Parenting
Want a Summer Job? Put Down the Cell Phone!
Mayor Nutter’s initiative to get 10,000 Philadelphia teenagers hired for summer jobs—beating last summer’s number of 6,000 working teens—is admirable and ambitious. Teen employment means much […]
Leave Gwyneth Paltrow and Her Bikinis Alone
I was at a bat mitzvah a few years ago, and when the music started, the eighth-grade boys awkwardly grabbed the girls from behind and […]
Sunday in the Garden With Jake
I had just finished mowing the lawn for the first time this season when my 20-year-old son Jake appeared at the back door. “Want me […]
City Keeps On Screwing Things Up for Hero Who Found Abducted Girl
Nelson Mandela Myers, the man who found a five-year-old West Philadelphia girl abducted earlier this year, will finally receive his $10,000 reward today, after several […]
I’m a Republican. I’m a Mother. I’m for Stricter Gun Control Laws.
The gun control debate rages, in our homes, on the news and in Congress. I don’t understand why. I don’t understand why there is any […]
New “Machiavelli for Moms” Book Explains How to Control Your Kids
I like reading the Wall Street Journal during the week; it lets me imagine I’m one of the one percent and own stocks and bonds […]
With New Ruling on Plan B, it’s Time to Focus on Plan A
On Friday, a federal judge overturned an Obama administration decision to restrict access to emergency contraception to young women and girls under the age 17 […]
Would You Swear There’s No Vomit on Your Living Room Carpet?
Like most of the rest of the women in America, I read the recent New York magazine essay on “The Retro Wife” with my mouth […]
Victoria’s Secret for Teens: Do You Want Anyone “Feeling Lucky” With Your 15-Year-Old?
My daughter is in college now with, hopefully, one more year to graduation. I guess you’d call that young adulthood or “almost adulthood,” or not, […]
In Russia, Teen Complains About Adoptive Montgomery County Parents
What a bizarre story. A Russian teen is popping up on TV in that country, complaining that the Montgomery County couple who adopted him to […]
Chris Christie Can’t Figure Out Where He Stands on Gay “Conversion Therapy”
Yesterday, Chris Christie was asked (where else?) in a town hall meeting during a news conference about a bill moving through the New Jersey State Senate […]
School District Establishes Parent Dress Code in Response to West Philly Kidnapping
Following the January kidnapping of a five-year-old girl from a West Philadelphia elementary school, the school district has revised its school pick-up policies during early […]
One Family’s Obsessive Hunt for Lay’s Limited-Edition, Special Flavor Potato Chips
I don’t know how the idea started, really. I mean, we’re not even potato chip people. But once I had the thought to buy Lay’s […]
Chesco Father and Son Tag Team to Throw Debauched St. Paddy’s Day Party
This is certainly not how my father and I bonded. Drunken teenagers, the smell of marijuana, a partygoer passed out and covered in vomit, and […]
Remember When Parents Were in Charge?
I just read the second news story in as many weeks about a new trend in parenting: the family as corporation. The idea, according to […]