By Sarah Maraniss Vander Schaaff I began my summer by reporting to jury duty. I’d been summoned twice before, and both calls fell shortly after the birth of one of my girls. I got excused for medical reasons; I was more than my babies’ mom, I was their milk machine, and only source of food considering they wouldn’t take a bottle. Now that the kids were older, I had no medical excuse. But the responsibilities of motherhood don’t lessen just because the kids can tie their own shoes. So, with a husband whose work schedule was inflexible, and my regular baby sitters out of town, I waged a desperate search. I finally found two sitters who between them could watch… Read More

How to Stay Educated When Your Focus is on Them By Sarah Maraniss Vander Schaaff Most Saturday mornings, I am awakened around 6:30am by my youngest daughter. There’s the regular routine of unloading the dishwasher, feeding the dog, making the beds and figuring out how my husband and I will divide and conquer the rest of the day, and rest of the weekend. Last Saturday morning, I woke up around 6:30 and snuck out of the house quietly. We were visiting my parents’ house and it would be my husband and mom who’d figure out the bowl of Cheerios and morning schedule. My father and I were on our way to a conference for biographers. I got to listen to… Read More