Tomorrow is the Valentine’s Day party at school. It is my final party as a double head room parent, and for that, I am ecstatic. The first graders will be playing Tape the Lips on the Teacher. They’ll be eating ice cream cups with sprinkles, drinking something liquid that I’ll figure out in the morning, [...]

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As you know, I’m the head room parent for Harper’s class AND Meredith’s class. I will never sign on for this sort of thing again. It’s not that it’s stressful (it’s stressful), and it’s not that it’s expensive (it’s expensive), it’s just that I really have no concept of what fills time, and room parties [...]

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School started three weeks ago, and because I’m scared to death of having nothing to do, I’ve somehow managed to fill my calendar with arrows and freelance assignments and out-of-character plans like “September 7 – PTO meeting”. While I have your attention, let’s get something straight. Although I live in the United States, where periods [...]

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I woke up with a sore throat this morning, and honestly? I’ve never been so happy to have a sore throat. Because this is the week of BlogHer, and I’m telling myself that I *can’t* go—what with the sore throat and all. I do hope to go next year, because BlogHer is Good. If you’re [...]

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Tonight was Trunk or Treat at the girls’ school. To prepare, we signed up for a parking spot (#29! Because you’re only as old as you feel!), I hemmed Harper’s Sleeping Beauty dress, I purchased treats for 200 kids, I cleaned out the back of the car, and I carved a pumpkin. (I’m proud of [...]

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A few weeks ago I suddenly got the urge to fill my closet with skirts. In the past, when similar urges have struck or stricken depending on your preference, I simply made a trip to J.Jill where I tried on a handful of skirts, did the math while standing half-clothed in the dressing room, and [...]

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Remember last month when you inspired me to reach into my closet and pull out my sewing machine? Well, take a look at what happened earlier this week. I made a dress. And Harper sort of likes it. And when she bends over, it doesn’t rip, which means I can change the world, Eric Clapton. [...]

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I just returned home from the fabric store, where I purchased the following items: I’m setting the goal of having one dress completed before Mother’s Day. Apparently, the really good scissors go on sale for Mother’s Day, and if the sewing is going really well, I can almost justify purchasing really good scissors! And then [...]

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Two years ago, I decided it was about time for me to start sewing. When I was in junior high (or middle school, tomato-tomahto), I took a home economics class and loved the unit on sewing. Just to illustrate how much I loved it, please know that I willingly (!) participated in the home economics [...]

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So, you’ve signed on to help a bunch of little kids get crafty for the holidays, and you’re out of ideas. You’ve come to the right place, Shirley! Take a tube sock and fill it halfway with rice. Now fold the top down and roll it a bit to make the snowman hat. With yarn, [...]

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