The holiday season is the culmination of the year.  November and December bring times of celebrating with family, friends and the community.  Occasionally, we have to deal with someone that makes the holidays less enjoyable, like Cousin Eddie in “Christmas Vacation.”  This year, we all have an unwanted presence during the holidays.  Its name is COVID-19.  It’s going to make the Thanksgiving-Christmas-New Years trifecta a lot more complicated and less enjoyable to say the least.  For many, it will ruin any chance of a good time.   It’s been a month since my son contracted COVID while at college.  He’s
Read More →

I’ve written quite a bit regarding the hazards and concerns of social media and “screens” in the lives of our children.  The concerns still exist; the addictive nature of social media on the teenage brain, the observed increase in depression and anxiety among individuals who are high users of social media, the addictive nature of gaming, the sexual objectification that is rampant on the internet, the physical health problems associated with too much screen time, and so on.  However, we are not going to forego our phones or our internet.  We have to learn how to manage these tools in
Read More →

My articles are usually focused on parenting.  While this one is about marriage, it definitely has an impact on families and children.  Affairs, defined broadly or narrowly, have a detrimental impact on the whole family.  Narrowly defined, an affair is understood as an illicit sexual relationship with someone outside the marriage.  Broadly defined, an affair is an intimate relationship that is emotionally intense and sexually charged.  The intensity and sexualized nature of this relationship is kept hidden from the marriage partner.  Usually, the extra-marital person is someone both spouses know; someone from the workplace, neighborhood, another parent known through the
Read More →