Who doesn’t want to scream when it comes to their kid? At least now and then? In the past 24 hours, one of my sons tried my patience over a long-running issue. I lost my temper – though he admits to seeing that I was holding back – but I went for a more hard-line […]
Archives for 2011
Feeding Your Spirit
I was browsing the Living section on Huffington Post and came across this: Spiritual Lessons From Wine And Baguettes. How could I bypass so tasty a title? Especially as today is Bastille Day – the French national holiday? And, I confess, I have allowed myself a bit of both this summer – good wine and […]
Healthy or Unhealthy? Cultural Commentary: A Conversation
“Why should my tax dollars pay for your medical care?” she says. Her blue eyes are piercing against her softly tanned skin. Her eyebrows are raised, and her lips pursed in annoyance. At first I think she’s kidding. But she’s not. She is about thirty, and we know each other casually. She’s healthy, single, in […]
Disclosure
Everything about the woman was foreign territory. Yes, she was polite. Yes, she smiled often. Yet her reserve kept her at a distance, holding everyone at bay. I wondered if it was the age, or the fact that she was married and living the suburban lifestyle with a husband and child. The rest of us […]
Big Bucks For Kids, Statistical Confusion?
I’ve commented previously on the cost of raising a child. At the time I did, the figures I used referenced newly released 2010 data, estimating $222,360 per child, on average (for middle income families), up to age 18. But this morning I took a look at another reference to the same originating document which is […]
Sometimes, You Give In
I am dreaming of Hillary Rodham Clinton and the face I see is the one I remember with clarity: she is bright and youthful, her hair pulled back and secured by a head band, her earnest expression we come to know at the beginning of her husband’s first presidential campaign. And in the dream I […]
Are You Fat?
Are you fat? Oh, I’m not talking about five or ten pounds. I’m not talking about feeling fat – which is another issue altogether. I mean getting on a scale, trying on your clothes, looking in the mirror – and facing it – excess weight for your stature, body type, age and sex. Worse – […]
Kids and Money (Again)
Tiff is probably too strong a term. Misunderstanding would be more accurate, but it was frustrating and upsetting, going around and around – again – with my son. Over money. Over things I can’t afford that I don’t consider a priority, although what he was asking wasn’t unreasonable. These are things his peers have, or […]
Is LOVE A Four Letter Word?
Does the word “LOVE” do more harm than good?
All You Need is “Love, Love, Love”…
When I read about Paul McCartney’s engagement, I shook my head. The article referenced is focused on the fact that there is no pre-nup, and how British and American views differ on that score. And no, Sir Paul hasn’t taken the plunge as many times as the glittering Elizabeth Taylor for example, whose multiple marriages […]