My best friend’s death on 9/11 is now of legal age. Time to party. — September 11, 2022 Dear Stacey, You’ve been gone for exactly 21 years today, the age we should’ve been while drinking the beers in the picture above. We’d become fast friends of three months in this candid photo, freshmen in college, living across the hall from each other and on our…

My reflections on the recent senseless violence around the country — I’ve been blocking out the news lately. Piles of newspapers sit unread on my kitchen counter. I’ve unsubscribed to news alerts. Why? Because I can’t function when I stop to process all the horrifying bad news. And there’s so, so much of it. I’ve learned to manage my anxiety and…

Don’t be sad today — my soul will never leave you, it’s inside your heart, your bodies, your very being — Happy Mother’s Day, my loves — or, as I’m calling it today: iPad Day! Hopefully you’ll be re-reading this years and years from now when YOU’RE all really old — or at least old enough to be wearing reading glasses like I am now, at age 45. Here’s what I…

Okay, fine. I left this until the last minute. But here’s what I’m thinking about for my mom this year. (Mom, don’t look!) — Bib necklace from Amazon ($14.90)

I’m living proof that all the pent-up intellectual energy can be saved and used at a later date — 11 years. That’s how long I “stayed home” with my kids. For anyone else who, like me, thought they’d completely missed the boat on a career after years and years out of the workplace, I’m living proof that all the pent-up intellectual energy can be saved and used later if…

Exhausted. Cautious. Joyful. Finally. — I just dropped off my little guys, who cautiously took off their masks and walked into school, their own beautiful faces finally exposed. My first grader had literally never walked into the building without wearing a mask. As I watched him walk in, a few moments after his older sister…

Marketing your book is the gift you give the reader — the promise of emotional escape and release — Like everyone, I have been glued to the news this week. As Russia invaded Ukraine, I watched in horror as civilians picked up weapons, mothers walked miles to safety, Chernobyl was overtaken, and families splintered. It has been devastating to scroll and watch helplessly. As I’ve inhaled updates from the…

Why a new genre — reality marriage lit — is here to stay — Lisa Taddeo’s brilliant New York Times essay, “My Real Love Language is Fear,” published on the eve of Valentine’s Day, is the final nail in the marital secrecy coffin. It used to be sacrilegious to discuss the ins and outs of our marriages. And by “used to,” I mean, like…

The secret formula will help you unlock all your reading potential — “You Can’t Possibly Read All Those Books!” As many of you have pointed out or, perhaps, whispered to each other, it would be physically impossible for me to read every page of every book I feature on my podcast, Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books. After all, I did 449 episodes in 2021 alone! And yet…