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Lauren Paige Kennedy 
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Editor, writer, content creator




































Boredom works.

6/30/2015

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I’m as guilty of it as the next mom. Somehow I’ve allowed myself to become Julie McCoy, cruise director. My school-aged kids, lifelong passengers on our little love boat, are constantly asking me what we’re doing next, all summer long. I might as well carry a clipboard and a megaphone, cheerfully announcing to all the upcoming shuffleboard tourney on the Lido deck at 11 a.m., followed by a buffet lunch.

It’s easy to fall into the trap of worrying more about their agendas than my own. I’m a busy freelance writer, but since I set my own hours I have “flexibility.” (I put this word in quote marks because when you’re chasing after two children from sunrise to sunset—which occur earlier and later in these warm weather months—there’s precious little time for flexing.) However, I’ve been able to plan entire summers around what’s best for them: day camps in the mornings, pool outings in the afternoons, playdates in the backyard with local kids running through the sprinkler, and occasional excursions to museums and theme parks.

The problem? I can’t get much (no, I mean “anything”) done. Mid-June through Labor Day becomes one big black hole of a never-ending field trip, with me working as the guide. Come September, I’m all but cheering when it’s time for them to disembark this cushy cruise and return to school.


I truly enjoy spending time with my kids; don’t get me wrong. But this is life. And there’s work to be done! Deadlines to be met! Friends to see! Exercise to be had! Hell, even an occasional pedicure would be nice.

In short, I don’t stop needing “me time” just because it’s 85 degrees outside.

A few months ago, well before school let out for the summer, I realized something had to give. My husband and I decided to drop the weekly Sunday family outings. Guess what? Our kids lived. Saturdays were already foregone conclusions, eaten by soccer matches during fall and spring months. Taking Sunday “off” (again with the quote marks) gave us time to, I don’t know, get the laundry done! Maybe even relax!

More important, it allowed the kids the beautiful opportunity to fight boredom. You read that right. Boredom is an opportunity. Why do modern parents seem so afraid of it?

To steal (and tweak) the famous speech delivered by ‘80s Wall Street icon Gordon Gekko: “Boredom, for lack of a better word, is good. Boredom is right. Boredom works. Boredom clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit.”

While the kids have occasionally complained to us about being bored since we implanted this change, they’ve also launched new projects driven by their imaginations. My oldest has become incredibly proficient making her own music videos with a free iPhone app called “Video Star.” She learned to shoot and edit fun scenes of herself and her little sister all around the house and neighborhood singing along to their favorite Taylor Swift songs. Some of their homemade videos are surprisingly moody and well made. By backing off a bit and letting boredom to fully marinate, I realize a future filmmaker might have been born.

Meanwhile, my youngest has taken up elaborate Lego creations. She now spends hours in silent reverie building pretend towns, ranches, and spas as she enacts audible stories with the tiny Lego people at her disposal. Sometimes I sneak up silently behind her as she talks out loud, giving dramatic voice to her plastic play. I don’t disturb her. Why would I?

It’s a lesson to me, and other moms, who can sometimes schedule their kids’ every waking moment—during summer or after school. Turns out, down time can be the most productive time of all. Because their minds are working.

This summer, yes, they still have a few days camps lined up. I’m sure I’ll take them to the pool. But when asked what’s on the agenda, I’ve hung up my cruise director cap for good. My answer to them will be: “Boredom. Now, go and enjoy it!”



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Gender blind.

6/30/2015

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When I was girl, I didn't hang out with boys. It's nice to see gender divisions relaxing in all sorts of ways. Now my girls claim boys as their BFFs. READ MORE.
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New blog.

6/28/2015

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Friday's historic #SCOTUS ruling is inspiring. So inspiring, my gay, forever-BFF Tom Piechura texted me on Saturday and said: "Let's start a new blog together that represents two couples—one gay, the other straight—as we chronicle married life." Love, American Styled was born. Tom gave a moving speech at my wedding back in 1999. I gave the (I hope equally moving) speech at his wedding on June 28, 2014, eight months after same-sex marriage was legalized in the state of New York. (His event was more glamorous than mine, natch.) Exactly a year ago I cheered on Tom and his husband; now they celebrate their first anniversary during the most monumental Pride Weekend of all time. Love, commitment, parenthood (he has three dogs; I have two kids and two dogs), and aging are life lessons we face while on parallel courses, and face together as friends of nearly 25 years standing. Friends, please follow us on LAS. 
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June 26th, 2015

6/26/2015

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Just interviewed the hilarious and sincerely sweet Ken Jeong, star of "Community" and the "Hangover" trilogy. Before his career as a comedian took off, he worked as a doctor of internal medicine. If only every physician could so quickly find our funny bones! After talking with him I got to thinking: Comedians are my heroes. Louis C.K. Jon Stewart. Bill Maher. Jimmy Fallon. Tina Fey. John Oliver. Chris Rock. Amy Poehler. Chelsea Handler. Amy Schumer. Louis Black. Jerry Seinfeld. I've interviewed a few from this list. These are the people who inspire me most—the ones who make us laugh and maybe more important, think. 
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Truly moving.

