Carnegie Hill Mom

During my first foggy years of stay-at-home motherhood, Mommy brain replaced the quick wit I previously employed as an English teacher. Life suddenly revolved around my brood of four kids under four years old rather than my cohort of rowdy freshmen. Literature started to look more like board books and less like Shakespeare. My mind threatened to turn to mush in the melee of spit up, swings, snacks, swaddles, strollers, and stretchy pants . It was hard to see beyond the immediate task of making sure my household was fed, clothed, clean, and sleeping. Just when I glimpsed a light at the end of the tunnel (aka all kids attending school), COVID-19 hit and launched us into a blurry year of hybrid learning limbo . When my youngest child finally entered full-day Kindergarten in 2021, I emerged from the daze of new parenthood. Not looking to return to the classroom as a teacher, but ready to expand my focus beyond meeting my family’s basic needs, I dipped my toe into volunteering with our el...

Adding a desk to our kids’ bedroom launched an apartment reshuffling akin to a game of musical chairs. The desk was the last player standing, so to speak, as we shed the outgrown or underused contents of our New York City apartment–all for the sake of making our home a welcoming gathering place. My eldest daughter had included a desk on her Christmas wish list . For a suburban family with ample room, this would have been a no-brainer. As a mom fitting a household of six into a two-bedroom apartment, however, her wish seemed unrealistic. I saw the value in upgrading our toddler table to a scale appropriate for my eight, ten, and twelve year olds. An extra workstation would come in handy, especially considering they often invite friends over for homework playdates. However, we needed to think outside the box to seriously entertain the idea. Two bunk beds, two dressers, and a bookshelf monopolized all four walls in the kids’ bedroom, so where could we squeeze in a desk? As an experiment, ...