In loving, parenting, living in a body, and more. — Yesterday, I was shopping at one of those little gift shops that mostly only sells soaps and and jewelry you can’t imagine wearing, when a woman came up to me and said the thing that I strangers have been saying to me most often lately: Whoops, I should have mentioned…

It’s amazing to see the people you love; so why is it so stressful? — It’s summer. For something like 80 percent of Americans, that means traveling — which we take on despite astronomical gas prices, environmental concerns, and a global pandemic. That trifecta of difficulties is plenty to worry about, but it’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m talking about the highly specific…

The most important list you’ll read all year. — This is probably already obvious to you, but I have a new-ish baby. “Ish” because she is an age where is incredibly seduced by the charms Elmo, and honestly, I get it. Her interest in all things Elmo is the reason why I have now seen this two-hour video on…

In the delicate space between work and play — The longest day of the year has come and gone. Personally, I’m a fan of the winter solstice, because I like to say the sentence, “From here on out, we get a little more light every day until it’s summer.” Now it is summer. …

And they are these. — OK, computer-having modern human: you don’t feel like you really need a pen at all. Maybe one, if someone wants you to sign a document; but even then, wouldn’t they bring a pen, since this “ink signature” is so important to them? And hey, man, I get it: I like…

I especially love ‘Through The Ages.’ Here’s why. — Taking inventory of how you spend your hours, auditing and editing, etc., is a lifelong task, at least for most of us. You get a new job with a longer commute, and you have to let go of some of the hours you set aside for gardening. A new relationship…

This year has been hard in a way that no year has ever been hard before. — I teach seniors at a public high school in Chicago, and their last day of school was Friday. Last year, I thought the students in the graduating class of 2021 had the hardest time of any class ever. They hadn’t gotten to set foot in a classroom for their entire…

Why this is the one spring cleaning task you should take on this year — I got a new phone for my birthday, and, although phones now set themselves up through the mysterious sorcery of The Cloud, it felt like the right moment to clear out my contacts. My contact list has transferred over from phone to phone since I was in college. Somehow, some…