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Category: My Ever-Changing Family

Our No TV Week — The Kids Survived, but Did I?

girl on tricyclle with helmet. Photo by Barbara Newhall

What would happen, I wondered, if our family had no TV for a week. Who would complain the most? Read more.

The Day Our Son Didn’t Drown — Family Stories

Two children play on the steps of a condominium pool in Miami Beach in 1985 with Atlantic in the background. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Family stories: Four-year-old Peter’s body was limp. His eyes stared blankly into the Florida sky. We’d been swimming in a pool designed for adults. Read more.

Mason County, Michigan — My One-Woman Road Trip Takes Me to Falconer Country

Windmills outlined against the sky of Mason county, Michigan, farmland. Photo by Barbara Newhall

A visit to Falconer country — Mason county — was a must-do stop on my one-woman road trip up and down and across Michigan. A cousin showed me around the old family farms. Read more.

Wedding Wear: The Aunt Wore Black

red eileen fisher dress with shirt. . looking for a dress for niece's wedding. nordstrom. Eileen Fisher $248 for the shirt and $378 for the dress

This wedding called for a festive evening dress with panache and color and sparkle. And skin. Lots of it. Arms. Legs. And, what the heck, décolletage. Read more.

The Politics of Housework, Revisited

Men and housework and childcare. A man carries his affectionate toddler girl. Photo by Barbara Newhall

As a feminist conversant with the politics of housework, I tried not to be too preoccupied with clean. Then I learned I was allergic to the dustballs under my marital bed. Read more.

Weight Lifting Can Kill You — Shall I Email the News to My Weight-Lifting Son?

Peter Newhall, a young man in his 30s, bench presses at a gym. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Weight lifting can kill you. Death by dead lift and dumbbell can sneak up on you long after you’ve put the weights back in the squat rack. Read more.

Retired Is a State of Mind — Six Ways to Know If You’re There Yet

A trail alongside Bon Tempe Lake in Marin county, California. Photo by Barbara Newhall

Retired is a state of mind. Not a state of paycheck or work schedule or commute or how much time you spend at the office. Read more.

Confessions of a So-So Wife: The Night I Forgot to Make Dinner

Jon Newhall at the kitchen counter preparing salmon to bake for his wife's birthday. Photo by Barbara Newhall

It would be the dinner of my dreams, the married life I’d imagined as a girl back in Detroit. The table would be set, the chicken roasted to a golden brown. Read more.

Telephoning Those Teenage Babysitters — Rejected Again

An ivory colored touch-tone telephone, c.irca 1970s, with coiled cord and handset. A babysitter phone list is next to it. Photo by Barbara Newhall

What did teenage boys and moms in need of a babysitter have in common back in the day? They had to call up teenage girls. Read more.

Cindy Newhall Weyant — A Bright Light Has Gone Out

cindy newhall weyant. Photo by Barbara Newhall

My beautiful niece, Cindy Newhall Weyant, died in her sleep Tuesday night. Read more.

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