They used to tell adopted children that they were special because they'd been chosen. I've told my adopted child that I don't believe that. Neither adoption nor birth conveys status to a child. What makes any child special is the love developed in the act of caring for -- and...

I watched the lines of people waiting for Sarah Palin at a Grand Rapids book signing, and had to wonder, as I have many times in the past: what's the attraction?

Are all of those people lined up in the mall really anti-choice, anti-gay marriage, anti-smart-ass media, pro-gun, pro-global...

The backlash followed quickly last month when Maria Shriver's report, "A Woman's Nation Changes Everything," offered its signature sound bite: "the war of the sexes is over."

As the critics and defenders lob statistics at each other (we've come a long way; we haven't come far enough), one thing...

Having a boy compounded the sense of responsibility I felt as a new mother. The world seemed to expect more. Those raised expectations brought with them an even higher level of anxiety, due in part to work I'd been doing as a clinician in a well-known outpatient child and adolescent...

Is your son in danger of becoming a mama's boy? That's the stereotype so many people associate with sons raised by women alone. Like most stereotypes, it simply doesn't hold up to reality. In fact, fostering a close connection with your son actually strengthens and confirms his identity and helps...

As dispiriting, prolonged and unprecedented as this recession has been, adults at least have the gift of perspective -- a "this too shall pass" belief that things will get better. They always have.

For children, there is no perspective. This is all new. And a recent major survey says...

Comedian Gary Shandling said: "My friends tell me I have an intimacy problem. But they don't really know me."

So it is with fathers and daughters. Women who say they hunger for a new intimacy with their fathers often have a hard time defining it, or apportioning it -- how...

For every study you find that says that a woman's relationship with men is shaped by her relationship with her father, you find another that says there is no connection.

Logic says that, while her relationship with her father does not decide her relationship with men in her life, she...

Ironically, many women who have the strongest relationships with their fathers also have the hardest time finding their own place and voice.

It's a fine line between unconditional support and overwhelming direction. He wants the best for you. But who defines what "best" means?

There is a difficult emotional...

Many women idealize their fathers and are crushed when they fall short of ideal.

Most of us don't expect perfection from ourselves or even their friends, so don't hold dad to a standard that is impossible to meet.

All relationships are works in progress, and the progress often depends...

Like mother like daughter; like father like son. Throughout much of history, mothers were the center of a daughter's universe. But as young women join the world their fathers know, and often follow the same paths, the potential role for dad in a daughter's life has expanded. It is a...

RULES OF A NEW RELATIONSHIP

• Just because he raised you, don't assume you know him.
• Bonds are built on trust. Trust comes from understanding. And understanding takes work.

Don't be afraid to blow up the old assumptions about what you mean to your father and your father means to...

I watched the angry elderly set fire to the health care town meetings. I watched the simple idea of a president talking to school kids about hard work and education devolve into cries of "brainwashing."

And I came away with real concerns about President Obama's promises to the gay community.

I'm glad it was back in the 60s when we decided to go to the moon. If we had to make that decision today, I'm not sure we would get there.

I can hear the anger at town hall meetings. "It's too expensive." "It's a corporate land grab." "If God...

These are tough times for the alpha-male business leader.

There is much introspection these days about what went so disastrously wrong with the global financial system. While the causes remain under investigation and suspects are still being interrogated, one thing is clear. Whatever happened: men did it. If not 100...

I recently wrote a HuffPost piece stating that Michael Vick has a right to work, but the NFL owners have an equal right not to hire him. Some agreed. Some did not. Some were angry. One asked: "Who died and made you the moral compass of the NFL?"

It...

From the cause of the crisis to the size of the debris field to the number of ads that begin "in these difficult economic times..." there is much about this recession that is new to us. We are on an unfamiliar road to an uncertain destination.

Little in our lives...

I believe in second chances. I believe that redemption is the soul of hope. I believe debts paid warrant fresh starts.

Except when it comes to Michael Vick.

He has served his time, endured his punishment, expressed his remorse and has a right to...

I've been following the Sotomayor hearings, and I've come to some conclusions.

Her "wise Latina" comment was just an observation about the importance of life experience.

It's impossible to say whether it was the white or black New Haven firemen who suffered discrimination.

And...

Gender bias is alive and...

I have a friend who has sterling liberal credentials. She supports choice; she hates guns; she embraces all; she goes door-to-door for Democrats.

She has just learned her son is gay.

It wasn't one of those heartfelt "mom-dad I have something to tell you" moments. He outed himself...