Family
HEART & SOUL: Vision in overalls cultivates riddles
posted: 02/08/2012 4:19 a.m. Discuss
It hadn’t been much of a winter, but it was a windy, cold afternoon. Just in from walking the dogs, I was making a cup of tea when a breeze shifted the steam from the cup. As I turned to see if the door was open, a familiar sparkle in the air caught my eye. Mrs. Appleyard was glimmering in.
Creature feature
posted: 02/08/2012 4:17 a.m. Discuss
My cat meows incessantly and only stops when I give her something to eat. What else can I do to keep her from meowing so much?
Parting pangs
posted: 02/08/2012 4:16 a.m. Discuss
When Jeryl Brunner, a writer in Manhattan, was in her 20s, she had a friend who was just the sort of acquaintance people scoop up in their social net when they are young and trying to carve out a life in a new city. The friend was fun, outgoing and stylish, and always up for a night of dancing, or a weekend jaunt to a Neiman Marcus outlet in Secaucus, N.J.
EX-ETIQUETTE
posted: 02/08/2012 4:14 a.m. Discuss
QI have been dating a man for four months now and he has three daughters. I have two sons. Everything was fine at first but now he has a lot of resentment toward my son. When I ask him why, he tells me my son gets on his nerves. He said my son lacks discipline. Mind you, my son is 10. My son has never met his biological father and I have been the only one raising him. My son is not clingy or needy.Why does he feel this way toward my son?
MONEY MANNERS
posted: 02/08/2012 4:12 a.m. Discuss
DEAR JEANNE AND LEONARD: When my wife and I were offered early retirement recently by the company we worked for, we happily accepted. But now, of course, our income is lower, and we have to be careful about our spending. That has led to a problem. For years we’ve been part of a group of six couples that buys a pair of season tickets to Blue Jays baseball games, then divides the tickets so that each couple gets to go to about 14 games.
PARENTING: School fads pushing self-esteem, rewards failed
posted: 02/08/2012 4:12 a.m. Discuss
The media recently reported “new” research findings to the effect that rewards often backfire and self-esteem is not the wonderful, uplifting personal attribute once thought. As a result, schools are rethinking their teaching and classroom management philosophies.
It’s not you, it’s me, my friend
posted: 02/07/2012 11:08 a.m. Discuss
When Jeryl Brunner, a writer in Manhattan, was in her 20s, she had a friend who was just the sort of acquaintance people scoop up in their social net when they are young and trying to carve out a life in a new city .... But as Brunner neared 40, the reasons for their spending time together became less clear.
HEART & SOUL: Mindset spawns a legacy to honor
posted: 02/01/2012 4:43 a.m. Discuss
Family legacies come in many forms. They can be financial or intellectual, positive or negative, healthy or unhealthy. One of my family’s most valuable and positive legacies is a mindset; a curiosity and desire for self-exploration. Improbably, the author of that mindset was my cowboy grandfather.
EX-ETIQUETTE
posted: 02/01/2012 4:42 a.m. Discuss
QI have been living with my boyfriend for four years. He recently told me he just found out he has a 4-year-old son and wants him to be part of our family. He has never told me a thing about the mother. I can’t seem to accept the child, and am worried that my boyfriend might sleep with the mother.
Baby dishes
posted: 02/01/2012 4:41 a.m. Discuss
Nutritionists everywhere unite in the conviction that home-cooked meals are best, and yet when it comes to baby’s first meals, Americans reach for containers of ready-made on store shelves.
Creature feature
posted: 02/01/2012 4:40 a.m. Discuss
My dog pilfers from my purse. Like so many dogs, she finds chocolate absolutely irresistible — any kind of chocolate, but particularly dark, dark chocolate, the variety that’s most toxic to dogs. A few years ago, her weakness and my forgetfulness combined for a nasty but, thankfully, not fatal result.
MONEY MANNERS
posted: 02/01/2012 4:39 a.m. Discuss
DEAR JEANNE AND LEONARD: A work friend who prefers to take public transportation to the office sometimes borrows my car to run errands at lunch. Recently, “Melissa” had an accident. She’s fine, but my car is not. Melissa immediately told me what happened and gave me her insurance information, and she seems to think that’s all she needs to do.
PARENTING: Epidemic of soaring self-esteem is ruining kids
posted: 02/01/2012 4:38 a.m. Discuss
Margaret Thatcher, former prime minister of England, once said, “One of the great problems of our age is that we’re governed by people who care more about feelings than they do about thoughts and ideas.” Quite so, and it is equally accurate to say that “one of the great problems of our age is that children are being raised and educated by people who care more about their feelings than they do their thoughts and ideas.”
Making your own baby food has never been easier
posted: 01/31/2012 11:11 a.m. Discuss
These days some parents are returning to making their own baby food to save money and prevent waste, writes Kimberly Dishongh in Wednesday’s Family section.
Rx for reading
posted: 01/25/2012 3:41 a.m. Discuss
Sara Sanders of North Little Rock has taken her four children to the Little Rock Pediatric Clinic for nearly eight years — in exchange for benefits that go beyond just physical health.
