My living room looked like a glitter-soaked tropical rainforest exploded in the middle of a rainy Portland Saturday. Last May 14th, my middle child, Sofia, turned seven, and her only demand was a “miracle” birthday. If you have kids between the ages of four and eleven, you know that “miracle” is code for a full-blown…
Twenty-four eleven-year-olds in one room sounds like a horror movie premise, but in Houston during a thunderstorm, it is just Tuesday in my classroom. Last March 12th, I decided to host a “Level Up” end-of-unit party for my fifth graders, but the parents kept asking if they could stay because apparently, 1985 nostalgia is a…
Snow was piling up against the window of our little bungalow in Albany Park on March 12, 2024. My twins, Aarav and Ishani, were turning three, and the living room looked like a rainbow exploded in a craft store. I was sitting on the hardwood floor, surrounded by piles of tiny treasures, trying to assemble…
The rain was drumming against my kitchen window in Portland last Tuesday, and I was staring at a living room floor that looked like a plastic orange snake had exploded all over it. My middle son, Leo, who just turned five on April 12, had decided his entire personality was now “fast.” Laundry was piling…
My living room in Austin looked like a digital glitch on Saturday, March 14, 2026. Tiny green squares covered the floor, the sofa, and even the dog’s ears. It was my nephew Leo’s 12th birthday, and I had committed to the “Ultimate Voxel” theme. I quickly realized that standard round confetti is a total vibe-killer…
My kitchen counter looked like a galactic explosion had occurred, mostly because I decided, in a fit of caffeine-induced optimism, that 22 seven-year-olds needed hand-stamped nebula bags. It was March 12, 2024, and my son Leo’s seventh birthday was exactly fourteen hours away. I sat there with silver ink on my forehead and a glue…
I stood in the middle of my Chicago living room last March, surrounded by seventeen rolls of orange and pink crepe paper, feeling like a failed Pinterest mom. My twins, Leo and Maya, were turning four in exactly three days and the “Two Groovy” theme I had optimistically picked was looking more like a “Two…
Glitter is my personal nemesis, yet here I am, three days after my niece Maya’s ninth birthday party, still finding tiny specks of turquoise shimmer in my dog Barnaby’s fur and embedded in the grout of my kitchen tile. If you’ve ever tried to assemble mermaid goodie bags on a humid Saturday morning in Austin…
Leo’s fourth birthday last April was a total “no pup is too small” situation, mostly because he’s actually quite small and spent the afternoon trying to ride our neighbor’s golden retriever like it was a rescue vehicle. I spent three weeks obsessing over the perfect party favors because, let’s be real, Portland moms judge the…
Teaching fourth grade in Houston during the humid stretch of March is basically like managing a room full of caffeinated squirrels who just realized summer break is technically on the horizon. On March 12, 2024, my classroom was vibrating with that pre-Spring Break energy that makes every veteran teacher want to hide in the supply…
