“When we were young, we were taught again and again that we shouldn’t get pregnant. Now we can’t!” That plaintive wail from a childless 43 year-old woman caught my attention. Holly Finn describes the mortification and expense of countless in-vitro-fertilization procedures she endured. A little cashmere baby sweater goes everywhere with her; she bought it...
Did you watch the video online of the baby who laughs hysterically while her father rips up a rejection notice he received? How about the video of the toddler twins who are having an animated conversation in gibberish? The Wall Street Journal’s weekend paper of July 23-24th has an article entitled, ‘Why You Just Shared...
Not too many years ago, when our house was blessedly full of children, I sometimes got overwhelmed. On occasion (more infrequently than they remember it being) I would inform the kids that I was heading off to Iceland and go to my room. They pretty much knew that I was unavailable except in dire emergency....
Last night Susan made one of my favorite dinners—tofu, salad, and celery sticks with peanut butter. C’mon, you know that was a joke, right? Actually, Susan made marinated steak with baked potatoes; I’m easy to keep happy. After dinner I said, “Thank you so much. That was a wonderful steak.” But I wasn’t happy. Why...
My soon to be eight year old grandson has taken to peppering his conversation with phrases like, “Golly” and “That’s swell”. This is not surprising for those of us who know of his fascination with the Hardy Boys series. He is an avid reader and books expand his vocabulary (sometimes amusingly) as well as his...
Here’s a proposal: Governments concerned about climate change, carbon emissions, and mankind’s assault on the environment should ban above-ground buildings. In fact, the United Nations should require all new construction to be below ground. Instead of building up, let’s build down! After all, a conventional 30 floor building can require a 100 foot deep excavation...
The younger children in our family occasionally went on “run-aways”. Their second oldest sister, Rena, would take them out, one at a time for a few hours, boarding a bus for our small city’s four-block downtown area. There, they would wander around carefree, leaving chores and schoolwork behind. Each journey included a stop at the...
