Youth, and How to Run Screaming from it

Youth, they say, is wasted on the young… but, if you give it to the elderly, they’ll just break a hip trying to use it. After attending my granddaughter’s second birthday party (she’s fifty but has only had two actual parties), I’ve been thinking about youth. I don’t see myself as wanting my youth back… […]

Stuff I Used to Worry About

I used to worry about dying young; now, I just worry about dying. I used to worry about going bald; now, I just worry about my hat blowing off. I used to worry about getting fat; now, I just worry that I’m not worried about getting fat. I used to worry about being publicly humiliated; […]

How Can I Help my Local Public School?

Volunteer! Schools are always looking for volunteers. If there’s no one doing it, you could volunteer to be the principal. I volunteered to be a student but they told me they already had enough of those… Join the PTA: What has all the drama of a homeowner’s association meeting and all the futility of trying […]

I’m Humble About this List on Pride

The best definition of “pride” is self-satisfaction turned violently outward. Aristotle felt that pride was a virtue instead of a sin. Not only was he comfortable with that opinion, he was pretty smug about it. Parents usually say that they are equally proud of each of their children… often with a straight face… Milton hinted […]

Signs that Your Child’s School May Not Be Up to Standards

Early afternoon is spent sitting quietly while the teacher watches her “stories”. The week before standardized testing, the teacher leads the children in a new song called, “A-C-C-A-B-D-A” When the children got up to the letter ‘T’, funding ran out, so your son Victor and you daughter Yvonne are considered by the other children to […]