I stare at the bowl. Searching. Looking for signs of movement within the water. Finally, I spot him. Finners. Our pet fish. He swims past the chopsticks that lean against the outside of the tank. He doesn’t look well. He swishes past the Legos perched on the other side of the glass. He moves along, back to his favorite hangout in the ceramic castle. To… [more]

“Mommy, I know a baby is made from a seed and an egg but how does the seed get to the egg?” Gulp. The question came at bedtime from my seven-year-old and I was woefully unprepared for it. On my bedside table the book Everything You Never Wanted Your Kids to Know About Sex (But Were Afraid They’d Ask) sat unread in… [more]

And so, we have reached the age where my son’s non-stop talk leads to occasional embarrassment and/or hilarity. ---  Three-year-olds don’t really have a great handle on either discretion or volume control. This means that if my son sees a really, really big guy on the train, he’s probably going to yell out, “That… [more]

A guest post by Melissa Medina I believe in leprechauns. Well, at least this month I do, with St. Patrick’s Day approaching. Next month, I will believe in the Easter Bunny. --- This month, I will create leprechaun traps and end-of-the-rainbow cupcakes with my kids. I will assist that pesky leprechaun in… [more]

A parent instinctively knows how important it is to celebrate a child’s birthday—how much they look forward to it, how loved and appreciated it makes them feel. Back in the days of wine and wooing, I would spend a considerable amount of time coming up with an assortment of serious and silly gifts for my wife on her birthday, an… [more]

It’s been a while since I last played Spin The Bottle, but I still remember it well. Under the guise of playing a board game during an after-school program, a bunch of us sixth graders had taken over a far corner of the school gym (where the mats were) and I had my first kiss with intent—shared with Phyllis Goldbetter.… [more]