If I walked into a meeting and said I needed to blast Metallica for three minutes before we got started in order to better mentally prepare myself, people would probably think I was a bit "off." They'd probably feel the same way if I requested some time to do yoga and then told everyone they [...]

I'm coming to the realization that one of the worst feelings in the world is powerlessness. I felt it when we were coming back from Mexico and the mean TSA agent took my kid's water bottle for no good reason. And the other day, I felt it at the park. Elfie (9), Newt (almost 11), [...]

So I'm happy to report that the kids not only survived camp but had a fabulous time. Apparently the first night was a little touch-and-go: Newt wanted to come home very badly, and Elfie got stung by a bee. But they sucked it up, and the memorable stories have been trickling out of them since [...]

Thought everybody would be anxious to hear the update from my friend whose son experienced the horrible bullying/sexual assault incident at his school. Thanks to everybody who wrote and gave such thoughtful advice. ******** Here is the follow-up, and please let your readers know how much I appreciate their input and support. This isn't quite [...]

So I woke up to an email that made my blood boil this morning. A friend sent me this: I'm only sharing this with you because we are pretty similar in a lot of ways, and I think you'll get my sheer outrage.  My son has been the victim of sexual assault, harrassment and bullying [...]

I'm not a big gun fan. I've never understood hunting -- I think if your favorite past time is shooting something just to watch it die and your favorite scene in Bambi is when his mother bites it, there's something seriously wrong with you. And please don't write to me about how you do it [...]

This is, without a doubt, one of my favorite times of the year. Everyone else sees it as some sort of limbo-land period between semi-lame holidays. But at my house, we're cleaning, sorting through junk, and -- my favorite of all favorites -- throwing/giving stuff away. That's right, folks, it's Chinese New Year.I'm half-Chinese -- [...]

So I had a small nervous breakdown the other morning. As I mentioned in my holiday letter, Elfie has been getting "mean girled" at school recently. She's in first grade, and even though I know kids are capable of this type of thing starting at birth, it's been depressing because her school really focuses on [...]

There's always something to worry about when it comes to your kids. When they're infants, it's the high fever thing. When they start moving around, you almost feel like putting them in knee pads and a crash helmet. And then when they start interacting with other kids. . . well that just makes you want [...]