My Writing
As a freelance writer and journalist, I primarily write about parenting, personal finance and green living.
Here are some of my published articles, columns and personal essays.
For more of my articles, including my day-to-day work as a staff writer for Strollerderby, Wise Bread and Parenting Squad, check out my weekly link round-ups.
Babble
Best iPhone Apps For Kids – Babble – January 2010 – We gave you a list of apps for parents — now how about for your children? We’ve compiled 25 of the best kid-friendly apps to help them learn to read, do arithmetic, sing in the car, or just entertain themselves while you enjoy some quiet time. The best part? None of them cost more than $2.99
The Pudding Lie – Babble – December 2009 – Have you ever made pudding at home? From scratch? Growing up, my family sometimes had pudding for dessert. We’d shake the pudding powder out of the box…At some point I found out that real pudding — the kind you could get in fancy restaurants — did not come from bright little boxes of pudding powder.
9 Things Not To Be Afraid of This Halloween – Babble – October 2009 – Back when I was a reporter for a daily newspaper, I’d be called on to do a Halloween safety story every November. You know the one: the article that shows up in your local newspaper between the costume contest photos and the fundraising drive, reminding you not to take candy from strangers and to dress your kids as flashing red stoplights before setting foot outdoors after dark.
Farm Share Survival Guide – Babble – October 2009 – Last fall, the flier for your local CSA looked so delicious, you were tempted to eat it. Those richly colored photos of plump melons and juicy tomatoes practically jumped off the page. Visions of sugar snap peas danced in your head as you filled out the form and handed over a large check.
23 Things to Know About Biking With Kids – Babble – September 2009 – Biking with kids can be a blast. For a lot of families, it’s also their main form of transportation to do everything from commuting to grocery shopping. A green alternative to cars, bikes are gaining in popularity.
Kindergarten Cop-Out - Babble – September 2009 – Next month, I will drop my firstborn child off at the door of a kindergarten classroom for the first time. After I wave goodbye and bike home alone, we’ll each begin secret lives: I’ll spend my mornings writing stuff for grown-ups, while she makes friends, solves puzzles and gets in trouble in ways I’ll never know.
Get Rich Slowly
The High Cost of Clutter - Get Rich Slowly – March 2010 – Do you have piles of papers lurking on your desk? Mountains of laundry looming beside your bed? Shelves double-stacked with knick-knacks? I have a bit of a clutter problem myself. The other day, I spent an hour looking for the vacuum cleaner, which eventually turned up buried under a pile of laundry almost as tall as I am.
From Whole Foods to Food Stamps – Get Rich Slowly – February 2010 – The recession has hit families where they live. For many, it’s forced a change of address. Think about all those foreclosed homes and urban deserts: One in every 400 homes received a foreclosure notice last year. Unemployment is approaching 10%. Some families no longer have a place to call home at all.
Building On What You Already Know – Get Rich Slowly – February 2010 – The most important trick to managing your finances — and maybe the hardest — is just getting started. My household finances were like an impenetrable jungle of budget formulas and investment accounts and bank policies and tax codes; not knowing where to start kept me broke and confused for years.
How to Talk With Your Spouse About Money – Get Rich Slowly – January 2010 Talking about money is one of the great taboos of our culture. I know more about my friends’ sex lives than I do about their bank statements. Many of us find it hard to discuss finances under the best circumstances. When we’re stressed about money, we tend to clam up even more. If you’re married (or living with a partner), you don’t have that luxury. Financial success is not a private affair.
Give Your Wealth Away – Get Rich Slowly -December 2009 – This was my guest post on Get Rich Slowly. It seems to have caused a little ruckus on the comments. Oops. Apparently saying the word “liberal” or “conservative” in a blog post is like shouting “fire” in a crowded theater. Whatever. I stand by my basic thesis: charitable giving is a good idea, and secular liberals like myself could learn a thing or two from our conservative religious relatives about how to do it.
The Pitfalls of Buying in Bulk – Get Rich Slowly – October 2009 – Because I hate shopping and love discounts, I buy most everything in bulk: toilet paper, frozen foods, light bulbs, even toys. But bulk buying has its risks too, and after years of practicing it, I’m learning to see them.
Sweating the Big Stuff - Get Rich Slowly – September 2009 – When my husband and I first got married, we bought a house in the suburbs and promptly had a baby. Buying that house meant buying a piece of the American Dream — but we both figured out pretty quickly that it wasn’t our dream.
The Non-Consumer Advocate
Grateful for Public Libraries – The Non-Consumer Advocate – September 2009 – Yesterday we were biking home from somewhere, and she said “Mommy! You and Daddy have a lot of books for you, and for Daddy and for other people, but you have not bought enough books for me and Serena.”
Flashlight Worthy Books
Best Books for Talking To Kids About Sex – Flashlight Worthy Books – December 2009 – Do you like talking with kids about sex? Neither do I. It’s an awkward topic, but one that every parent has to take on at some point in their child’s life. I’m a big fan of starting these talks early. I feel that as soon as my kids can ask questions, they deserve answers. Because everyone in my house loves to read, books play a central role in getting that information across.
Great Memoirs for New Moms – Flashlight Worthy Books – July 2009 – These are the books I’d give a woman at her first child’s baby shower. They’re the ones I passed on to my sister and best friend when they got pregnant. These are the books that most helped me transition from fabulous single gal to Mommy.
