Of course there is always turkey; its skin golden and and slightly crisp, its meat moist, juicy, and cooked to perfection. The chestnut colored gravy is never lumpy and has a hint of red wine. She doesn’t like what is the best part of the meal for the rest of us, the unparalleled apple, cranberry stuffing. It took years but we finally convinced her to make double the recipe so we wouldn’t fight over the minuscule portions. Side dishes are always the same: rice and sausage casserole, brussel sprouts with bacon and brown sugar  whipped sweet potatoes.

I first became aware of the buzz about Sapphire's debut novel Push in 1995 or 1996. The novel gained attention for its distressing storyline but possibly more because the novelist received a $500,000 advance, a sum unheard of in those days for a first novel. Well, unheard of except that another writer that year had received even more, Jacquelyn Mitchard.

It’s about to be “The Holidays” and gift season is upon us. And what to get for the baby who has everything?

Today is the last day of October and of Domestic Violence Awareness month. Obviously in what I would believe to be a better world such an observance would be completely unnecessary.

I am ridiculously excited for our first Halloween! I'm having the mommy group over, and I'm making big girl cupcakes, and baby cupcakes. I was psyched to make carrot cake with nuts and candy corn on top, until someone reminded me both are a choking hazard...I will definitely be sending photos to the BlogHer Halloween Photoshare! My son is going to be Superman (of course...).

Here on BlogHer we have lots of discussions of the pressures women are under. Some of it from the the outside, and a lot of it from the inside. It's amazing the hoops we ask ourselves to jump through, leaving aside the pressures from our families, our employers, media messages, and the infamous "they". As in "they say".

My family is blessed with lots of extended family. We are extremely blessed because not only do my kids have both sets of grandparents, they also have their beloved great-grandmother, too. My parents and my grandmother live nearby and we have dinner with them every Sunday. Until last year, my husband’s mother and grandmother lived with us. We just lost his grandmother last year. She was 101. Before she left us, she was thrilled to have been present at the college graduations of all of her grandchildren and many of her great-grand-children. I have been increasingly dismayed with a gradual shift that is happening in our family. The chasm between the kids and the elders is widening.

This is the first year my kids are aware of the existence of Halloween.  My older daughter, somewhere north of four and a half, is in school for the first time, where Halloween themes began to permeate school activities two weeks ago.  There will be a class party and a "Halloween Parade", which, I gather, is marching around the building in a costume.And thus, this year, the lid has been blown off of Halloween.

What should they call me? I’m not the grandmother by blood but the grandmother by love. When I was growing up in St. Louis, we used to have play-cousins, play-auntees (pronounced “ain-tees”), and play mamas. This was the designation for someone who was like family but not actually a relation. My granddaughter’s father also has a son, who lives with them half-time. I love him. Initially, I loved him as I love any child who comes within my orb – a general, all-encompassing love. To me, children are ‘sposed to be loved.

Every year, Planned Parenthood offers services to more than five million men, women, and adolescents. In that year, they offer nearly one million Pap tests and more than 850,000 breast exams, provide provides more than 3.3 million tests and treatments for sexually transmitted infections, and estimate that their services prevent as many as 621,000 unintended pregnancies. Many locations offer prenatal and postpartum care. In addition, they offer safe, affordable abortions.

You have to look out for the flu, do you hear me? You, and everyone you know. That may or may not mean getting a flu shot - more on that below - but either way, watch for it, cover your mouth, wash your hands, see the doctor... do whatever it takes to contain it. Especially if you are pregnant, or know someone pregnant, or might possibly one of these days sneeze on someone who is pregnant. Because those someones? Their lives - and the lives of their babies - depend on it.

In my neighbourhood here in Houston, people go completely insane when it comes to Halloween.  Starting about 2 weeks after the school year begins, houses in my area start putting pumpkins out on their front porch, there are "bats" hanging from the trees, fake cobwebs and tombstones all over the front yards.  At first, I thought it was the homes that had hyper-excited young children who had been forced into putting out all the decorations, but now I'm not so sure:  the house with the most decorations, to my knowledge, is owned by a childless couple.I'm not sure I get it.