Almost four decades after graduating high school, one NYC mother finally gets to enjoy the big dance.
“Will you go to prom with me?”
Long ago and far away I said those words and had them said to me. Yes, two proms, the jackpot of adolescence. I was young, thin, and pretty. By society’s standards, my life was the opposite of the bittersweet Janis Ian song “At Seventeen.”
However, I cringe when remembering those two dances-of-all-dances, neither of which… [more]
After watching Tina Fey’s new film, “Admission,” one NYC mom feels saner about her own son’s college application journey.
I never ran after an enrollment officer using a Bundt cake as a bribe. Nor did I ever make a moving plea in front of a college’s admittance panel on behalf of my son. But Luke got in anyway. (Not to brag, but I will: Luke got into a top engineering school, as well as several liberal arts colleges that… [more]
With her teenage daughter now enrolled in an alternative school, one NYC mom wonders if she’ll be able to buck tradition.
“I want to be homeschooled,” said my then-14-year-old daughter Meg.
Her request was greeted with a resounding, “No.”
As I lack the gifts required of an educator, I’m not equipped to teach her at home or anywhere else. As a freelance writer who works from home, I also can’t have my daughter and an actual tutor here with me all day. I… [more]
As her teenage son begins making his own decisions, one NYC mom has to find a way to let him take the lead.
“I’m not going out for the team,” said my then-16-year-old son, Luke, when I asked the dates of his school’s baseball tryouts. Apparently they had already come and gone.
Gauging from my gasp alone, you’d think he was a major league player walking away from a multimillion-dollar contract. A teenager retiring his bat and glove really isn’t that big a deal… [more]
One NYC mom argues that volunteer work should be as valued as jobs that pay.
I just quit my job.
“Who would do such a thing in this economy?” I can already hear someone out there saying.
I suffer from no loss of income, as my position was voluntary.
“Oh,” I can now imagine someone else groaning, “it wasn’t a real job.” That wouldn’t be the first time I’ve experienced such offensiveness.
I work as a freelance journalist and… [more]
As teen idols become behavior-challenged adults, one Manhattan mom tries to make sense of their activities to her teen daughter.
“Gossip Girl” has come to an end just as my 15-year-old daughter Meg’s life as an NYC high school student has begun—and I’m glad.
Although during the run of the show she knew who all the starlets were, who they were dating, and what they were wearing, Meg never became obsessed with the saga. I’m pretty sure she won’t be seeking… [more]