Hair hair everywhere
My mom and I have joint custody of a fancy vacuum cleaner. A few years ago when we both needed a new one, we decided to pool our money because we live just a few…
Dopamine’s double life
People are a mystery. Sometimes I’m convinced we’re all just a bunch of intricate puzzles who happen to be wearing pants. To have a decent shot at comprehending human behavior, we need to better understand…
Beanie baby
There’s a baby in the house. A tiny, orange, fuzzy baby with two green eyes, 18 pink toes, and 24 whiskers that are too long for his body. His name is Beanie. Our 18-year-old daughter…
Dealing with dread
August has baggage. And I’m not just talking about the oppressive heat and the swamp-level humidity. The month begins with the last dregs of summer and ends with an espresso shot of back-to-school busyness. If…
A computer’s close call
There’s an easy way to tell whether or not you have an unhealthy attachment to your computer: How do you react when it might be broken? It happened to me last week, so the feelings…
How mama got her snooze back
I wish I’d known years ago that my ability to sleep well might have an expiration date. I used to be so good at it. In those early years, I could drop off within minutes,…
The topic that triggers an angry inbox
By Gwen Rockwood, newspaper columnist and mama of 3 Sometimes, I get angry emails. It doesn’t happen often, which is good because I don’t try to inspire irritation. But when you write for the public…
My brother, the bottle rocket
My older brother was one of those guys — a fireworks guy. Do you know one? A guy who loves fireworks so much that the 4th of July becomes more like Christmas — the most…
The true story of Stink and Stank
One of my dad’s favorite television shows was Sanford & Son, which aired through most of the 1970s. I was a little kid then, but what I remember most about the show, other than its…
Tears, fears and duct tape
As a new parent, everyone braces you for how challenging the newborn phase will be. They make jokes about sleeping while you can because once the baby shows up, you’ll be up around the clock…