Letters to the Editor
HesterEastman
Published Letters: 210 Editor's Choice: 21
-
Are you sure moving will make him happy?
[Read the article: We moved, and now my husband is miserable]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]LW- before you even think about this another minute, you have to ask yourself (and him) if moving will truly make him happy. It sounds like there are a lot of things making him unhappy - bad job, lack of employable skills, and who knows what else - and he's blaming it all on where you live. Maybe that's a convenient excuse. While I agree it's great to be able to choose your ideal locale, having a good job is also a key factor in contentment.
If he hasn't finished that degree and jobs at his level are hard to come by, might that not be true in the old place as well where it seemed like his employment wasn't ideal either? The economy probably hasn't gotten better since you left. What will you do if you quit your job, move back there, both get unsatisfying low-paying jobs and it turns out neither of you are very happy?
-
Perfect!
[Read the article: The Salon Gift Guide]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thanks for a great list of suggestions and for including some charitable organizations in there as well. I was looking for a charity to donate to in my son's name for a gift - now I have Room to Read and the WWF to choose from. And my mother in law was just waxing nostalgic a few days ago about the old fashioned popcorn poppers and wondering if you can get them anymore. Perfect!
-
Don't go to a reporter
[Read the article: Somebody sent child protective services to my house!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Really, what's an article in the local paper going to do for you? Let everyone in town know you're being investigated for child abuse? Great. That should make the LW feel a lot better.
LW: Hold your head high at church activities, don't hide your son. If you've done nothing wrong, don't act like you have. It will make people wonder. Since it happened with church people, your minister is certainly someone you should talk to, but I would consult a lawyer asap. Perhaps you want to go down to CPS and talk to someone about whether that is necessary. Maybe they'll reassure you that the case has been thrown out, but this is really a nightmare and you might want some legal counsel on your side.
-
Standards and first dates
[Read the article: If the first date isn't great, why go out with him again? ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]First of all, there's nothing wrong with having high standards. Not having high standards leads you to be one of those women that ends up having to buy a copy of "He's Just Not That Into You".
That said, when I first met my husband (not on a date) I paid no attention to him - he was not my type. Then I got to know him as a friend and suddenly I found out that someone who wasn't my type maybe was my type. Keep your mind open, LW, you never know. I've been happily married for 17 years.
Thank god I never dated in the age of on-line dating. The odds of that working out are so slim, it must be incredibly depressing. It's basically a blind date, and we all figured out a long time ago that those are usually a waste of time.
-
Ballsy
[Read the article: Heigl didn't love "Knocked Up"]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]If you don't like balls-y, fine, but can we never use the word "ovaries-y" ever again? Pretty please? Thanks.
-
This is the best she's ever looked
[Read the article: News flash: Jennifer Love Hewitt wears bathing suits]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Last time I caught JLH (in a bad tv movie or something) she was startling undernourished to the point that she had the Olson Twins Big Head syndrome. She looks great here - happy, healthy and attractive.
-
The problem with Warner
[Read the article: Has Judith Warner gone too far?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]There are a number of things wrong with Warner's column, and many of Warner's columns have the same problem. As others have noted, she takes single extreme incident about a sociopath and uses it to make a point about today's parents. She may be right about so-called helicopter parents, they just don't have anything to do with this psycho mom in Missouri.
My other big beef with Warner is her tone of finger-pointing (can pointing have a tone?). There's always an accusation of how parents (often mothers with her) are doing it all wrong. I read her book and while I thought she made some very good points and observations, her tone was all about what was wrong with the American mother and how French women do it all so much better. Blech.
My other problem with this particular article is that Warner wants to come down on mother's for desperately wanting to protect their children. Judith, protecting our children is a basic instinct and thank god for it. Finding the balance of when to protect them and when to let them find their own way is the challenge of parenting. I agree with her that often we have to hold back from protecting our kids from every little hurt in the world, but there is nothing wrong with the instinct to protect.
-
Time to grow up, but that doesn't mean conform
[Read the article: I'm an existential artist. People just don't get me!]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I find myself dismissive of everyone who doesn't meet a certain criterion of originality or truth
My 14 year old is going through this exact same phase. Luckily, he's 14 and has a mother who believes it is a phase and so can overlook the obnoxioiusness of it all. I don't know what to do when you're still this obnoxious at 26. It may be time to accept that being an existential artist and dressing differently doesn't make you a superior human being. Are those truly your only goals?