Writing With Abandon

Reflections and ramblings about life as an educator, writer, reader, knitter, and over-thinker. Trying to do the writing only I can do.

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about

I’m Amy. A born and raised New Yorker, currently living in Miami. Here to reflect on my experiences as an educator and learner, working things out as I write.

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  • Cold Runs

    Yesterday I went on a run for the first time since my vertigo started (which is gone, people! Hallelujah!). The weather was perfect — 70, low humidity. Daylight Savings has the sun setting at 7:30pm now, so it was all blue and pink skies as I left off at 7. I opened up Spotify and…

  • Love Letters

    Today my mom and my sister visited my grandparents’ home in Philadelphia to go through and gather the final things we want to keep before saying goodbye to the apartment. Tillie sent me some photos along with this letter my grandfather sent to my grandmother. It’s clearly from before they were married, and it makes…

  • Dream Jobs

    I love teaching, I really do, but it is certainly a draining career. The pandemic really shook things up for me in terms of realizing how the boundary between work and home was nonexistent. The past two years have been much better, but as someone with multiple interests, hobbies, and talents, I still find myself…

  • Early Morning Grocery Haul

    Have you ever gone to a grocery store on a Saturday or Sunday morning, soon after it opens? That’s my favorite time to get the weekly shopping done. Everyone in the city is in bed still, sleeping the night’s antics away, while I arrive on the scene to encounter fully stocked fridges and shelves, aisles…

  • Rihanna’s “Croch”

    Today I got to see my older sister, Tillie, for the first time since Thanksgiving! She’s here on a “moms getaway” weekend with 3 of her best friends, resting and relaxing by the poolside. We met for breakfast and when she told me a story about my nephew, John Henry, I knew it was perfect…

  • Friday Haikus

    HOW-TO HAIKU Taught kids to haiku They tried traditional ones And silly ones too * FUNNY KID Reluctant writer Manages to write the best, Funniest haikus * SPRING BREAK It’s finally break School is out — Quick! Run away! Ready to relax * SOCIAL MEDIA Deleted TikTok It is a total time suck Now screen…

  • A Connection

    I have a student who tends to get sick a lot. Sometimes it’s his immune system, and sometimes it’s psychosomatic (like when I explained to the children a couple weeks ago that I was experiencing vertigo, and after recess he told me, “I think I’m having what you had!” with a hand to his head).…

  • An Ode to Public Libraries

    I grew up just a couple blocks away from the St. Agnes Public Library in New York City. I remember my first library card, and all the amazing books I borrowed from there. Scratching mystery crust off of pages, but turning them all the same, eager to finish new stories, experience new worlds. From middle…

  • Notes from an “Ask the Expert” Session

    Every month or so, on professional development Tuesdays, we have an “Ask the Expert” session with Lina Acosta Sandaal, a psychotherapist, child & adolescent development expert, and creator of Stop Parenting Alone. She is amazing and I always feel that I learn so much from a session with her. Here are some notes I took…

  • Life Questions with “The Last of Us”

    Note: Spoilers ahead! Do not read if you haven’t finished the season finale of “The Last of Us” or have never read Watchmen. Tonight, my husband and I caught up with the final episode of the first season of “The Last of Us,” the excellent HBO series based on the post-apocalyptic video game of the…