By Esther C. Baird/Tri-Town Columist First Published in the Tri-Town Transcript September 9, 2013 I’ve been at this parenting thing for almost a decade now. And generally speaking I’ve found summer to be a parenting hurdle. To be sure, I greatly prefer the summer sunshine and warmth, it’s the ‘endless days’ that presented the challenge….
The Baird Facts
The Tooth Fairy Goes FroYo
By Esther Baird/Tri-Town Transcript First Published in the Tri-Town Transcript August 22, 2013 I guess I never realized, pre-children, how hard it is to be the tooth fairy. I mean every child, ever born, loses not one but like a zillion (or 20) teeth in their life. It makes Santa look downright lazy with his…
Fueled by Fluff and Sunshine
Fueled by Fluff and Sunshine By Esther C. Baird/tritown@wickedlocal.com First Published in the Tri-Town Transcript August 8, 2013 I recently spent two weeks over on Lake George in the Adirondacks where, Regular Readers may recall, we have a family camp. It’s rustic and falling apart in many places and often buggy in a way that…
Modern Mommying Goes to Camp
First Published in the Tri-Town Transcript Boxford Topsfield Middleton — The Baird Facts By Esther C. Baird Regular Readers may recall that last summer we allowed our then eight-year-old daughter to attend her first overnight camp. It was only four nights, and it was run by our church. Further, one of my friends was the…
Let Me Chew On That
By Esther C. Baird First Published in the Tri-Town Transcript Boxford — I think addiction is a strong word. I mean, I have some friends who vacuum every day. I have other friends who can’t sleep unless their kitchen counter is clear of debris. One girlfriend is obsessed with the Olive Garden — that can’t…
A River Runs Nowhere
By Esther C. Baird First Published in the Tri-Town Transcript Boxford — For my birthday this past March my husband gave me a Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP). I’d been renting them the past few summers over in the Adirondacks, so I was thrilled to own one I could use here on the North Shore. SUPs…
Winning at Field Day
By Esther C. Baird First Published in the Tri-Town Transcript Boxford — When I was a kid I didn’t play sports or even understand them. My athletic abilities were honed in the woods and fields and lakes of the outdoors. This paid off exactly one day a year when my rule-following, team-playing, uniform-wearing friends simply…
Maybe the Horse Fairies Took Your Baby
By Esther C. Baird First Published in the Tri-Town Transcript Boxford Topsfield Middleton — It all began in Costa Rica. We were there two summers ago on a family vacation and spent one day with a guide navigating waterways by boat, and jungle paths by foot, in order to visit a secluded beach. Apparently though,…
One Closet at a Time; A Mother’s Day Tribute
By Esther C. Baird First Published in the Tri-Town Transcript Boxford Topsfield Middleton — Well, I’m willing to believe that it’s finally spring. I’m still often chilly but I can sense that soon I will feel consistently warm, perhaps even hot. So in a fit of optimism, I tackled that spring time task that strikes…
Packing up the Universe
By Esther C. Baird First Published in the Tri-Town Transcript Boxford Topsfield Middleton — I don’t want to alarm you, but it’s possible that by the end of this column, a hole in the space time continuum may open up and suck us in. Further, the hole is located in Baltimore in a neighborhood that…