Vassar College Makes Huge Acceptance-Letter Screw-Up, Hurts Students’ Feelings. But Should Their Parents Try to Fix It?
A long time ago (let’s call it 1984 for sake of argument, because that’s when it was), when high school students received college acceptances or rejections in the mail (you know, with envelopes and stuff) exclusively, I got an acceptance to the school I really, really wanted to attend. When I’d first applied, I hadn’t been all that convinced, but by the time the envelope was in my hands, I was sure. I opened it and was ecstatic. Then I read the part about the financial aid package, which was a big fat zero, and my elation deflated. It made …Keep Reading
The Best $80,000 I Ever Spent. (On Childcare)
I was just talking over the weekend to an acquaintance, a childhood friend of one of my cousin’s, who’s started her own in-home childcare business. After years as a pediatric nurse, she shifted gears, and good for her! As we talked, I fell into a host of sweet memories of Kozy Korner and Harbor Kids, the (related) daycares my sons attended. I’ve written about childcare before here (in fact I just re-read that old post and realized I used a photo from the same day as the pic at left!). Most recently I wrote a blog post for DailyWorth.com, this …Keep Reading
Santa Claus, the Silly Season, and Saving our Sanity
I thought Black Friday (a day during which I resolutely remain home with wallet firmly shut; crowds scare me and the dangling of so-called bargains in front of my face does the opposite of enticing me) might be an opportune time to share this little piece I wrote for DailyWorth.com, an excellent website about finances for women: When I answered my seven-year-old’s Christmas request for an iPod Touch recently with a “no” (and a side of “are you kidding me?”), he shot back: “But you don’t even have to pay for it! It’ll be from Santa.” I was temporarily …Keep Reading
It’s a Book! Countdown to “Mean Moms Rule” Publication Date
Ironic, ain’t it, that the very thing that spurred me to think about writing a book — this blog — has been languishing with fewer updates lately thanks to… the book. But the home stretch is stretching out. The book has been written, and edited, and re-edited, and designed, and has a publication date — April 1, 2012! — and a cover: I’d love to know what you think. Spread the word, and look here for more regular posts as well as more updates and sneak peaks at what’s inside. Did I mention it’s available for pre-order on …Keep Reading
9/11, Remembered, Explained
A couple of weeks ago, I took my boys to a local park in our town — it’s a big park, with a handsome art museum on the grounds, a couple of nice playgrounds, tennis courts, duck ponds (populated by geese mostly — which means much of our time spent there is punctuated by me shouting: “Watch out for the goose poop!”) and so on. They’d taken their scooters and I was ambling along while they scooted on the paths, until we reached the museum, in front of which is a memorial to those from our town who died on …Keep Reading
The Connection Between the Casey Anthony Case and “Teen Mom” Shows
Since the Casey Anthony “not guilty” verdict came in from Central Florida yesterday afternoon, my Facebook wall and Twitter feed have been clogged with “no way!” and “disgraceful!” and “No justice for Caylee!”, to the point where I want to go back in time to an era when social media didn’t dominate. I also avoided news about the Anthony case. For a bunch of reasons: I don’t watch cable TV news ever (the only time I see snippets of CNN, FOX News, or MSNBC, it’s because Jon Stewart’s called them out on The Daily Show. I also don’t watch …Keep Reading
Mean Mom’s Thank-You Time: What I’m Grateful for This Thanksgiving
For some reason I’m feeling more squishy-sentimental than usual (I have this crazy dual-personality thing, which I claim to have inherited from my mom — hard-shell mean-mom exterior surrounding a gooey, nougat-y, cries-at-sappy-ads center.) So I figured it was time, it being just days shy of Thanksgiving, to make a little list. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, second only to Christmas, which I’m a total baby about because I love it with the same purity and intensity that I did as a kid. Well, a kid with big Visa bills in January, but anyway, I love it, so …Keep Reading
“The Middle”: A Sitcom Dad Actually Gets it Right
So, I was going to write about homework this week, but that will have to wait, because an extraordinary thing happened last night, sometime between 8:00pm and 8:30pm, while I was watching the ABC-TV sitcom, “The Middle.” I say extraordinary because this involved a TV dad, who was not Bill Cosby or Bill Bixby (is anyone old enough to remember “The Courtship of Eddie’s Father”? No? Yes? God, I loved him. He reminded me of my dad). This involved a TV dad who … wait for it … did the right thing. He stood up. He not only did a …Keep Reading
The Experts Aren’t Always Right, Part One: Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad, Choking Hazard? (Guest Post)
Two things this week: One, I’m starting a new occasional series, this one called “The Experts Aren’t Always Right.” And two, I’m going to treat you to a guest post as Part One of the series, by my colleague and fellow blogger, Debbie Koenig, who writes the (seriously) delicious blog, Words to Eat By. The experts are, I believe, trying to get it right, trying to give us life-saving advice. Use car seats, for example. Don’t smoke two packs a day while pregnant. But when the attitude veers from helpful to paternalistic and big-brother-ish, and when following it means erasing …Keep Reading
Does Being a Parent Make You Happy?
Okay, here we go again, with another flurry of conversation swirling around the topic of parents, children, and happiness. Specifically: Does becoming a parent increase or decrease happiness? Do kids make you happy? Are parents happier than non-parents? And my personal favorite: Why do we all work so hard at this parenting stuff without it making us happy? AREN’T WE SUPPOSED TO BE HAPPY, FER CHRISSAKES? This has been circulating in old- and new-media circles this muggy month in part thanks to an article in New York magazine, by Jennifer Senior, that has, as they say, gone viral. It’s been …Keep Reading
