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

Yesterday, I was talking to a friend who works for a Fortune 500 company. She'd just learned about layoffs coming to her division and was genuinely panicked. "How do you handle not knowing where your next paycheck is coming from?" she asked.

I had to laugh — not at her situation, which is genuinely stressful — but at the assumption that ...Read more

Five years ago, I introduced the garden reader to "The Little Indigo That Could." That little indigo named Supertunia Mini Vista Indigo is still doing it. Supertunia Mini Vista Indigo petunia, winner of 34 awards, can now add another trophy to the case as it has been designated a Louisiana Super Plant standing right next to the granddaddy of ...Read more

Dear Anna,

I’ve been dating my girlfriend for a little over a year, and for the most part things are great. We’re both pretty sentimental people, but in different ways. I save things — not in a hoarder way, but I’ve kept shoeboxes of old letters, birthday cards and printed photos from past relationships going back to college. I don’t ...Read more

Why is it that something that should seem so easy – telling someone you’re not interested – is so hard for so many people? I certainly understand that no one wants to hurt someone’s feelings. But, in saying nothing (ghosting, if you will), you’re doing a lot more damage to their feelings than simply telling a high-level version of the ...Read more

Q: How do I know if my children are truly safe when they move between two homes -- and I rarely talk to their mom? What should I do if something feels "off"? What's good ex-etiquette?

A: This is one of the most common questions I hear from newly separated parents, and it makes perfect sense. When families reorganize, children begin living in ...Read more

Dear Kid Whisperer,

I’m a sixth-grade teacher. My teaching partner has a student who has always been hard, these last couple weeks especially. He’s had to practice a lot lately. Instead of writing his name on his assignment, he wrote an offensive word. He already had a talking-to about using this specific word last year. How would you ...Read more

There were no witnesses, but all I said was, “Get Fred off the table and away from the food.” I thought it was a reasonable request, but from the look on her face I was out of line. Who knew a first-grader with beautiful hazel eyes nestled above cherub cheeks could shoot such a menacing look?

I was momentarily intimidated, but I also knew I...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The serval did not want to go into her crate.

The spotted cat's name was Naomi, she had just been weighed, and now it was time to do as she was told.

"C'mon — in your crate," urged Thomas Barber, a student at Moorpark College.

Naomi, held on a leash by student Trinity Astilla, was the picture of lithe, feline elegance as she...Read more

I don’t want to toot my own horn — that’s because I can’t play the tuba and tooting is rude, especially at the dinner table — but I have come up with a brilliant way to get rid of all those irritating scammers who call me every day, at all hours, especially when I am at the dinner table.

I bought an air horn and successfully used it ...Read more