My oldest child wants to get behind the wheel of an automobile, and I'm worried.
As she bugs us for permission to take the test for a learner's permit, I can't help but think of a driving quiz my wife was once given - by a police officer, on the side of the road.
The quiz took place when my wife was around 20 years old (we weren't married yet). She was cruising around town when she drove through a yellow light. A police car pulled her over.
When the officer approached her window, he didn't ask for the license and registration. Instead, he asked if my wife knew what the colors on the traffic light meant.
I'll always remember that late afternoon I spent sitting across from a bright and talented young man in a psychiatric hospital's group room. Half of his face was boyishly handsome. The other half was scarred from a car crash that no one called an accident. He politely answered my...
Over 40 years ago, 42,000 pregnant women enrolled in a prospective study of neurologic disorders in children. The women gave birth to 55,000 babies who were continually assessed for the presence of birth defects and other conditions. When the infants were eight months old, psychologists put them through a...
Of all the pieces of advice I've been able to pass along to my young son, few are as practical as this one: If your mouth involuntarily opens whenever you perform a manual task (as his often does), don't become a plumber. I learned this after my wife tried passing 11½ pounds of vegetable peelings down our kitchen drain. I had explained a few times before that just because we had a garbage disposal didn't mean she should use it.