Dear Girlfriends, “Don’t use that tone with me, young lady.” If there’s a female child in your life, and she’s talking, there’s a good chance you’ve had the opportunity to use this line. If you haven’t – well, clearly she has not yet entered puberty. Respect. Most of us expect our children to respect us. But can they define it? …

Dear Girlfriends, A few weeks ago my sleep-deprived daughter, sporting spit-up on her blouse, looked me straight in the eye and said, “No one told me it was going to be this hard.” I just looked at her and blinked. The “no one” she was referring to was me. Uh-oh. After she left I basked in my self-pride of making …