Lena, I hope you don’t send your son to his dad.  By not talking about whatever it is he’s asking questions about, you’re going to make him think sex is something to be ashamed of or embarrased about.  We need to be open.  It’s just one of those facts of life that everyone needs to know about.

I don’t believe in waiting for kids to ask questions.  You never know what’s going on in their heads.  If you start the conversation and start it early, you can make sure you pass along your values and get the correct information to them at the appropriate time.  Those kids not asking questions might not be satisfied.  They just might be asking other people or wondering by themselves or getting the wrong impression.

By making our bodies and sex just one thing to talk about, you can help your children see just how wonderful, mysterious and funny the whole thing is.

It’s nice to have a mix of heavy topics and lighter fare.  I always say I carry my own baromoter with me on my head.  My hair frizzes out with the humidity and I use a lot more hair products!  Enjoyed seeing the pictures but can’t agree that Diane Von Furstenberg looks good.  Her hair looks pretty messy and unkempt to me.

I didn’t have just one big "talk" with my kids (a boy and a girl).  With both of them we talked about how bodies work regularly.  We had a couple of books with some nice illustrations, appropriate for their ages.  Starting from the time they were still little and sitting on my lap reading with me, we’d look at the pictures, name the parts and talk about how things work.  "where does poop come from?"  "are my breasts going to grow like that too?"  "How come boys have that penis thing?"

I also showed each of them, around the age of 9 or 10, how a condom works, putting it on a banana.  My son still laughs about the banana show.  But he does admit that he never had to wonder what you did.  I even showed them how you open the package (not with your teeth!)

When you just make it a part of conversation, it’s not a big thinig.  It’s just giving information to children learning about so many things in life.

I haven’t seen anyone failing this plan with specific suggestions on how to improve it.  I do not accept that this is a failed plan and I am outraged that someone like DeMint would take this issue and say he will work to make it Obama’s Waterloo.  So the Republicans are playing politics with an important issue and you are going along with that story line.  I’ve actually read the health care proposal (have you?)  I’ve worked in health care related industries so I feel I know quite a bit about them.  I’ve lived in countries that have much better approaches to health care (France and the UK).  We can do better.  This plan is MUCH better than what we have.  And for those who say that a small percentage of people don’t have health care — 40MILLION is a small number?  What planet are you from?  You have obviously never tried to solve a difficult health care issue personally, tried to help someone who has no coverage, tried to get insurance for someone with a pre-existing condition.

Perhaps instead of having congress, with one of the best and most inclusive health care coverage plans in the world, we ought to have people who understand the pain of our current system work to fix it.

I don’t agree at all.  I think Mrs. Obama is a great model of style.  You may not appreciate her style but to me she looks fresh, inventive and well pulled together.  Much better than the stiff look of Laura Bush or even Hillary Clinton.  She is an extremely intelligent woman with a strong sense of self that comes through in the way she dresses.  I love watching her and her children.  We would do well to have more Americans dressing the same way instead of in the dumpy way most of middle America seems to dress.

I loved my career and I loved my kids.  I was lucky enough to have both.  Had my kids in the early 80’s.  Juggled like crazy.  Was unbelievably lucky to have a wonderful woman/friend who cared for my two kids in my home.  My husband and I traded being home on time, leaving first in the morning, staying home with sick kids.  My kids seem to be well adjusted.  I still have a fabulous career.  I’m still married and we are still happy.  I’m still great friends with the woman who helped me raise my kids. Of course it wasn’t all easy and happy along the way but it can be done and we all turned out very well.  What a rich and wonderful life I’ve been blessed with!

Gee, Marjorie, I don’t trust the Republicans since so many of them have been very vocal that they want this to fail so they can make Obama fail.  I don’t see that the Repbulicans are coming to the table in a helpful way at all.  All criticism and no constructive input does no one any good.  We should be in a hurry.  Anyone who is not obviously has excellent health care and cannot feel the pain and anxiety of those who do not.  This is urgent.  Is the plan on the table now perfect?  No.  Is it a step in the right direction? I think absolutely.  I will work very hard to make sure any Repbulican who stands in the way of this does not get relected.  Congress is playing politics with people’s lives.