6/25/2015

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Any parent who has moved house with kids in tow knows it is a special kind of hell. I've moved five times with children across three cities during the last 11 years. I know of what I speak. For tips, READ MORE.
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Religious freedom.

6/22/2015

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We have faith in my family. But we don't go church. Here's why. READ MORE.
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Better late.

6/21/2015

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Divorce in the 1970s often meant losing your father to second marriages and second chances. I waited anxiously for my dad's annual visits, just as I did for some true re-connection. It finally happened last summer, when I first wrote this essay, published today for Father's Day. READ MORE.   
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Father's flowers.

6/19/2015

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Father’s Day is approaching, and my rose of Sharon bush is about to flower with its first annual bloom in my backyard.

My father planted it last summer, almost a year ago now. As he kneeled down in the dirt beneath a hot August sun and dug out the black topsoil with his bare hands to anchor the shrub into the earth, he told me he wanted me to look upon it every day going forward and to think of him.

I have an oversized picture window in my open kitchen and family room that looks out onto the yard. When I’m making dinner or helping my kids with their homework, I gaze over the counter and find the rose of Sharon on view as if framed, and, for the first time since I was child of seven when he left, a daily vision of my Dad.

The winter was rough. It was long. And my father’s offering looked spindly against the hard white snow. Even when spring finally dawned and all else flourished—the fuchsia azalea bush, the three varieties of Hostas that leapt to life, the flowering oak trees, and the plush grass—it did not bud. I pretended not to feel anxious about this in April, in early May. I needed our symbol of reconciliation to be firmly rooted, and to grow.

Now it’s mid-June. It came alive a few weeks ago. Its leaves are thick and telling. I can see where the blossoms will soon be birthed. I tend to this plant like an ailing child. Does it need water? Did I give it too much? Where is the sun? My rose of Sharon needs some light, some warmth. No, dear dogs, you may not do your business here. Shoo. Go find another spot in the yard.

Last summer, when my father, who is now 73 to my 47, came for the first time to spend time with his two granddaughters, my husband and me, we spoke of the past, the ancient divorce, the war wounds from it, and the mistakes that were made. Our conversations occurred late at night, sometimes over wine (for me) and Irish whiskey (for him), or while swinging together on my front porch in the moonlight. He said all the right things. He didn’t make a single excuse. He owned what was his, and he asked for another chance. I’m no longer a little girl. I don’t need him now as I once did. But am I his daughter. Some very old stem, long thought withered, opened again and showed green. With a little nourishment it fully sprouted. And here, a year later, we bloom.

I used to dread Father’s Day. I hated trolling the aisles of CVS for a Hallmarkian greeting—any card, really—that said the bare minimum. Try finding one that reads only: Happy Father’s Day. You won’t. Instead, they’re filled with sloppy sentiment, and nothing rings true. I’m so glad / You’re my Dad! / You’re the best father / A girl ever had! Some years, I skipped the ritual all together. It was torturous. I wanted to tell my father how much I loved him, even though his absence had left a wide hole in my heart. I wanted to say anything but something silly or false.

Since he came last summer—when we found each other again over five days and nights, and my daughters got to know their grandfather, who, they discovered, gives ticklish mustache kisses—there have been so many easy phone calls. Easy talk, not strained. We ramble on, he and I, without any self-conscious intent about our days, about a breathtaking trip he took to Italy, about the girls’ recitals, or some recent book I read. Do you know how glorious it is to speak fluidly to one’s father after a near-lifetime of occasional, contrived play dates where we struggled to find the right words? Where we often came up empty? And not because there wasn’t anything to say. Because there was just too much.

I see my father every day now beyond my windowpane. He planted me a rose of Sharon bush so I won’t forget what’s taken root between us. It’s deep and it’s thriving. And when its flowers come, I’ll find his face in every blossom. I’ll think: today is my father’s day.


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Screen savers?

6/19/2015

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I forgot to post this when it came out a few months ago. But as my 11-year-old daughter proudly works on her own "Animal Jam" YouTube channel and texts like mad with her middle school pals, I've come to realize it's a new world, it belongs to her generation, and maybe I need to get out of the way with my constant worrying about our increasing dependence on technology. Sometimes I feel like the dowager on "Downton Abbey" who openly fears the advent of electricity. READ MORE.
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Good aim.

