If you’re anything like me, it’s easy to slip into habits when it comes to holidays. Warm-weather holidays mean cookouts with classic rock in the background; cold-weather holidays mean big meals indoors, music optional. Now I’m all for celebrating with food and family, but at a certain point the holidays can seem interchangeable, so long [...]

With spring break approaching, April is prime time for college hunting. You’ve got juniors in high school checking out colleges for the first time and undecided seniors who want one last look before making the final decision. I know from experience. My oldest son is a high school senior and we visited colleges intermittently from January [...]

The opening days for New York’s new baseball parks are still a year off, but one thing is obvious when you get past the gorgeous renderings – the stadiums are too small. For the sake of all New York baseball fans, construction needs to stop and new plans drawn up for bigger stadiums.

The people [...]

Toy guns are often a matter of controversy for parents. As a kid I had toy guns, but at some point my father decided that wasn’t a good idea. He didn’t want my youngest brother, 15 years my junior, to play with toy guns and banned them from the house. Of course my youngest brother [...]

Eliot Spitzer, and his apology for an activity he is yet to name, did not come up at my house last night.                  Now that could mean the kids didn’t know about it because the news broke too late in the school day to become gossip there. And [...]

 My wife, oldest son and I visited Stony Brook University yesterday to check out the school that’s vaulted to first place on my son’s list of college choices.

 It’s a big school; lecture halls are routine for most classes he’s going to take his first year. Also since its an NCAA Division One school, chances are just about zero that he will play for team basketball, [...]

Yesterday I wrote about my elder son getting his first college-acceptance letter. He’s growing up and this post documents one of the more surprising examples.

One workday a few months ago, I woke up to find my son ironing a dress shirt. Then he asked for help in knotting in his tie. This event  has repeated itself  on a weekly basis since then. Pretty shocking for a [...]

An oversized envelope from SUNY Stony Brook arrived at my house this week. It’s appearance had been heralded by a phone call from the elder of my two sons who told me that he had something to show me when I got home from work.

Stuffed with a colorful brochure touting the advantages of this state school, the envelope contained an acceptance letter. So now I [...]

Yesterday was the deadline for many college applications. So my eldest son was at his school until 10 p.m. last night finishing his applications. I know that because at 8 p.m. he called to ask for an example of his stubborness, something he needed for his college essay.

“An example of your stubborness? How about waiting until the last minute to finish you college [...]

I don’t remember the last time I saw my oldest son cry. I didn’t actually see him cry yesterday when his high school basketball team lost by two points.

After the small crowd had gone home and only the two teams and the score keepers remained, I looked across the court to see my son’s face buried in his hands. Then he pulled [...]

Be honest, just between us. How many of you have watched Super Nanny or Nanny 911 and recognized your family? Or perhaps were left thinking that some of those families weren’t really all that bad?

Don’t feign ignorance. For several years now, the British nannies of Super Nanny and Nanny911 have been parachuting into chaotic American [...]

I ran into my neighbor the other morning as she she pushed a stroller containing her 3-month-old as she also tried to hold onto her 3-year-old who was bending down to scoop up snow.

The scene reminded me of when my wife and I were new parents and we strolled down the street with one of our kids in a carriage. Often, total strangers would greet and talk [...]

In the last two weeks, my two sons have gone from being healthy teens to walking wounded. First my youngest son, 13, fractured two toes. Then last week, my eldest son, 17, tore the rotator cuff in his right shoulder.
How did they do it? By acting like teens.
My youngest son got into a tussle with his oldest brother, [...]

Lead contamination seems to be a problem that just doesn’t go away. The 1970s saw lead removed from home paints, its elimination from gasoline, and its banning from paint used on children’s toys.

 But the series of recalled toys and other products in recent months shows that lead remains a issue for just about everyone with children, who are most susceptible to [...]

An uncle died last week after suffering a stroke during the summer. We attended the wake Thursday night and the funeral Friday morning. When I said we I mean me, my wife and our 17-year-old son. My 13-year-old son chose not to attend - even though in the past he has.

At the wake there were some [...]