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
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,
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
Remember that kid who invented all those brilliant ways to cheat in high school? Even before electronic communications, he was making crib sheets in ingenious ways. Writing information on his sleeve, hiding notes in his sneakers, there was nothing he wouldn’t do. Except study, of course. Parents today have stolen
Our frothing ball-of-fluff terrier mix is dedicated to ridding the neighborhood of evil squirrels. On our early morning sojourns while my buddies and I huff and pant, Langley charges ahead, a squirrel seeking missile, a blinding streak of speeding fury. The squirrels ignore his slathering charge, blithely squatting. When Langley
In 1981 I purchased my first home, an 1100-square foot, two-bedroom house with jalousie windows and a wall unit air conditioner. Purchase price: $81,000. The mortgage–principle, interest, taxes, and insurance–came to $803/month. Having earned $780/month as a middle school math teacher the year before, I was concerned about my ability to
You can skip all the arithmetic and still get the point about how to help your kids grow up happy and healthy. If numbers are not your thing, you can start reading this essay at the photo of the teddy bear. For those of you who do believe that “numbers
“The frying pan was given to us by the Stewart family” replied Mrs. Edwards icily. “No. It. Wasn’t.” Mr. Edwards said stopping after each word as if it were a live grenade. “Tommy Stewart was my friend before we got married. You never even met him until after we got
I am the first to admit that perhaps I take privacy a tad too seriously. In the sense that possibly Noah was willing to acknowledge that he had seen enough rain. I live in a big city where “stranger danger” is all too real, so I taught all four of
Copyright © David Altshuler 1980 – 2024 | Miami, FL • Charlotte, NC | (305) 978-8917 | [email protected]
