Author: marylowd

What Hazel wants most in the world is to murder human hands. Unfortunately for her, she also doesn’t wish to displease her humans. She is a sweet cat.

So every day, she begs me, meowing so pretty, “Please, may today be the day? May I destroy your hand?” Continue reading “The Deep Nature of Our Younger Bengals”

Two of the biggest skills I’ve had to work with Elder Child on for getting their homework assignments done are, “Yes, that thing you just said out loud is good enough, WRITE IT DOWN,” and “No, DO NOT DELETE that thing you just wrote down.”

This lesson also applies to writers.

You know how dogs just really need to be praised and told they’re good dogs? Like just for being dogs?

I think people need to be told that more too. This is why Mr. Rogers was so important. Continue reading “Diablo and Mr. Rogers”

I’ve been watching the BBC show “Ghosts,” and it’s absolutely charming. It has a kind of similar off-beat, quirky humor to “What We Do in the Shadows,” except about ghosts instead of vampires.

Highly, highly recommended. Continue reading “Offbeat Ghosts and Vampires”

My mom bought a this fake tree after figuring out I was allergic to Christmas trees. (They’re filled with mold.) My dad objected strenuously to us switching to a fake tree. But I finally stopped spending the whole of December sick, turning into lingering bronchitis through the spring.

One year, we visited Jewish friends for a couple days around Christmas, and my eternal winter cold lifted. My mom put that puzzle piece together with the fact that I always perked up on Christmas Eve at Grandma’s house — which had a fake tree. Continue reading “Fake Christmas Trees”

Continue reading “Struggling with Burnout”

The 14-year-old: “My English teacher said I didn’t engage enough with the story we read based on one question I answered on a quiz. I’ll never be able to do literary analysis!”

Also 14: “Rudolph is a neurodivergent found family story. Let me list all my evidence…”

Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas is exactly as spectacular as the rest of the show. Exactly what it should be.

I hope it gets renewed for another season, but if it doesn’t, the Christmas special gave it a much better end than it would have had without it.

Me to my kid: “It makes sense to take a break and give yourself time to rest rather than pushing yourself to be in every play the children’s theater puts on.”

Me to myself: “Now, tell me again why you didn’t write a novel last month? ‘Cause, I really think you could have.” Continue reading “Stray Parenting and Writing Thoughts”

Avery still doesn’t get it. If the spirit of Christmas involves paying attention to an inanimate monstrosity of a decorated tree instead of HER, then she wants none of it.

She is SO MUCH prettier than a Christmas tree. And she can do TRICKS.

The Doctor to a weeping angel: “My friends are never lost.”

Um… Continue reading “Tidbits about Doctor Who & Lost In Space”