Fly Away — Susan Sawyers

Emotion is one of the things I neglected to schedule the week the 14 year-old headed north to sleep away camp. After a series of attempts to manipulate the family schedule in order to accompany her to the camp bus meeting sight, we opted to send her to Toronto as an unaccompanied minor, or UM […]

What I did on my summer vacation — Lori Mozilo

Zach will be home in a week. Of course I miss him. I’m so curious to see how much he’s grown and changed. But I’m also a bit nervous. I want to make sure I honor his newfound independence. And mine. I have to remind myself that my job as his parent has built-in obsolescence and if I’m doing it well, I’ll be, for the most part, out of business in a few years.

Dog bites man again. — Susan Kaiser Greenland

July 28th Note: For those who follow the progressive blogs, the online reaction to the John Edwards story is fascinating. Check out how Lee Stranahan is getting slammed in the comments for his post on Huffington why the progressive blogs need to get out in front of this story and also slammed in the comments on his crosspost on Daily Kos.

And now the Momocrats weigh-in On What’s News and What’s Not.

Read more on this story in the post John Edwards, Father of the Year?

Lay off my big brother Angelo. — Lori Mozilo

My second confession is that I am the youngest sister of Angelo Mozilo who, up until recently, was Chief Executive of Countrywide Mortgage. I am writing because, although the Congressional hearings on the mortgage crisis did indeed stoke my sense of moral outrage, my anger, this time has been reserved for Henry Waxman and the Democrats on his committee. As for the truth, it has been in very short supply.

Why change is just a breath away — Sue Smalley

Perhaps death can be seen as another ’sort’ of experience. Religions provide a shared belief that can help each of us find a comfort zone for this inevitable experience, yet for many the experience itself (its naturalness in every moment of life arising and falling throughout all of existence) can be enough.

Heat for a little while on a high flame. — Amy Spies

Cooking is definitely one of those mother-daughter bonding things. Obviously, since from the get-go, mothers are nurturing their children–feeding them literally from the womb, making their lunches, stocking their refrigerators.

God, country and the fourth of July - Susan Kaiser Greenland

With all of these other parades going on why was the lack of one on the Fourth of July so important to him? Because it was the largest and most public way he could honor a country that had given him and his family so much.

SisterFriendSister — Amy Spies

As I’ve grown up and evolved myself, girlfriends have become increasingly important to me, and like sisters. They really do feel like a growing extended family, a net for me in case I stumble, a warm embracing hug for when I need that. I kind of mentally picture the women in my life as a circle around me, holding hands and full of life. Hmmm—kind of like those circles we made with our children in preschool holding a parachute.

There’s a lot less honesty going around than people are willing to admit to. — Kelley McCabe

And, in that one moment, I thought I understood the meaning of the word “freedom”. I didn’t have to let my previous upset impact my interaction with my son. It was a new moment, all its own, and I was completely free to experience it independently of any other moment (or set of moments).

Being a mom is not always pretty, and neither is mindfulness. Susan Kaiser Greenland

I don’t glorify the unpleasant nor am I a masochist. I just find the edginess of motherhood interesting. And when I read greeting cards, and parenting books, and magazine articles, and wellness blogs extolling the sweetness without mentioning the sour, well . . . . I get bored.

Mother of Thousands - Trudy Goodman

Mindfulness is about balance: being aware of one’s own experience while being sensitive and attuned to our impact on others. In our lives, we are continually falling out of balance. . .

Alice and Rebecca Walker Clash: Do Feminist Mothers Have to Choose Between Dreams and Diapers?

What I take issue with, and I am not alone, is Rebecca’s black and white take on mothering — there is her mother, the selfish careerist, and then there is her, the new mom who argues that all that should matter to a young woman with children is “a happy family.” What happened to the self-preserving and child-loving in between?

Who knew the Pope and Chubby Checker had so much in common? Seth Greenland

Not long ago a group of Vatican theological advisors recommended eliminating the concept of limbo and Pope Benedict XVI signed off on it. This troubles me deeply. Although I am not a Catholic, I have great admiration for that religion. Their art collection is unsurpassed, their clergy know how to put on an excellent show, […]

There is absolutely nothing interesting about me. Seth Greenland

I have been stymied in my efforts to craft a memoir. Here is my problem: there is absolutely nothing interesting about me.

Duttons Bookstore is closing in LA - Where is a book-loving soul to go now? Tom Teicholz

In a world where the bookstore is less and less viable . . . where will we find knowledgeable guides to help us find what we are looking for or make suggestions? Where can we go to see our literary idols?

Dad’s Department - Sam Harper

Last Saturday morning I was about to tap in a birdie putt on the 18th green at the Dreamland Country Club, a luxury afforded by the miracle that my kids were also sleeping in, when a series of R.E.M. piercing screams jangled my back-swing. I bolted awake, jumped out of bed, and raced down the hall toward the hubbub.

False Alarms - Amy Spies

False alarms—we’ve all had ‘em, but what do they really mean? Think about it. It can be the security system going off because of the wind. Or a smoke alarm set off by a stove-top bar-b-que. Or a financial scare—or a terrorist alert. Or any kind of scare that freaks […]

Teach your children well: they’ll be gone before you know it. Sue Smalley

At 53, I play the game of life from an ‘infinite’ perspective, where the only goal is to keep the game going and engage as many players as possible.