Columnists

You wake up too early — just like every other morning for the last two months — with a toothache that would stop an eight-day clock, whatever that is. But today is different. Today, as impossible as it sounds, you feel even worse than the all the previous regular excruciating toothache-infested days put together.

Last week you said Dr. Woodward’s philosophy of child-rearing was rather typical of the advice given to parents a generation ago.

My parents own a restaurant. I am employed there, but am looking for a new job. Why? Because I feel like a slave.

Our bank balance is rarely endangered when I walk past a shoe or clothing store. I am a terrible excuse for a fashion diva.

Bags and bails of soil have been stacked in greenhouse parking lots for months. Each week the pile gets smaller as the bags are brought inside and used to start bedding-out- plants. Similar bags are starting to appear parking lots of large box stores.

More Alberta anglers than usual are choosing the off-shore option to open their fishing season as, here at home, we are experiencing yet another slow, cold spring. They delight in emailing me pictures of themselves in tropical scrubs or shorts holding their catches: bonefish, snook and jack crevalle.

One of the best ways to prepare children for success in a democratic society is to teach them the “give and take” that comes with co-operative problem solving or decision-making. One excellent way to do this is through “Family Meetings.”

My daughter is engaged to my boss’s son, who also works for the company. On a recent out-of-town business trip, I observed my future son-in-law taking a “lady of the evening” into his hotel room. He did not see me.

In mid-April, there is a wind storm.It blows through the night and into the next day.

My brother is married to a woman I will call “Devon.” She is an only child and accustomed to having her way.