Category Archives: Family life

There’s No Place Like Camp

Posted on August 22, 2011 by Susan H. Greenberg

Usually when the kids arrive home after being away, we enjoy a brief honeymoon period: they are engaged, chatty, appreciative, helpful and pleasant. Not this time. My 16-year-old daughter returned yesterday after four weeks of being a junior counselor at … Continue reading →

Posted in Family life, Kids, Parenting, Reality check, Teenagers | Tagged , , , , | 7 Comments

The Back-to-School Build Up

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Susan H. Greenberg

I love that old Staples commercial that shows a father gleefully filling a shopping cart with school supplies, kicking his heels to the strains of “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” while his kids mope along behind. I, … Continue reading →

Posted in Family life, Kids, Parenting, Reality check, Working motherhood | Tagged , , , , , | 10 Comments

With the Kids Away, the Snoop Will Prey

Posted on August 2, 2011 by Susan H. Greenberg

The house is quiet. The counters are strangely uncluttered. No dirty socks lie balled beneath the coffee table, no empty glasses litter the top. The bathroom sink remains eerily free of toothpaste streaks. Yes, it’s the high point of our … Continue reading →

Posted in Family life, Parenting, Reality check, Teenagers | Tagged , , , , | 12 Comments

Holy Mackerel

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Susan H. Greenberg

Like many representatives of his gender, my son is project-driven. Do not ask him to sit and have a conversation, unless it’s about the melting point of copper or where to find 25 pounds of modeling clay. Our house is … Continue reading →

Posted in Boys will be boys, Family life, Kids, Parenting | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

The Cursing Toddler

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Susan H. Greenberg

Hey, check out my guest post on Scary Mommy, the site of fellow blogger Jill Smokler!

Posted in Family life, Kids, Parenting | Tagged | Leave a comment

The Last Armed Democrat

Posted on July 12, 2011 by Susan H. Greenberg

Our arsenal keeps growing. We already own a pretty good quality bow and arrow and several AirSoft guns; for those of you with pacifist sons or daughters only, these are “toy” weapons that shoot little round pellets, which are neither … Continue reading →

Posted in Boys will be boys, Family life, Kids, Parenting, Teenagers | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Bracing for the Crash

Posted on June 29, 2011 by Susan H. Greenberg

I got a very good piece of advice from a friend whose oldest child is a few years older than mine: do not, under any circumstances, buy a new car within two years of your child’s taking Driver’s Ed. My … Continue reading →

Posted in Family life, Kids, Parenting, Reality check, Teenagers | Tagged , | 6 Comments

And Don’t Forget to Write

Posted on June 26, 2011 by Susan H. Greenberg

He didn’t even have his cellphone for comfort. Electronics, of course, are not allowed at summer camp, so when we dropped our 13-year-old son off yesterday at the bus that would take him into the wilds of New Hampshire, he … Continue reading →

Posted in Boys will be boys, Family life, Kids, Parenting, Teenagers | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

My Unaccompanied Minors

Posted on June 19, 2011 by Susan H. Greenberg

Now that the plane has landed, I can admit it: my three kids flew alone together from Boston to Orlando this morning, and I was petrified. For Christmas last year, my sisters-in-law and their partners gave my children the best … Continue reading →

Posted in Family life, Kids, Parenting, Travel | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

The Best Things in Life are Freeloaded

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Susan H. Greenberg

This summer, my kids will swim in a series of private pools. My son will golf at a country club. We will vacation in Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.  And it won’t cost us more than the price of a ferry … Continue reading →

Posted in Family life, Kids, Parenting, Travel | Tagged , , | 7 Comments