Food for Parenting Thought
Who wants Shake ‘n Bake?” The breadcrumb coating was an excuse to eat poultry, so Mom served it up on Grandma’s Willow china once a week. We never had pork chops or fish, unless you count Gorton’s. Instead, food was…
Speak Up, Speak Out
What happens at the corner of Ninth and Broad Streets in downtown Richmond during the winter months? And why does it matter? On that corner, Virginia’s General Assembly, our state legislature, meets every year for either forty-five or sixty days…
Walk Between the Raindrops
You like to do your homework here, and sometimes I come in and sit and pretend to work on something of my own. I don’t have much help to give – pre-algebra and the periodic table are too far gone…
Raise Your Voices
There’s no such thing as other people’s kids. That is a viewpoint expressed by one of my favorite mom bloggers, Glennon Doyle Melton, explaining why she and her thousands of followers raise money to help families in need. It’s also…
Expert Parenting Advice
Q: My 15-year-old son is built exactly like me, thin and wiry, while my 13-year-old daughter is the picture of her dad – not overweight, but stronger and heavier with very broad shoulders. Unfortunately, she’s getting unwanted attention about this…
Joy-filled New Year
As far as my husband, Scott, is concerned, one of the most desirable qualities about his life partner is that she’s frugal. Romantic, I know. “You’re not cheap,” he’ll insist. “You do a wonderful job managing our family spending.” Talk…
You Found a New Place?
As a young person, your first adult relocation is typically moving out of your parents’ home into a dorm, apartment, or even a house. I recall it being an exciting time when I moved into my very own apartment, a…
A Like-New Toy Story
Christmas was different in San Francisco. Pre-kids, we spent our free time gliding through Chinatown, holding hands, searching for the best dim sum. And though we bought a pink, plastic tree and twinkling, white lights, something was missing from the…
How to Raise an Ethical Teen
My family is looking forward to the newest Star Wars adventure in theaters this holiday season. On our vacation this summer, we watched all six of the movies in a week. We saw the struggle to choose the side of…
Another Side of Christmas
Wait, what just happened? For a very long time, that’s what I asked the first week of January, when the holiday season was finally, thankfully over – or at least those lights at the end of the tunnel weren’t Christmas…
