Here are 32 things I want my kids to know as they grow into adults: I was picked on. A lot. If you are, it really sucks, but it does get better. Talk to someone about it. Don’t twist yourself into a pretzel for anyone. It won’t work in the long run, you will un-ravel. Don’t sext. Trust your gut. Don’t get a sleazy prom…
Telephone ringing… “Hi.” “Hey, hold on a sec, I’m having a MAJOR knock down, drag out fight with my husband.” “Ok.” “Hi, I’m back.” “Everything ok?” “No. He wants me to get a minivan.” For many of us, the minivan is the final straw, and unlike all of the other lines we begrudgingly stepped over with a shrug and a sigh, this is the one…
Keep your eyes on your own mat. Don’t worry about what anyone else is doing. The guy on your right can bend his legs into lotus while in a handstand. The woman on your left can’t touch her toes. We all have our own work to do, and what we each have to work with is unique. Don’t compare yourself to anyone else in yoga…
I am sorry we failed. I will forever feel guilty that we broke your home and world apart. I know it’s ultimately for the best, but I know, and you have explicitly told me, that you would rather us all live together with some tension than separately tension-free. You don’t know that I was no longer living and now you have a mother, when before…
There are certain moments etched forever in my memory. January 28, 1986; the day the space shuttle Challenger exploded. A random evening in the fall of 1987; my first real kiss. November 4th 2008; the day we elected our first African American President. And a summer day in 1995; the day I realized my father was a mere mortal. The timing is different for everyone…
It used to be that the parents of a daughter had only one job: Raise her to be a confident, independent woman with a strong sense of self. Times have changed. As the mother of a 7-year-old girl, I am keenly aware that the many lines once drawn in the sand have been erased. Now, with the release of the infamous Kim Kardashian booty (and…
A report trickled into mainstream consciousness last week and within 24 hours it was “news.” At first, I ignored the links on my news feed that started with “Renée Zellweger.” But soon they were of the whack-a-mole variety; every time one was passed by, another immediately popped up. Then I saw the news – actually the faux news – on the Today show: Renee had…
The contract is signed, the payment has been made and there is no turning back. Panic, fear and anxiety set in and you can’t breathe. Your child is going to sleepaway camp. Sleepaway camp can be a rite of passage, and the decision to send your child away is a big one. The first summer, (and the preceding months) is especially big. Kids learn responsibility…