In Praise of ‘Difficult’ Kids
Feisty children can be exhausting. They also possess a moral fire that deserves cultivating.
Family
The Endless Goodbye
More than a decade before my dad died, I lost him to dementia.
Everyone Thinks They Need a NeeDoh
But no one can find one.
The Sneaky-Saver Generation
Gen Z may have a Peter Pan reputation—but it’s also saving a lot of money.
What Your Favorite Personality Test Says About You
Are you a Myers-Briggs person, an Enneagram person, or something else? The Atlantic made a quiz to help you find out.
ChatGPT Will Change Housework
But it can never eliminate it.
The Not-So-Secret Key to Emotional Balance
Crying can help you keep your feelings in check. It’s also inextricably bound up in spirituality.
Welcome to Wedding Sprawl
Proposal parties. Extended bachelor and bachelorette weekends. Multiple honeymoons. Modern marriage celebrations can feel endless.
Please Don’t Ask Me to Play Your Board Game
Play can be a great shortcut to bonding. But I’d rather just have a conversation.
How Raising a Child Is Like Writing a Novel
Creating art requires a suspension of disbelief, a narrowing of vision to the present moment, an openness to the unexpected. So, too, with caring for a tiny human being.
The Scariest Part of a Relationship
For partners to make it “official,” they have to survive the period between acquaintanceship and closeness. But that’s when people tend to be especially bad at communicating.
Parasocial Relationships Are Just Imaginary Friends for Adults
If you get too invested in a fake friendship, your real ones might suffer.
When Did People Start Brushing Dogs’ Teeth?
Canine dental-hygiene needs haven’t changed; our relationship with our pets has.
‘A Common American Death’
It is hard for me not to think of my father’s death as a kind of negligent homicide, facilitated and sped by the United States’ broken safety net and strained systems of care.