As last year's holiday season sputtered out and the relatives left our house, I exhaled, then smiled. I'd really enjoyed all the feasting and fun, from the morning moment the kids' cousins started frolicking underfoot, until the last precious late-night conversation wound down. But there is no way in hell we can manage another holiday season like that one, because floundering in all the happy happy joy joy was one miserable, disoriented, sleep-disturbed little boy with autism and his equally disoriented parents.

Not long after I graduated from college, I worked at a government agency. One of my co-workers was in the middle of a bitter divorce. Prior to the divorce, he stayed home caring for his two young sons. Once his wife left him, however, she filed for custody of the children. At the time, he did not contest the filing, as he did not want to upset his kids any more than they already were. However, he was clearly heartbroken and missed nurturing his children.

Late this summer, my father died. I'm still grieving the loss. I will be grieving the loss for the rest of my life. But the rest of life is a very long time, and there are many days to get through, and so I work very hard on coping and I think that I'm doing pretty well. But some days are harder than others. Some days are much harder than others. Holidays are the hardest.

Harry & Sally. Rhett & Scarlett. Lancelot & Guinevere. Lucy & Ricky. Johnny & Baby. Name famous romantic couples and since 2007, Marlboro Man and The Pioneer Woman deserve a spot in the Top Ten.

One of Fox's fall hits, "Glee" got itself in a bit of trouble last week with an episode called, "Wheels."  It was about wheelchair user Artie (Kevin McHale) and head Glee-meister, Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison) trying to teach the other Glee kids a little something about living with a disability.  Add to that the sight of a Down syndrome student trying out for Sue Sylvester's (Jane Lynch) Cheerios and the keyboards set to tapping in the blogosphere.

I have new faith in pop culture as a vector of enlightenment now that the TV show Glee has given us Wheels, a thoroughly contemporary After School Special about people with disabilities.

How many of us remember the classic song "You've Got A friend?"  Whether it was Carol King or James Taylor, almost any of us who listen to the radio or went away to summer camp as kids know that particular song.   Believe it or not, even if we changed the song lyric from "You just call out my name" to "You just text out my name" the result would be, your friends would still come runnnin'. 

CNN and bloggers report that the body of 5-year-old Shaniya Davis of Fayetteville, NC, has been found. Earlier today 200 people searched for the child's body after police received a tip that she was dead, say news sources.

Thanksgiving is coming, and you know what that means... holiday shopping is about to get ugly. If your piggy bank is looking a little empty this year, you're not alone. We've all been doing some pretty mournful shaking...The good news is, there are plenty of great things you can get for all the kids on your list that ring in at $10 or less. I know because I've spent the past six months combing through them!

I saw a lot of tweets over the weekend asking "what the heck is this momspotting thing?" People, I'm here to help.

For years, academics, educators and all manner of pontificating pundits have been bemoaning the downfall of intelligence at the hands of technology. The use and over-use of television created, to hear them tell it, passive, stupid children, and thus the name “boob tube”. Video games are blamed for producing violent, fat, under-achieving students.

We've seen the harried mother in Wal-Mart, shrieking at her wayward toddler as she streaks through the aisles clutching candy. You've probably also been the exhausted mommy who, at the end of a long day, MUST YELL TO GET THE SELECTIVELY HEARING-IMPAIRED CHILD TO TAKE A BATH.I myself went along a parenting trajectory. It went like this:New mommy: Cooing and singing, even when my daughter popped me in the nose accidentally while reaching for a toy, hurting me so bad my eyes watered Toddler mommy: Redirection! These tantrums are developmentally appropriate! Ha!Preschooler mommy: I don't understand you when you use that whining voice.Kindergartner mommy: Yell