Grasshopper New Media Presents...

My kids are now 13 and 16, boy and girl. Let us say that they are not the best of friends. In fact, they’ve been at odds with each other since I can remember. And every so often, I try to come up with some methodology for getting them closer. And every so often, I […]

Lately we have been having trouble with our older son (OS).  He hasn’t wanted to go to preschool.  No it’s not because he doesn’t like it.  It’s because he’s convinced that his younger brother is doing lots of fun activities while he is there.  We tried the advice of friends and explained that pour younger […]

Today we replenished our dwindling stock of rubber balls and as I always do, I inscribed each one using a permanent marker with the name of our 2 1/2-year old daughter, Fern. As I carefully printed block letters on a miniature football, it struck me that I was being completely unfair to Fern’s sister to […]

Damp auburn hair. Blue
butterflies stamped on her cheeks,
nose, didn’t wash off.
“I miss my childrens
in Russia!” our daughter wept
at lights-out. Again.
Older than her brother,
she recalls the orphanage—
and, maybe, life before.
She learns directions, moves
furniture, decorates,
to control her world.
Butterflies on arms,
my son sleeps with books, all closed
except for Pirates;
Knobby knees at chin,
pj’s and pull-up thrown off.
His boy-doll’s nude, […]

When you are the parent of twins you experience some benefits of having two the same age as well as some drawbacks. I won’t get into how traumatic my girls early arrival was and how having two infants was more stress than I could have ever imagined, so maybe another time. What I’ve noticed, though, […]

I went to the family reunion somewhat grudgingly.
A distant cousin had been doing research and discovered a pool of people that shared her great-great-grandfather. She planned a trip from Colorado to Michigan to Pennsylvania to Connecticut. She wondered if the Michigan people could meet.
So a bunch of people with Kies somewhere in their family tree […]

I spent part of last weekend with my family (two sisters) and part of Mother’s Day with Nancy’s family (twin sister and two brothers). As I look at our relationships, I am curious about what the relationship between Andrew and Hope will be in 30 years.
We have two children. Andrew is 21, Hope is 17. […]