I may be the last person in the country to discover the wonders of a safety can opener, which takes off the top of cans without leaving a sharp rim. It was always a point of pride with me that I used a simple Swing-A-Way opener. The Swing-A-Way was classic. It did the job it
It’s important to keep things in perspective. Much as we rightly criticize the U.S. for its less-than ideal policies towards parents and children, especially LGBT ones, we generally do all right here in the developed world. The humanitarian organization Save the Children today released its eighth annual Mothers’ Index, ranking the best and worst places
Many months ago, I agreed in a caffeine-fueled haze to write for an upcoming parenting Web site, Offsprung. Today the site launches. Offsprung isn’t your mother’s parenting Web site, however. Instead, it’s a humor magazine designed to eviscerate the excesses of modern parenting culture. It’s offbeat, in your face, and irreverent. If you don’t like
From the “but we knew that” department: A study commissioned by the Canadian government back in 2003 has concluded that “children living with two mothers and children living with a mother and father have the same levels and qualities of social competence.” The study, based on “empirical literature,” also noted: “A few studies suggest that
If you are still searching for the perfect Mother’s or Father’s Day gift for your partner or your own parents, you need look no further than Courting Equality: A Documentary History of America’s First Legal Same-Sex Marriages. It is a glossy, large-format work, but to call it a coffee-table book is to do it an
I was driving home from Boston the other day, reflecting that if I got hit by the semi in the next lane, at least I had a legal spouse who would be able to visit me in the hospital. I began then to ponder the advances in same-sex relationship recognition over the last several weeks.
The Family Pride Coalition is asking people to vote for their favorite among the ten finalists in the FPC Family Drawing Contest. The artists are ages 3 1/2 to 12, and clearly enjoyed depicting their families on paper. Feel awkward judging children’s art? Have your own child select the one she/he likes best. Or vote
(Originally published with slight modification in Bay Windows, May 3, 2007.) Prospective LGBT parents often ask me “Where do I start?” Because there is no established tradition for how we create our families, it is easy to feel like a stranger navigating Boston without a map. While no two people follow the exact same path
My preschooler has loved Blue Man Group, the offbeat musicians and entertainers, ever since he saw an exhibit featuring their PVC-pipe instruments at the Boston Children’s Museum. (Yes, we have something of a PVC-pipe obsession around here.) He loves to watch the video clips on their Web site, but his latest interest is their new
Today is the start of the WNBA preseason, giving me a needed dose of women’s-sports watching to tide me over until Wimbledon starts at the end of June. I am, as it happens, hopelessly inept at actually playing basketball (and softball, for that matter), but am finding I have to raise my game this year.
