In a quiet, distant voice I tell my husband Mark that I want to die. Not exactly dead, I clarify, but not this. I tell him not to worry. I tell him love, guilt, duty will always matter more. I promise. But he has to understand, he has to reconcile what I’m saying with the fact that…
Category: Parenting
The day I realized I pushed my college daughter too far
One of the few demands I gave Taylor when she started college (besides work hard, be safe and guard your Solo cup at parties) was that she graduate on time. No child of mine was going to be a professional college student, someone who never quite figures out what she wants. Except that Taylor’s never given…
4 parent myths about college admissions
Originally published on Parent.co. If you have a college-bound kid, I know you’re feeling it. The anxiety. The competition. The intensity. The bombardment of well-meaning but sometimes conflicting advice from other parents. I almost lost my mind trying to keep up with the list of do’s and don’ts of college admissions. The fact is, requirements…
On Grown & Flown
I’m delighted I found Grown & Flown, a website and blog about parenting older kids (ages 15 to 25). Grown & Flown recently published my essay “Why I Stopped Worrying If My College Daughter Was Lonely” Tina is a thousand times more self-loving and grounded than I was at her age. This is probably why…
Trash TV: When kids catch you in the act
The other night my daughter looked over me lying on the couch. “What are you watching?” she asked. I guess I fell asleep in front of some movie called “House Bunny.” I need to be more careful when I watch trash. My daughter is of the age (nearly 17) when she sees herself as my morality…
British study shows kids of working moms just fine. Here’s why.
Photo credit: wilpf.org The Brits know. Quality childcare is key. Maternity leave, essential. Studies had shown that children born to career mothers in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s did not perform as well, with their literacy and numeracy skills about two percent lower. But the latest research by Heather Joshi of the University of London’s Centre…
Mom and depression: motherhood sadness that doesn’t go away
If mom ain’t happy no one is happy.” The quippish slogan is often said in jest, yet depression among mothers is no laughing matter. Writes the Mayoclinic.com, “About 1 in 8 women develop depression at some point in life. Women are nearly twice as likely as are men to struggle with depression at some…
Raising kids to embrace diversity in others, be inclusive
“Children don’t come with instructions, but they do come with open minds,” writes Christopher Metzler, Ph.D., an authority on issues of diversity and inclusion. How can you encourage your kids to remain open-minded and to celebrate diversity? Metzler suggests that once kids start to comment about differences they notice in others, that parents listen to…
When is it okay to let your teenager get cosmetic surgery?
BullyingStatistics.org reports that in 2010, one in seven children grades kindergarten through 12th was a bully or a victim of one. With the surge of social media, schoolyard teasing can become a viral onslaught, forcing some teenagers into acts of desperation. Child psychologist Richard Gallagher told ABC News Nightline (“Bullied on Facebook, Teen, 13, Gets Nose Job,”…
Tiger or pussycat mom? Amy Chua’s book stirs parenting controversy
Amy Chua makes no apologies because she once called her daughter “garbage.” As a child, her father called her garbage after she was disrespectful to her mother. “It worked really well. I felt terrible and deeply ashamed of what I had done. But it didn’t damage my self-esteem,” Chua writes in her Jan. 8, 2011,…