But how can someone who voted for Perot be only 28? Or did I misread something?

I mean, please . . . "my son overheard me speaking to a private scholarship company . . ." This mother is clearly looking for any excuse to get at her younger son's money. Which, by the way, if she plans to use it to support her older son in college, I have no problem with. I mean, if, as she says, she's scaled back her own career to support her younger son's career, surely she's entitled to some sort of salary. Besides, it's only money we're talking about. Big deal if the kid spends it on his older brother. This letter is bunk. It's really sad that people are so desperate for a little kindness that someone spending money ON A SIBLING is cause for teary eyes.

If this were anywhere but America, it would be a given that the money would go to help the whole family, thereby, uh, helping the whole family. Here, we are so obsessed with our money and ourselves, that giving money away, even to a family member for a good cause, becomes reason for some sort of existensial crisis. Our American "me me me" values are so pathetic. And it's just sad that people are acting like this kid is a saint for even considering the idea.

Please, people. Give this mom a break. Nothing about what she is doing is sick or wrong. She is a good mother who loves her son. However, I do think she needs to wean him, like yesterday. I had similar issues with both of my kids, both of whom were breastfed for one year. I decided to wean then because I wanted to go back to my vices (coffee and wine) and reclaim my body. Both weaned easily. We did have other "sucking" issues, however. My son used a pacifier to go to sleep until he was three. My daughter used a bottle of milk to go to sleep until she was three, as well. In the case of my son, his dentist noticed that his teeth were growing outward, and she told him, sternly, that there would be no more pacifier. He complied, and that was the end of that. I was surprised at how easily my willful boy changed his way. Next, my daughter. The dentist told her she needed to give up the bottle. Same deal. She gave it up that day (she'd had, up til this point, a three bottle a night habit that was driving us crazy). I'd advise this mom to have either the boy's pediatrician or his dentist give him a firm talking-to, thereby taking her out of the equation. She might be surprised at how easily he gives up the breast.

Cary's response to this letter writer seems melodramatic. I can relate to wanting to cut my parents' out of my life, saying it is for the sake of the grandkids, but all the while knowing it's my way of exacting punishment. I can relate to wanting to punish my parents in that way. I haven't done it, and won't; my parents were probably not as damaging as LW's. But still. Does following through with cutting your parents out of your life make you a scary person? I don't think so. It's a person who has decided, perhaps, to treat their victimizer with as much ruthlessness as they were subjected to at the victimizer's hands (or words). It is the LW's right, really.

I think it would probably help the LW to find a therapist, but for god's sake, I don't think cutting your parents out of your life makes you mentally ill. Can someone explain Cary's response to me? I'm mystified.

Are we still watching Studio 60? I saw the second show, Tivo'd the rest, and just last night deleted it after I realized I was never going to watch it. It is so very sickeningly melodramatic. I do not care about the behind the scenes shenanigans of annoying TV writers. I can't believe I'm saying this, but you're better off reading a book than wasting time on that crappy show.

Whenever I read one of these essays where women writers insist that sometimes "no" means "yes," and we all know it, and that some of their friends are getting boob jobs, claiming that it's for their own self-empowerment, I just think, wow, these sisters are so far beyond me in the art of sex and seduction that I cannot begin to relate. I mean this. I have never said "no" when I mean "yes." Never. Am I some country bumpkin? Can someone set me straight? I don't need a boob job, but if I did, it would be all about trying to get laid. Obviously. Here's the other thing: I can count on one hand the number of times I've had sex and haven't orgasmed. Do women still fake them? Is this a New York thing? Who are you people? I live in a wealthy Southern California city. I have a master's degree. I have children. I'm fat, but I still have a fair amout of sex with my husband. I have lots of women friends who I spend a lot of time chatting about everything with. I get that men and women are different . . . I also get that most of us, men and women, are engaged in the treadmill of rearing children and paying bills and working and hauling the kids around. Who cares about this shit these sisters are writing books about? Who has time to care? I do not care if other women orgasm. I don't. I don't care if they have the best boobs on earth. I don't care if they dress up like french maids for their men and enact rape scenes in which they're screaming "no, no, no" meaning "yes, yes, yes." Quit acting like you're special because you obsess about this crap. It's boring. We're over it, those of us rearing the next generation. Can you, too, please move on?