ARIEL WATERMAN

Hello, all you mothers! May is here, spring is in the air, and I am finally recovering from that lost hour of sleep. Whoever thought up stupid Daylight Savings Time did not run a household, which is very much like being a sherpa. I must buy and unload mountains of groceries, tackle landslides of laundry, […]

The Brit and I just celebrated eight years of connubial teamwork, along with Britween, our 12-year-old grandson who came as part of the package. And, oh, what a package! As our young man has grown, he and his grandfather have become more like those two old-men Muppets who sit in a theater balcony griping about […]

Five years ago, in this venerable newspaper, I wrote about turning 55 years of age. Oh, God, where did the time go? My birthday is in three more weeks, and it’s not a milestone I am thrilled about. Sixty? What the hell happened to 16? It seems like only yesterday that I could roller skate […]

Feb. 7, 1964, is a day I will remember forever. I was just a month away from leaving the single-digit years of my childhood behind to become a budding 10-year-old. And I do mean budding! My grandmother finally made Mom see reason (and reality) and buy me my first brassiere. I began to notice boys […]

Can you believe it? Another year has come and gone. Our grandson is a bit taller and the new-car smell on our new car has faded away. My husband, The Brit, wondered how long that fragrance would last. I told him, “Only until one of you farts.” My money was on the Brit, but we […]

It’s beginning to feel quite festive here at Waterman Manor. December is always a busy month for us, with our grandson’s birthday, Hanukkah, and Christmas filling our days and shopping lists. My husband, The Brit, has been recovering from recent surgery that would not be standard procedure for him if it did not bear complications. […]

This year, Thanksgiving falls on Nov. 28. This is remarkable because so does Hanukkah, giving rise to a new name for the holiday: Thanksgivukkah! With this theme in mind, I have been pondering how to celebrate and decorate. What would Martha Stewart do? Should I bake a turkey with eight drumsticks? Stuff that bird with […]

Halloween is a holiday that really creeps up on you! Before you have barely dried the salt water out of your hair and brushed all the beach sand out of your crevices, pumpkins magically appear on the piers. Costumes are on the racks at your favorite stores, and aisles overflow with candy and Halloween décor. […]

My mother has two younger sisters to whom I have often referred on this page as Aunts 1 and 2 in order to protect the guilty. However, I have openly written about Mom using her name, Donna. It is high time that I out my aunts, whose names are Lorna, the oldest of the two, […]

What exactly does an 11-year-old boy do to a pair of shoes that makes them look like they were worn by one of the lancers in the charge of the Light Brigade? And I’m not talking about one of the survivors! After only two months, a new pair of Van’s tennis shoes looks more like […]