Giving New Meaning to Parenting

As the older boys move closer to adulthood (they just turned 12!) I’m seeing more and more of the adolescent… stuff… I’ve been warned about. You know. Moodiness. Messy rooms (oh! the inhumanity!!!). Smells. Puberty.
Lately, I’ve realized that I have turned into a Very Annoying Person. The [...]

When are rules important?  When should they bend?  When are they made to be broken?
I’ve been joking about the family manual, the list of rules and their infractions, outlined for all to see.  While there’s probably a great marketable idea in here, the more important piece is what we never see in writing, is the [...]

There are a lot of times when I am busy and my kids want my attention.  I sometimes have to triage which gets attention first, how important is it, etc.  Sometimes I don’t give them my full attention even when I am allegedly listening, because I’m worried about the 27 other things on my plate. [...]

My daughter is thirteen and about to start high school. With this blessing comes the curse of pop radio. Her current favorite is 97.1 Amp Radio (we live in Los Angeles, but you can go to their site and listen live over the interwebs). It’s not a bad radio station and I’m not complaining or [...]

Happy Holidays! Anyone finding themselves bombarded with a “to do” list that just never ends? Raise your hand so I can see you.
Now that I’ve started a multi-national wave – let’s get down to the real business. The business of busy. And, more importantly, the consequences of that. For those that know me, this is [...]

As I write this, there has been a lot of bad economic news around the world. Economies are failing (Iceland declared bankruptcy last week), companies are stumbling (DHL closes, Circuit City files for chapter 11 bankruptcy), jobs are disappearing, and things look bleak.
Living as I do in a state where the economy has already [...]

Our son M was two and a half when we met him at his orphanage in Moscow. When we brought him outside to the playground, one of the first things he did was pick up a stick, assume a shooting stance, and yell, “Ba-ba! Ba-ba! Ba-ba!” like a machine gun. That’s right: he was just [...]

I’ve been closely following the current, and historic, economic situation we find ourselves in. As a parent, I see a specific parallel that is close to my heart: Accountability vs. Abandonment.
With regard to our economy, we’re going to put an enormous amount of tax dollars towards rescuing foreclosed homeowners. We’re holding them accountable, and we [...]

Before I became a parent I would sometimes say things like, “I won’t allow my child to behave like that in a public place,” or “I’ll teach my kids to have better manners than that kid” whenever I saw a child behaving poorly. While I have allowed a few temper tantrums to take place in [...]

It was very late at night. My flight home from Philadelphia had been delayed by over two hours. I was exhausted. I opened the door to what I had feared I would find.
A mess.
I’d been away for the weekend, and I’d suspected that I might have to pay for it when I [...]