The Mother in-Law’s Manual

Sundra Croonquist is a comedian who finds her mother-in-law as well as others in her husband’s family a source for cutting jokes.  After fifteen years of these jokes, her mother-in-law, Ruth Zefrin, Zefrin’s husband and their daughter have sued Croonquist for spreading false, defamatory and racist lies.
I know many mothers-in-law would like to tell their [...]

NOTE:  This essay came to me by email from a woman who sees parallels between “In-Law” status and “Step-Parent” status with adult children.  I’m posting it just as I received it, with appreciation.
Even those of us who have never had children can become quasi-Mothers-In-Law, or even more difficult—Step-Parent to HIS grown children, and by [...]

Wow, thank you to all of you who have written such very nice things about THE MOTHER-IN-LAW’S MANUAL.  Most of the people I have heard from are people I know or have met when speaking, which is how they came to the book…but what they are saying goes so far beyond polite.
Thanks to the people [...]

When Barack Obama promised change was on the way, I was interested, but I was amazed to find that this change was so broad as to include the way we talk about mothers-in-law.
Along with everything else President Obama brings to the White House, he brought Marian Robinson, his beloved and respected mother-in-law.  Their relationship does [...]

Oh my, I need HELP!  I don’t feel so old, even when I go the gym.  But the social networking phenonmenon has got me on the ropes.  I know I’m supposed to be out there letting the world know about THE MOTHER-IN-LAW’S MANUAL and this website by posting comments, twittering, keeping my networks current…and I [...]

I had coffee recently with one of my coaching clients, a capable, thoughtful guy in his forties.  He was debating two job offers and needed a sounding board. When he described the first choice, his voice was full of energy and excitement. When he described the second, he was flat and negative. Regrettably, the first [...]

If I were Queen, I would arrange for every about-to-be-groom to gift THE MOTHER-IN-LAW’S MANUAL to his mother before the wedding.  But I have not had a clue about how to reach what I think of as “the dude market.”  I am often invited to speak to women 45-65, and as I talk, women start [...]

CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN, promised Barack Obama during his presidential campaign. I believed him, but I had no idea his promise would include something as dear to my heart as the image of mothers-in-law.
As a mother-in-law, one who works hard at creating healthy relationships with my children and their partners, it is painful to [...]

With the books just out, I find myself with invitations to speak to all kinds of groups.  One Monday, I stated with men and women at Eagles Trace, an Erickson retirement center in west Houston.  That Thursday, I began the day with mothers at St. Martin’s school and ended with members of IJW, Initiative for  [...]

Because this is my sixth book, I now have enough experience to see that there are three moments in the life of book writing that always stand out for me. The first is when it becomes clear that there really IS a book in me; I really AM going to write it.  When I hit [...]