The Rockwood Files

Early in September, just in time for the Labor Day weekend, Covid crashed our party. Two of our three kids had come home for the long weekend, and one of them had what looked like […]

By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3 Hold your head up. Not just because you’re a fine, upstanding human being. Not just because it makes you look better in photos. Do it because, […]

Last Thursday, I sat in a packed parking lot on a college campus teeming with people in a city of more than 100,000. But I might as well have been alone on a leaky raft […]

By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3 I hear voices. There, I admitted it. And I’d bet good money you hear them, too. Here’s how it usually works: About one percent of the […]

By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3 My mom and I have joint custody of a fancy vacuum cleaner. A few years ago when we both needed a new one, we decided to […]

By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3 People are a mystery. Sometimes I’m convinced we’re all just a bunch of intricate puzzles who happen to be wearing pants. To have a decent shot […]

By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3 There’s a baby in the house. A tiny, orange, fuzzy baby with two green eyes, 18 pink toes, and 24 whiskers that are too long for […]

By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3 August has baggage. And I’m not just talking about the oppressive heat and the swamp-level humidity. The month begins with the last dregs of summer and […]