One of my most common disclaimers when I meet new folks is that one of my parents was raised Jewish and the other was raised Catholic, hence I am "half Jewish/half Catholic - which equals twice the guilt." And while I say this partially in jest, it is grounded in a clear understanding and appreciation of the [...]
I serve as a constant embarrassment to my teenage daughter (a.k.a. Miss Sparkle). I am regularly asked in the most dramatic presentation possible, "Why can't you be like all the other parents?" This lament surfaces whenever I try and do what I view as a parent's due diligence. According to my daughter, I am the [...]
Let's talk high school facial hair. When I take Cheyenne to school each day I see young men - lots of them - with full-blown facial hair. And by full-blown I mean, not the peach fuzz or couple of straggly chin hairs that I saw on teenage boys in my youth, I mean the facial [...]
Let me start with a confession - I do not find any joy in doing laundry. I do it because I must. My reaction to doing laundry is the equivalent of putting gas in the car - it is just something that must be done. My laundry technique is not the most typical approach of [...]
Miss Sparkle is on week two of tenth grade. This year she is at West Fargo High School (her home school) as opposed to Sheyenne High School (where the West Fargo School District housed all the ninth graders). Let me be the first to say, what a difference a year makes! In ninth grade there [...]
Yesterday was Miss Sparkle's last day of ninth grade. It left her a little melancholy. It left me a little melancholy as well. A whole year passed so quickly. I never cease to be amazed at how quickly the time goes. I confess that I was happy to be relieved of the additional time burden [...]
Tonight was West Fargo School District's last orchestra concert of the year. The end of the year concert includes 6th through 12th grade. Cheyenne now sits in the high school section since she is in ninth grade, but I remember all too well her years in the middle school seats. It is difficult to believe [...]
THE NEW FORTY 