Christmas is perhaps the most global and yet the most personal of holidays. People of varying faiths participate in a grand tradition of 2,000 years (or more, shout out to you, ancient Druids!) But each family’s celebration is unique. We…
You’d think I’d know better than to fall for the same face twice. But here I am again, hooked on those big, brown eyes, that wagging tail, the shiny, tri-color coat. She’s the spitting image of our first beagle, who…
I am writing this column from the intersection of Competitiveness and Fair Play. It’s kind of lonely here. It’s always been a tricky intersection to find. Sure, the parenting experts all talk about it, and some even claim to offer…
Uh-oh, she’s making those sounds again – the grumbling, the whining, the full-throttle complaining. I’ve tried to ignore it, but it’s not fair to put her off any longer, especially when I consider how far we’ve come together. But there…
We’ve all heard it said that teenagers want to get as far away from their parents as possible, but come on! Did Ben, my sixteen-year-old, really have to take things so literally? When he signed up for a school-sponsored exchange…
He’s downstairs on the computer. She’s up in her room checking Instagram. Mom is deep into another book on her iPad. And me? I’m glued to a tiny smartphone, checking my email for the umpteenth time today. Good gracious, what’s…
You'll have to excuse me if this column is rushed. I am fitting it in between a performance by the undertwelve bassoon quintet, the regional finals of the distance medley relay, and a field trip to the pet rock museum.…
You would think resourceful children born in our digital age would know how to find a simple phone number. But if my kids are any guide, basic skills that were second nature to my kith and kin back when dinosaurs…
April! What other month can inspire a spat that covers half a millennium? Geoffrey Chaucer kicked things off when he rhapsodized about April showers being a "sweet liquor." (Okay, his actual words were "swich licour" but when I typed that…
So look what I found. Here, on the top shelf, behind the gravy boat, next to the porcelain teacups we never use. It's an old sippy cup, scuffed and scratched and faded, but still standing tall after all these years.…
