It is coming increasingly clear that “we are who we are.” I didn’t choose to be a happily married heterosexual male any more than any of my gay friends and relatives chose to be who they are. “Straight Camp”-okay, there’s no such thing as “Straight Camp”, somebody made that up-doesn’t
1) Four-year-old Liam picks a wooden train out of the toy box. His six-year-old brother, Colby, comes over and grabs the train from his hand. Undeterred, Liam gathers a bag of blocks and starts to build a tower. Colby knocks over the stack of blocks. Undaunted, Liam selects a puzzle.
One of my running buddies found out a few years ago that a distant relative on his wife’s side left the couple some $6000. Malcolm wasn’t close with his wife’s aunt’s second husband so he was equally pleased and saddened by the news of his passing. “He had a good
You know that guy who is unpleasant with you, has been for years? You know the one I mean. Maybe he’s a colleague at work, maybe a neighbor. Maybe he’s the bully in your algebra class, maybe it’s your wife’s sister’s husband. Whoever it is, he’s always giving you a
When our sons were six, one of my running buddies and I packed up the canoes and the kids and headed out to the barrier islands conveniently located a hundred yards from the mainland out in Biscayne Bay. After tying the boats to the top of the car and loading
1) “Turn left at the third light pole before the church that burned down where Lee Ann’s grandfather got married that first time.” 2) “Take half the coefficient of the linear term, square it, and add it to both sides.” What do these directives have in common? That not everyone
Maybe you can help, gentle readers, with the following folks and their very real problems: 1) Why can’t my wife be more understanding? Sure, I have extra-marital affairs. I travel a lot. I have a few different women I see in each city I visit. What does that have to
At the gym the other day, I overheard a conversation between two acquaintances who had, by their own objective assessment, the worst most miserable lives ever in the history of the planet Earth from the Australopithecines to the present day. Ungrateful children, galloping health concerns, economic problems of epic proportions,
One of my running buddies has had the unmitigated temerity to suggest that my parenting philosophy can be summed up in the simplistic phrase, “Take your kids camping.” So I feel it is high time to amend my advice-honed over 30 years of counseling families-by adding another phrase: “Take your kids
Parents trying to raise healthy kids in our toxic culture frequently describe how alone they feel: “All the other parents let their kids play vacuous, violent, addictive video games.” Parents also feel overwhelmed. “We both have jobs. Do you know what it costs to live in this city?” Parents feel
Copyright © David Altshuler 1980 – 2024 | Miami, FL • Charlotte, NC | (305) 978-8917 | [email protected]
