If you want to see joy happen right in front of your eyes, help a young child shop at the Book Fair. Their little faces when they hand over their envelope and when you give them their change and their bag with their brand new book in it - it’s pure joy to watch. Last year, I did a little one on one volunteering with a young child who had some trouble paying attention in class, and he didn’t have a lot of resources coming in from home, so I bought him a book. I sat down and read it with him and a little while later, I saw him read that same book (Good Night, Gorilla - literally has two words in the whole book so a great choice for a reluctant 1st grader who can’t really read yet) to one of hi

Me: don’t always be posting on instagram. I hate that instagram. Put your phone down and interact with people for a change. Kid: (puts phone down, gets invited to a party, attends) Me: WHY ISN’T SHE UPDATING HER INSTAGRAM? WHAT IS GOING ON AT THIS PARTY? Honestly. What did our mothers do when they wanted to know what was going on at a party? Did they even care? Are we living totally vicariously through our teenage children who are out there having brand new life experiences while we are sitting home limiting ourselves to one glass of wine and then having a coffee so we can stay awake long enough to get their text message to come pick them up and drive them home? We are watching Netflix and s

Spoiler alert: contains references to LEGO Movie 2 … specifically that the characters fear “Armomageddon” throughout the film, which is of course translated to “our mom will get in” and hilarious. In summary, LEGO 2 has the cutie patootie little boy from the first movie becoming a brooding tween, and his little sister is all up in his toys. The mom has threatened that they will have to bin up all their LEGO if they can’t share. Guess what? They can’t share. So mom asks them once to clean up the toys and they both do it immediately and without argument. First of all, that part is PURE FICTION and even less believable than talking LEGOs. LEGOs can’t really talk or dance or seamlessly shape-shi

Tonight we gather - as Americans do - around the flat screen TV at our neighbor’s house, munching on buffalo chicken dip and bowls of chili and watching grown men in white leggings knock each other down and chase one another around a field on national television. We do this to celebrate the end of football season and to officially usher in the season of basketball, which will lead us right into the season of baseball and then finally, back to football again. In most homes, the women will then slowly migrate back to the kitchen, where the real party will be. We will remark about how glad we are to not have to wear white leggings on national television or anywhere, ever. We will wonder aloud a

Do any of these stories have a familiar ring to you? You inherited an outsized stock position in a large industrial conglomerate from a grandparent who’s since passed away. You’ve held on to the stock even as the company’s heydays are long past, because of the importance of the investment to your family. You bought stock in a small software company in the early days of the tech revolution. The strong growth you earned on your investment helped you pay for your children’s college and enjoy a comfortable retirement. But now, that small start-up is an industry behemoth and isn’t growing as fast these days. You worked for a great company for 30 years. They treated you well and rewarded your go