As a parent, it is easy to worry about spending “quality time” with my children. We live in a busy world and family time is usually limited. We’re often told that if “quantity of time” is lacking, we can make up for it with extra-special “quality”— activities, outings, vacations, etc. But I’m always fascinated when […]
When We Play All Day
In becoming an adult, and especially since having children, I’ve been shocked by how bad we adults are at play. For children, play is everything and everything is play. For adults, play is compartmentalized. We work now in order to play later. But oftentimes, this means play never really happens. It’s the American stereotype. We get […]
Why Home Videos Make Us Cry (And Why They Don’t Need To)
Yesterday my husband and I were trying to fix my computer and, in the process, stumbled upon a slideshow of home videos. We were sucked in. And as always seems to happen with home videos, they roused within me that deep longing feeling, that pervasive, aching bittersweetness. And as always, I asked myself why? I […]
