Denise Schipani / 8 Comments / discipline, family finances, humor /
We had quite the day on New Year’s Eve. We woke to a snowstorm, which we drove through, slipping and sliding, for an hour to reach a lawyer’s office in a town that’s normally a 20-minute drive away. We were closing on a refinance of our home mortgage, a process that had taken many frustrating […]
Denise Schipani / 24 Comments / family life, humor / Calabria, Italy, Schipani, surnames /
So, I didn’t change my name when I married my dear husband just over 9 years ago. Surprised? No one who knew me was, but I’m continually surprised at the hoopla it causes even now. Or maybe especially now, with our two sons firmly entrenched in the local public school system. But more on school […]
Denise Schipani / 5 Comments / mothers and work, sick days /
I’m going to make a major admission here: I’m not very good at being at home with my kids. I’m not looking for either condemnation or sympathy; it’s simply a fact of my personality. And knowing this fact for sure has been what’s made me able to create my working-and-family life “balance” (which I put […]
Denise Schipani / 13 Comments / bad parents in fiction, holiday / Donner, misfits, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa /
The other day, on impulse at the supermarket, I picked up the DVD of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” for the boys. They hadn’t seen it yet, even though it’s been on TV. Both of them are rehearsing holiday songs for their school concerts, so it’s been a nonstop chorus of Rudolph over here, and I […]
Denise Schipani / 9 Comments / holidays, toys / christmas gifts, Santa, toys, wish lists /
I don’t know who or what deserves the credit for this (though I’m happy to take it!), but my boys have had to be coaxed and prodded to come up with ideas for what they want for Christmas (which is the gift-giving holiday we celebrate in these parts). Is it my strictness? My older son’s […]
Denise Schipani / 7 Comments / discipline, family life / Alex Williams, alpha-dog parenting, Cesar Millan, New York Times, The Dog Whisperer /
Did anyone see this article in the New York Times’ Style section the other day? It’s by Alex Williams, it’s titled Becoming the Alpha Dog in Your Own Home, and woo, boy did I get a good laugh over it. In a good way, I assure you! The story is about how some parents today […]
Denise Schipani / 21 Comments / family life, grandparents / " Free-Range Kids, "Dear Amy, babysitting grandparents /
Yesterday, I was reading my friend Lenore Skenazy’s blog, Free Range Kids. She posted about a “Dear Amy” advice column that appeared in the paper — the writer of the question, a grandmother, had an interesting problem: She and her husband have been babysitting their grandson, overnight, twice a week, since he was born (right […]
Denise Schipani / 11 Comments / family life, spirituality / faith, religious education, St. Elizabeth of Hungary RC Church /
The boys and I have just begun our second year of religious education at our church. Remember, if you are/were Catholic or grew up with Catholic friends, the old CCD, or Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, a.k.a. a weekly class either in a parents’ home or at the church, that pretty much ended after Confirmation in […]
Denise Schipani / 19 Comments / family life, fictional mean moms / 1963, Betty Draper, Don Draper, Mad Men /
Some fellow Mad Men-obsessed writers and I were discussing the finale episode from last night. So, if you’ve not yet watched, and would hate me for revealing spoiler plot points, click away right now and come back after you view the episode (and if you don’t watch, please keep reading anyway; I have a point […]
Denise Schipani / 11 Comments / Uncategorized /
So a totally hilarious thing came out recently in the news. Turns out that parents who bought the Baby Einstein videos (originally conceived by chic blonde Colorado mom and entrepreneur Julie Aigner Clark, who was Einstein-smart enough herself to sell out to Disney) can now ask for their money back. Because, you know, turns out […]
