Is Gender Bias Alive And Well In Primary And Elementary School?

When my daughter was in primary school, and I was volunteering in her classroom, I detected something very peculiar, suspicious and perhaps decidedly rotten in Denmark. I was assigned the task of getting individual packets ready for parent-teacher conferences and I noticed the boys, even those who were not the top tier students — I had been in the classroom … Read More

Parenting on the Same Page

What’s the top way to ruin a relationship and the kids in one fell swoop? How many ways can you think of to ruin a marriage or relationship in no time flat? Pick your poison – there are multiple landmines capable of doing in a relationship –but one of the top offenses may be a conflict over how to raise … Read More

Middle Child Syndrome: Does Birth Order Really Matter?

Does birth order really make a difference? Does it truly have an impact on your personality? Does this mean if I had been #1 or #3 instead of #2 I would have been presidential material? Being the only girl in my family, although ultimately the middle child as well, seemed to make more of a difference than being the sandwiched … Read More

What My Children Have Taught Me

I frequently hear new mothers, especially the celebrity moms, espouse that once they gave birth, they realized there was something more important in the universe than themselves. Yep. You are a mother and the whirlwind ride of your life has begun. Batten the hatches, gird your loins. You and your life will never be the same. What I’ve learned from … Read More

Letting Kids Make Mistakes

In your heart of hearts, you know your child is about to make a ghastly mistake but there’s no talking her out of it. The man she is determined to marry … well, let’s just say he gave you the heebie-jeebies from the get-go. No, parents are not mind readers and at times they get it wrong, but when you’ve … Read More

What I Wish I Knew Before I Had Kids

Ignorance is bliss. There is no way you can possibly know or accurately anticipate what motherhood (or fatherhood) is going to be like until you experience it. If you knew too much, you might decide, uh, maybe not. Parenting is a mixed bag of wondrous, memorable experiences sprinkled with a lot of grief and heartaches you would prefer to avoid … Read More

How Parenting Has Changed

My guess is parenting is harder now than it was 20 years ago. Gargantuan societal changes typically take place over a 20-year period, which, historically, is considered a generation. Baby Boomers, like me, who have raised children and are currently observing (at a safe distance) as their thirty-year-old kids raise their own children already know the inherent complexities of parenthood. … Read More

Pregnancy and Varicose Veins

My mother was 24 when she gave birth to this writer. I was her second child. For whatever reason, mom developed permanent and unsightly varicose veins in her legs during her second pregnancy and it wasn’t due to her age, obviously, or too much weight gain (she only weighed 119 pounds when she had me.) Those veins pestered her the … Read More

Stretch Marks: You Didn’t Bargain For This!

You are pregnant and delighted. You’ve waited a long time for this. And then your friend shows you her tummy and the result of her pregnancy: Stretch marks! Huge, red, jagged, scary looking stretch marks. It takes your breath away. Is this your destiny? Is that what your belly is going to look like when it’s all said and done? … Read More

A Stealth Pregnancy

What does a ‘stealth’ or ‘cryptic’ pregnancy mean? It means a pregnancy a woman is unaware of. The TV show “I Didn’t Know I was Pregnant” features women who didn’t realize they were expecting until they delivered an eight-pound baby in the loo. Surprise! How is that possible? It happens although the majority of pregnant women are abundantly aware of … Read More