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 [...]
Read the rest of this article »A Manhattan mother is suing her daughter’s preschool for not adequately preparing the girl for admission into an Ivy League college. The mom, Nicole Imprescia, didn’t wait until her daughter was rejected by the Ivies before filing suit. The girl is still only 4 years old. Imprescia pulled her daughter out of York Avenue Preschool [...]
Read the rest of this article »Let’s face it: If you lve in a family, conflict is inevitable. Conflict is a normal part of what we social human beings do. Differences in expectations or decision-making often arise between parents or partners (living together or not), or between parents and their older kids. A Family Mediation program at the Echo Center in [...]
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