I wear my swim suit all the time.  Love the water.  I think I have a great body but doesn’t matter.  Frankly, I don’t particularly care what others think.  Just stand up straight like your mother told you and go about your business doing whatever makes you happy.  It’s very sad that women are so self conscious they would not be able to relax and enjoy themselves in their swim suits.

Hi Joni, These forums are nice.  I’d like to see more contribution from the women on the banner of your site.  Some we hear from regularly.  Others I’ve never seen a posting from.  Peggy Noonan is one I would like to hear more from.  I don’t agree with many of the statements I hear her make on Sunday talk shows so I would like to hear more from her to understand her point of view.  The latest statement I really questioned was this past weekend when she commented that no one ever talked about health care 20 years ago so why all the interest now. 

I’d like to understand whether she really doesn’t get it that now so many people do not have insurance to cover their health care needs, that many are jobless through no fault of their own and we have a system where health benefits come from jobs, that the costs of health care keep going up much faster than inflation and income.

Since health care is so much front and center now, perhaps we need a chance for everyone in the wow community to weigh in on it.

Can you tell us where the absent Ms. Noonan is?

I have bluetooth capability in my car however I don’t use it that often.  While talking on a cell phone held to your ear in your car is dangerous, talking on bluetooth can be just as bad because it still distracts your mind.  Everyone is so proud of being able to multi task.  I firmly believe there is a limit to how much attention we can pay when we are trying to multi task so much.  It only takes a split second of inattention to blow through a red light or stop sign or miss someone braking suddenly in front of you…

I try really hard to take the time to just focus on driving in my car.  Use it as a chance to unwind.  Think my own thoughts.  Hum along to some music.  Get into a positive attitude.

The Kennedy’s continue to fascinate, for whatever reason.  Easy to believe that this happened.  No way to prove it.  Jackie was the smart one.  No interviews, no letters, no journal, no tell-all book.  She kept herself as an enigma.  Wish all these other folks would take a page from her book.

Constance, So you have a great education and you’ve been divorced for years.  You haven’t said anything about how you tried to use that education to support yourself.  Perhaps one of the issues in this debate is the expectation that a woman stays home and is supported by a man.  When that man decides to walk away, the woman is left with no devices to support herself.  Some pre-planning might help.  Education is a good start.  What have you done to make yourself employable?  The current economic situation makes this even more challenging but in your case, it sounds like 20 years after your marriage you are left high and dry.  Something is missing here.

I look great and I love wearing a bathing suit.  I am almost 60 and weigh the same as I did when I was 16.  I exercise regularly and I have the firmest butt on the beach.  I don’t wear one to show off, though.  I wear one because in the summer there is nothing better than being at the beach with your feet in the sand and being able to run in the water when you get hot.  Or lounging around on one of those big blow up seats with a little umbrella drink, slathered with sunscreen, big hat and sunglasses…

Hair blow outs two or three times a week?  Who are these people?  I get my hair cut once every six weeks.  That’s it.  Who has time for more?

Also, he talks about sexy, overweight women with skin tight clothes.  That might be fine for a club but that’s not appropriate for work or taking your kids to soccer practice.  One of the places where this country has gotten off track is this obsession with sexy.  How about just neat, well groomed, tailored and sensible?  That can be a great look and it fits for more occasions.  I am tired of all the tight, low cut, suggestive clothes.  He may think overweight women look great with their tight clothes but I’m totally turned off.

I don’t have a lot of close friends but my very best friend is my husband.  We sometimes make each other crazy but we both know each other very well.  He knows when I am happy and is happy with me, he knows when I am troubled and helps me work through it.  He’s the only one I can really talk with about almost anything.  We’ve been through a lot together over our 30+ years of marriage, and I know we always will be there for each other.