2022 | PulseonParenting

Holiday Homesick: Finding a New Way to Cope

Dec 15 2022

You know cocoa And mittens And snowflakes And fireplaces Pine scent And dark skies And hard cold And icicles But do you know what’s…the hardest about Christmas afar? It’s so very different. In so many ways. We’re holiday homesick and finding a way to cope. Missing Christmas in Winter I’m a hygge girl and half introvert, so any reason to be home is a welcome one. I read. I write. I journal. And at Christmas, I bake and decorate and light pine-scented candles. My daughter and I play our version of “Name That Tune,” called “Andy, Bing or Perry?” So…

Nov 30 2022

The joke is on us now. Not ha-ha as in Jim Gaffigan’s “eat fresh” routine, but ironic ha-ha. New Zealand Rock-N-Roll leaves me quaking in my boots. Not the rock and roll played live in pubs and at the theatre (the ABBA tribute band was great fun!). But the kind that causes the whole south island to shift in the wee hours of the morning. Every place has its potential for earthly disaster. Whether it be wildfires, hurricanes or earthquakes (to name a few), you can’t escape that dark looming cloud that can change your world in a heartbeat. When…

Nov 17 2022

More and more women have children after the age of 30. In fact, the median age of women giving birth is…30. So I did the math: if more women are growing their families “later” in life (“quotes” because geez, 30 ain’t old…), perimenopause will likely collide with having children at home. As if perimenopause isn’t difficult enough, juggling it with parenting is extra challenging. Read on about perimenopause and parenting: how to cope now. First, a pivotal moment. I was sitting on an exam table wrapped in a voluminous hospital gown, a stiff white sheet covering my lap. My healthcare…

Nature's chandelier: a large spider web glitters with raindrops.

Nov 03 2022

In one of my previous posts, I shared our family’s first coast-to-coast journey across (and the first glimpse of) the south island of New Zealand. I couldn’t have known then how often we would take that same breathtaking route over the coming year: As I write this, it is a year to the day that we made that road trip, and I am in disbelief that a year can vanish so quickly. Our family has experienced so much, yet so little, in that time. So today, one year in, I’d like to share some impressions on our New Zealand adventure…

Sep 29 2022

It’s the little things. It’s always the little things. The sweet touches that are the icing on the cake, the cherry on the sundae, the details that make an experience extra special. New Zealand is a beautiful place. And I can’t wait to share more of the natural “wow-y, wow, wow,” as my son would say, at every twist and turn in this country. But today, I’m going to share with you some of the other cool stuff that makes New Zealand “Sweet As. Let’s get colloquial, or something like it Turn of phrase. Manner of speaking. Commonplace vernacular. It’s…

Sep 22 2022

It was way too early to be set free, even by AARP member standards. My husband and I, a very early riser and a regular riser, respectively, felt our wagons a-draggin.’ And not just because we were leaving the comfort of the Stamford penthouse, but because it was Really. Damn. Early. Even release from quarantine wasn’t enough to cull our three teens out of bed. But it was time…14 days, 20 negative COVID tests and 42 ample meals (plus “tea” snacks) later…to start our coast to coast adventure. Our destination was Greymouth, a town on the Tasman Sea, on the…

Twins may mean "instant family" but make saving for college a challenge.

Sep 15 2022

I know. Ugh. The alphabet soup of savings plans…ROTH IRA’s, 401 A and B’s, 529’s. I don’t know if any of these examples of savings funds are even REAL, that’s how bad I am at anything beyond my personal checking account. (Oh, this just in: those funds ARE the real deal.) But I did some research. 529’s are a great way to stash money away for higher education. So stop, drop and open: start saving for college now. What are 529 Plans? 529’s (AKA Qualified Tuition Programs, or Section 529 Plans) allow you to put away money for educational purposes:…

Sep 01 2022

Welcome to Auckland the overhead sign proclaimed as we made our way through customs. The city we will not see, again. Twice my husband and I have landed in Auckland, the City of Sails, never to have experienced it. The first time we had a layover on our way to Australia, too tired to care we were in New Zealand. Now, the second time, we would be heading straight for a hotel for the two weeks of quarantine required because of Covid. It may have been mid-morning, but the bus to our downtown digs took us past nearly-deserted streets. Little…

Take AP classes in subjects that interest you.

Aug 25 2022

AP Courses. College Classes. On my son’s orientation night, that’s all the high school principal could talk about. It was enough to make anyone’s head swim. On and on. Why? The hard sell made me suspicious, especially as I had a less-than-stellar experience with AP as a high school student. Which then made me wonder if much has changed with AP (Advanced Placement) in the last few decades. So are AP courses worth the anxiety? Read now and decide. My AP experience (and therefore, my bias) I went to a small midwest high school and was in an “honors” English…

Welcome to Auckland, the iconic Skytown the morning of our arrival.

Aug 18 2022

It’s COVID’s doing, I tell people when they ask why our family decided to move to New Zealand. My husband doesn’t agree because we’ve wanted to come Down Under for years. He’s not wrong, but as I see it, the upheaval COVID caused in our lives gave us pause, and got us to actually make the leap across the “other pond.” How the idea started In 2004 New Zealand was the dangling carrot, or truth be told, the duct tape to our gaping infertility wound. My husband and I decided that if our fourth round of IVF didn’t work, we…

Archive - 2022

Holiday Homesick: Finding a New Way to Cope

New Zealand Rock-N-Roll Leaves Me Quaking In My Boots.

Perimenopause and Parenting: How to Cope Now

One Year In: Impressions on our New Zealand Adventure

Cool Stuff That Makes New Zealand “Sweet As”

Lookouts. Left-Side Driving. And How We Met the New Zealand Cops.

Stop, Drop, and Open. Start Saving for College NOW.

Welcome to Quarantine in the City of Sails. Love, Bono

Are AP Courses Worth the Anxiety? Read Now and Decide

The Leap of a Lifetime: Moving to New Zealand