glenrockschwartz

She strides forward with confidence. She is all alone, there is no one by her side, but still, she holds her head high. She is tougher than nails.  She has no choice.  She had to evolve.   It is the first day of sophomore year of high school.  I am working from home and I get a panicked call from my baby girl "Mom I can't find any of my friends for lunch!" I immediately drive the half mile to the school to pick her up and take her home for lunch.  On the drive back home we see her friends all walking together going to have lunch at one of their houses. Just a few days later, that same friend calls my baby girl and tells her that ' they ' the collective group don't feel comfortable having her sit with them at lunch.  I have known these kids and their parents since they were in diapers, before they could even walk.  Not one of their parents reached out to me.  Not one of those kids stood up and chose inclusion. So she reinvents.  She cobbles to...

  Dear Avery, Happy 18th birthday! I haven't seen you yet today because you have spent the past week doing business lady stuff with school and are currently on a flight home from Atlanta.  But still, you asked would I decorate your bedroom door like I have done since you could walk, even if you weren't here to wake up to it this morning.  (Of course I will! And bonus points that I could get it done the day before without any time pressure.)  As you turn 18, this theme  of grown up girls, not being as grown up as they think and still needing their mamas is one  that I would like to explore with you in more depth. When you google "what every 18 year old should know", you get lists ranging from 18 (cute) to 100!  These are life skills that I am proud to say you (and Alex) both have.  You can sew a button, follow a recipe, make a doctor appointment and do the laundry. You can also change a light bulb AND change a diaper - the latter a skill that I did...

Dear Alex, I will never stop being your mom.  I will never stop shining a light on all that is wonderful about you. I may however decide to stop writing these birthday letters to you.  Not sure what the age will be, but I don't feel ready yet as you turn 22. So here goes, a short top ten list of things that I love about you that I want you to remember from that time you turned 22 (in no particular order): 1. I love your passion for bringing better teaching to young kids.  I also love that I have access to your google photos and can see the videos of you in action with your third-grade class. 2. I love your friendships and relationships (Callie!) and how true you are to them and to yourself. 3. I love how you have embraced your nerd.  You make Pokémon and Renaissance Faires and Star Wars, and a list of classically nerd things actually cool. 4. I love that we both share a love of music and that the same artists alternately bring us to tears or a state of Zen. Zeppelin ...