We’ve been staying up until all hours, often working side by side. On the couch. Or he’s on the couch and I’m in an adjoining room plopped in a chair, plugging away on my laptop. He watches me scowl in exasperation, shuffle through stacks of pages, then tap furiously on my keyboard for a long […]
Semantic Issues
Pens, pencils, textbooks. The computer. Dirty dishes. It’s all heaped on the edge of the couch and the small ottoman next to his long limbs. He’s twisted up in an old comforter, and out cold. I touch his arm and he opens his eyes. “I don’t need to print this morning,” he murmurs, and turns […]
Monday Morning Complaint Department: Grand Reopening!
Come on. Admit it. You’re happy for the opportunity to vent. Freely. To bitch a little. Or maybe a lot. To know it’s okay. But first, a digression. I was wondering about those who complain frequently. I pondered the moaning-groaning personality type – if it’s a personality issue – and what it takes to reinforce […]
No coasting, no toasting. (How to survive chronic lateness.)
I could swear Kim Zolciak was singing Tardy for the Party in my dream. Or was it just the alarm? That horrible tinny pop music that my kid uses to wake him? Only it never wakes him. Me? Another story. So I start the morning routine. Yawning. My eyes burning. Coffee. Even the aroma helps. […]
Loosening the Apron Strings
Giving them permission to make mistakes. Parenting teens.
Kids Use Condoms, But Adults Don’t?
Are you single? Sexually active? Do you assume your partner or partners are healthy? Bad call. Disease isn’t personal. It isn’t judgmental. It doesn’t know if you attend church, if you brush your teeth and floss. If you’ve only had two sexual partners in a lifetime, or 302. What about your teenagers? Do they use […]
Tough Call
Trusting our teens as they learn to make their own tough calls.
How May I Help?
Notions of service to customers, to family, to community.
The Forest for the Trees
We were pressed for time. Again. While my son finished dressing and filling his backpack, I put a plate of fried eggs and toast on the table. Orange juice next to it. I paced a little. I hate running late. He swallowed down breakfast and gulped the juice, grabbed his things, asked for the car […]
Permission to Fail? I Don’t Think So.
My son got home late last evening. I wasn’t happy. He wasn’t happy. After his 13-hour day, with plenty of homework ahead, he looked tired and discouraged. His reason for being so late? An informational session on a scholarship program, and its first set of qualifying exercises. He perked up when he talked about it, […]