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Ann Handley

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Parenting

Birthday Boy

Thirteen years ago today, we threw a first birthday party for our blond, apple-cheeked boy. Three months later to the day, he would be dead, from a virulent and rare form of strep. One day he was sitting in my lap with a book, clapping his hands when we came to his favorite page. And […]

Filed Under: Annarchy, Children, Family History, Parenting, Writing Tagged With: kids, mothers, Parenting, personal history, Writing

Notice to Staff and Stakeholders: Reorg

coddled

Greetings all staff and stakeholders of Coddled Teenage Boy Enterprises: It has come to my attention that there has been some confusion about your roles and responsibilities within the organization, which has led to infighting, yelling, and name-calling—this happened just yesterday, prior to 7 AM. Such behavior is both unprofessional and upsetting, and it is […]

Filed Under: Children, Humor, Parenting, Teenagers Tagged With: Business, kids, mothers, parentings, sons, Teenagers

Looking for Eddie Field

I tolerate you

Eddie Field had ears that stuck out like mug handles from either side of his head and a face that was a constellation of freckles. He wore his hair in a Boy’s Regular barber cut, cropped close to his head, which only served to emphasize both the freckles and the unfortunate angle of his ears. […]

Filed Under: Children, Family History, Parenting, Teenagers Tagged With: Boston, children's games, Eddie Field, kids, memoir, Parenting, personal history, storytelling, summer

Summer on the Coast of Maine, Doggy-Style

I’m spending this week on the coast of southern Maine. If I had a choice, I’d spend most of the week as I am right now: in a low-slung beach chair, toes buried in the warm sand, and book propped open on my lap, pages ruffled by the strong wind off the water. Every few […]

Filed Under: Business, Children, Dogs, Parenting, Pets, Teenagers, Travel Tagged With: beaches, Dogs, Maine, mothers, Parenting, Pets, Teenagers, Travel

Beta Before Alpha

June Cleaver

My friend Rachel emailed me an article the other day from Yankelovich, a market research company. The article, produced just after Mother’s Day, heralded the arrival of “Beta Moms” and their “newfound acceptance that being a ‘just good enough for my family’ mother…speaks to a more forgiving, laid-back approach to parenting.” Unlike “Alpha Moms” (or, […]

Filed Under: Children, Family History, Media, Parenting, Women Tagged With: competitive parenting, marketing, Media, mothers, Parenting

American Idolatry

Last week I signed on for the Comcast triple play, which brought our triumvirate of phone-internet-TV under Comcast’s wing. It also simultaneously catapulted us back to the Land of DVRs (Digital Video Recorders), a place from which we had reluctantly decamped after our last TiVo box died months ago. With DVRs, we’ve learned to start […]

Filed Under: Media, Parenting, Pop Culture, Technology Tagged With: connectivity, digital life, Technology

The Shadow Knows: Watching Superbad with My Son

The Shadow Knows

When I was a kid, in the 70s, I used to swipe my older brother’s Mad magazines. A lot of the humor was over my head, but that only added to the allure: This was a peep show into an unknown world, and I was lusting to grow up. One Mad feature I did get, […]

Filed Under: Children, Dogs, Media, Parenting, Secrets, Teenagers Tagged With: kids, magazines, mothers, movies, Parenting, personal history, privacy, Teenagers

Competitive Parenting As Child’s Play

dress up

If April is the cruelest month, March has to be the strangest. At least, this March: What a strange few weeks it’s been. Silda Spitzer stands by Eliot; Gilligan’s Mary Ann is a stoner. Then, last night, as I was watching my daughter thumb through a new catalog from a local toy store, I noticed […]

Filed Under: Children, Parenting, Pop Culture Tagged With: children's games, competitive parenting, kids, marketing, Parenting, retail

Is 18 the New 8?

In her book released last fall, Deceptively Delicious, Jessica Seinfeld slips chickpeas into her chocolate chip cookies and purees butternut squash into her mac and cheese. The general premise is that kid food is fried and white. But if you can slip in something on the sly—say, cauliflower into mashed potatoes, or sweet potato into […]

Filed Under: Children, Food, Parenting, Pop Culture, Technology Tagged With: cooking, Food, kids, mothers, Parenting

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