Columns & Collected Essays

If there were such a manual as “Competitive Parenting for Beginners,” my husband Brett and I would be the authors of chapter 6, “Arts and...

The other day, I went grocery shopping. I don’t know how you shop, but I have a feeling it’s not all that different from how I do it. ...

My four-year-old daughter, Zoe, came home from preschool the other day with a great idea. One of her little friends had brought an...

I’m on the verge of putting a bumper sticker on my car that says “slap me: I’m obsessed with purple.” Purple shoes, purple sweaters,...

Last spring, I wrote an article about having a summer birthday party for my daughter Zoe with several members of her preschool class. I...

Imagine, if you will, a suburban household at 8:15 a.m. Let’s just pretend that the house exists on a quiet, shady street, in the middle...