6/18/2015

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Gun violence in America is the second-leading cause of death of our children. Nine kids are unintentionally shot every single day. When one in three U.S. households has a gun somewhere on the property—a  conservative figure, since some studies indicate that figure is closer to 50%—parents must make a point of asking about armed weapons--before we schedule a playdate. READ MORE.
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    Celebrity Health 
    _Kristin Chenoweth
    _Bear Grylss
    ​_Mayte Garcia
    _Malcolm Gladwell

    _Trevor Noah 
    _Gloria Estefan 

    _Ann Romney
    _Taye Diggs
    _Tiffany Haddish 
    ​_Lesley Stahl
    _Annette Bening
    _Marcia Gay Harden

    _Sharon Stone
    _Jim and Jeannie Gaffigan (BRAIN & LIFE)

    _Jim and Jeannie Gaffigan (WEBMD) 

    _Jack Johnson & 13
    Inspiring Ocean Heroes
    ​_ Jack Johnson Q&A (extra)

    _Zoe Saldana

    _Seth Meyers
    _
    Seth Rogen and
    Lauren Miller Rogen

    _Curtis Stone

    _Cameron Diaz
    _Adrian Grenier
    _Neil Patrick Harris

    _Laura Prepon

    _Joe Manganiello
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    _Matthew McConaughey
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    _Chris Rock
    _Hilary Swank
    _Demi Lovato
    _PBS Chef Ed Kenney
    _Queen Latifah (USA Today)
    _Queen Latifah (WebMD)

    _Jenna Bush
    _Rob Lowe
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    _Roseanne Barr
    _Kerry Washington

    _Abigail Breslin
    _Marcia Gay Harden

    _Maggie Q.
    _Anna Kendrick
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    _Ty Burrell
    _Kermit the Frog 

    _Christina Applegate 
    _Anna Kendrick 
    _Reid Scott 
    _Alicia Keys 
    _Claire Danes
    _Debi Mazar
    _Chris O'Donnell 

    _Julie Bowen
    _Taraji P. Henson 

    _Alanis Morissette 
    _Carrie Fisher 
    _Harrison Ford 
    _Kellan Lutz

    _Ang Lee 
    _Stanley Tucci 
    _Sheryl Crow 
    _Lisa Ling

    _Julia Louis-Dreyfus 
    _Joan Didion 
    _Serena Williams
    _​Liev Schreiber
    _Alicia Silverstone
    _Julianne Hough
    _Kelly Ripa
    _Katherine Heigl
    _Amanda de Cadenet
    _Jamie Oliver (WebMD)
    _Jamie Oliver (Wash. Flyer)
    _Tyler Perry
    _Taye Diggs
    _Lauren Graham
    _Tony Goldwyn
    _Curtis Sittenfeld
    _Stephen Moyer
    _Stanley Tucci
    _Ashley Judd
    _Soledad O'Brien
    _Marcia Cross

    _Andre Agassi
    ​_Martina Navratilova

    _Christina Hendricks
    _Louis Black
    _Aaron Eckhart
    _Amy Brenneman
    _Ana Villafane
    _Dana Delany
    _Cote de Pablo
    _Danica McKellar
    _Casey Wilson
    _Torchwood: Miracle Day
    ​_Tia and Tamara Mowry

    _Sonequa Martin-Green
    _CNN's Wolf Blitzer
    _Olivia Wilde

    ​
    The Environment 
    _The "Genius" Landscape Architect Who Is Redesigning Coastlines

    _Researchers Who Measure Plastic Waste in Our Oceans Sound the Alarm

    _Why We Must Save the Whales—to Breathe

    _Meet Hillary Hauser, Citizen Advocate Behind Heal the Ocean

    _The Two Teens Who Took On Plastic Bags—and Won

    _This Actor Used to Suck—and He Wants You to Stop Sucking, too, for a #Strawless Ocean

    _The Wayfinding Wonder Who Sailed Around the Globe to Teach Us About Caring for Planet Earth


    _Two Cousteaus Who Advance  Jacques' Legacy

    _This Hawaiian Chef Is Leading the Sustainable Food Movement

    _Meet the Researcher Behind The Bahamas Plastic Movement

    _This Singer-Songwriter Wants You to Fall in Love With the Sea

    _Paper vs. Plastic Bags? Which Do More Damage to the Planet & Our Health?



    Health & Wellness
    _The Obesity_Chronic Disease Connection: a Special Report
    ​
    ​_10 Revealing Truths About Chronic Sex

    _Work Capitol Hill Like This Blood Clot Survivor (click link for all four installments)

    _Tell Us How You Really Feel About COVID-19

    _"I Had COVID-19. Here's What Happened." (Reported in mid-March 2020, very early days of the pandemic.)

