Questions
I wrote last week that I have fallow periods in my writing life. I think the same is true with my daughter Katie. Sometimes she has fallow periods where nothing seems to be happening, and then BAM, she...
View ArticleWill the Real Parent Please Stand Up
Open adoption is a subject people find endlessly fascinating. Whenever I mention that my daughter and I visit her birthparents, as we did about a week ago, strangers will gape in amazement. “You...
View ArticleOne Thing I Hear Constantly
One thing I hear constantly as a single parent of an autistic child: Wow, I don’t know how you manage. I don’t think I could do it. I suspect these people mean well, that they are trying to give me …...
View ArticleExcuse Me While I Rant a Bit About the Media and Adoption
Why do the media feel compelled to point out when a child is adopted? It’s never Sandra Bullock and her son. It’s always Sandra Bullock and her adopted son, Louis. The articles specify which of...
View ArticleThere’s No Daddy Here
A year or so ago, my daughter Katie noticed that her family looked different. She was doing a class project that involved identifying family members. Her drawing included the two of us plus Max the cat...
View ArticleA Mother’s Day Tradition
Back when I was a child, Mother’s Day meant all three, and then four, of us kids “helping” Dad with breakfast. Our usual Sunday morning fare was fried or scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, and Sarah...
View ArticleA Mother’s Day Tradition, Part 2
Here’s what actually happened on Mother’s Day. Katie and I slept in, and then spent a quiet morning with her watching Signing Time (sign language/speech videos that she loves) and me writing on my...
View ArticleSometimes the Truth is Stranger Than Fiction, Part 1
I have been a very bad blogger. I didn’t intend to take the summer off (plus a good part of the fall as well), but in the end, that’s exactly what I did. Katie and I were busy enjoying the … Continue...
View ArticleFun at the Hardware Store
I wonder at times how my assumptions and fears hold Katie back. I say this because every time a situation or a therapist has challenged me to increase the demands on Katie, she has sailed past my...
View ArticleThe Next Big Thing
A few weeks ago, I was tagged in The Next Big Thing by my friend and fellow writer, Jennifer Simpson. For those of you who want to know more about my memoir, here’s your chance. What is the working...
View ArticleThoughts on Inclusion
A friend with young children recently ranted a bit about how parents who don’t invite ALL the kindergarteners to their child’s birthday party are mean, crappy human beings. Now admittedly, I may have a...
View ArticleWhat It’s Like to Live with Autism
People ask me all the time what it’s like to live with an autistic child. Crazy, I tell them. It’s a lttle crazy. My child is like a Husky in human form. They always laugh. The truth is I was …...
View ArticleReflections on a Harvest Moon
Several weeks ago we had a string of beautiful nights with a harvest moon hanging low and ripe in the early evening sky. I’d take Katie to the park after dinner for a bout of high-intensity swinging to...
View ArticleThe Lost Art of Letter-Writing
Welcome to another Tuesday with TED. This week we’re watching writer and social entreprenuer Lakshmi Pratury who remembers the lost art of letter-writing and shares what her father wrote to her before...
View ArticleRocking My World
So yes, I met a guy—a smart, sexy, sweet man who, for lack of better words, rocks my world. He turned everything upside down the moment I met him, and he continues to do so on a regular basis. After …...
View ArticleActivism For A New Generation
Welcome to another Tuesday with TED. This week we’re watching author and blogger Courtney E. Martin who examines the perennially loaded word “feminism” in this deeply personal and heartfelt talk. Born...
View ArticleChristmas Surprises
Christmas was very low-key and relaxing this year—a pleasant change from many holidays in the past. And no, if you are wondering: Michael 2.0 and I did not create any new traditions. We didn’t even...
View ArticleThe Healing Power of Love and Creativity
Welcome to another Tuesday with TED. This week I am thrilled to share a powerful talk given by poet, writer, artist, and educator Tanaya Winder, who is a good friend and former classmate of my good...
View ArticleThe IsaBody Challenge–An Update
Another thing that happened while I was absent from my blog is that I completed the IsaBody Challenge. In a 16-week period filled with holidays and celebrations—Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s,...
View ArticleCynthia’s Yearlong 50th Birthday Bash-July Update
As I described back in April (you can read the post here), I’m celebrating my 50th birthday with a year of activities and challenges designed to honor this milestone. I’m calling it Cynthia’s Yearlong...
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