Jane Roper's Blog, page 14

  “Life moves pretty fast. You don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” Thus began my address as valedictorian of my high school class — along with, probably, the valedictory addresses of hundreds, if not thousands, of teenagers around the nation in the late 80s and early 90s. (What do you... Read the Rest »

A couple of weeks ago, Clio had a cold. And it was awesome. I was away at a brief writing retreat at one of my all-time favorite getaways, and Alastair texted to say that Clio had some sort of rash — the itchy kind that seemed to move around a bit. So, in other words, hives.... Read the Rest »

For the second year in a row, we forced our daughters into truancy for the first week of school. Well, actually, we didn’t have to do much forcing. They willingly agreed to it. The thing is, every year since Alastair was four years old, he and his family have spent the week before Labor Day... Read the Rest »

I love having 8-year-olds. I mean, yes, the number itself sort of makes me cringe, because MY BABIES! Where have my babies gone?!! They’re about to move from the k-2 grouping, which still has a toe in little-kid-dom, to the 3-5 realm, which is solidly big-kid territory — and the last gasp of childhood before (gulp) adolescence. But... Read the Rest »

One of the odd things about life post-cancer-treatment, I’m finding, is navigating when and when not to reveal what our family just went through to people I don’t know well. I mean, it was always a little tricky to know how or if to drop the C-bomb. But when Clio was in treatment it was such a big... Read the Rest »

A couple of weeks ago I took the girls to the poster decorating party for the Dana Farber Marathon Challenge partner program — the program through which Clio’s ass-kicking partner runner Katelin is running her fourth marathon this year to raise money for cancer research. (Help her reach her goal!) We’ve gone to the poster party the... Read the Rest »

On and off over the years, I’ve volunteered as a writer for an organization called Small Can Be Big that helps connect individual families in crisis with short-term funding, often for things like rent or repairs. I hadn’t done a story for a while, but just last week I offered to do one and totally by... Read the Rest »

No, that title doesn’t refer to the amount of snow we’ve gotten in Boston in the past month. (That would be seven feet and counting.) It’s about something far cheerier and that — bonus! — doesn’t cripple major public transportation systems. Not that I know of, anyway. So. Last week was February vacation (because we totally needed... Read the Rest »

I know, I know. My blog is becoming derelict. With Clio’s treatment done (she finished her last dose of Bactrim — an antibiotic that provided some extra coverage while her immune system was rebuilding — last week, so she’s officially off ALL meds!) I haven’t had the pressing urge. And I’m trying to use all... Read the Rest »

“I look weird.” Not me, that is. (I just look like I have a budding spare tire, thanks to way too much holiday food and drink — on the heels of way too much Halloween candy stolen from my children, and the fact that between illness and work and weather, I haven’t been able to... Read the Rest »