Childhood

I am arming my kid to the teeth

My liberal parents never let me play with toy guns as a boy. Now that my son is 4, I'm stockpiling the arsenal

By Mark Benjamin Sep 8, 2009

I cannot watch violence on TV or in movies

My family thinks it's just entertainment, but it leaves me anxious and sleepless.

By Cary Tennis May 15, 2009
They f*** you up, your mum and dad

So you thought your parents were weird. Two remarkable memoirs about partner swapping, revolutionary politics and other unorthodox family tales.

By Andrew O'Hehir March 31, 2009
Childhood, a time of carefree play ... and crash diets?

In Britain, there's an increase in kids under 10 being hospitalized for eating disorders.

By Sarah Hepola May 8, 2008
Childhood's end

When your children grow up, you have to say goodbye to part of them -- and part of yourself.

By Gary Kamiya December 18, 2007

I had a nomadic childhood; now I can't maintain ties

I seem to have lost some part of myself and wish I could get it back.

By Cary Tennis December 11, 2008
My childhood dreams are shattering as I approach adulthood

I used to believe in fantastic things of the imagination; now they all seem to be dead.

By Cary Tennis March 21, 2008
My half-brother locked me in the closet and I think I'm to blame

I am conflicted about who is to blame for my older brother's abuse. I goaded him on. I think I share the blame.

By Cary Tennis March 6, 2008
My 13-year-old singer wants to quit piano lessons

I'd love to let her quit so that we can stop fighting about it, but I know she'll regret it if she does.

By Cary Tennis June 21, 2007
Daddy's becoming a woman!

How do I tell our 8-year-old daughter that her dad is having a sex change?

By Cary Tennis May 10, 2007
Do I have to be a mommy to "opt out"?

I'm crazy in love with my two sisters' five kids. I feel like helping to raise them would give my life meaning.

By Cary Tennis April 24, 2007
Should we two mommies tell our child who the sperm donor was?

I think the child will want to know who the father was, but my partner is concerned about interference and complications.

By Cary Tennis January 3, 2007
My 8-year-old misses his old life -- should we move back to the suburbs?

It was good to separate from their alcoholic dad -- but I feel bad about bringing my kids to the city.

By Cary Tennis October 19, 2006
Four square for grown-ups?

Childhood games like tag, dodgeball and rock paper scissors are being reclaimed by adults. Is there some deep societal reason why people are returning to kiddie fun?

By Christopher Noxon June 28, 2006
People love me but I can't feel it

Since childhood, I feel only a great emptiness.

By Cary Tennis March 23, 2006
I'm still angry at my father -- what happened in my childhood?

I have certain hazy memories that give me the creeps, but I really don't know the truth.

By Cary Tennis November 1, 2005
Shel games

The great children's poet and adult entertainer Shel Silverstein did it all -- singing jazz songs, hanging with Lenny Bruce, writing plays, drawing cartoons, and living at the Playboy Mansion.

By Lisa Rogak April 20, 2005
Lynda Barry

Eulogy

January 24, 2003
We gambled and lost everything we didn't need

After nearly two years on the road, we arrive a different family -- splintered but revived.

By Kate Convissor December 13, 2002
May you never know your place

My son believes New York is his town, and the world is his oyster cracker. Is he entitled to feel entitled?

By Justin Davidson October 7, 2002
Lynda Barry

What She Just Said

September 20, 2002
Lynda Barry

Countdown from cool

September 13, 2002
Lynda Barry

The Crying Swan

August 2, 2002
All about basketball

My girls live and breathe hoops with a passion that carries us beyond the season into moments of frightening uncertainty.

By Susan Straight June 6, 2002
This is not my beautiful house

We go back to old homes to reinhabit past selves. We don't own them anymore, but they belong to us nonetheless.

By Carol Lynn Mithers May 14, 2002