You’ll give a loud, spontaneous YOPP after the last note of Casa’s joyful production of “Seussical jr.,” playing now through May 12. A fantastical conglomeration of the best-loved Seuss storylines and characters, “Seussical jr.” hones down the full-length Broadway production into a fast-paced, neon ClifNotes extravaganza. What Kids Will Like Kudos and blessings should be…   read more

If you and your kids have a hankering for the simple pleasure of Winnie the Pooh, then follow the rumble in your tummies to Casa Manana’s sweet-as-honey production. The whole gang is here — Christopher Robin, Eeyore, Piglet, Owl, Kanga, Roo, Rabbit, and of course Tigger (a fabulous Scott Zenreich) — and they’re facing existential…   read more

I drove my little self over to the neighborhood elementary school today and wrote Drew’s name down on a sheet of paper. The paper said, “I want my boy to be in Kindergarten here,” but with a lot more words, and then with the Spanish translation of the words. I wrote his name down approximately…   read more

I always wondered when Drew would utter his first cuss word. Perhaps he would be a teenager breaking off his side mirror at a drive-through while buying hamburgers for a homeless child. Or maybe he would be a young, responsible adult burning his finger on a hot skillet while making bacon for me. Anything done…   read more

If you’re having a bad day, or worse, a bad HAIR day, nothing will cheer you up like Casa’s production of “Rapunzel! Rapunzel!” Cursed with a name that won’t rhyme with anything, a name that calls to mind similar-sounding words like Ra-pulsive (that actress Alison Hodgson sings about in the delightful “What’s In A Name?”),…   read more

The worst thing Madeline can imagine in the entire universe, and then beyond to the universes outside of our known universe, and then on into oblivion, is hurting her knee. She hurt it once. Both knees, really. Fell BAM on the concrete driveway like a linebacker lunging (and missing) his target. The cold SLAP of…   read more

If you were to tell me the activities on today’s agenda a week ago, I would have thought that Satan and his worst demons had collaborated on the itinerary. Dentist. Mall. Chuck-E-Cheese. Gordon leaving me at home with Both Things for a two-day conference. Laundry. Even just the first item, Dentist, would have been enough…   read more

As I look ahead to 2013, or, to the remaining 361 days of it, I’m a little nervous. This is the first year in a long time where I haven’t been expecting a baby or planning a big vacation, a move, or a coup d’etat. Sure, there might be a show or two, there might…   read more

There was a time when I thought nicknames were limited to “Honey,” “Darlin’” (no g, ever), and “Sugar.” Those were the ones I heard my grandparents use the most, and it was sort of lovely to be lumped in with all the other Darlin’s in the family — that no matter who you were, you…   read more

It might just be that I am obsessed with “Downton Abbey,” but I really think Drew is developing into a British aristocrat. First, he has begun speaking in the third person. “Drew would yike a cup of yemonade, Mr. Mommy; Drew is scared; Drew went to the yittle park yesterday.” His speech therapist says he…   read more