This Earth Day I’m going to run crazy through my yard and pick dandelions from the vast weed garden in my yard and boil some potatoes (that I didn’t grow because that would require a green thumb whereas dandelions do not) and whip up some DandePotatoes.
Ok, maybe not. But my father’s wife Anni did. No kidding. A couple weeks ago they were in town and Anni asks me if I was going to use my dandelions. Really, it looked like we had a garden of them out there. (And it dawned on me our fruitful supply was likely due to …read more

“Mrs. Clinton’s recent candidacy was a moment of reckoning for women of her generation, who treated her run as a mirror in which to examine their own lives. With Ms. Palin’s entry into the field, a younger generation of women have picked up that mirror, using her candidacy to address the question of just how demanding a job a mother with such intense family obligations should tackle.”

An interesting story in The New York Times, about what Sarah Palin represents to women: A New Twist in the Debate on Mothers.
Conservative women, who have traditionally criticized women for working, are super-excited about …read more

My friend Violet send me a very fascinating New York Times article about the struggles of getting and maintaining equality in a family.

It takes a very interesting look at what many, including probably myself, think of as the ideal – mom and dad working 30ish flexible hours and sharing equally the housework and parenting.

Life, and the other people that exist in it – like your boss and his boss – intrude on the ideal, of course.

Statistics show that even though women are working more they are still doing twice the housework and the same amount of childcare they were doing …read more

Mother Nature has been teasing us into believing that “Global Warming” is just a big fib.
In many parts of the U.S., there have been blizzards, severe ice storms and temperatures so brutally cold that even my big Labrador is hiding from his daily walk.
There is no phrase more prosaic or bursting with hope than “Spring Training”.
In two little words, come thoughts of both the warmth of spring (opening day) and the coolness of fall (World Series).
Today I saw a shot of our Derek Jeter, a girl’s Yankee fan’s answer to Matthew McConaughey (Derek is more of a class act).
OK, guys…we …read more

For the last couple of days, I’ve been in a deep flu-fog — making typing errors, not wanting to deal with work, but mostly I’ve not done much but stare vacantly at the tv, like a child.
And just like a sick child, to find comfort, I spent Saturday morning watching cartoons. Mostly to avoid our world’s horrifying and frightening current news reports and images.
I love Dora The Explorer, Ed, Edd and Eddie and Kim Possible .
But as I was flipping around, I came across a darling and familiar face from my past: Madeline!
I was never …read more

We are all so overscheduled, so committed to almost every waking hour that, I swear, even the dog sometimes looks up and thinks “oh, gawed!…not the mailman again, I just barked at him yesterday!”
I thought that on this sweltering Father’s Day, you might get a kick from reading Alex Williams’piece in The New York Times Sunday Styles section, in which the operative phrase is “Can We Reshcedule?”.
I do hope your day is filled with nothing but The World Cup finals, a hot dog and a beer.

Oh please, just admit it — you know who you are, and you know what your problem is — you or someone you know has a very specific electroninc dependency…and it’s got to stop.
Sneaking around, checking potentially IMPORTANT e-mails, leaving that stupid blinking light on 24/7, even in the blackness your room as you sleep (or your partner tries to sleep)…oh, and the bzzzzz that scares the dog toward having a mild stroke — I’m begging you…take a break and get some help.
It’s your Blackberry and there are steps that can be taken. Read Adam Bryant’s thoughts on this supremely …read more

I will start by acknowledging that my hubby does much of the laundry on the weekends. However, it may very well be my imagination, but since I started working from home to manage my business, The Pet Set , I get the distinct feeling that there has been a reversal of roles without my knowledge. For years I commuted to and worked in Manhattan and so did/does hubby; therefore household chores seemed to have been shared equitably.
This Sunday’s New York Times Style Section , covers the issue of the rift in who does more house cleaning with the deft of …read more