Hate the Way your Husband Dresses? Have More Sex.

May 20, 2013 by

The other day, while eating lunch, I had an extremely interesting conversation with my BFF. You see, both of us have dabbled, both academically and professionally, in the art of survey research. We both appreciate the strength of a well thought out hypothesis, and get giggly over p-values, alternate hypotheses, and the importance of statistical significance. Therefore, we have great confidence that the theories we formulate are, well…true!

So back to our lunch. Our conversation was fueled by a particular middle-aged man that we both know, professionally and socially. This gentleman is a well-dressed worker, donning coordinating suits, snazzy shoes, and silk ties. In essence, the man in question looks good at work. However, take him out of a work setting and hello, stone-washed, dad jeans, worn out sports tee-shirts, circa 1985, and white New Balance sneakers. Very Steve Carrell in ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love.’  Read more...

5 Institutions Screwing Working Families

May 13, 2013 by

As a working parent do you sometimes get the feeling that there are forces intrinsically working against you?

I agree, and here are five institutions, in my opinion, who are screwing working parents:

#1- The Post Office.

Yes, the ever so inefficient United States Postal Service. While I appreciate the hard-working and valiant men and women who deliver mail through horrible weather conditions, and while I appreciate the founding principal of the USPS: “that every person in the United States – no matter who, no matter where – has the right to equal access to secure, efficient, and affordable mail service,” have you ever tried to send a certified package or pick up a package that you need to sign for, after 5pm? Good luck! I once had someone send me a baby gift through the mail, and for some reason I had to sign for the package. My local post office closes at 5PM everyday and are only open on Saturday mornings for a hot second, so by the time that I actually ended up being able to get the package (on one of my days off) my daughter had outgrown the cute little outfit inside! No wonder the USPS runs a $2 billion deficit annually, try being more efficient and accommodating working people!  Read more...

What to Say to my Mom on Mother’s Day?

May 6, 2013 by

I am nothing like my Mom.

I am just like my Mom.

As an only child I feel that my relationship with my Mom is very different from children with  brothers or sisters. My Mom was my parent, sibling, friend, and at times, my enemy.

As a young child and elementary school student I was the biggest ‘Mama’s Girl.’ I am fairly certain that I was almost eleven before I ever slept overnight at a friend’s house. My friends always came to my house, because I missed my Mom too much to go away for a night. Now, as a parent of three daughters, who greatly enjoys date night and other adult-only time, I would like to say SORRY to my Mom for attaching myself to her like a barnacle, and never giving her the break that she deserved.  Read more...

Vagina is Not a Bad Word

Apr 29, 2013 by

My four and almost three-year old are obsessed with body parts. They are inquisitive about bodily functions, they want to understand how and why people are different shapes and sizes; we have had lengthy conversations about why Mom pees sitting down and Dad pees standing up. My daughters can properly identify their body parts.

The other day the two of them were playing on the porch. My four-year old has a strict policy at her school about using potty words inappropriately, and she has been working on refraining from using these words inappropriately at home and around her younger sisters. In the middle of playing my oldest daughter said something about changing her baby doll and having to wipe the baby’s vagina. My almost three-year old used this as a chance to tattle and came running inside, accusing her sister of using a “bad word.” This, of course, resulted in the classic argument: “did not,” “did too,” “did not.” I intervened and helped to guide the argument into a productive conversation about why vagina is not a bad word.  Read more...

Help Me! I’m Living With Hoarders!

Apr 22, 2013 by

I am a tidy and organized individual. My daughters, on the other hand, are total hoarders! Yes, just like on the A&E television show. They are obsessed with collecting junk and they refuse to throw anything away. Their ‘junk piles’ and purses filled with ‘neat stuff’ are driving me crazy!

My middle daughter is the worst offender. She has three or four special purses in circulation at any point in time. Stuffed inside the purses you will find old marker caps, broken toys, mismatched puzzle pieces, old junky baby toys, wash clothes, slips of ripped paper from school and random wooden blocks. The picture below highlights the typical junk pile she attempts to bring to school, to the grocery store or in the car whenever we are running errands. In this picture you can spot a special purse, broken tambourine and an old necklace with the beads falling off.  Read more...

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