-
Keep Calm and Stay on the Covid Course
I didn’t intend for the mashed potatoes to land in her mouth. But it was eleventh grade, we were joking around, and she – my best friend to this day – had landed a comic punch. Unwilling to let her have the last word, I scooped up the mashed potatoes that were already on the cafeteria…
-
7 New Traditions for a COVID Thanksgiving
To say October through December is my favorite time of year understates my sentiment. I would spend the year – all three hundred and sixty-five days of it – living Halloween to Christmas on an endless cycle. My husband says it’s depressing to spend nine months of the year longing for the other three. But he doesn’t load the dishwasher properly. I don’t really expect him to understand. I know, I know. It’s…
-
Think Your Kids Are Bored of Being in Lockdown? Read This!
Every puzzle has been assembled. Every banana has been baked into bread. Every episode of The Mandalorian has been watched. Every book on Amazon has been read. Every trail has been hiked. After seven months of hanging with COVID, my teenagers wear their boredom like a ratty bathrobe. It clings to them, old and tattered,…
-
This Year, Flexibility is Key When Booking Holiday Travel
By Wendi Rank When the rideshare arrived, the driver told my mom he was there to take her to Maryland. The problem? My mom hadn’t ordered the rideshare. My toddler niece, indulging a fantasy most of my family has had at some point, ordered the vehicle. She’d gotten ahold of my mom’s phone, executing a…
-
3 Tips for Getting Through Halloween With Good Scares
By Wendi Rank Halloween is the best holiday of the year. One might argue the best holiday is Christmas, or Thanksgiving, or – gah – Mother’s Day. One can argue Halloween isn’t even a holiday. But you and I know that’s wrong. Show me another day where you can enjoy two of the best contributions of humankind – Jamie Lee Curtis and Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkins. I mean,…
-
How to Lessen the Havoc Daylight Savings Wreaks on Our Bodies
By Wendi Rank For years, a battle has waged within the walls of my home. My husband, a devout outdoorsman, maintains we are happier, healthier people when we spend time outdoors. This assertion is patently ridiculous. I am certainly more contented when I’m locked into Unsolved Mysteries on my tablet. Obviously, my husband is right.…
-
At Home, Resist the Urge to Fight Over Politics!
By Wendi Rank Some people load dishwashers haphazardly. You know the kind. These riffraff give no thought to the economy of space or direction of water spray. Glasses placed erratically. Silverware cuddling in the utensil rack. We all know such miscreants. I called them people, which is generous. They’re really monsters, traipsing through the world…
-
Can Empathy Make People Mask Up?
By Wendi Rank My daughter didn’t cry when her guinea pig died. He was old, she shrugged. Shocked, I suggested to my husband we had perhaps raised a serial killer. Where was her empathy? My husband, practical as ever, agreed with our daughter. KitKat had been quite old for a guinea pig. But if I…
-
Will Travel Ever Be The Same?
By Wendi Rank As COVID ran through the world as the bulls run through Spain, my husband and I made what our teenagers assured us was a vicious decision. We skipped joining our community pool. Our summer, normally overrun by hours at the pool, early morning swim team drills, and – I kid you not…
-
Ode to In-Person Shopping
By Wendi Rank I don’t want to brag, but I’m somewhat of an ace at internet shopping. Don’t shy away from giving me the credit I deserve here. There’s more to it than clicking items into your basket. You need multiple windows open, for price comparison. Then you need to check Rakuten for rebates. Next…
-
In a World of Full of New Normals, Is Telehealth Right for You?
By Wendi Rank As a longtime nurse, my mom is distrustful of telehealth, a popular option since COVID reared its ugly head. But my dad, an octogenarian with Parkinson’s disease, is better off seeing his doctors from home. A tumble in June landed him in the emergency department. Three weeks later, a cough, body aches,…
-
Tips for the Virtual School Day Via Philadelphia Magazine
By Wendi Rank I peeked in on my teenagers as they started their first day of virtual school last week. Did they need anything? Another notebook? My famous scones? A hug? That check-in was more for me than them, a fact their rolled eyes and aggrieved expressions only emphasized. Virtual schooling is a metaphor for…
-
It’s Not Your Phone Distracting You. It’s You.
By Wendi Rank I’d been waiting months for the second season of Outlander. When it comes to bingeing, few things sit as firmly in my wheelhouse as Outlander. The protagonist, Claire, is a nurse transported through time to the eighteenth century. Claire’s husband, Jamie, is a strapping Scotsman who is frequently, well, undressed. With my…
Founding Partners
Advertisement
Affiliate Partners
Community Partners
