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Mother Angst

Retired Columns

From “Life in the Sandwich” to “Special Needs Mama” to “Zen and the Art of Child Maintenance”—they’re all here for you to explore.

On Clothing, Or Lack of It

While my daughter can always count on me for excellent book suggestions, I’m not so skilled at coordinating outfits, so I leave her to it with the clothes. One night…

Mother Angst | March 2006 | By Joanne Catz Hartman


Boxed Out

A few years ago, while visiting a potential school for my soon-to-be kindergartener, I found myself beside a glass door that had a sign: Faculty mailboxes and workroom, it read.…

Mother Angst | January 2006 | By Joanne Catz Hartman


Belle of the Ball

Because there is no lanyard-making team or origami league, I sign my seven-year-old daughter up for soccer. Her solitary pursuits eclipse the group ones — art, piano, and that all-encompassing…

Mother Angst | November 2005 | By Joanne Catz Hartman


Taking the Plunge

According to Jewish tradition, I’m required to teach my child how to swim. Really — it says so in the Talmud, the ancient text of Jewish law and customs. At…

Mother Angst | September 2005 | By Joanne Catz Hartman


Tag, You’re It!

You’re “It,” I used to say when he came home from work. His hand would sweep through his curly, mocha hair, his wide shoulders slumped with exhaustion, which I chose…

Mother Angst | June 2005 | By Joanne Catz Hartman


Intervention

We’re having a breakthrough discussion about an ongoing problem, my seven-year-old daughter and I. At this moment, she’s calm and open to talking with me. “You know, if used responsibly…

Mother Angst | April 2005 | By Joanne Catz Hartman


Loothing It

My daughter hangs out with a toothless gang. They sputter and spit, their tongues often fill the empty spaces in their grins; they eat apples with the sides of their…

Mother Angst | February 2005 | By Joanne Catz Hartman


The One You’re With

“Who’s your best friend?” well-meaning friends or relations sometimes ask my daughter. Please don’t ask her that, I want to tell them. She has many friends, which isn’t a problem,…

Mother Angst | December 2004 | By Joanne Catz Hartman


Birth Stories

I’ve been informed that my grandchildren will come via adoption. “Oh, really,” I say. “Why?” “No kissing,” my daughter replies. “Kissing is just too gross.” And she puckers up her…

Mother Angst | October 2004 | By Joanne Catz Hartman


Dread and Chocolate

“You’re the best mommy I ever had,” my daughter told me the other night as we snuggled together at bedtime. Which got me thinking about her past-lives mommies. Did they…

Mother Angst | August 2004 | By Joanne Catz Hartman


The Warden

Recently, my husband let my daughter draw on his face with a felt pen. When she did it at age two, it was just plain funny. At six, though, not…

Mother Angst | July 2004 | By Joanne Catz Hartman


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