Alternative title: Pre-teen drama from a five-year old. After we maneuvered the highways and byways and concrete jungle of the hospital for Charlie’s speech evaluation, I had a dream. And I don’t mean the figurative, Martin Luther King Jr., “I have a dream.” I mean the literal, went to sleep that night and entered some form of R.E.M. state that led me to a vision. It was a picture of the future. It wasn’t sci-fi …

Remember when thinking about the future meant Twilight Zone music and Astro from the Jetsons and Marty McFly on his hover-board? Remember when Orson Welles convinced the world aliens had invaded and Spielberg made people cry in A.I.? Remember when texting wasn’t a thing and the “smart” in smartphones meant “neat”? The future has always been a mix of fear and excitement. Self-driving cars have received a great deal of both: pure joy at the …

How to Use Your Philosophy on Life to Pick Swim Lessons I learned to swim at one year old because I was thrown into the pool by my well-meaning parents. There’s a VHS tape of it somewhere in the attic. You can see me bob to the surface after a second or two. I didn’t cry. I was probably too busy filing it away for my future therapy cache. Yet I never remember a fear …

When I read New York Magazine’s article on the storytelling technique that could flip your life around with a little wordplay, I tried it and fell in love with myself…just a little bit. As one who finds “self-care” a fluffy word that ought to be in quotes and accompanied with an eye roll, this was a bigger moment than it sounds. The article reviews a study that asked 600 people to journal, a practice I …

Today I’m reviewing my thoughts on a Mother’s Day that was harder than most. My mom, the woman who raised me, had to “celebrate” this holiday for the first time without her mother. This piece was written for her in honor of my grandmother. Click on the picture to read the article in Scary Mommy.   How did you spend Mother’s Day? Save Save Save

JOHN 4:7-13 7 When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” 8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a …

We’re parents now. We’re grownups. We’ve got the bills, the jobs, the tired eyes that didn’t come from partying. But we’re still kids, too. Are you checking out your middle-aged body in the mirror right now and shaking your head? Stop…and call your mom. She’ll set you straight. One lecture from her on how you really need to wash those shirts inside out and you’ll be rolling your eyes like a teenager. Because to them …

I watch Speechless. It makes me feel like I’ve got comrades-in-arms in Hollywood somewhere. Somebody thought the story of a kid with cerebral palsy and his eccentric family was worth telling. I agree. And Minnie Driver holds my heart. On one of the more recent episodes, the siblings of JJ (the eldest with cp) bring up the future with their parents…the future when those same parents who fight for JJ’s rights in school and home …

When I think of Hollywood, I picture Rodeo Drive, the Hills, the Chinese Theater, the cookie cutter A-listers. It’s a cliché that’s (hopefully) only in my head. So many films tout the shell of a story, a hook and nothing more. So I pass. Not worth money on the babysitter. As the Oscar list rolls out now, I find I don’t recognize or care to see a single title. But I will make the effort …

Once upon a time I taught philosophy. And now philosophy is teaching me. Here’s my take on Parent.co on parenting, Carl Jung-style. Carl Jung on Parenting: There Are No Coincidences Carl Jung had a theory. Didn’t he always? As more of a mystic than a scientist, he lassoed the universe and pulled it gently into the confines of our minds. Except he didn’t believe they were confines as such. They were cracked windows, leaky faucets, …