My eight-year-old granddaughter Lily is on a Soccer team and practices and plays regularly. She is not particularly athletic but her parents thought it would a good experience for her with the emphasis, as it should be on fun, fitness, and friends. But my son, who serves as assistant coach, also complains about how intense some of the parents get about the game. These parents criticize the coach and even their own children in front of their friends.

I am sure I share the experience of many grandparents and parents who have encountered toys for their grandchildren or children with the ominous label, “Some assembly required.” The label didn’t seem ominous at the time but takes on its infuriating demeanor after it is removed from under the tree and the Holiday wrappings removed. For example, someone purchased a pink roadster for my granddaughter’s Disney Princess Doll to ride in.

It is always a bit of a surprise to see a tall ghost when we open our door on Halloween. Some young adolescents find it hard to give up the practice of trick or treating. And many, particularly young, adults use the holiday as an excuse to have elaborate dress up costume parties. The attraction of Halloween for both children and adults is the opportunity to take on a different identity in a socially acceptable venue.

In a recent issue of Atlantic Magazine, Joshua Shenk (Shenk 2009) has a riveting article that reviews a study that followed 268 Harvard graduates over the last 72 years. The original aim of the study was to determine which factors were essential to a full and successful life. The study began in the late 1930’s and followed these men through their war service, marriage, careers, parent and grandparenthood, old age or until their death.

One of my preschool granddaughters recently began talking about what sounded to me like “Greasy Boy” a boy her age that kept bothering her when she was playing with her dolls. It turned out he was the one responsible for breaking one of them, and for cutting the hair off another. My son and daughter-in-law were a little concerned about this imaginary companion who was taking the fall for what were probably Heather’s own actions. I reassured them that imaginary companions were very healthy and often a sign of creativity.