It’s a Mutha Out There

Make this Thanksgiving truly one of gratitude for your family. My children are older and not around for this holiday. Grace will be in California with a lovely family who has adopted her during these college years when she can’t make it home. I can be assured she will have …

Many of you are going to be sending a young adult off to college soon and that means you’ve got some work to do. I mean beyond buying all of those dorm essentials — I hope that you have already started. (But if you haven’t, I have some tips for …

We’ve been giving birth for centuries. Despite that, I am in awe every time I see a pregnant woman. I also think to myself how happy I am that it’s not me and that all of that is behind me. I did not love being pregnant. Not one minute of …

Now that I don’t have to do them on a regular basis, there are chores that I am so glad I don’t have to do anymore. Making lunches is at the top of that list. So much so that I hardly ever make my own lunch. I buy lunch pretty …

The crazier this country gets, the more I think about the values and lessons my parents taught me and my brothers. First and foremost in our household was the Golden Rule — “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” This is something I will never forget. …

It’s a new year and a chance for a do-over. A chance to get some things right and not repeat past missteps. Those are a few things I like about a new year. There are a few habits I would like to change and I say that every year. I …

I always wondered who ate that one slice of fruitcake and what was wrong with them. Having fruitcake around is a tradition of sorts but it is a peculiar one. As a child I recall that my Aunt Ethel would make one of these every holiday. My parents would smile …

My daughter, Grace, is the biggest loser in the family. You name it, she has lost it. This past summer, she turned the household upside down and on its side looking for her lost possessions. When she could not find them, we had to bear the brunt of her frustration …

I was in four different countries recently and was delighted to see that mothers all over the world are struggling with the same crap. I saw firsthand from Munich to Milan that mothers are still taking most of the responsibility for the children. Perhaps it’s just part of who we …

Hopefully I am not the only one who blames their kids for things that happen. Not big things, but significant enough to be problematic. My youngest, Grace, pointed this out to me the other day when I blamed her for leaving the grocery list and the umbrella at home, and making …