Wonderful World

For as long as I can remember, my mother and I have been battling each other in energetic games of Scrabble. I realize this doesn’t sound like it would be an energetic game but, trust me, we become very animated as we compete. My favorite part is that, despite the fact that my mother undoubtedly…

Our local newspaper ran this story on the front page this morning that melted our hearts for many reasons.  The students of Bear Tavern Elementary in Hopewell, NJ were visited months back by a gentleman who spoke of his struggle as an African American man in this country. He talked to the students about marching with…

We’re celebrating a birthday. And there will be cake!  Curious about how that most glorious tradition began, we did a little research. Turns out everybody wants credit for it. And who wouldn’t? In western culture, birthday cake dates back to ancient Rome. It was the Greeks who put candles on cake – on the sixth…

“Do you know about April the giraffe?”  That was how Bree opened her phone call to me on Saturday morning. “Yes,” I answered. “She’s going to have a baby.” “She’s having it right now!” she informed me with no small degree of urgency. “Get to your computer!” I was already half-way there. For the next…

We are always teaching our children to say “Thank you.” We give them a snack and ask, “Now what do you say?” When they are playing with other children on the playground, and a friend shares a toy, we might prompt them, “Make sure you say thank you.” We are constantly reminding them to use…

Last week we welcomed the first day of Spring.  Appropriately enough, it was also The International Day of Happiness and the day the World Happiness Report was published.  It’s worth reading.  It turns out that all around the world, people are doing their best to be happy, and that the things that make us truly,…