There are days I feel like the last surviving gatekeeper to tradition. My mission is to keep the holidays from crashing into one another.

In my rich fantasy world, Labor Day is followed by Halloween, Halloween is followed by Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving is followed by Christmas. Never do they meet, mix or mingle. Welcome to dreamland.

The ...Read more

Q. My daughter comes home from her dad’s house telling me that her father lets her stay up until 10 o’clock at night and doesn’t cook dinner. She’s 6. She needs her sleep and nourishing food. I get so worked up; I don’t want her to go. And I don’t know exactly what to say to her when she tells me these things. What’s good ex-...Read more

Dear Kid Whisperer,

I can’t believe I am doing this, but I am actually writing to you to ask about dealing with my boyfriend’s behavior. I have been with him for 10 months and our relationship is not the best, and not the worst, but I really don’t like the way he treats my 9-year-old son. Some background: My son was a real handful in the ...Read more

CHICAGO — Claudia von Thrift — which is not her real name, but we’ll get to that — wants to make something clear. She is not one of those don’t-buy-anything-this-Christmas people. She is not looking to take an activist stance against conspicuous consumption. “I am as bougie as they come,” she said, reaching into her utensil drawer ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — A wheel cranks on the machine at the Independence Visitor Center, slowing with every turn until: CLINK! A reward drops out the bottom waiting to be collected.

It’s a familiar, elongated penny. In its new form, Honest Abe’s head is swapped for an illustration of Rocky — naturally.

Philadelphia — along with other cities ...Read more

I may not be the chief cook in my house (that would be my wife, Sue, without whom I would have starved to death long ago), but I am the chief bottle washer.

And I don’t wash only bottles. I also clean glasses, mugs, cups, saucers, bowls, plates, pots, pans, tongs, whisks, spatulas, ladles, forks, knives, spoons and, most important, ice cream ...Read more

How did Skims grow to become worth more than Victoria’s Secret and Under Armour combined? A good portion of Skims devotees look past Kim Kardashian, the reality-TV megastar and face of the brand, for an answer.

Instead, those customers say it’s the product itself that has them on board. Given the label’s success, it’s hard to write it ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- Under the harsh overheard lights of a small theater stage, the comedian commandeered the microphone and unfurled a short set laced with jokes about poop anxiety and penis size.

"My preschool had these communal restrooms — just five toilets lined up ... no barriers, no doors. It was like a Roman bathhouse," the performer said, ...Read more

Dear Anna,

I’m a 29-year-old guy and I’ve been with my girlfriend for about a year and a half. We’ve always had what I thought was a solid, committed relationship. We live separately but spend most nights together, talk about future plans, the whole thing. I trusted her completely. Last week, while she was showing me something on her ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- I spent part of Halloween hanging out in a cemetery.

I wasn’t there to commune with the dead. Instead, I was getting reacquainted with the dying art of driving a stick shift car.

In Roselawn Cemetery in Roseville, Minnesota, I met a stranger who agreed to let me drive around the quiet tombstone-lined roads in his personal ...Read more

As you read this, it will almost be National Poinsettia Day, which is Dec. 12. The day honors Joel Poinsett, the first U.S. ambassador to Mexico. He is credited with introducing this beloved Christmas plant to the United States.

The Garden Guy is writing about it now in hopes that you will help end the holiday affliction known as Poinsettias ...Read more

I set off the alarm at the grocery store over the weekend. I wasn’t going to mention it, but it’s always best to get ahead of a breaking news story. My story, my spin.

I’ve never set off an alarm before.

I take that back. I set off the smoke alarm in the kitchen about once month, but high heat with cast iron does that. Other than that, ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS -- If you ever meet Bill Hawj at a party, there’s a good chance his ice-breaker is better than yours. The 49-year-old Uber driver from Roseville might tell you that he was the first Hmong baby born in Minnesota.

Bill’s parents, Dang and Shoua Hawj, were the first Hmong refugees to come to the state, an illustrious distinction ...Read more

Every day, I get the question, from both clients and friends, “Should I pay for the dating apps?” And when they are referring to the apps, they are referring to the ones like Hinge and Bumble where the basic services are free but there are in-app upgrades. (Sites like Match.com and eHarmony require payment in order to communicate with people...Read more

Q: My ex and I constantly argue about our parenting styles. I'm structured; he's loose. I worry that the differences confuse our kids. He thinks I'm too strict. I think he's too laid back. What is good ex-etiquette?

A: I bet you had similar disagreements when you lived together. One of you gave in or you compromised because the relationship ...Read more

Dear Kid Whisperer,

I’m reading your book and having a hard time with how this works for seventh-graders. If I use Strategic Noticing as many times as you suggest, 34 times in one of my 50-minute periods, I think it will actually annoy the kids and they’ll turn it into a joke. Do you have any thoughts on seventh-graders?

Answer: No.

Not ...Read more

For a double-visionary like me, the daily dilemma is not whether I can’t find my eyeglasses, in which case I would need a pair in order to find them, but why I forgot to bring them upstairs so I can see well enough to write drivel like this.

Until a few months ago, the only glasses I needed were the kind that hold beer or wine. Then I ...Read more

When Emily Little gave birth to her first child, sleeping together with her baby in bed was a given — despite all the public health messages telling her not to.

"I knew it was something that I wanted to do," said Little, a perinatal health researcher and science communications consultant who has studied cultures around the world that bed-...Read more

I spent a weekend with two lifelong friends recently and we were discussing all the ways our days — lives, really — have a way of getting away from us.

“And you know how guilty we feel doing anything for ourselves,” my friend said.

I don’t, actually.

I mean, I do. In theory. I know how our culture conspires to make us feel guilty. ...Read more

Debt is often discussed in negative terms, but debt isn’t just good or bad. It falls on a spectrum, and how you manage it plays a big role in how it impacts your finances.

Bad debt is usually high-interest credit cards that quickly accrue interest if you only make minimum payments. Good debt, such as a mortgage or student loan, can help you ...Read more