The all American work ethic, destructive enough by itself, also packs a gender double standard that strip-mines the natural resources of both parents. It has taught us that as their earnings and success increase, men become "more manly," while women become "less feminine." This perverse cultural dynamic gives fathers an incentive to stay away from their families and kill themselves at work, while coercing mothers to limit their career commitment, which in turn limits their wages and shortchanges their families.

Housework is the only activity at which men are allowed to be consistently inept because they are thought to be so competent at everything else.

If the family were a fruit, it would be an orange, a circle of sections, held together but separable - each segment distinct.

Control is a big issue when you're sick. It's the first thing you lose - other losses come later.

I used to anticipate my childhood birthday parties as if each were an annual coronation. Like most kids, I loved sitting at the head of the table with a crown on my head.

Apathy is the self-defense of the powerless.

Friends seem to be like aspirin; we don't really know why they make a sick person feel better, but they do.