He who establishes his argument by noise and command shows that his reason is weak.
~Michel de Montaigne
ROOM MOTHER DAZE
ELLIE SEARL
When Brett entered first grade this past year, his mom Katie not only signed up to be Art Master for the second time, she also volunteered to be the class Room Mother. She'd teach his class about famous artists, plan parties, organize treats, and become friends with the other mothers.
"And," she said, "This will give me solid foothold in the workings of the school."
"Aren't you doing enough already?" I asked.
"Mom – It's okay," Katie said. "Being a Room Mother is the best way to stay on top of things. It'll be fun."
Parent-Teacher Open House was the only September event that needed Room Mothering, so it wasn't until October at the Halloween party that Katie first encountered the Mighty Moms lurking behind the cubby buckets. MORE . . .
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THE FINE ART OF EAVESDROPPING
CAROLYN B HEALY
Ask any writer where their material comes from and the honest ones will tell you it’s from a lifetime of eavesdropping. Sitting in a coffee shop you can land like a paratrooper in the middle of the life of a stranger and find out more than you know about your best friend. Whatever you hear yourself, you have on good authority, I figure.
Sometimes you get only hints and have to construct the story yourself. Like the time I sat near an apparently former priest and an older woman breakfasting together. I got an earful about “that business” that caused him so much trouble in recent years in the church. I pegged her as a former parishioner, based on the delicate balance between devotion and flirtatiousness that ran between them. MORE . . .
