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Barbara Greenleaf is the author of the new self-help book, Parents of Adult Children: You Are Not Alone, based on her long-running blog. She has also written a history of childhood and a self-help for working mothers. Barbara was on the staff of The New York Times.

Latest Posts By Barbara Greenleaf

2 months ago

Get Your Best Ideas Before You Get Out of Bed: A 5-Step Process to Creativity

There are many routes to creativity and – contrary to what we were told as children. Whether you call it thinking outside the box, originality, or dynamic problem-solving, creativity is simply a way of approaching puzzling situations and coming up…

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3 months ago

How Crafting Opens the Door to Creativity – No It’s Not Too Late to Begin at 60!

When I was young, I couldn’t draw so I didn’t consider myself “artistic.” Now that I’m over 60, I know there are many ways one can express oneself creatively. Yet overcoming the idea that I was a no-talent presented a high hurdle – especially since…

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2 years ago

What Makes for a Better Farewell Gift Than Your China? How About a Memory Box?

At some point, we women of a certain age start to question how much our offspring really know about us and our lives. All too often the answer comes back, “not much.” We live such fast-paced and overscheduled lives…

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3 years ago

When Breaking Up with Friends Is Hard but Necessary

Friendships with women are what get a lot of us through life. On TV, in movies, and on the Net, friendship is exalted and even elevated to the level of one’s “tribe.” But in real life, people can betray confidences, fail to come through…

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3 years ago

What Do Our Adult Children Owe Us in the Pandemic?

When I was writing my book, Parents of Adult Children: You Are Not Alone, I found that the major source of discontent – on both sides of the generational divide – was the disparity between the parents’ expectations…

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3 years ago

The Gift of Little Bits of Time

During the pandemic, the days seem to slide by, and, even without going to an office or having the usual philanthropic meetings and obligations, we often don’t get to what needs doing. There are lots of reasons for this…

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4 years ago

Apologies: How to Make Them Work

During the current pandemic, I find it relaxing to watch Army Wives before I go to bed, and I’ve noticed that, in every episode someone says, “I’m sorry.” This TV show being a soap opera (albeit a high-class one), the apology is always…

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4 years ago

How Often Do You Evaluate Your Connections? Perhaps It’s Time You Get to It

A gift of the Coronavirus is time for self-reflection. This was impossible in normal times; so consumed were we with work, family, household chores, volunteering, book club, working out, and general “busy-ness.” In mid-March all that came…

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4 years ago

Do You Remember the Old-Fashioned Visit?

I don’t know about you, but I found that among my friends, the default position for getting together was always going out to a restaurant for lunch or dinner and sometimes even for breakfast. When two of us women finally hit upon a mutually…

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4 years ago

Will Your Loved One Still Be Your Loved One After Lockdown?

My friends who live alone refuse to let me complain about anything during this quarantine. As soon as I start to be the least bit self-pitying, they cut me off with…

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