ArcaMax

When I was about 7, my son's age, I was determined to see Santa Claus. From previous years, I knew that if I stared out my window long enough, my eyes would go heavy and I'd eventually sleep, my head resting on the windowsill. This year, I couldn't miss it. I wouldn't miss it. Rather than sleep in my bedroom, I insisted on sleeping on the ...Read more

There is something making its way around social media called the "Woman's Never List."

The premise is that every woman has a mental list, personal and unique to her, of things she will never do. The idea isn't that these are things the woman would like to do; rather, they are things she has recognized she will not do, despite any inherent ...Read more

"You have five minutes after checking in to ask for a refund. Requests after five minutes will not be granted."

Blinking, I read the sign again as the motel cashier charged my credit card. Well, this doesn't bode well. How many people had demanded a refund within the first 10 minutes of seeing their room before the place decided that this...Read more

"Oh, my Godzilla! You still have that mutant suitcase?" my friend said, mouth agape, when she saw my packed luggage -- specifically, my soft, flimsy but impossibly huge gray suitcase. "When you bought it, I was sure you'd be stopped at the very first airport you dragged it into and have its contents searched for smuggled acrobats."

To be fair...Read more

It's that time of year again, when my neighborhood looks intentionally festive rather than just lazy. The holly on the mailboxes, the icicle Christmas lights dangling off rain gutters, and the Nativity scene window stickers could all be mistaken by any new visitor to the cul-de-sac for recently adorned holiday decor put up by those eager to ...Read more

Congratulations! Your big new promotion is wonderful news. You definitely deserve your new, supersized salary and juicy executive perks.

Say what? You didn't get a big new promotion? Well, there's no reason for that. Or maybe there is.

Meet Gina Belli.

Belli is the author of "10 Reasons You're Not Getting Promoted," a recent post on PayScale'...Read more

"Hold on a second," my aunt said to my cousin, who was mid-story. She turned to stare at me. Silence fell over our dinner table. Then my aunt started to giggle.

"You have to be the loudest chewer in the entire world."

I was about 7 years old. And when I look back, this is the first memory I have of feeling truly mortified by someone's ...Read more

"They jump?!"

"That's what he say," the interpreter told me. "They jump."

The owner of Casa Lawrence, a kind man with an easy laugh and warm eyes that sparkle when he smiles, which is always, held out his left palm. He extended and curled the fingers on his right hand, making them look like worms jumping off his hand.

"Ping! Ping!" he said,...Read more

"How about 'The Wizard of Oz'?"

Too boring.

"How about a family of sugar skull skeletons?"

Too scary.

"We could all dress up as 'How to Train Your Dragon.'"

Not Halloween enough.

"Then how about we dress as candy corn?"

No! Then we'll be sad we can't eat us! Do we have to dress as a family?

My family...Read more

"Ooh, a bride! Look, Mama! She's so beautiful."

I turned around to see what my 3-year-old was talking about. We were shopping in Ross, so I expected that she was referring to a mannequin in a gorgeous dress rather than a real bride walking down the aisle. That is, unless she was completely lost -- or perhaps completely un-lost and, having ...Read more

I am American. I know where my grandparents were from, given that they either immigrated to America or were first-generation Americans. There is nothing exotic in my appearance to uncover, given that I'm most often referred to as having girl-next-door looks. Thus, the popular DNA tests never held much interest for me. What could I learn that I ...Read more

"My teacher says we need to protect the whistleblowers," my 7-year-old said.

These kids, I thought. They know everything.

My son talks about Donald Trump and politics casually with his friends the way I do with mine. It unnerves me. I grew up right outside of Washington, D.C., and I don't recall being this informed at his age.

"...Read more

"Do you know why they call it a superstition?" Mr. Patrick, my sixth-grade teacher, asked the class. He had just told us about an old friend who died a horrific death with welts and boils, rashes and coughs, fevers and hallucinations, after refusing to heed the warnings and entering an ancient pyramid. The doctors didn't know what was ...Read more