The majority of St. Louis area students are back at school. That routine brings a good amount of order back into families’ lives. While most kids don’t love mornings getting ready and evenings doing homework, structure is actually really helpful to...

As I write this, I’m watching the Tony Awards, where Broadway artists are honored for their outstanding work. I love awards shows so much: the celebrities, the fashion, the speeches in which the winners act like they’re surprised to be revered because...

As an homage to the great Marcia Brady, I’ve been keeping a diary, or as the cool kids call it, a journal. Articles and podcasts aplenty tout the benefits of journaling. Apparently, it’s good for you.  Plain journals come with blank pages,...

Recently, I created a makeshift glossary of trendy teen lingo for you, and you’ve made it clear you want more. The tremendous feedback I’ve gotten from so many of you proves I’m not the only one who doesn’t understand what the kids these days...

Not long ago I told you about book clubs I’d attended that didn’t exactly work out for me because reading the assigned book by the deadline was too much like homework. Homework was never really my strong suit. It probably was just the club part that...

Just days ago, my older kid turned 16. Sixteen! That means in addition to driving us crazy, he’s driving himself and his little brother all over town. Said little brother will be 15 pretty soon.  These two above-average mensches are full of thoughts...

Everyone has pet peeves. Everyone has things that annoy them to no end. And everyone has to let those things out to free the space in their mind being taken up by negativity.  Because you and I have built this relationship of acceptance and trust,...

It’s time for a mid-January check-in. How are you doing on your New Year’s resolutions? I have a perfect track record for the first time in my life. That’s because my 2022 resolution was to no longer make New Year’s resolutions. I outsmarted the...

Well, hello there, 2022! We are so happy to see you, but we need to welcome you at arm’s length. You can understand that we are a little hesitant because last year we rolled out the red carpet for 2021, and it kind of did us wrong. It started off...

Remember a year ago, as 2020 came to a close, so many of us thought 2021 would usher in all the positive changes we needed and wanted? A new president. The end of COVID. The promise of sticking to a New Year’s resolution to lose those last few, or 20,...

Thanksgiving came to a close last week and just as we finished our leftovers, Chanukah showed up. So did Hanukkah, Hannuka and the other dozen or so ways the holiday gets spelled. I especially like the rare and elusive spelling Xanukah, because it...

It’s back to school time! Kids look forward to seeing their friends and … well, that’s about it. For the most part, kids aren’t excited to get up early, sit in classrooms all day and have homework at night. They will rarely admit to liking...