The first I heard of The Anti-Gym was a radio ad in which one guy castigated another guy for having “man boobs.”
I remember chuckling incredulously to myself, thinking “Did I hear that right? Man boobs?” Radio ads rarely get my attention, with the exception of the Bud Light “Real Men of Genius” [...]

Even though I’ve got a holiday to-do list a mile long…plus work that continues to pile up…not to mention a desperate need to vacuum and mop…I’m going to treat myself this week.
No, not a facial or a massage or even a haircut (although that wouldn’t be a bad idea). I’m going to see the [...]

My younger daughter is in speech therapy. According to her assessments, she’s just about a year behind schedule. That lost year has caused a lot of day-to-day angst for the entire family as we struggle to understand her and she struggles to be understood. I wish I could say that I have [...]

Once, while waiting outside the office building where I worked in New York, I was mistaken for a hooker. Or possibly a drug dealer. I’m not sure which.
All I know is that I was waiting for my husband Kyle – who had rented a car on the other side of town – to come pick [...]

Even though I’m not yet ready to think about it, I know the holidays are coming.
I can ignore them for a few more weeks, assuming I stay out of department stores and home improvement stores, but it won’t be long before they’ll be inescapable.
I love the holidays insofar as celebrating them among the four (soon [...]

Monday was one of those beautiful crisp days that make me love the outdoors.
I’m a city girl at heart. I loved living in high-rise apartments in New York, New Jersey, and Northern Virginia. Who needs closet space and a yard to mow when you’ve got a balcony with a sweeping view of the [...]

Actually, let me rephrase that. I don’t mean to ask whether your personal iPod is populated with tunes from The Wiggles and Laurie Berkner. What I’m asking is whether you play kids’ music at home or in the car or tailor your musical choices to those that are appropriate for kids – meaning [...]

I’m a little embarrassed to admit this, but in junior high I yearned to have a boyfriend.
(What? You too? Well, I’ll be darned.)
But the objects of my affection never returned that affection, and so I continued to pine after unrequited love – building up the idea of a boyfriend as the months and [...]

Why do people turn to stare at crying children? And instead of giving the child (or the attending parent) a sympathetic smile and then going about their business, why do people KEEP staring?
Unless you have telekinetic powers that will stop my child from crying, please – I’m saying this as nicely as I know [...]

The first time I ever heard of Spongebob Squarepants was in November 2000 when I was in LA on business. Two of my co-workers and I went holiday shopping at the Universal Studios theme park, and Yvonne bought several Spongebob-themed items for her nephew.
I didn’t yet have children, and I barely gave Spongebob a passing [...]