Category: Parenting

  • Glutton at a smorgasbord

    I was trying to sum up to someone I had only just met what my life is like. How I am so busy, I feel like I’m running from the moment I get up to the second my head hits the pillow. “I’m like a… like a… glutton at a smorgasbord!” I exclaimed. In any…

  • Sugar fixation

    We were standing in line on the Staten Island Ferry, New York City, land of great street food, and all my daughter wanted was a soda. How did this happen? My kids know the lecture: There are three reasons the American population has gotten so fat. One is screentime, which leads to lack of exercise.…

  • Learning to play nice isn’t always easy!

    A mom asked me this question: “What do I do when my passive preschooler’s aggressive friend hurts her? We love the friend, but I just don’t know what to do in this situation. I don’t want to discipline her, but I don’t want to make what she did seem right.” I am unusually well-situated to…

  • Happy another-day-of-parenting day!

    I was trying to schedule a visit with an old friend I haven’t seen in years. I said, how about this weekend? And she said, Well, it’s Father’s Day so I’ll be away all weekend. Oh, yeah, Father’s Day. I’m supposed to remember that, right? My husband and I try not to make too much…

  • Enter the scowlers, start up the bad behavior

    Visiting my kids’ grandma in Florida is a cultural experience. She lives in a mature adult community, as many in Florida do. The streets are orderly, and no one draws on the sidewalk. I find the range of reactions to kids here pretty interesting. There are the people who think that anyone younger than eighteen…