Browsing all posts in Teenagers.
Cartesian Dualism Does NOT Get You out of Chores
Back in the day, Aristotle was “THE Philosopher.” In fact, that is exactly how he was referred to by the Church fathers, from the time of his reintroduction in the west in the 11th century. St. Thomas Aquinas made it his life’s work to put a Christian spin on the old pagan, and by the [...]
The Red Gene
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, they say. [Sometimes it hits someone important on the head, and the theory of gravity is born. Sometimes it just falls on the ground and rots. We all root for the former.] It helps if the tree doesn’t have a whopping set of bad genes to pass [...]
The Generation Gap?
It seems like every week someone is decrying, bemoaning, or otherwise pointing to a “generation gap.” Kids, apparently, just THINK differently than adults. Well, duh. But is that permanent? Is it a generation thing or a kid thing? [As a confirmed materialist, I don't believe claims that the next generation is wired differently unless I [...]
I Bet Michael Kors’ Mother Never Had to Put up with This
The Goth has rather, um, eclectic taste in clothes. If one wants to wear poet’s shirts, gothic trenchcoats and Dracula capes (and doesn’t want to spend the ridiculous money that adult dress-up shops charge), one has to make minor accommodations. The Goth has learned to deal by–wait for it–making his own. Having a mom with [...]
More Parental Nightmares
There are so many, aren’t there? We parents worry about so many things: we worry that our kids won’t be happy, won’t be strong, will be teased, will be misfits, will have problems in school, will get sick, won’t find love… In the eternal litany of things mothers must worry about, a new study takes [...]
The Mother’s Guide to Groceries
In some cultures, women simply pick up what they need for that day at the local market. No long term planning is required. This wonderful method requires that: a) one has a local market; and b) your kids don’t run out of food in a single day. In America, most of us are used to [...]
Kid for Hire!
Having put one in his own real apartment, one in a college apartment, and one on a plane to summer camp, I now have a household made up of ONE kid. It’s very quiet around here. It will be even more quiet if the Goth finds the job he is desperately seeking. Unfortunately, that’s not [...]
The Mother’s Field Guide to Summer
For the armchair biologists out there, I offer a field guide to summer species variation, from my years of (mostly) scientific research on the subject: 1) Mini-pizzas begin taking flight in droves (It must be a narrow escape, though, since they leave their little plastic coats behind on the kitchen counter). 2) Soda cans begin [...]
The Second Annual Ostrich Award!
The second annual Ostrich Award goes to (drumroll, please!)… The participants in this study. Dr. Sinikka Elliott, a sociologist at North Carolina State University, interviewed parents about teen sexuality. Her results were astonishing. Parents were convinced that every other kid in town is sexually active, but their child wasn’t. The parents of girls were afraid [...]
Have I Mentioned Stretch?
Not in a while, I guess. Stretch is one of those wonderful, happy, even-keeled kids who wanders through life with a smile on his face and a positive attitude (well, unless you ask him to write an essay, when his math-and-science-geek side rears its ugly head in terror of a blank page that he may [...]
