View from here
Here's a collection of all of our articles filed under view from here
The View From HereThe Ticket ListBy Amy Sue NathanIt all started in 10th grade on the dark wood fold-down seats of my high school auditorium. The lights dimmed. I sat there landlocked as a dozen of my best, best friends, all Jewish, appeared on stage in full habits as nuns in The Sound of Music.
I’d...
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The View From HereBrisket and the Art of Long-Term FriendshipBy Amy Sue NathanI landed a job in the admissions department of a small Lutheran college in New Jersey. The fact that I knew nothing about college admissions wasn’t nearly as strange as the fact that I was the only Jewish staff member, and most likely, the only...
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The View From HereAre you a Promo-Mom?By Amy Sue NathanI don’t have enough to do so I’m adding a new blog and possibly a part-time, online job to my to-do list. So in between checking things off and checking them twice, I wonder – will the lure of traffic and trackbacks, tweets and stumbles,...
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The View From HereWhat Are We Doing Today?By Amy Sue NathanIt will be thirty-four degrees tonight – and even if the temperature doesn’t agree -- summer is only weeks away. So as the season of sun and surf (and mosquitoes and bees) looms, I realize this is the first time since my daughter was four...
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The View From HereBeing HipBy Amy Sue Nathan"I've lost thirty pounds and nothing has changed except the size of my jeans," I said to my therapist. She nodded as therapists do. "It has nothing to do with my weight, does it?"
It really wasn't a question....
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The View From HereStroller AnxietyBy Amy Sue NathanI kicked. I wiggled. I shook. I cursed. I banged.
I couldn't fold the stroller. Me, with my baby already in his car seat snuggly in the back of the car and our top-of-the-line Perego in the parking lot of the mall on our first official outing...
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The View From HereMy Martin Luther King Day dreamBy Amy Sue NathanI can picture my mom and my grandmother -- although I don’t remember which grandmother. They were in the kitchen of house where I grew up. Someone was emptying the dishwasher. They were wearing matching pendants on long gold-tone chains. The pendant...
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The View From HereTaming The Food Scrooge and Staying Healthy: An Interview with Robin Miller of Food NetworkBy Amy Sue NathanThere’s so much to think about at holiday time, what to wear (will it fit?), what to buy (how much will it cost?), what to cook (what kind of face will my kid make?) and what to eat (how many calories is that?). And, not only are we entertaining...
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The View From HereBringing Ourselves To The TableBy Amy Sue NathanCarrot kugel tastes great with Thanksgiving turkey – and ham. Who knew?
The first year my kids and I shared Thanksgiving with some of our closest friends who are not Jewish like us, it was time to start a new family tradition. In an effort to...
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The View From HereFilling His Size 13 ShoesBy Amy Sue NathanElmo and Clifford don't live here anymore. My son outgrew Nick Jr. before Dora was born and long before the Backyardigans moved to town. The Power Rangers have no power here, and whether or not Pikachu has escaped the clutches of Team Rocket is no longer...
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The View From HereKiller SandalsBy Amy Sue Nathan"I killed it with a Birkenstock ," I said, beaming, as l described having whacked a light brown fuzzy tarantula, the size of half a tennis ball, in defense of the bathtub toys. Then I explained how brave with the fortitude of motherhood, I scooped...
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The View From HereThe Top Five Reasons School Should Not Start in AugustBy Amy Sue NathanSchool starts in August in many school districts across the country (ours on August 20th), and that’s just plain wrong.
First of all, it’s a Wednesday.
If administrators are going to start school in what is ostensibly only the third-quarter...
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The View From HereMapQuest My Life, Please!By Amy Sue NathanWhen my daughter started kindergarten eight years ago, I spent three weeks looking at the clock. What was I supposed to do with two kids in school full-time? My son was in third grade, so long days apart were nothing new for us – but with both kids...
