In many ways, our kids have it easier than we did, but that also complicates other aspects of their lives. It’s easier because we live in a house with two and a half bathrooms, so the fighting is over which hair appliance is plugged in, and who left the cap off of the teeth-whitening toothpaste. … Read more

When I was a kid, we had a fairly rigid morning routine. The house was small, and my brothers and I slept in the (finished) attic. There was only a single bathroom, but in later years my father built a shower in the basement near the drain, but we were a bath-at-night family during the … Read more

Shortly before leaving for college, I went to a party at my friend’s house. It was an odd time because many of us were about to leave town and start new lives. There was an anxious energy about, at least for me there was. The party was much like the others we’d had that summer, … Read more

I’m helping my son with his science project. It is a classic: building a model of an atom. I don’t recall exactly which element we’re modeling, but we have a bunch of Styrofoam balls, poster board, and moxy. What we need is a plan. My son is not big on projects. It is not the … Read more