Dear Congressman:

In response to the much publicized and debated suggestion of a nation wide “soda” tax, I am writing this letter in proposition of various additional taxes which would provide solutions to other societal problems that are of urgent concern to American citizens.  I believe these proposed taxes adhere to the historical essence of the ( Read more... )

I think every mother has at least one child born with an innate capacity to self-destruct.  In my family we call this the klutz gene.  Out of my four kids, three display an aptitude for self-inflicted abuse, yet with two of them the result is usually only minor cuts and bruises.  The other child is why I have a close personal friendship with Mrs. ( Read more... )

I, for one, am sick of the debate over whether or not violent video games cause human aggression.  I have a couple of reasons for this. Number one, I’m not sure if there’s any truth to it.

Yes, I am one of the bad parents who bought all of the Grand Theft Auto games for their teenage boys.  I know, I know; the studies show that this is the worst ( Read more... )

Last Friday at precisely 2:55 p.m. I became a grandma, and then thankfully the nightmare ended at exactly 9 a.m. Sunday morning.

As part of a teen parent awareness program, my daughter brought home a lifelike, electronic baby, which she was to care for over the weekend as if it were a real newborn.  I knew we were in for trouble as soon as she ( Read more... )

I’ve held many positions in my life.  Some by chance, some by choice, and some by necessity.  I’ve gone from stay-at-home mom to working professional and back again. I’ve been a college student, twice, once at a time when an education took a back seat to social engagements, and again when I was old enough to appreciate it.

At the age of twenty, I ( Read more... )

[Note: all names in this post have been changed to protect the guilty]

During a recent conversation, a good friend commented on how annoying her relatives were.

“I don’t know,” I told her.  “I never would have made it through college without my family.”

“Well your family is obviously more supportive than mine.”

“Not really,” I responded. “But ( Read more... )

I’d been feeling a little out of sorts lately, restless even, like there was something missing in my life.  Unloading the dishes and finding no spots on the glasses didn’t produce the usual exhilaration.  I seemed apathetic to my success at producing lumpless gravy.  I felt no joy in occurrences that would commonly be cause for celebration, such as ( Read more... )

I have to admit, being a born and bred northerner, I had my share of qualms about moving to the south. I really miss the pizza. Not that the south is void of pizza, but I’m talking about real New York pizza where a large is a full 16 inches and typically weighs more than a bowling ball….loaded with enough grease and cholesterol to drop a healthy ( Read more... )

I married a wonderful man. He’s funny, hardworking, loving, a good father, everything I could have wished for. Unfortunately, however, the wonderful part doesn’t negate the fact that he’s still a man, and as such still possesses male qualities that are less than desirable to most women. Recently, I became aware of one of these qualities in my ( Read more... )

“And on the seventh day, God rested.”

Glad to hear it! At least someone gets to.

Sadly, for me anyway, Sundays are anything but restful. In fact, I could cheerfully go an entire year without the restfulness of a Sunday. Whoever proclaimed the seventh day of the week as a day to relax, evidently left out the implicit exclusion that applies to ( Read more... )