Archive for 'The Rockwood Files' Category
The Rockwood Files: The Countdown to Summer
By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3 There’s a countdown underway. My boys announce it each morning as they bound down the stairs to leave for school. “Seven more days of school, Mom!” Jack called out happily as he slung his backpack over his shoulder. They’re even coordinating their clothes around the countdown. [...]
The Rockwood Files: The Rejection Letter
By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3 Today I got a rejection letter for a book manuscript. It hurt. It wasn’t the first one and won’t be the last, but it still hurt. I keep waiting to develop the thick skin all the writing advice books say you need to survive in this [...]
The Rockwood Files: The Dream Car
By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3 Now that our oldest son has officially hit double-digits in age, he’s thinking of his future – his driving future. His 16th birthday is still six years away (thankfully), but suddenly cars are very cool. “Mom, I decided what kind of car I want when I’m [...]
The Rockwood Files: The Sissy Versus the Snake
By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3 The snake sighting in our yard had been haunting me. Every time I stepped outside, I scanned for signs of it – the way wary beach goers check the water for signs of a shark fin. Then two weeks ago I was home alone with the [...]
The Rockwood Files: Real-life remote control
By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3 A few years ago, a friend told me I absolutely had to get a DVR, which is short for “digital video recorder”. Some people call it TiVo. “It will change your life,” she said. I was skeptical. But she was right. It has changed my life [...]
The Rockwood Files: The Toddler Dog
By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3 There’s a toddler in the house – a four-legged, floppy-eared toddler. And he’s making me crazy. How is it possible that I could love the little beast so completely and want to throttle him at the same time? Charlie, the Beagle baby we adopted, is now [...]
The Rockwood Files: A Spring Thing
By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3 For the past month or so, I’ve been waiting for Mother Nature’s punch line. Because the unusually mild winter and the spring-like temperatures in February and March felt like a practical joke. I resisted the urge to pull out my sandals, and I’ve kept my winter [...]
The Rockwood Files: Kindergarten shot bravery
By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3 I got a lesson in bravery today from a 5-year-old. Our preschooler, Kate, knew she’d need kindergarten immunizations before she could move into the elementary school big leagues this fall. Her preschool teachers have been talking about it for months now, encouraging everyone in the class [...]
The Rockwood Files: In-flight fishing
By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3 I watched a man fish today at 30,000 feet above the Earth. He was sitting across the aisle one row ahead of me on an airplane heading for home. Wearing tiny white earbud headphones connected to an iPhone, he fished for nearly an hour on his [...]
The Rockwood Files: Why I can’t renew my driver’s license yet
By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3 By this time next week, I’ll be 39. The actual age doesn’t bother me much but the number is downright embarrassing. Thirty-nine sounds like it’s desperately clinging to its sense of youth. It’s slowly circling the mid-life drain, trying not to get sucked in. As far [...]
The Rockwood Files: Sock it to me
There’s an old TV commercial for Tootsie Pops featuring a cartoon boy who poses this question to wise Mr. Owl: “How many licks does it take to get to the Tootsie Roll center of a Tootsie Pop?” The owl replies “Let’s find out,” as he takes the little boy’s Tootsie Pop and begins licking and [...]
The Rockwood Files: What introverts need most
A few years ago, I stopped turning on the car radio. At the time, it was because the kids were usually in the car with me and I didn’t want them hearing the “bump and grind” lyrics that are so unfortunately common these days. But now with the boys in school and Kate in preschool, [...]
The Rockwood Files: “You can’t handle the tooth.”
By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3 Early this morning, I opened my eyes and saw 7-year-old Jack’s eyes looking right at me, just inches from my face. “Mom,” he whispered. “I need to tell you something.” “What is it, Jack?” I groaned sleepily. “The tooth fairy didn’t come last night,” he said. [...]
The Rockwood Files: We Are Family
By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3 Tom and I have kept our end of a deal we made two years ago with our oldest son, Adam. When he was 8, he asked if he could have a dog of his own and we told him that, when he was 10-years-old, we’d consider [...]
The Rockwood Files: Letter to My Younger Self
By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3 While browsing for books the other day, I ran across a compilation of letters written by famous, notable women. Each woman wrote a letter to her “younger self.” In an age of email, texts and instant messaging, I’m still a sucker for a personal letter. And [...]
The Rockwood Files: Duck season! rabbit season!
By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3 One of my favorite Looney Tunes cartoons is the one where Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck argue about whether it’s duck season or rabbit season. Elmer Fudd stands nearby with his shotgun, ready to fire on whichever rascally varmint loses the argument. In a classic Bugs [...]
The Rockwood Files: Live up to your labels
By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3 Labels can be powerful. And I’m not talking about symbolic labels like “geek” or “diva” or the generalizations we assign to people. I’m talking about real labels. The sticky ones. The kind with words in capital letters that tell you where things go. For years, I’ve [...]
The Rockwood Files: The wind beneath my tiny wings
By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3 Like millions of other people, my life changed when I got an iPhone three years ago. It made me more accessible – which isn’t always a good thing. It gave me the ability to read news stories while waiting in drive-thru lanes, which is convenient. And, [...]
The Rockwood Files: Slippery slope
By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3 The day after Christmas, we packed kids, suitcases, snacks, and movies into the minivan and drove 12 hours north to Minneapolis, Minnesota to visit Tom’s parents. In addition to relatives, we hoped to see a little Christmastime snow. But when we got there, Minneapolis had unusually [...]
The Rockwood Files: Fat chance
By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3 I really don’t want to jump on January’s fitness bandwagon. It’s so cliché, isn’t it? I’m already tired of the ads for treadmills and sports bras. But I’m afraid I have no real choice. I’d like to think I’m still the girl I was in my [...]