Families and Family Life

November 11, 2020

A Tough Call for Families: How to Spend Thanksgiving

Just as the country cannot seem to agree on whether to wear masks or stay six feet apart, there are also disagreements bubbling up over how […]
September 27, 2020

How to Keep the Peace in a School Pod

Ivi Kolasi, a parent in Berkeley, Calif., didn’t expect that forming a learning pod for her 2-year-old daughter would take so long, or be so hard. […]
September 1, 2020

How to Submit a Modern Love Essay

ImageCredit…Brian Rea Although Modern Love has evolved into a podcast, a book, a TV show and Tiny Love Stories in its 16 years, the column’s central […]
August 27, 2020

Parenting in Front of a Live Audience of In-laws

Somewhere in rural Pennsylvania, my husband and I whisper-argue on a mattress strewn across the floor. His hand gestures say, “Lower your voice.” Mine say, “I’m […]
June 27, 2020

Organize Your Own Olympic Games, at Home

Watching athletes compete in the Summer Olympic Games is a long-awaited highlight for millions around the world. It’s a ritual that comes every four years — […]
June 26, 2020

Pandemic Parenting Was Already Relentless. Then Came Summer.

American parents spend more time and money on their children than ever — and that was before the pandemic. Now, with remote school ending for the […]
April 23, 2020

Overheard on Zoom: Co-Workers Talking About My ‘Weird’ Habits

I had two Zoom meetings at the same time at the university where I work. I told my boss I wasn’t sure how long the first […]
March 27, 2020

On the Front Lines of a Pandemic, ‘I Love You’ Can Mean ‘Goodbye’

“I love you,” I said to my wife. Then, quietly: “Goodbye.” It was 6 a.m. and I was getting up for work. If I had said […]
March 25, 2020

‘A Week of Snow Days’? Ha! Families Deal With Cabin Fever

Anita Tandon and Sujit Chakravarthy, parents of three young children, ages 3 months to 7 years old, have taken extreme measures to keep order in their […]
February 18, 2020

The iPhone at the Deathbed

After Robert Alexander died at 51 during heart surgery in June 2018, after he was taken from the hospital to the facility that would recover the […]