Sexuality
How My Son Discovered The Opposite Sex
It happened. Six weeks before his bar mitzvah, my son discovered girls….
Sex, Avoidance & Facebook: A Twist on Gratitude
Ever since he was really little, Tech Support has chosen to ask me the tough questions when we are in the car. …
Sucked Into Sleazy Halloween Costumes
On Halloween 1999, a mere two months after my son was born, hubby and I decided to go with a “family theme” — you know, because I was about 50 pounds heavier than I was accustomed to weighing. It seemed like a good idea at the time….
The Day Flannery O'Connor Screwed Me
Someone really smart once said, “Kids seldom misquote; in fact, they usually repeat word for word what you shouldn’t have said.” That person might actually have been sitting in my classroom the day I taught Flannery O’Connor’s short story “A Good Man is Hard to Find” to a bunch of 11th graders….
Kite Drowning at Deb Bryan's Today
I am guest posting at Deborah Bryan’s place today. She’s The Monster in Your Closet. Come read me there!…
Prom Gen iY: Same Thing, Just Better Dresses
Recently, my family was chomping on chunks of bread at Outback Steakhouse, a place we often go after I announce that I didn’t make it to the grocery store. As I sat in my old jeans, the thick, pine doors parted and in paraded boys wearing tuxedos with cummerbunds flanked by girls in fancy dresses with sparkles and sequins. I was bedazzled and instantly transported back to the mid-1980s. To my own school formals….
Lessons From 6th Grade Health Class
The other day Monkey came home wanting to know how old I was when I learned about HIV/AIDS. …
My Reading Glasses: Revisited
I’ve had my reading glasses for over a year now. At first, if you’ll remember when I posted about new glasses, I was suffering with the concept of how the damn spectacles represent that my eyes are getting older and that, by extension, I am getting older, too. I’m getting used to the concept. Some of you suggested that I try to find a pair of glasses that I really love, so I don’t feel as though I’ve lost my mojo….
Making Peace With Reading Glasses
I have to admit, I feel notably less sexy with my glasses on. I’m sorry, but it is true. I would rather look smokin’ hot in my red dress and stumble into the dessert table at somebody’s wedding than wear my glasses. And I don’t need them for distance, so I can’t wear contact lenses — and I am not a good candidate for LASIK, so you can stop right there with those suggestions. I am simply a latent hyperope. There is nothing for me right now except readers….
Are You Cool With Coed Sleepovers
I have been hearing more and more about kids getting together en masse for coed sleepovers. Some parents have been very positive about these group adventures in nocturnal cohabitation and insist there is little to worry about — the kids are all just friends, no one is drinking or doing drugs or hooking up, that the kids just like to “hang out together” in their jammies; sometimes they even text while sitting next to each other on the couch! For many parents, there’s no discussion about it – coed sleepovers are out of the question. For other parents whose teens who are hosting and attending these boy-girl events, it’s merely a sign of the times, a natural extension of the ever-expanding platonic relationships between the sexes. Some parents are clueless; their child simply tells them he/she is going to sleep at a friend’s house, but the parents never call to check in with the host parents, so they have no idea the event is coed.
How do you feel about group, coed sleepovers; they seem to be the new “cool” thing? Yay or nay? When would you allow your child to have someone of the opposite sex sleep at your house? Could they share a room? A bed?…