There are times when I want to yell, “Grow up!” at my kids, usually when their lack of good sense or ability to see one hour past the present frustrates me. Those tangible reminders that they are not yet fully baked, and still very much in need of guidance and support and boundaries and help, [...]
Read the rest of this article »Spring! East-coasters look for crocuses popping up through the snow, while West-coasters…well, maybe we apply sunscreen a little more often. College-bound high school seniors across the country impatiently wait for the letters that will determine where they spend their next four years, and every last penny that their parents can scrounge. I picture a baton [...]
Read the rest of this article »Advances in reproductive technology have resulted in a multitude of ways to have a baby far beyond what our kids are taught in 6th grade health class. One of those is gestational surrogacy, where one woman’s embryo is implanted in another woman, and that woman, the surrogate, potentially carries the baby to term in exchange [...]
Read the rest of this article »Earlier this month I attended the live ceremony and taping of CNN Heroes, an annual event that honors everyday people who make extraordinary contributions to people in need through non-profit organizations around the world. The commitment, drive, and tenacity of the honorees was inspirational, but I was also struck by their ability to see a [...]
Read the rest of this article »The time between Thanksgiving and the New Year is usually full of holiday bustle, but for families with kids on the cusp of graduation, the holidays give way to another season entirely: Admissions season. All of their energy has to be focused on coming up with an answer to the question, “Where is your kid [...]
Read the rest of this article »The school year is off to a great start, with plenty of positives and the usual negatives, including homework blues, and brutal morning traffic. Also back on the minds of parents, students and teachers is an old school scourge, bullying. Thinking about the “mean kid” phenomena in particular, I became curious about the intersection of [...]
Read the rest of this article »My husband comes from one of those large, mid-century families that are created these days mostly in places like Utah. There are two parents, six children, eleven grandchildren, and seven so-called outlaws. When we gather each year in Northern California at the family compound, which operates as a guest ranch the other 355 days of [...]
Read the rest of this article »We have a New Yorker cartoon posted in the kitchen that’s so funny, and remains so pertinent, that it’s kept its place of honor through two moves and three different refrigerators. In it, a child speaks to his mother, who is doing dishes at the sink: “I don’t want to do something fun for free, [...]
Read the rest of this article »I’ve given up keeping the house in order. I remember the years when I could keep everything tidy and detritus-free. Back then, a tabletop would always have the same three objects on it, and the empty corners of the house were a restful place for your eyes to land, not where the swim bags and [...]
Read the rest of this article »This is getting embarrassing. Here I am, your broken record columnist, railing about cuts to the Los Angeles schools budget. Again. Or should I say, “education?” Because at a certain point, when 4,500 teachers are let go, when class sizes approach 40 in elementary schools, when the school year is cut to 175 days, when [...]
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