Fighting with the Mom of Your Kid’s BFF

Posted on Mar 11, 2010 in Children, Parenting

I could feel Maria’s pain and frustration when she shared the story of her recent blowout with a friend who happens to also be her daughter’s BFF’s mom. I have two thoughts about this issue and have personally experienced both. 1) The friendship will heal because you both are actually friends and want it to heal. 2) The friendship will never recover (even with your best efforts) because it never actually meant that much to...

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Do You Need to Do a ‘Friendtervention’?

Posted on Mar 8, 2010 in Relationships

Okay, so when is it time to make that phone call to a friend or have lunch and discuss “the issue”? You know what I mean: You’ve seen her drinking a little too much lately. Or her husband was out to dinner with a colleague — and sitting a little too close for your liking. Or her new size 0 look is starting to scare you. It can be very difficult to tell a friend how we really feel. Of course, what we fear is that she may...

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Suicide and the Children of Celebrities

Posted on Mar 1, 2010 in Celebrities in the News, Children, Death, Family, Parenting, Tragedies

Today we heard the devastating news of the suicide death of Michael Blosil, the 18-year-old son of Marie Osmond and Brian Blosil. It was only a few days ago that 42-year-old Andrew Koenig son of actor Walter Koenig (of “Star Trek” fame), was also found dead as the result of suicide. The fact that these two suicides were the children of celebrities is, in my opinion, not coincidental. The two things are clearly related. Both of these...

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Spitefully Gay: A True Story

Posted on Mar 1, 2010 in Children, Family, Parenting, Relationships

Tova, my 6-year-old daughter, has been dealing with envy and jealousy a lot lately. As anyone with two kids knows, sibling rivalry is at times unbearable! I honestly wonder how my mom survived with three girls fighting over bathroom space, clothes and boys for 18 years! I do know that all the moms on my block would get together and drink wine (from a box), starting at around 4 PM every day. It was pure 1970s survival drinking. Lately, Tova has...

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Moms Who Murder Their Own Kids

Posted on Feb 25, 2010 in Children, Death, Family, Parenting, Tragedies

What is going on with these murdering moms? Stacey Pagli was arraigned Wednesday on charges of killing her daughter, Marissa Pagli, 18. Officials say that it appears Marissa was strangled — and that Stacey has attempted suicide in jail. What is going on with all these murdering moms? Well, it seems that it is not that uncommon — it is just horrifying to our sensibilities as caring and loving mothers. According to the U.S. Department...

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