Great tips from readers
A year ago, I wrote a story called My daughter was a creative genius, and then we bought her an iPhone. It went viral— 219k views — with hundreds of people commenting.
Some readers called me an idiot for the way I’d handled things; others made me laugh. Some shared…
Life Moves Fast
My daughter is one. We’re at a grocery store. She’s strapped to me in a Bjorn baby carrier, kicking her feet, babbling away, smiling at strangers. A woman walks by. “Enjoy the moment,” she says. “They grow up fast.”
I’m thinking about my shopping list, the dinner I have to…
A Day in the Life of a Pussycat Mom
A lot of people wonder how Western parents raise such stereotypically soft, entitled kids. Well I can tell you because I’m doing it.
7:00 AM
It seems like the middle of the night but it’s actually morning when we hear a small voice saying: “Mommy, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy,” etc. …
It’s the season
On losing my edge
I’m at a cocktail party to mark the launch of a publicity agency. The owner of the firm, a friend from reporting days, invited me. There’s good wine and a silly debate about the superiority of wine versus diamonds, in which guests must choose sides.
Afterwards there’s more wine and…
Learning to live with chaos
I’ve always been tidy, but over the years, I’ve grown more fastidious — bordering on obsessive-compulsive behavior. So, for example, I was forever straightening pictures in my own home — I find frames hanging askew discomforting — but eventually I found myself straightening pictures in other people’s homes.
Parental Burnout
Monday morning is music class; Tuesday it’s swimming; Wednesday usually involves a field trip with a friend and her kids; Thursday there’s Playball (toddlers rolling balls on a tennis court) and Friday, well, who cares. …
A poem about book burning
Super spreader events and the new small talk
My husband and I are at a party welcoming the new Vietnamese ambassador to the UK. Hundreds of people crammed into a ballroom at Claridge’s Hotel in Mayfair. Hardly anyone wearing masks; people shaking hands and talking up close like Covid isn’t real. It’s my first super spreader event.
But…
