , , , , , | 11 Comments

Being a Mom With Food Issues

We all knew women in college with issues around food–anorexia, bulimia, compulsive eating, women who didn’t eat so that they could drink more. Maybe you were one of those women to a degree, or maybe you lived with a roommate … Continue reading

Posted in Family Life, It's All About Me, Mental health, New York City Living and Coping, Parenting Moments | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Getting the Unexpected at a Parent-Teacher Meeting

The hallway outside my oldest daughter’s first grade classroom is wallpapered with the children’s colorful work. I am waiting with other parents for our “parent teacher conference,” our ten minutes to learn how our child is adjusting. This year, I … Continue reading

Posted in Family Life, It's All About Me, Mental health, New York City Living and Coping, Parenting Moments | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Upon a Spotted World

There are the days I retreat. Those days I am particularly sad and feel raw to the world. A high didn’t last; I let myself down; someone did something so much better than I did, or would, or thought of … Continue reading

Posted in Family Life, It's All About Me, Mental health, New York City Living and Coping, Parenting Moments | Tagged , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Part of Parenting We Don’t Talk About

(This post was written for and originally published on WhatToExpect.com with the title “The Part of Parenting We’re Too Embarrassed to Talk About.”) Occasionally a post circulates the Internet in which the author describes witnessing a mother in the midst of a public … Continue reading

Posted in Family Life, It's All About Me, Mental health, New York City Living and Coping, Parenting Moments | Tagged , , , , , , | 34 Comments

Have You Ever Been Happy?

I would not say I am a happy person. By nature or by defect, I am often depressed and moody. And it is by knowing the darkness that I can experience its absence with pure appreciation. There is an almost … Continue reading

Posted in Family Life, It's All About Me, Mental health, New York City Living and Coping, Parenting Moments, Poetry/fiction | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Dear Drinking Diaries…

I had the review of Drinking Diaries: Women Serve Their Stories Straight Up written for weeks. I was adding things–material from an interview with the editors, personal anecdotes, and some embarrassingly accurate knowledge of the Alcoholics Anonymous program. And then the … Continue reading

Posted in Family Life, Mental health, New York City Living and Coping, Review, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment