If you were sent here by Scary Mommy, welcome! (All, uh, thousands of you! I’m like 70% sure the blog won’t break from all the traffic, so, please, get comfortable!) Allow me to make some introductions. This is my daughter, Esmé, a.k.a. The Cute. I’m Hillary, Esmé’s Maman (that’s French for Mom). … Read More
I have always been a bit obsessed by the love story that brought my parents together. There are a number of reasons, not the least of which is that I am a bit of a romantic, and my parents had one of those whirlwind romances that saw them married after only knowing each … Read More
Since Esmé’s day time caregiver is off for several weeks and there is no one to fill in for her except for a few hours here and there, I am in full-on caregiver, preschool, I’m lucky if I get to shower today (let alone exercise or write) mode until the end of April. … Read More
My obsession with mixing unusual cocktails started last summer when we were over-run with basil, so I was using it in everything I could think of–and eventually it made its way into a delightful little purple gin and tonic that I started mixing with Hendrick’s Gin, St Germain, Thai basil, and, well, you … Read More
Today I am sharing a guest post written by my friend and colleague Ali Schmeder-Cummins. Ali is involved in the fight for Early Intervention programs in Illinois. For those of you who don’t know about Early Intervention (EI), it is a federally mandated and state-run program to offer services such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech … Read More
Ez was up until three this morning. I think she was really excited that the second short book that I’ve written about her, Whoosh, came out today. I’m excited too. When I woke up this morning the first thing I did was check to see if my pre-order had downloaded on my Kindle app for … Read More
The other day Esmé took a very long late afternoon nap in bed with me…napping midday is a pretty unusual thing for her to do these days. But I guess she was just exhausted from all of the to-do with the holidays. Anyway, when she woke up she and I joined André in the living … Read More
This wonderful thing has been happening with increasing frequency: Esmé is yammering. I know I have written here about Esmé’s language development a bunch…the fits and starts, when she has the occasional break-through, her incredible receptive language skills, and her loss of expressive skills. And I imagine that it must be difficult for you, as … Read More
All of my life my favorite holiday has been Thanksgiving. I suppose the heart of the love of this holiday comes from my Aunt Mary (my grandmother’s baby sister) who traditionally held the Thanksgiving gathering in my childhood. It was always a pot luck–so everyone arrived having prepared a few things, but no one was … Read More
I have been thinking a lot lately about the idea of trade-offs. It seems like there is this perception that somehow, some way, we can have it all…and, perhaps, not just that we can have it all–that we deserve it all. Becoming a mom to Esmé made it very clear, very quickly, that I could … Read More