My name is Becca, and I drive a minivan. (Hi, Becca!) My journey toward the inevitable mom-mobile began six years ago. We bought a house on a hill, a shingled cottage with window boxes and a curved front door that we call the Hobbit door. I loved that little house and on that beautiful hill until winter came — with its ice and snow — and my idyll was shattered: there was no way I could get up that damned (...Read More)

(Click here to read Part I) Those early years of learning about H.’s disability were the most difficult. The uncertainty of what might be affecting his development lead me to spend many, many, many (many) hours online, getting my PhD at “Google U”, reading post after post of the many blogs and discussion groups of parents of kids with disabilities, and feeling wretched and personally responsible for whatever “it” was It was eye-opening. There was a whole world out there (...Read More)

This week our daughter F. starts pre-school. It’s more like taste-of-pre-school: a two-hour block of time on Friday mornings. It’s in the same school where H. and I took early childhood classes together six years ago. I stopped by there recently to drop off some paperwork and had a bit of a flashback to what I think of as The Early Years:  that time frame when we knew something was amiss with H.’s development but not what that something was. (...Read More)

This month husband J. and I celebrated our 15th anniversary. On the big date, he was out of town at a conference – in fact, out of town for the entire week, leaving me to monoparent for seven days. Perhaps absence does make the heart grow fonder, or at least more appreciative. I held it together for the week, but it was exhausting. I missed his help with the kids, I missed his easy-going, play-it-as-it-lays approach to life (which nicely (...Read More)

As the last month of summer draws near, I thought I would share some very simple  and proven recipes that are great when it is hot or you are too busy to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Crunchy Cow Put some crackers and some cheese on a plate. Maybe put a piece of fruit on there, too. Give to kid. Voila! Grilled Chicken Breasts On those rare moments when you are up for it, grill the proverbial (...Read More)