Singing Like No One Can Hear

Dear Ellie — Today’s your first day in daycare. Not ones to let anything in your life go undocumented, your parents have snapped your first day below. You’re in a Spanish immersion daycare, which means you’ll soon be running circles around us in two languages,…

Hire Education

Ellie — Since you recently turned nine months and are motoring your way into toddlerhood, I think it’s time to talk about something serious: jobs. Yes, jobs. I’m not talking about a career or profession, which is a serious business you don’t have to think…

Learning to Crawl

Ellie — Opa and I took a wonderful trip to Seattle to see you and your parents two weeks ago. We came back with lots of warm memories, a zillion photos of you and us, and, as a bonus, the cold you had. What did we…

Different Places in Our Lives

Dear Ellie — You’re rolling over now. Opa and I were trying to talk to you on FaceTime, but you couldn’t be bothered for long. You’d get a determined look on your face, and voila, you’d flip onto your stomach — delighted with yourself and ready…

Platitudes and Attitudes

Dear Ellie — When you go through a tough time in your life, people often line up to help. Their good intentions are really touching — but most of them also want to give you advice. The trouble is, much of their well-meaning advice sucks. They say everything happens…

Turkeys and Temblors

Dear Ellie — Thirty-three years ago, Opa and I came across a quote we really loved. “Having a baby,” it read, “is like having a bowling alley installed in your brain.” Exactly! we both exclaimed, screeching with deranged laughter. A bowling alley! How very precise!…

Don’t Mess With Grandmothers

Ellie — I visited Seattle last week, staying a few blocks away from your parents’ townhouse. You’d changed a lot since I first saw you as a week-old newborn. For one thing, you’re smiling. Do you have any idea what undignified lengths presumably sane adults…