January 2012
1 post
December 2011
1 post
Beautiful lessons.
“It’s Okay to be Neither,” By Melissa Bollow Tempel
Alie arrived at our 1st-grade classroom wearing a sweatshirt with a hood. I asked her to take off her hood, and she refused. I thought she was just being difficult and ignored it. After breakfast we got in line for art, and I noticed that she still had not removed her hood. When we arrived at the art room, I said: “Allie, I’m not playing. It’s time for art. The rule is no hoods or hats in school.”
She looked up with tears in her eyes and I realized there was something wrong. Her classmates went into the art room and we moved to the art storage area so her classmates wouldn’t hear our conversation. I softened my tone and asked her if she’d like to tell me what was wrong.
“My ponytail,” she cried.
“Can I see?” I asked.
She nodded and pulled down her hood. Allie’s braids had come undone overnight and there hadn’t been time to redo them in the morning, so they had to be put back in a ponytail. It was high up on the back of her head like those of many girls in our class, but I could see that to Allie it just felt wrong. With Allie’s permission, I took the elastic out and re-braided her hair so it could hang down.
“How’s that?” I asked.
She smiled. “Good,” she said and skipped off to join her friends in art.
‘Why Do You Look Like a Boy?’
November 2011
8 posts
Tumbleweeds, Goldfish crackers, a near-death experience and a grand old crack — that was a holiday for the ages.
Five years ago, I was on the road for Thanksgiving. It was a meandering sojourn east as I returned to Kansas from my internship in Los Angeles.
Hey, consider voting for my friend’s Nyan Cat costume. It’s really neat.
CAN YOU BELIEVE IT? It’s November 1st, and that means it is NaNoWriMo time again! And this year I am EXTREMELY EXCITED to tell you that I am the OFFICIAL AGONY AUNT of NaNoWriMo.
I have already anticipated some questions.
1. What is NaNoWriMo?
NaNoWriMo is National Novel Writing Month.…
October 2011
8 posts
Clomping through graveyards at night. Happy Halloween.
This week’s Let’s Get Lost column.
My story about ghost tours with tons of links.
Successful bus riders are like Weebles. You know, those little toys from Playskool.
Why?
Because the bus hits every bump and turn and if you can’t sway with it, you’ll fall on the floor.
I came to this realization today as I rode. My hips stay planted pretty well these days, but my torso…
