My son Woody is in Washington D.C. for three days on a class trip.  We had to wake up yesterday morning at 4:45 a.m. to get him to school by 5:30.  Normally he doesn't get up until 8:00.  What a struggle it was!  I thought that kid would miss his bus.  He bange… Read full post »

The first clue that my relationship with my mother was about to change was when, toward the end of my first pregnancy, she announced she’d quit her office job at a discount store.  She did this as she nonchalantly put it, to “help me with the baby.”

“… Read full post »

There are two kinds of people.  People who dream.  And people who don't have dreams.  I'm the latter.  Or I was until a few nights ago.

I don't remember my dreams and I cannot abide people who insist on sharing their nocturnal transmissions with me. I'd rather prop open my eyes… Read full post »

It's not easy being a mother.  Being a good one is even harder. There's no manual, no course, no degree.  So I've done what every aspiring good mom should do.  I've acquired my mothering skills over the years by imitating the TV and movie moms I most admire:  Ma Frate… Read full post »

Years ago when I was a stay-at-home mother I had the luxury of turning off Nickelodeon in the afternoon and watching the Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah often made the remark, "Motherhood is the most difficult job on the planet." Or something to that effect.

The audience seemed to agree, judging by… Read full post »

Music’s supposed to soothe the soul but Saturday morning mine wasn’t very receptive to soothing.  So I left my car stereo off as I roared north on I-71 and into downtown Columbus. 

I was in a foul mood.  Running late always puts me in a foul mood and I’m usually… Read full post »

He called me Princess long before it was all over T-shirts, mugs and bumper stickers. No irony behind it either.  I’m absolutely sure of that because when he was being sarcastic, he'd refer to me as “My sweeeeet”  in an annoyingly loud sarcastic screech.  As in, &ldqu/… Read full post »

What to make of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad and his glamorous wife Asma.  While thousands of Syrian civilians including children were being slaughtered in Homs, she power shopped for Christian Louboutin designer shoes, Parisian diamonds, chandeliers and other bling and he downloaded iTunes,… Read full post »

P arentheses.  E xponents.  M ultiplication.  D ivision.   A ddition.              S ubtraction.  PEMDAS.  Put another way, “the order of operations” in mathematics.

And recently scrawled enthusiastically in g… Read full post »

I like to think I’m “hip” and “with it” and up on my “lingo” when it comes to certain subjects, mainly the illegal kind.   This is one of the benefits of having a daughter who is “hip” and “with it” and up on her “lingo… Read full post »

I just read a post called Gang Rape on Open Salon and it's written by one of my Favorites, Diary of a Hopeful Starving Student.

Posted at 10:14 a.m. today and comments were closed by 10:30.  

So I can't go to the source with my burning question:  "How exactly does… Read full post »

Occasionally I test my sons, to make sure I’ve schooled them in the right ways of good men.  Especially the more nuanced right ways.  Since their father is deceased, this burden has fallen on me. 

I find the best method is to catch them off guard, when they’re involved in… Read full post »

I met Nancy in a three-week program we both attended last December.  It was for women only, specifically, women who wanted to change their lives.  Nancy sat across from me and I liked her right away.  Of all the women there, she seemed the most like me.  She was about my/… Read full post »

Any time I hear the phrase "Family Values" something deep down inside makes me want to retch. I tell myself it's because hearing it makes me think of intolerant, close-minded, God-fearing, Christian right wing politicians.  

But if I'm being honest, maybe I'm afraid I don't have any m… Read full post »

A few years ago I was desperately trying to get out of a dead end, soul-sucking call center job before I got too complacent and ended up dying, mid-call, with my headset on. After much soul searching, I decided there was only one way to assume command of my future, including… Read full post »

It's long been an accepted notion that children and young people have a greater capacity for dealing with stressful events.

Many of us have heard or said the following phrases at one time or another. 

"Don't worry about him, kids are resilient."

"She's young; she'll bounce back."… Read full post »

It sure is getting noisy around here!

Why does it seem like everyone is so darned mad these days?  Not just on Open Salon, but everywhere.

Rage seems to be the new calm.  Or at least an alternative that's rapidly gaining in popularity.  The smallest things are enough to cause some… Read full post »

In one of those rare, blindingly insightful moments that usually only happens when I smack my head with a car door (okay, it's neither rare nor insightful, but it is blindingly painful), I made a shocking discovery the other day regarding the problem with American youth. 

Like many others, I&rs… Read full post »

There were too many invitations and not enough time.  I couldn't possibly choose one over the other; the hosts of all those other soirees that I didn't attend would have found out and been slighted.  And then there'd have been the question of whom to kiss when the clock gonged the… Read full post »

I did the usual things I've been doing for the past 12 Christmas Eves.  I baked, wrapped, and cleaned.  Yelled, a little bit.  One child serenaded me with Christmas songs on her violin (or so she said; I had to take her word for it) while the other one yelled "Booo,… Read full post »

What a difference a year makes. 

December, 1999.  A week before Christmas, we were nearly to his boss’s front door when Keith stopped.  It was a cold, clear night.  The house glowed, warm and inviting.  Good cheer and good times beckoned from all the windows. … Read full post »

I think too much.  About only one subject.  Me.  My feelings, my wants, my needs, my endless craving for having my ego stroked.

I always thought it was normal to think exclusively about myself.  In fact, I assumed everyone else was also doing the same - constantly thinking about m… Read full post »

She is 75 years old today.  

The average life expectancy for an American is currently 77.6 years; for the average white female the figure is 80.5 years. That's good news.  It means she's not living on borrowed time yet and I've got at least five and half years left.  Of… Read full post »

I'll just say it.  I love to smoke.  I can go for days and months and even years without doing it, with only minor withdrawal symptoms.  But it's also ridiculously easy for me to start up again and any flimsy excuse will do:  The sun's not shining bright enough.  I think… Read full post »

Several years ago I had a trusty handyman.  He looked like a handyman, he talked like a handyman and he did excellent handyman-type work.   

I found Mike, or maybe he found me, in a Sears hardware store.  He mixed paint for me and we got to talking.  He said he'd been… Read full post »