Whether you live in Puerto Vallarta year-round or, like me this year, return to Vallarta after taking some months away, it is exciting to return to the International Friendship Club (IFC) to see old friends and make new ones. The Club’s 2023-24 season opens with live music (featuring Xochiquetzal,...

I asked one of my grandsons when he was still in that wonderful age of “innocence’, “Francesco, what would you do to save the world?” Without hesitation, he answered, “Grandma, I would make everyone nice to each other.” I soon discovered that to be nice was far more complex...

Last weekend, I went with a colleague to Monterrey, Nuevo Leon, for an early childhood teacher’s conference. While I didn’t originally decide to write a traveler’s guide to Monterrey for my column this week, I think this is a good time to share a few interesting things about Monterrey...

Last week, I wrote about the amazing, wonderful, unrealistic ideas I had about parenting when I was a young mother. One of them was the idea that having children twenty months apart would result in inseparable playmates who would keep each other entertained. And I guess that was partly...

Sometimes I like to reflect a bit on some of the goals I had as a young mother. I shake my head and smile a little about how I considered these goals realistic and completely attainable. And I feel a great deal of compassion and a little bit of...