Both of my kids had their last basketball games of the season yesterday. As much as I hemmed and hawed about the weekday practices and the games on the weekends, I’m really glad that they both played.

Not to get all Gwynneth Paltrow Goop-y on you, but as I write this, I am halfway through day one of a twenty day cleanse called Clear the Toxins. I wasn’t going to write about it, but then I thought, well, I’m always so curious about when other people do these stupid cleanses, and so I figured that I might as well share my experience in case there’s anyone else out there who has ever been interested in cleansing and yet slightly terrified of it at the same time. more

There are a lot of things that we as parents can teach our kids; like how to count, the alphabet, how to wipe their own butts, etc. But I’m finding that there are some things that are just un-teachable. They either have it or they don’t; like comic timing, the ability to do math in their heads, and, as my husband likes to say, heart. more

Thirteen years ago, when my husband (then my boyfriend) was trying to convince me to move with him to Los Angeles from Philadelphia, I agreed to go on one condition: if we ever got married and had children, they would have to go to Camp Kweebec, the overnight camp in Pennsylvania that I attended as a child. more

Oh, boy. What did we do? Finally, I had my life in some kind of normal, calm, ordered place. My kids are in school full time and I have plenty of hours to work while they’re gone. more

I feel sometimes as if my entire life revolves around snacks. I have to pack two snacks in my daughter’s backpack every day; one for morning recess, and another one for her to eat on the bus home in the afternoons. more

A friend of mine sent me that book called The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin, which is about one woman’s quest to become happier over the course of a year. more

I know that my daughter doesn’t read my column here (yet), but somehow, she seems to know that I’ve been concerned lately that perhaps I shelter her too much. more

One of the hardest things for me about being a parent is finding the right balance between sheltering my children and exposing them to enough pop culture that they’re not considered weird by other kids. more

Wow, thank God 2009 is over and gone. As far as years go, I have to say, that one was pretty sucky. But, onward and upward, right? I’m excited about 2010. more