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The View From HereSaving Grace.By Amy Sue NathanIn 1978, cool girls smoked Parliaments. We were experts at hiding our deeds from the "matrons" who policed the expansive junior high blacktop. We embraced them with smiles and entranced them with cheerful banter when they looked and sniffed...
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The View From HereA Pre-Teen Halloween Is Scary StuffBy Amy Sue NathanAbout a week ago my daughter put her head on my shoulder, and said, “I’m sad.”
Now this could always go either way. It could be a serious plea that needs tending to or it could be her rip-roaring sense of humor that’s trying...
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The View From HereAlways Take Your Game Boy to BelizeBy Amy Sue NathanWe dropped anchor six miles off the coast of Belize without land in sight and I thought, "What the hell am I doing?"
It wasn't my first cruise, or the kids' either, but it was our first cruise after the divorce as a family of three, not...
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The View From HereFor this city gal there was nothing better than suburban bliss.By Amy Sue NathanI wasn't sorry that all I wanted was a traditional, old-fashioned family life, yet I constantly found myself apologizing not only for having it, but also for not trying to change it. It was enough for me. It was fun and fulfilling and left me wanting...
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The View From HereIt takes a village. Or didn't you get the memo?By Amy Sue NathanI didn't read Hillary's book. I didn't have to. I could've written it except for the notoriety, experts employed, and publicity and popularity that ensued. I said I could have written it, not that it would have been a bestseller if I had.
I jumped on...
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The View From HereThe True Cost of EducationBy Amy Sue NathanSummer ends this week, when both my kids pack their backpacks and I pack their lunches and they climb into the car for the mile drive first to the high school, then around the corner to the junior high.
It’s the time of year they dread yet prepare...
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The View From HereWaving Santa on.By Amy Sue NathanLiving outside of Cleveland for a year when my kids were little was no treat. It snowed on November 1st and the sun went on sabbatical. The city's bereft charm was overwhelming to me after living in Chicago and Philadelphia. But the holiday season coupled...
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The View From HereBah, love bug.By Amy Sue NathanThis time of year it seems like Cupid has his arrow pointed at my back instead of at my heart.
Although I tried to evade the ambush, I've gotten caught in the pink and red fluffy, furry, lacey, glittery, chocolaty store aisle and window display explosion...
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The View From HereBrushes with greatness.By Amy Sue NathanThere have been only two times in my son's life as a student that he has expressed even a modicum of enthusiasm in his studies.
Once, he was in sixth grade. His Social Studies class was learning about ancient Egypt. "Learning about ancient Egypt...
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The View From HerePraise Moses and Pass the Matzah: A Passover PrimerBy Amy Sue NathanThe Easter Bunny and his entourage are back at the mall, and that means one thing to me.
Passover is coming.
Passover, the eight day celebration of the Israelites' exodus from slavery in ancient Egypt, is my favorite Jewish holiday,...
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The View From HereStaying on track.By Amy Sue NathanYesterday my eleven year old went to a friend's house after school. I spoke to the mother on the phone, and gave my permission for her to pick up my daughter along with her own. And I looked up their address online and through the magic of the Internet,...
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The View From HereOn making-up.By Amy Sue NathanThe best advice I ever got was from my aunt. "Never leave the house without lipstick," she said. I took it to heart. I rarely do go out without lipstick – and make-up of some sort – and if I do, I always wish I hadn't. I never gave...
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The View From HereA very fine whine.By Amy Sue NathanMy daughter entered the world according to schedule, almost twelve years ago. I spent the better part of July, and August until the ninth, in a cotton nightgown, loose and flowing over our bodies, both hers and mine. I had a scheduled Cesarean for personal...
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The View From HereShelf life.By Amy Sue NathanOne hour and four garbage bags later, the fridge and kitchen cabinets have been dusted, scrubbed, dumped and organized.
My kids are right.
There's nothing to eat.
I'm wondering what possessed me to stock up on Triskets like they...
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