Carnegie Hill Mom

Dear Parents, With Teacher Appreciation Day upon us and the end of the school year just around the corner, I thought I’d make your job a little easier by sending home a wish list—just in case you get the urge to shower me with gifts I  actually  want. If each family takes a couple, we’ll have this list checked off in no time! Fresh-cut flowers—along with your promise to return next week to toss out the wilted blooms and clean the gunk out of my vase. A platter of baked goods that are simultaneously delicious and healthy. A Rosetta Stone so I can decipher your child’s scribbly handwriting. A color printer with gallons of ink and towers of paper. Noise-cancelling windows so I don’t have to lose my voice speaking over the din of traffic, construction and sirens. A parking spot directly in front of the school building and valet to handle the parallel parking. An assistant to grade mountains of student work, refresh my bulletin b...

Last weekend, I opened my entryway closet to find a doll stroller wresting the hula hoop, a jump rope strangling the tennis racquets and a jumble of scooters knocking the vacuum over directly into my shin. And that was my seasonal cue to purge. Out went the neglected badminton racquets, neon green plastic baseball bat and outgrown balance bike. And in swept the bliss I find in freeing up space. My default is to shed toys, clothes and art projects the moment they become irrelevant. I eagerly donate, toss or pass them along to a neighbor or cousin to make room for the next hobby my kids adopt. And, frankly, every single thing I get rid of, is one less item I need to manage. It’s exhausting to constantly pick up pipe cleaners and toothpicks before someone’s bare foot gets stabbed. I detest tripping over dolls, slipping on marbles, and peeling Elmer’s glue off the windowsill from a drying popsicle stick creation. It’s frustrating to wage war against Rubik’s cubes monopolizing the end table...

City dwellers know the drill: push through graduation, land a job in the big city, find an apartment, get hitched, make babies, scramble for more space, get priced out, flee to the suburbs. I get it. Some days the draw of extra bedrooms and big backyards without the need to pinch pennies is super appealing. But, after 15 years of living in Manhattan, I’m just not ready to give up the culture, convenience and community that enrich family life in the city. New York City is where my heart sings. Thankfully, I have found plenty of ways to make city living feasible, even with our family of six. If you are considering jumping ship, first reconsider your financial lifestyle choices in these 10 areas. Perhaps you’ll find an affordable solution that emboldens you to set down roots in your favorite metropolis. 1.      Housing Choose an apartment based on the qualities you prioritize. Don’t unwittingly get roped into amenities that aren’t important to you or that yo...

Human beings are designed to do life together. Days feel infinitely more full and joyful when we share them with others. But it isn’t just moments of celebration that draw us close. It is the act of calling upon each other in times of desperation that truly knits us into a unit. When my mother’s health took a turn for the worse last month, I discovered anew how laying groundwork within relationships pays off. It is the solid foundation of forever friends and familial bonds that provides strength and support when we need it the most. In this season of gratitude, I feel especially thankful for the friends who cared for my husband and kids so I could take a few days off from mom life to focus on my role as a daughter and care for my ailing mother. My mom prides herself in being a strong, successful and independent woman. She has her life under as much control as possible—an immaculate home, thorough files, strategically-planned retirement and detailed travel itineraries. She had plans to ...

A year plus of pandemic turbulence has put friendships through the wringer. But the relationships that survive are pure gold. My daughter cheerfully returned to full-time, in-person school this fall only to discover that COVID had shattered her core group of three best friends. One girl’s family fled the city, the second missed the first several weeks of school while quarantining, and the third left for her original school—she had only joined us last year because our school offered some precious in-person days. As a result of this heart-wrenching, disorienting loss, my daughter kept bemoaning, “I don’t have any friends!” “Well, that’s not true,” I retorted, listing off the myriad playmates she runs around with on the playground at school pickup. “But those are Bethany and Kimberly’s friends,” Emily moped. Oh, the trials of being a middle child. Apparently her siblings’ buddies—while super fun—weren’t filling the void left behind from the loss of her close peers. And yet, for the ti...

  Are you among the throngs of travelers hitting the road this summer as cities open up after a year of Covid cramping your style? Grab some comfortable shoes, a bottle of sunscreen, and a boatload of trail mix and head northeast. New England’s rocky coastal views and wild nature will mix with quaint harbors and history to delight everyone in your family from the littlest legs to the most senior travelers. Here are some highlights to inspire your travel itinerary. These worked beautifully for my family: kids aged 4-8 as well as Mom, Dad and Grandma. Newport, Rhode Island 1.        Park at Narragansett Avenue to start at the 40 Steps and walk south past Gilded Age mansions like the Breakers, finishing this section of the Cliff Walk with some fun bolder leaping and views of Marble House across the inlet from Belmont Beach. This gives you the highlights of the cliffs without the complete 3.5 miles. You can also take a $2 trolley ride along Bellevu...

The sweltering summer I was pregnant with twins, I ventured into the uncharted territory of playgrounds. I had heard about a moms’ group that gathered at the park near the hospital where I would give birth.  Even though my babies were still buns in the oven, I couldn’t wait to plug into a network of ladies who knew a thing or two about raising kids in NYC. Without family nearby, that group became my lifeline. In true, pregnant-and-ready-to-burst style, I asked a gazillion questions. One mom still stands out in my memory nine years later. For one, she brought me the most delicious spaghetti and meatballs a week after my twins arrived. More vividly, though, I recall one morning in Central Park. She stationed herself in a shady area near the center of the playground, from which she could spot her toddler no matter which direction he wandered. She pointed out her son navigating a ladder. Suddenly, we noticed a wet spot appear and spread down his shorts. “We’re potty training,” she expl...