Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Making allowances for no allowance.
The members of my household and I have been engaging in the same conversation, a few times a year, for quite a few years now. The conversation seldom varies and usually begins when a child – who has his/her eye on something special – requests an allowance. Child: “Hey, why don’t we get an allowance every week? Lots of other kids get money from their parents.” Parent: “Because you don’t actually do any chores. I will consider giving you a weekly allowance when you consider working to earn it.” Child: “I do stuff. I clear my plate after dinner and put away clean clothes. I do other things too, sometimes, I just can’t think of the other things that I sometimes do.” Parent: “Yes, well those paltry contributions do not warrant an allowance. …
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Too soon to cry foul.
Upon hearing last week that Belmont's annual Town Meeting approved $100,000 of Community Preservation Act funds to be directed toward the Winn Brook’s playground – also known as “Joey’s Park” – some within the Butler Elementary School community were left feeling bewildered. But let me back up a bit. In November 2011, safety concerns led to inspections of both the Butler and Winn Brook playgrounds. The inspectors determined that both playgrounds were no longer “up to code.” However, while Joey’s Park was worked on by the Belmont Department of Public Works and reopened, Butler’s playground was immediately taped off and, soon thereafter, completely demolished. Butler’s Parent Teacher Association had been in the process of earnestly trying to…
42.38581
-71.18834
Butler Community Playground
90 White St, Belmont, MA
/articles/a-tale-of-two-playgrounds
230796
/locations/9358918
42.400134
-71.164915
Win Brook Playground
97 Waterhouse Rd, Belmont, MA
/articles/a-tale-of-two-playgrounds
230797
/locations/9358917
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
And I’m a little freaked out.
Prefatory note: For reasons that will become clear below, I have asked my editor to make sure that the photograph accompanying this article contains no images of spiders. I’d like to be able to read this column! Every year around this time, smallish grey spiders take up residence in the nooks and crannies of our house. And every year when this happens, my anxiety rapidly rises in direct proportion to the number of spider sightings. I suffer from arachnophobia. Forgive me if I have misspelled the word, I am afraid to look it up for fear I will find a photo of a spider, near to the word. I am certain my fear of spiders dates back to an early memory I have of watching the movie The Incredible Shrinking Man with my father on television. I …
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
An eventual answer to a hard question.
My dear friend Robin was out of the country last week, vacationing with her family, when all hell broke loose in Boston and then, a few days later, in Cambridge and Watertown. On her way home from the airport Saturday night – she lives in New Hampshire – she texted me: “We’ve been thinking about you guys all week. Are you OK?” Robin’s question stopped me cold. I found myself staring at my cell phone for a few minutes willing it to create a reply on its own. Since this was implausible, I eventually replied: “We’re fine, thanks. How was vacation?” As a mode of communication, texting clearly does not lend itself to thoughtful responses. Especially when the question pertains to how one is coping in the face of horror, grief, nearby shoot-…
Thursday, April 18, 2013
On the political beliefs of sleep-deprived ten-year-olds.
Happy April Vacation! I hope your week is going well. In our house, we started off the spring recess by hosting a sleepover. My ten-year-old daughter invited two of her best Butler buddies to our home for a night that consisted more of squealing than sleeping. The evening’s activities varied from nail painting to Taylor Swift karaoke to snacking (about every 9 minutes) to videoing each other singing and back to nail painting, where the old color was removed and a new (and presumably better) color was applied. It was during the pancake breakfast the next morning that the girls left behind their innocuous Taylor Swift chatter and entered into the realm of a serious political discussion. Their conversation went something like this: Girl 1…
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Things learned, columns remembered, what the future holds.
Two years ago this week, I timorously submitted my very first “Slice of Life” column for publication – or whatever it is called when it’s online – in Belmont Patch. Since I have not skipped one Tuesday since I began in April of 2011, I am guessing I have written a bit more than 100 columns. In that first column, I laid out for readers what they would find in the “Slice of Life” space. “What will you encounter here? Well, slice of life essays. You know, musings on motherhood, life in Belmont, the struggle to locate last season’s soccer cleats (in time for the first practice!), all that.” Allow me to pause this week and answer some questions that I am frequently asked about my experience as a Patch columnist. Q: What have you learned in the…
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
How should a safety system proceed when the facts show that Newtown isn't coming to your school?
On Wednesday morning last week, I caught sight of my seventh grader’s lunch bag on the floor of the car. It must have slipped out of her backpack during the harried morning drop-off. Time was a bit tight, but I figured I’d better get it over to the Chenery Middle School so she’d have it in time for the lunch period. I pulled up on Washington Street and dashed to the front door knowing I’d be in and out in under a minute. As I approached the door, I encountered a sign informing me that this entrance was no longer in use for visitors; I was instructed to go to the backdoor. "Sigh." I jumped into my car and headed to the back of the school, where I now faced several parking challenges. “On street” parking was pretty full up, and the staff …
42.38652
-71.17051
W. L. Chenery Middle School
95 Washington St, Belmont, MA
/articles/thoughts-on-school-security-trends
157120
/locations/9151377
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Talking with a candidate for School Committee
While I typically do not explore matters pertaining to local politics in this column, I feel compelled this week to write a few words in support of School Committee candidate Elyse Shuster. Elyse and I first met when we served together on the Foundation for Belmont Education Program Committee. The charge of this committee is to read and rank the grants that have been submitted by teachers, principals, and administrators from across the system. Without question, Elyse’s insights into this process were among the most discerning and informative. She was able to draw on her educational background (a Masters degree in History and a teaching certificate in Middle School Social Studies), as well as her professional experience as an educator, in …
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
On second thought, best to call the real doctor.
It had been a month or more since I had last seen my friend, Clara, so I was happy to meet her for tea at Starbucks recently. After we exchanged pleasantries, she confessed she had just passed through a harrowing week. It seems Clara had experienced searing abdominal pain that had kept her awake for several nights in a row. She had found herself with no appetite and absolutely no energy. “And then,” she added, “on the third night of writhing in pain, I made the mistake of googling my symptoms. A few clicks on the computer and it became abundantly clear what I had: either ovarian or pancreatic cancer. Four-to-six months was all I had left. I was a wreck.” "Did you, um, see your doctor?" I inquired. “Oh, yes. I’m fine. The doctor said it …
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Amy Roberts gets things moving for seniors and professionals.
Amy Roberts is an enviable woman. She is beautiful on the inside and out, has two adorable kids, is married to a great guy, and lives in a lovely home. While all that is desirable, these are not the reasons I envy Amy. What impresses me most about Amy is that she has a job that absolutely makes her heart sing. Having left a career I relished to raise my brood almost 15 years ago, I pay attention when women talk about the professional lives they successfully forged while nevertheless electing to have children. Amy is one of those lucky women who chose to stay in the field she loved – and now runs her own business. Her business, Out of the Box Moves, is both flexible and challenging, while also being amazingly rewarding and fulfilling. Let…
Robin Cushman Phillips
10:26 pm on Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Thank god for the tooth fairy! more ›