The Christian Science Monitor published my essay “Learning to Listen Again” in their January 31 issue. (It was inspired by a post I wrote here last June.) My world has gotten a lot louder lately. My 2-year-old son, Ezra, just discovered noise. “Airplane, airplane, airplane.” He gestures toward the sky until I repeat, “Airplane.” “Car!”…
My article, “Raising Babies in Prison,” which appears in the Winter 2011 issue of YES! Magazine, is now available online. The article begins: Like most new moms, Erika Freeman is enchanted by her baby, nine-month-old daughter Riley. She decorated her daughter’s room in pink, with pictures of princesses and “Princess Riley” on the wall in…
I’m surrounded by trucks – dump trucks, tow trucks, garbage trucks. They’re all a few inches long, and they’re motoring up the sides of tables, spinning across the floor, scattered across my son’s bike trailer. It seems ironic that my son is obsessed with motorized vehicles at the same time that my husband and I…
Anyone who’s spent any time with my son Ezra in the last six months has heard about his favorite food: “Hookies!” (The rest of us call them cookies.) Ezra turns to me at least a dozen times each day and says with the utmost seriousness: “I need a hookie.” Dog, Bear, Turtle, and Seal eat…
Shareable.net published my article about Paul and Monica Adkins, who live car-free with four kids. Their enthusiasm for simple living is contagious. And the amazing photographer Jayce Giddens took beautiful photographs of the Adkins cycling through fall leaves to accompany the story. The article begins: Paul Adkins rode a Yamaha 60 motorcycle when he was…
You’ve probably seen those “10 Ways to Raise Healthy Eaters” and “8 Ways to Get Your Kids to Eat Veggies” lists advertised on the covers of parenting magazines. One thing seems to invariably make every list: gardening. Common wisdom dictates that kids are more apt to eat their veggies if they see how much slugs…