Ah, the holidays are here: Cosy fires. Candles in the window. Roasting turkeys. Towers of presents. Outrageous desserts. Family togetherness. And tension, discord, and stress. So how to minimize the misery and maximize the fun? I have an answer of...

The tired-looking woman at the doctor’s office shoves a towering stack of paperwork at me. After relentless haranguing by the boys' school, we’re here at the D.C. branch of a national HMO to get their age-four shots. � And it doesn’t bode well...

T-Rex is hunched on the couch, arms folded, glaring at me. He’s staked his position, and he’s not budging: “I don’t like playschool. I’m staying here!” I’m glaring back at him, BlackBerry in my backpack buzzing work requests it seems I...

A good friend of mine called me in a snit earlier this week. She was going to a big-deal event on Capitol Hill for work—some Senate thing—and a colleague had casually asked her to take photos. She was all whipped up. “I mean the nerve!” she...

Some people just can't seem to talk without yelling. You know that moment when you switch off the DVD player, and the TV blares at top volume? They're stuck in it. I had an office across the hall from one of these people once, and I swear I knew more...