I know. I have been neglecting the blog. And I feel really bad about it. But the last six months have brought so many changes for me and my family, it has been a little hard to keep up with all the things demanding my time. When we decided to start homeschooling in the fall with our two oldest kids, ... Read More »

We have made the difficult decision to close the Hingham Magic Beans store later this month. This is uncharted territory for us, since we’ve been lucky enough to grow steadily for the last nine years. But — like this drawing illustrates so beautifully — growing a business is never a straight path. For a company our size, every store is ... Read More »

My 10-year-old was complaining to me last week that she was too young to vote. I thought about it, and reminded her that, while she’ll be left out of this presidential election and the next one, she’ll be 18 for the 2020 contest. “It’s not too far away,” I told her. She looked at me like I was crazy. Presidential ... Read More »

Sometimes life throws curve balls. Earlier this month, we were confronted with a problem. The school year was off to a very bumpy start for our oldest daughter. Our middle daughter had just switched into the same school as her sister, which only made things more complicated (take my word for it). After trying several traditional schools, we’d been really ... Read More »

In 2008, we watched the Olympics in Beijing together and saw Michael Phelps swim for gold eight times. Or more accurately, I watched while you nursed and slept. You were just days old, so you didn’t really have much appreciation for sports. Four years later, Michael Phelps is still swimming for gold, but now you can swim too. You jump ... Read More »

A lot can change in eight years. Just ask my daughter Mira, who was born just 15 weeks before Magic Beans opened its doors on July 7, 2004. Eight years ago, she was sitting in the window of the store while Eli and I worked, smiling at anyone who made eye contact (and usually scaring them half to death, because ... Read More »

I’m sitting at my desk typing this post almost exactly 10 years to the minute after giving birth to my first child. She came into the world, reluctantly and with the help of a pair of forceps, at 1:57am on April 27th, 2002. It seems cliche to say that everything changed after that moment, but of course it’s true. I ... Read More »

When I moved into my college dorm room almost exactly 16 years ago, my parents needed to get a babysitter for the day to take care of my youngest sister, who was then just 2 years old. I papered the walls of my room with pictures of her, an adorable toddler with corkscrew curls and huge brown eyes. This past ... Read More »

You’re not a baby anymore, or so you say. You’re a big boy! Well, not quite. Not yet. But you most definitely are not a baby. You’re potty trained, you talk a blue streak, you like to sing. Whatever needs doing, you want to do it yourSELF. Last night, when I had my back turned, you got into the Monopoly ... Read More »

I had a lovely Mother’s Day on Sunday. I slept in, had breakfast brought to me in bed, got cards, flowers and gifts. We spent the early afternoon at the SoWa Open Market and then we broke out the two-wheelers and spent the late afternoon getting the girls ready for summer biking. In the evening, we visited friends for a ... Read More »