Late August, early September--this is when the year turns, when the invisible pendulum starts its return journey. It’s the last perfect peach, the dead leaf floating on the surface of the pool. Yellow jackets fly lower to the ground, as...

{"title":"Last Day at the Pool","post_url":"http:\/\/maternallychallenged.typepad.com\/maternally_challenged\/2008\/09\/late-august-early-september--this-is-when-the-year-turns-when-the-invisible-pendulum-starts-its-return-journey-its-the.html","feed_url":"http:\/\/maternallychallenged.typepad.com\/maternally_challenged\/rss.xml","author":"tracy_thompson","date":"2008-09-02 15:39:47","summary":"Late August, early September--this is when the year turns, when the invisible pendulum starts its return journey. It\u2019s the last perfect peach, the dead leaf floating on the surface of the pool. Yellow jackets fly lower to the ground, as..."}

Yesterday morning, I walked Suzanne to the bus stop. It was cloudy and overcast and I wasn't thinking about much except everything I had to get through that day when Suzanne said suddenly, "Mom, look!" And I looked, and there...

{"title":"Waiting for the World to Change","post_url":"http:\/\/maternallychallenged.typepad.com\/maternally_challenged\/2008\/08\/waiting-for-the-world-to-change.html","feed_url":"http:\/\/maternallychallenged.typepad.com\/maternally_challenged\/rss.xml","author":"tracy_thompson","date":"2008-08-29 06:41:27","summary":"Yesterday morning, I walked Suzanne to the bus stop. It was cloudy and overcast and I wasn't thinking about much except everything I had to get through that day when Suzanne said suddenly, "Mom, look!" And I looked, and there..."}

Remember the "Desiderata"? Everybody had a modge-podged plaque of this up on their walls in the 1970s. This morning, because I had SO much work to do, I wasted a whole 35 minutes on re-writing it for the 21st century....

{"title":"Desider-whatta?","post_url":"http:\/\/maternallychallenged.typepad.com\/maternally_challenged\/2008\/08\/desider-whatta.html","feed_url":"http:\/\/maternallychallenged.typepad.com\/maternally_challenged\/rss.xml","author":"tracy_thompson","date":"2008-08-25 09:31:20","summary":"Remember the "Desiderata"? Everybody had a modge-podged plaque of this up on their walls in the 1970s. This morning, because I had SO much work to do, I wasted a whole 35 minutes on re-writing it for the 21st century...."}

I can't remember now where I saw it; it was a commercial for something, maybe some electronic device, that was on TV years ago. But the image stuck in my mind: a man's boot mounted on a to-scale football goalpost-type...

{"title":"All I Want For My Birthday Is A Hot Pink Robotic Butt-Kicker","post_url":"http:\/\/maternallychallenged.typepad.com\/maternally_challenged\/2008\/08\/all-i-want-for-my-birthday-is-a-hot-pink-robotic-butt-kicker.html","feed_url":"http:\/\/maternallychallenged.typepad.com\/maternally_challenged\/rss.xml","author":"tracy_thompson","date":"2008-08-16 10:28:59","summary":"I can't remember now where I saw it; it was a commercial for something, maybe some electronic device, that was on TV years ago. But the image stuck in my mind: a man's boot mounted on a to-scale football goalpost-type..."}

Rebecca is 11 now, but young for her grade--she's a November baby--and we are in middle school. I say "we" because every day I go to school or camp with her in spirit, and every day all day in the...

{"title":"How to Handle a Bully","post_url":"http:\/\/maternallychallenged.typepad.com\/maternally_challenged\/2008\/08\/girl-bullies.html","feed_url":"http:\/\/maternallychallenged.typepad.com\/maternally_challenged\/rss.xml","author":"tracy_thompson","date":"2008-08-07 13:00:46","summary":"Rebecca is 11 now, but young for her grade--she's a November baby--and we are in middle school. I say "we" because every day I go to school or camp with her in spirit, and every day all day in the..."}