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Ann Handley

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Parenting

Love Rolls Downhill

“Are you going to write about this, Mom?” my daughter Caroline asks me. (She knows I’ve written about her brother.) The question is half tease, half challenge. I can’t tell whether she wants me to write, or not. Maybe she doesn’t know, either. Caroline is 18, and she’s about to begin her freshman year at […]

Filed Under: Annarchy, Children, Family, Parenting, Teenagers, Writing Tagged With: college drop off, college goodbye

Missing

My mother died 25 years ago yesterday, when she was 62. I realized this fact sometime last night, and it astounded me. First I was astounded because I remembered how, at the time, I thought that she was appropriately old enough when she died after a lengthy illness. (Whatever that means—another thing I now realize […]

Filed Under: Annarchy, Family, Family History, Parenting Tagged With: mother's day, Parenting

What We Carry

He’s freighted with two pairs of shoes, extra clothes that didn’t fit in the duffel, three sketchbooks, a camera, drawing pencils, a couple of books, a rent deposit for next fall, and film in a protective lead case. My arms are empty, but I’m carrying an uncontainable mix of baby boy joy; the sweet smells […]

Filed Under: Annarchy, Children, Family, Parenting, Teenagers

The College Drop-off: Can We Cut the Crying Parents Some Slack?

Goodbye

A story on MSNBC yesterday asked, Has the college sendoff always been so tough? Alongside the piece is a video from the Today show, subtitled, “As NBC’s Kevin Klein reports, when it comes time to say goodbye on campus, it’s the parents who’ve got issues.” I’ve noticed an abundance of these stories lately — including […]

Filed Under: Annarchy, Children, Parenting, Politics & Society, Teenagers Tagged With: college drop off, college goodbye, Parenting, Teenagers, Velcro parents

A (Sort of) Sentimental Post That I Tried to Make Less So

Yesterday I sat in the stands at my son’s graduation, smack at what would be the face-off line of the covered ice hockey rink, counting the rows of chairs on the floor below and trying to work out which mortarboard was his in a royal blue sea of 440 graduates. All of us parents standing […]

Filed Under: Annarchy, Children, Parenting, Teenagers Tagged With: graduation, high school, kids, Parenting, Teenagers

Parent Bingo

My 17-year-old will be in college next year, and right now he and I are deep in the process of applications and school visits and talks that spring up suddenly at dinner or in the car and begin with, “Maybe I should think about…?” or “Have you considered…?” It’s a process that feels very much […]

Filed Under: Children, Parenting, Teenagers, Writing Tagged With: kids, mothers, Parenting, Teenagers, Writing

At a Loss for Words

Mother and son painting

On Thursday, my son finished up his junior year of high school, and today his dad, little sister and I drove him 75 miles to the Rhode Island School of Design, where he’ll spend the next 6 weeks immersed in Art. He’ll spend much of that time muddying his clothes in the ceramics studio, with […]

Filed Under: Annarchy, Children, Parenting, Teenagers Tagged With: life passages, mothers, Parenting, RISD, school, summer, Teenagers, transitions

Wii Are Family

Wii tennis pro

In college, I had a friend named Jane. She was the oldest daughter in a family of tennis players, and they all looked like her: tall and willowy, but strong as thoroughbreds, with defined muscles in their long arms and legs; permanently sunburned noses; and an effortless way of moving that was almost heartbreaking to […]

Filed Under: Children, Family History, Parenting, Pop Culture, Teenagers Tagged With: children's games, digital life, family culture, personal history, sports, Technology, tennis, uncoordinated, Wii

Punked

fresh milk

When the flight attendant advises that passengers place the oxygen mask over their own faces before assisting those traveling with them, I always interpret this imperative more broadly—that I should take care of my own needs first, whether or not I’m strapped into an airplane seat, 30,000 feet in the air. Day to day, this […]

Filed Under: Annarchy, Children, Family History, Humor, Parenting, Teenagers Tagged With: family, kids, milk, Parenting, personal history, practical jokes, punked, Teenagers

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