This time of year, many folks are looking for a house sitter . You may be gone for the holidays and need someone to check your mail, water your plants, and most importantly, take care of your pets. Ideally, in these situations, you want someone you can trust. You want to make sure they will fulfill the tasks they've been asked to, and be respectful doing so. You don't want anyone who is liable to throw a party in your empty pad, eat all your cereal, or even just forget to blow out the candles.…

Guess it had sentimental value

Having a roommate can be a difficult situation to navigate, especially if one of you is third-wheeling. I know plenty of couples who live with one other person, and it can work if you're conscious about it. As the couple, you have to make sure you're not PDA-ing too hard in front of your roommate. And as the roommate, you have to assert yourself as an equal third. This balance can be tricky, though, as it can quickly feel like its two against one. But what happens when the couple is just doing…

Memory can be a slippery thing . They say that whenever you remember something, you're not actually remembering the thing itself, but rather the last time you remembered it. So by this logic, the quality of the information slowly degrades with time-- a photograph of a photograph for years and years until it's just fuzz. So it's not so easily relied upon. This is especially true when you're a kid. Memory is so hard to access from that time that someone could tell you a story about yourself and y…

He is entitled

Cooking is an act of love like anything else . I'm always so touched when someone cooks for me, even if it's just my roommate making a weeknight dinner. Cooking is an art form, so when someone is brave enough to share it with you, then you should treat it with the utmost respect. Unless they expressly invite criticism, I don't think you should comment on it in a negative way. This even holds true in a marriage. It might be even more important in the context of a marriage. Since nobody has to co…

Every kid with siblings knows that their parents have a favorite child, and most of the time, they also know who the favorite child is. As a middle child myself, I can tell you for a fact that I am not my parent's favorite kid, and I probably never stood a chance. Despite being the one who calls my parents every day, who always buys them anniversary and birthday gifts, and who helps them out the most, I still come nowhere close to being loved as much as my youngest sister, who does absolutely n…

She needs her sleep

What's a holiday without a little family drama?

Having similar names in the same family can be a little confusing . Sometimes there are so many Johns that one of them needs to become “Johnny,” one of them needs to be “Big John” or “Little John," depending on their age and size, and one of them just needs to go by their middle name, Stew. But we compromise for each other because we're family, and ultimately everyone has the right to name their baby whatever they'd like to. Odds are, you're not going to have a totally unique baby name unless y…

Teenagers and technology are not the best mix. Anyone who has grown up with social media knows how damaging it can be to your mental health. It can distort reality, dampen your creativity, and make you irritable. So it's no wonder that some parents want to restrict how much access their teen has to their phone because left unchecked, some kids might spend all day on their device. But this is not always a popular decision among the teenagers themselves. If there's anything that they hate, it's b…

Having children over at your house is no simple task . If you're used to existing in the adult world, having kids suddenly enter your space can be jarring. You realize quickly how much breakable stuff you own, how many sharp edges there are, how many possibly dangerous items you have lying around, and how kids have no regard for that kind of thing. It then becomes the job of the parents, or whoever is in charge, to make sure that the kids stay in their lane, as it were. That's just called good…

Every family who celebrates Christmas has their little version of tradition. They've honed their ritual-- what they eat, where they go, and when they open presents. Some folks go to church the night before, some on the day, and some don't go at all. Some eat a traditional roast and some mix it up. Santa might wrap your presents or leave them unwrapped. You might have a stocking or just do a gift exchange. Everyone does it a little differently . But what happens when two families, and thus two t…

Karma is served

Nicknames can be a tricky thing. They usually start as a form of endearment when you're little, turning your adult name into something more befitting of a little one. Gregory becomes “Little Greggie” because a baby named Greg would be unsettling.

It's not acceptable