It's Dilovely

Now the Boston manhunt has come to its conclusion and the case is waiting, I am left with a broken feeling. After my last post, two of my philosophical readers had a discussion in the comments. One wrote: Imagine you live in a small, impoverished village in a third-world country like Pakistan or Afghanistan. Imagine [...]

Dear Baby A, You are now half a year old! You are growing so fast! Just in the last two weeks, you have cut your first two teeth and learned to roll over, both ways. Here are some other things you have recently learned to do: wiggle while lying on your back, until you scootch [...]

So I finally got to see the new Les Mis movie in mid-February, when it had been in theatres for a month and a half. This is rather a travesty. I’m a musical geek. I could sing you most of the soundtracks for about a dozen different musicals.* I was also a French major; I [...]

I have one living grandparent, my dad’s mother. She is a treasure of a person. I remember a particular conversation we had when I was seven or eight, while she was visiting from Texas. We were out in my backyard together, talking about boys as I swung on the swingset. I asked her earnestly, “Wina, [...]

Seven years ago, in my second year of teaching, I taught at a Catholic elementary school. I’m not Catholic, but French teachers are often in short supply, and I was in no position to be picky about jobs. Sometimes I was a bit uncomfortable being a Quaker inside the Catholic bubble with all the unfamiliar [...]

This Christmas has been special. I am grateful for many things. Especially: The presence of my big brother – Uncle Ben – which means that all four of us “kids” were together at Christmas. This has not happened often in the last decade. Furthermore, you can’t imagine a more doting uncle. He is the first [...]

My little daughter is sick. It was just as we predicted to her big brother, who has had a cough and runny nose for the past couple weeks: if he is constantly hovering over her, breathing into her face as he gives her long strings of kisses… SHE WILL GET SICK. So, yeah. She has [...]

I think it’s safe to say that everyone wants to be happy. If there is such a thing as a universal goal in the context of humanity, happiness must be it, right? Keeping that in mind, it seems a bit sad that so many people still feel themselves to be in pursuit of happiness. Folks [...]

I started worrying about my children back when they were zygotes. With a daughter, I have worries that are completely different from those I have for my son. Self-esteem and body image issues are some of my biggest concerns for her. She’s only seven weeks old, but already I find myself wondering how best to [...]

I am not a poet. Still, sometimes life seems a bit more manageable with a prescribed number of syllables, doesn’t it? *** Small furious boy growls and pounds the couch cushions his mind filled with NO. *** When a little guy endeavours to create art his tongue must stick out. *** Blue eyes gazing up [...]