Dear Daughter:It seems impossible to believe, but nine years ago today you were born! Nine years ago today I was exhausted, exhilarated, ecstatic. Nine years ago today I counted your ten tiny fingers and toes, exclaimed over your perfect features, and basked in your newborn beauty. Nine years ago today I learned to nurse, to burp, to diaper. Nine years ago today I learned to rock, to sway, to soothe.Nine years ago today I became a mother. And certainly, over nine years, you've changed and I've changed. You may no longer need nursing or burping, rocking or swaying; but you... More »

THIS, friends, is the view from my bedroom window this morning:Shall I remind you of the date? October 13 (only October)! This is Thanksgiving, people! I can't take this kind of [expletive] right now.Oh, and as a bonus, my kids have a day off school. WOO. HOO.(It's not that I don't love them and all, so don't go judging me, but they do make an inordinate amount of mess when they are home all day! And this is their fifth day home in a row. It's going to take me a week to dig my way out. And then I'll... More »

Last night my grade one daughter came home with a little book in her school agenda, along with the instructions: "read with me". Intrigued, I asked her to read. Thrilled, I sat beside her as she read every word: I am here. I like to play.I like to play here.And so on. I was so, so proud.She read me the story again. Then she read for her big sister, and then her Dad. She reveled in their praise! At bedtime, I read her the book she'd signed out of the school library, and then she read me her book again.... More »

I saw the Dalai Lama speak on Wednesday, and ever since then I've been wondering: how do you write about an experience at once so profound and yet so simple?I don't know the answer to that question, and I hate to say "you had to be there", because I think it's one mark of the Dalai Lama's greatness that his personality and his message are so powerful that you don't have to see him in person to be deeply moved. And yet: people want to know. He is a compelling figure, with a compelling message, and whenever I mention that... More »