From an early age we learn not to expect much these last days in August. Between the heat and the general anxiety that fall is ABOUT TO START, we don’t get much done. This makes it all the more impressive the standout submissions we’ve recently received here at SMITH.

Family is turf we never tire of mining, and The Stalker Mom is no exception to the rule that it’s a great subject. “Efforts to get your kids on the same soccer teams don’t really count as enduring friendship,” writes Andi Fasimapaur, describing the desperation and loneliness that can accompany parenthood.

Another family dynamic is explored in Rooting for the Underdog, a personal account of how the Olympics in China reminded Svetlana Reznik of immigrating to Cleveland in the 1980s. “Seeing Tibetans secretly pass banned images of the Dalai Lama reminds me of my grandfather Leonid who hid his yarmulke,” Reznik muses.

Tags: family, Olympics, Ukraine