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The Parent Trap: Confessions of a Cheapskate/Tightwad
by Betsy McMillin
I have gotten a lot of great, positive feedback from The Entitled Nation (March 20, 2011), a lot of people seeing themselves and their kids, even when they didn't want to.
I wish I could say that my kids are not as…
Urban Exile: Panhandling Can’t Be Legislated Out of Existence
by Erika McNamara
Once again panhandling has grabbed the attention of the Ann Arbor public and media. Recently, the Ann Arbor City Council decided to amend the city Panhandling Ordinance. This decision was based on the recommendation of…
10 Percent Perspiration + 90 Percent Inspiration= Motherhood
To all mothers: Happiest Of Mother's Days!
You have earned this day, so spend it how you want to: with your own sweet kids, a day off from your sweet kids and out with your best mom friends, with your own Mother.
Happy Mother's Day to…
What To Do About Picky Eaters (Without Dinner Theater or Begging)
"Up to the table everybody! Dinner time!"
Do these words make your kids slink off in the other direction, muttering, "I'm not hungry" or "yuck!?" Do you make additional dinners routinely to please non-eaters? Do you have a child on the…
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…