As soon as our second child started getting around (scooting on her tushie just like her mommy did), we realized we needed some help. Our son had never gone through the terrible twos, and like all first-time parents, we congratulated ourselves on what a good job we’d done. When he was five, a year after…

Someone forwarded me with glee yesterday’s news that Bristol Palin, former vice-president-wanna-be Sarah Palin’s daughter, has broken off her engagement with her baby’s father. I generally think that politician’s personal lives should be no one’s business — unless something in their personal life intersects in a meaningful way with their public life. For instance, many…

Our ten-year-old has been having trouble focusing on “the task at hand.” Like most ten-year-olds, he’s got so much swimming around in there that sometimes he gets lost in the midst of doing something we need him to do. “Can you bring down your laundry?” I call. “OK!” he replies cheerfully. Ten minutes later. “Are…

The other day we neglected our son in the name of family unity. My husband and I had been trying to make plans to get to San Francisco alone for a while, and since it hadn’t worked out, we knew we had to take the kids. Or at least one of them. The combination of…