The Next StepMy two-year-old and I went out of town for the weekend. It was an eventful trip, to say the least. The high points included catching up with old friends, eggplant Parmesan, a full body massage, synchronized dancing (you had to be there), outlet shopping and a 5K run. The low points: hours of traffic, my car being towed, spotty cell phone service and driving home with a screaming toddler. Talk about first world problems. About two hours into [...]
Valentine’s Day. Is it the most romantic day of the year or the anniversary of a brutal massacre? As a somewhat cynical, single mom, I’m inclined to go with the latter. Valentine’s Day trades in the most insipid clichés of romance. If you took the promotions seriously, it’s all about hothouse roses, lobster dinners, cheap champagne, teddy bears, domestic chocolates, and tacky lingerie. It’s engineered to make people feel bad. On the other hand (where you proudly sport [...]
This past Wednesday I attended KPCC’s very first addiction support group for family members and loved ones of addicts. I’m not an addict myself - that’s not to say I couldn’t be. Addiction doesn’t discriminate. It doesn’t affect a specific race, gender, age group or social class. Addiction can creep up on anyone. I won’t get into the dynamics of the group, other than to say it's both supportive and educational in nature. But I can tell you [...]
So I know that many people in the world don't have a roof, or have a roof and little food and no clean water. Even in Charleston, there are people in a tent city by the river with no real roof to speak of. And at the same time, when I finally got the car out of the driveway, and got the kids to school, and made it in to work, and picked the kids up, and got [...]
Sometimes getting out just isn't easy. It's possible you're physically stuck inside because your town just survived Snowmaggedon 2016. Maybe your sweet but stubborn toddler refuses to wear anything but Ninja Turtle pajamas when you try to leave the house. Perhaps your mood is falling faster than the thermometer, bringing about mid-winter doldrums. Whatever the reason, we get it. We feel it, too. But rather than just commiserate, we offer a possible solution. KPCC is excited to offer distance [...]
Shoveling out after the big storm of 2016 I had a lot of time to think about stuff. The work of shoveling out is kind of like dealing with a life problem. If I address the situation of the snow right away, it is still light, and easy to clear. It will take some work and commitment to go at it right away, but it will also take half the time, and even half the effort. Sometimes though, [...]
A couple once told me that what they get out of couples counseling is "a level playing field." This was the husband's sense of it, and one that he really appreciated. Having a third person in the room who does not take sides, but who simply helps each person feel heard and understood as they talk can be a powerfully help. Simple and profound, nothing more than that. Some couples find that working out differences in public places, [...]