I don’t like getting massages. Everyone who knows me knows this. You know me. You know this. Yet, every time we go on vacation, you suggest we get a couples massage, the kind where we lie side by side in a darkened room while two massage therapists thump on our arms and legs. The last […]
Lately my son Jack is very, very angry. He is not himself, although to be honest, I don’t even know what he looks like as himself, since we constantly ebb and flow through good days and bad—smooth, sunny sailing juxtaposed against rocky waters with a lot of wind. Who is he? Who is this boy? […]
I went back to work when my first son, Joey, was six weeks old. He went to a charming little day care around the corner for my office, and we just loved it. Except for one problem. When he moved into the toddler room, he was in class with a kid who bit. Day after […]
Hi. My name is Carrie Cariello. I am forty-two years old. I am married to a man named Joe and we have five children. Twelve years ago, I gave birth to a baby boy with a neurological disorder called autism. It impacts the way he eats, sleeps, talks, and thinks. He is considered special needs, […]
I guess I’m wondering what you think of him. I know I shouldn’t care, but I can’t help it. I do. He doesn’t care, not one little bit. In fact, I don’t think he even notices when people stare at him or kids point to him. I don’t care for the reasons you might think. […]
Here’s the thing, Jack-a-boo. Sometimes I’m not really sure how to parent you. I mean, parenting is hard enough as it is. But you, well, you are just the tiniest but different from the rest of the kids. And I mean that in the nicest possible way. How do I mother a child who doesn’t […]
Listen, I get it. He’s twelve. He’s almost as tall as I am and his sneakers are a whole size bigger than the ones I wear. He’s in the seventh grade. His older-by-one-year brother knows. His younger-by-three-years sister is beginning to connect the dots. Quietly, when no one else is in the room, she asks […]
Research tells us anxiety is an emotion, often characterized by inner turmoil, dread, and the expectation of a future event. It is not the same as fear, because fear is the response to a real, actual event. Science says there are six major types; generalized anxiety disorder, panic attack disorder obsessive-compulsive disorder, phobia, social anxiety […]
Do you ever wish you could see inside other people’s marriages? You know, like if they fight about changing the toilet paper roll or who spends more money at the grocery store or whether or not it’s time to throw away the smelly sponge sitting in the kitchen sink? I do. I wish I knew […]
Today, I love you. I can’t say I love you every minute of every day. But today, I do. I love you even thought you made me really, really mad this morning. You remember, when our 12-year old son Jack was screaming and running through the kitchen. He was furious because he didn’t want to […]