When my grandfather's mother died in 1900 in rural Maine, it was his aunt who stepped in to raise him and his baby sister. When my friend Jill lost her mother in the 1950s, her ...  Read more... »

"Putting food by." That’s what my grandmother called it. As a girl, I spent lots of steamy summer days in an even steamier kitchen learning the art of canning. My grand-dad would bring in a ...  Read more... »

Food is getting more and more expensive. Gas is over $4 a gallon and airfares are out of sight. That family vacation you've been looking forward to all year seems to be getting further and ...  Read more... »

It’s a teddy bear picnic. There are cardboard bear tracks leading to the backyard. The table, the paper cups and plates, and the napkins are festooned with bears. There are teddy bears dressed in their ...  Read more... »

Americans seem more confused than ever about the role of fathers in children's lives. On the one hand, more and more fathers are absent for all or significant periods of time. According to the ...  Read more... »

Now here's a topic that's guaranteed to raise the ire of those who are committed to either position. I've enjoyed the impassioned debate, largely because I'm thrilled to see people on both sides who are ...  Read more... »

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time by Mark Haddon is, on the surface, a detective story. A detective story rather than another type of novel, because it is like ...  Read more... »

The longterm effects of childhood neglect are many and serious. Have you fallen in and out of love with people who can’t love you back? Do you believe that you are essentially unlovable? If you ...  Read more... »

It's a silent problem. While newspapers and TV news shows regularly highlight stories of child physical and sexual abuse, the companion problem, child neglect, hardly gets a mention. Neglect, unless accompanied by pictures of squalor ...  Read more... »

The things that children find funny tell us a great deal about their level of development and what is on their minds. There is a connection between the 2-year-old who bursts into a fit of ...  Read more... »

Maybe you've been together for a number of years and moving in together seems like the next logical step. Maybe it's a matter of saving money. After all, why pay rent at two places if ...  Read more... »

"Why can't you be more responsible?" How many times have we said it, thought it, wished it about our own children and heard it coming from the mouths of other parents? We want our ...  Read more... »

I first became aware of "mental illness" when I was eight years old. My mother began spending all of her time sitting in a rocking chair-rocking, crying, very frightened and unbearably sad. No one asked ...  Read more... »

One of the challenges faced by parents who’ve decided to use a childcare program for their infant or toddler is separating the good programs from the bad or even unsafe ones. Sometimes it’s obvious. For ...  Read more... »

Some mornings are like this: “Come on! Get out of there. I’ve got to leave for work in 10 minutes.” My daughter has been trying to get into the bathroom for the last half hour. “Cool your ...  Read more... »