Recent Posts By Kristin van Ogtrop

So this past weekend my husband and I took Eldest and Baby (Middle is at camp) to meet my youngest sister’s new baby. My youngest sister lives 4 hours away in Pennsylvania , on a dirt road across the street from a giant meadow with only one other house in sight. She has three children and nine chickens and a […]

I know somebody–T.S. Eliot, maybe?–said April is the cruelest month. I actually think that honor belongs to June. I’m not even talking about teacher gifts, which stump me every year. We routinely fall back on gift cards because I read a New Yorker article by Caitlin Flanagan a few years back in which she basically said that most teachers hate […]

10. Eldest is being confirmed this coming weekend.
9. Middle is graduating from elementary school next month.
8. And I have volunteered to be in charge of the production of the 5th grade yearbook, as if we needed further proof that I am insane….

–more money –more time –better hair –family members who do not have to be asked three times to empty the dishwasher 1) More money Pros: less stress, better jewelry Cons: certain friends and relations may ask to borrow from you, and you know how that goes 2) More time Pros: less constant rushing which, despite what your crazy–and apparently understimulated–husband […]

Yesterday I went to the dentist to get a crown, which I had been putting off since last October, not because getting a crown costs about $2 million, as it appears to, but because I was certain I would die of fright. Never mind that I have given birth to three children. Getting an injection–of painkiller, no less!–into my mouth […]

Last week I made the terrible mistake of telling Middle as we walked to school that his outfit that day was “super cool.” Now, in my own defense, I don’t think I’ve ever used the phrase “super cool” before and hopefully I will never do it again. It does not help that I said it as one word: supercool. There […]

For months I have been trying to avoid seeing the movie Yes Man. You
see, one of my children thinks he is Jim Carrey, which as far as I’m concerned is not the most charming thing about him and is absolutely not to be encouraged. Still, we have watched just about every Jim Carrey movie ever made, at least the ones that are semi-age appropriate. Which is a lot more than I would like, alas.

… but now wish I had a lot more time for.

I have completely fallen down on the job, blog-wise, because last week I
was out of the office, attending a Time Warner women’s leadership
conference. It lasted for four days, during which time I did not go
outside, exercise at all or see much of my family. But the food was really
good, which made the whole thing worthwhile.

Last week I came home one night to a very warm hello from 10-year-old Middle, who has not greeted me at the door since he was, oh, four. So I immediately knew something was up. After about five minutes of hemming and hawing he did that classic kid warmup–“I need to tell you something but don’t be mad”–which led inevitably to “I’m not going to tell you what it is, let me just show you.” When I asked him if something had broken, he said, “Yes, but not something you care about.” Smart, smart kid.