One thing I’ve learned as my children have gone off to college: with each one that leaves home, I get a piece of my brain back. It’s true. Suddenly all the day-to-day details that I keep in my head are gone, for I don’t see them on a day-to-day basis. Nor do I know all the assignments or appointments or responsibilities that fill their schedules....

It all started in the fall of 1996. Our five-year-old daughter wanted to play soccer. Since she was a very active and energetic child, we decided this could be a good thing. We signed her up. No other parent on our team wanted to coach, so my husband stepped in. And so began our years of watching (and coaching!) our kids. They’ve managed to try most everything....

No, I’m not confused about summer, winter, fall and spring. Lately I find myself running behind in the changing seasons of my life. Take the holidays, for instance. I’d been toodling along as usual, thinking I had plenty of time for everything. But I’d forgotten that my season in life is changing. Gone are the days when “Christmas...

It wasn’t the cold front that dropped the temperatures from the 80s to the 60s in the space of an hour or two and left me shivering in my skirt and flimsy top beside my son on the field with the homecoming court. It wasn’t the announcement of my son’s date as homecoming queen. It wasn’t the senior picture photo shoot on a chilly Saturday...

Going to school has been a major part of the past 18 years at our house. Our oldest started pre-school at 3, just before our youngest was born. Now our youngest, three months shy of 18, traipses off to the first day of his senior year. Ironically, my other two kids (in two different states!) start their college classes today, too! But the senior is special. It marks...