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Foodist: Kitchen Fetishists
According to research by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 1920 the average American woman spent 30 hours per week preparing meals and cleaning up from them. By 1950, the number of hours per week women spent rustling up chow dropped…
The Parent Trap: It’s Time Every Kid Made Time to Volunteer. Really.
I have written about our kids being entitled, (March 20), enabled (March 27), having poor manners (March 6). Every day I am reminded how easy our kids have it, how much is given to them, and how little we ask in return. There is a way to…
The Politics of Buyer’s Remorse: Group Files Petition to Recall Gov. Rick Snyder
According to a piece published today in The Detroit News, "A group that wants to recall Republican Gov. Rick Snyder says it will file its proposed petition wording with the state of Michigan this morning. Michigan Citizens United, which…
The Parent Trap: Let The Parent Who Is Without Sin Cast The First Dirty Look
My salad days,
When I was green in judgment.
—William Shakespeare, Antony and Cleopatra. Act i. Sc. 5.
Sometimes I catch myself in a "parenting moment," and I don't recognize myself. How can that mom who is giving her two-year-old candy on…
Urban Exile: Ann Arbor Panhandling Task Force Recommendations Wrong-Headed, Study Shows
There is a lot of advice in recent articles about the right and wrong way to help panhandlers. Many times this advice conflicts with the on-the-spot feelings of individuals who want to give to panhandlers. Some are adamantly against…
Foodist: The Hypocrisy of Free Range Meat
The Atlantic is at it again.
February/March thinking person's publications, including The Atlantic, Salon.com and even the Chicago Tribune took foodies and locavores to task for, well, "pomposity" and "sermonizing." It was a tough…
The Parent Trap: The Battle Hymn of the Anti-Tiger Mother
We parents are a gullible lot, suckers.
Forever searching for the latest study, the cure-all answer to our problems. We get sucked in by marketing scams, too many short-sighted studies, and questionable advice. How many copies of Amy…
Detroit Society of Professional Journalists Dishes Up Awards to Ann Arborites
"Journalists, if they do their jobs right, are never very popular. Much of the time, we’re bringing you bad news, and some of the time, we are obnoxious about it."—Jack Lessenberry on "Why Journalism Matters." To read the rest of the April…
The Parent Trap: The Entitled Nation Becomes The Enabled Nation
A typical day for my best friend of 40 years, who just happens to be a secretary at a public middle school, goes something like this:
Student comes in to office, needs to use the phone.
"I need the phone. I forgot my lunch."
My friend…
The Parent Trap: Make a Behavior Chart? Have a Martini? Let Me Think….
I am so sick of charts.
If I draw up, Google, copy, fill out or even see another chart, I may just hop on the next AATA bus that conveniently goes by my house every 20 minutes, and go to the nearest martini bar.
Confession: There is one…
