Tiny white lights are are twinkling on trees, joyful carols are blasting over shopping mall loudspeakers, and the kids are counting down the days – scratch that – minutes ’till the man in red arrives. You should be filled with holiday cheer, right? Instead, you just feel pressure and anxiety…and maybe even a little depressed.… Read More Getting Real: Moving Past Holiday Expectations
When Sharlene and I met, we were both relieved to find someone who understood how influential being raised in an ‘immigrant’ community can be. When we decided on a family name, we chose Kerelejza to honor the spirit of her paternal grandmother (on her adopted side) whose legacy spoke to the power of survival. The… Read More When I Grow up I Want to be Me
We just had “Open House” night at my son’s school and all I can say is, “Wow, things have stepped up quite a bit.” He’s just started 5th grade and the focus this year is on getting the kids ready for (eek!) middle school. The preparation goes beyond the curriculum – clearly they need to… Read More New Expectations
I can’t be the only one who at some point signed up to get weekly emails from baby center? I don’t even remember signing up but each week I get an email telling me exactly what developmental milestones my child should be hitting. At first I thought the emails were cute, you know, in the baby stages when… Read More Step Away from the Baby Center Emails
It’s not a great day for me. I’m dreading a confrontational meeting tomorrow. So I am going to purge all of my hateful feelings in an effort to cleanse my psyche. 1. Slugs: why do they exist? All they do is eat the plants in my garden before they get a chance to grow. They… Read More Feeling Hateful
Take me to the station And put me on a train, I’ve got no expectations To pass through here again Expectations have caused me a lot of pain over the course of my life. I was often disappointed and hurt when I expected my parents to act a certain way. Boyfriends and significant others, being… Read More No Expectations
Today is my birthday. (Thank you, thank you.) I am 41 years old today. (You’re right! I DO look great for my age, don’t I?) When I was younger, to say that I looked forward to my birthday was an understatement. It was better than Christmas. A day that focused totally on me and… Read More Great (Birthday) Expectations
For reasons I can’t go into in detail about right now, I have had careers on my mind. Well, mine in particular, but those of others as well. My little sister is working toward her Ph.D. in political science, and is in the process of interviewing at universities throughout the country for that coveted professor… Read More Careers, Motherhood & Being Thirty-Something
Re-thinking Our Expectations Did you happen to catch this article from NPR? It’s entitled “Teacher Expectations Can Influence How Students Perform” and discusses evidence that teacher expectations of students really do have an influence on their performance. Interesting, to me, for several reasons. Of course, I’m interested in how this affects what I do as a… Read More Wisdom Wednesday
CT Working Moms 