The bus ride to school would be an hour each way, with kids up to five grades older than my sons. Unsupervised by anyone but the driver. So I decided to drive my kids to school.
School drop-off and pickup was so chaotic and time consuming that I hired someone to do it. Read more
This photo is part of a series by photographer Erik Ravelo, who crucifies children onto adults. If you think this picture is disturbing, you should see the ones I didn’t put on this blog.
At first I thought the artist was insane and just trying to get people angry, but then I thought, “Why is it getting me so upset?”
This one in particular really disturbed me. Read more
There is a seven-page article in Harper’s about why algebra is not necessary, and in fact, the author (Nicholson Baker, for all you literary minimalist afficionados) concludes that in most cases, forcing kids to learn alegebra is torture. Read more
I took this photo when I was sitting in the audience for a weekly recital. We were waiting for the piano accompanist. I was so nervous. I wanted to walk up to my son and fuss over him. Remind him to use vibrato. Make sure his A string was in tune. Read more
I am a person who prefers to take social and political action by just earning more money and donating it to people who take social and political action more directly. I’m way more comfortable just earning money.
But as a homeschooler, I’m out of my comfort zone as an indirect activist every time I go to the grocery store. Read more
Five years ago, I was in the throes of my last startup, Brazen Careerist. During that time we were always running out of money, and I was always traveling to raise money.
At one meeting in the Washington, DC area, there were five guys in a room, and I did my pitch. I told them about the history of the company, why the future looks good, what the plan was – I’m very good at pitching. In fact, some people would say that my problem is that I’m way better at pitching a company than running a company. Read more
Before I complain about Chris Christie, the governor of New Jersey, I want to say that I love him. I love that right before Hurricane Sandy, when the people in Atlantic City wouldn’t evacuate, he screamed on television: “Get the hell off the beach!” That screamed authenticity to me. Read more
I’m convinced that the risks of homeschooling are not about the kids: Of course they will learn because kids do that naturally, if you just leave them alone; and of course whatever you do at home will be better than school. The risk is that parents go nuts. Read more
I am at my favorite dance recital ever. There are 260 kids, and there are parents backstage all day to keep everything organized. I am in the boys room, where they all have a DS, and many have something else as well for video games. Read more
Some of my favorite statistics come from the 70-year Harvard study about what makes people happy. The first thing they found out is that going to Harvard has no bearing on whether someone is happy. Another conclusion the research supports is that kids who have warm relationships with their mother make more money. And kids who have close relationships with their father have less anxiety. Read more