    _Helping Kids Cope With MS

    ​_Meet a True Crohn's Disease Warrior

    _Q&A With a Pediatric MS Nurse WHo Runs a Special Summer Camp

    _Developments in Peanut Allergy Desensitization Therapy (pgs. 25–26)


    _Medications, Treatments, and Habits for Migraine

    _The Dangers of Sugar Consumption in Kids (pg. 26)


    _Why Mediation Apps Are All the Rage
    ​

    _Have You Shared Your Bucket List With Your Doctor? (pg. 19)

    _The Stigma of Alzheimer's May Prevent Its Cure

    _The Long-Term Health Effects of Toxic Stress in Childhood (pg. 25)

    _Is "Drunkorexia" Really a Thing? (pg. 30)
    ​
    _PTSD in Everyday People
    (pg. 15)


    _Music Therapy for the Mind and Body (pg. 17)

    _Depression and Early Death in Women (pg. 13)

    _Mental Health Myths 
    (pgs. 14–15)
    ​

    _The Serious Health Risks of Unemployment


    _Sedentary Teens May Just Need More Sleep

    _Do Online Therapy Sites Really Work?
    ​

    _What Is Coercive Control?

    _New Brain Gains in Alzheimer's Research

    _Weighty Matters

    _Mission to Mars: Keeping Astronauts Healthy (pg. 14)

    _Toxic Office = Poor Health
    ​
    ​_New Research Shows Fitter Kids Make Smarter Students


    _Health Heroes
    ​
    _Jamie Oliver's School Lunch Revolution

    _Does Your Family's Genetic History Define Your Future Health? (pg. 22)


    _Taking a Shot at
    Anti-Vax Beliefs

    ​_Holiday Spoils


    _7 Tips for Female Docs Who Also Want to Start a Family

    ​_Your Pet's Health

    ​_Tips for Adopting a Rescue Pet

    _First-Ever WebMD Health Heroes (an ongoing editorial franchise)



    Healthy Tech
    _Parenting in the AI Age
    (pgs. 23–24)

    ​_Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare: What's on the Horizon? (pg. 19)


    _How to Fight Narcissism in a Selfie-Obsessed World (pg. 29)

    _Why We're All Digital Addicts (pg. 14)


    _Managing Kids & Online Video Games 

    _Teens & Tech

    _Can Your Kid's Cell Phone Cause Cancer?

    _Cyber Safety for Kids


    _Why You Should Ban Smartphones at Your Kid's Slumber Party​

     
    Healthy Parenting
    _The Importance of Play

    _Why Guns in the Home Should Be a Parent's Biggest Safety Concern

    ​_When Millennial Adults Move Back Home: a Parents' Guide


    _Is Your Teen Up to Date on Important Vaccines?


    _Don't Fat-Shame Girls

    _The Emotional Challenges Blended Families Face

    _Kids: The Collateral Damage of Divorce (pg. 25)

    _Kids and "Cutting"


    _How to Battle Obesity in Kids

    _Toxic Kid Friendships

    _Why Your Teen Needs More Sleep

    _On the Road With Young Drivers

    _Help Your Kids Excel in Sports

    _How to Talk to Your Teen

    _Is Your Daughter Going Through Early Puberty?

    _Guns & Playdates

    _More on Guns & Playdates

    _Zero Hellfire in My Home


    _5 Things to Tell Your "Loser" Kid

    _Judy Blume's Books Continue to Inspire Kids

    ​ 

    Healthy Lifestyle
    _Ocean Heroes

    _Have You Seen My Dog?

    _Ruby: The Rest of the Story


    _The Great Escape: Traveling With Little Kids

    _New Kids On the Block

    _Three Cities for a Song

    ​_How "Reality Bites" Accurately Predicted the Future of Gen X​

    _Sample Washington Flyer cover: Leonardo DiCaprio, whom I booked as EIC for first-ever "Green" Issue



    Musings & More     
    _On the Male Response
    to #MeToo

    _On Louis C.K. & "Exposed"
    Toxic Masculinity

    _Our Al Franken Problem

    ​_After Charlottesville, What is Freedom?​

    _Too. Much. Information.

    _Dear Madonna: We Aren't Ageist—You Are


    _My Facebook Freeze

    _How the Band Haim
    Rocked My World

    _Facing Aging With
    (Tough) Love


    _How to Love a Dog Without Losing Your Heart

    _On Mothers & Daughters

    _It's Your Daughter's Turn

    _Better Late (A Lesson From My Long-Lost Father)

    _The Death of Sexy?

    _Marriage Equality: The Reverend Wore Pink Pumps

    _Do You Ever Consider
    the Kid You Once Bullied?


    _Lean In to Life

    _The Women of "Mad Men"
    Are the Characters We'll Most Miss

    _Why TV Land's "Younger" Is a #MissedOpportunity


    _6 Pithy Parental Comebacks I Learned From My Mother

    _The Anti-Betty Draper Letter to My Girls

    _Don Draper Did Do Coke

    _The Day My Daughter's Lovey Went Missing

    _Are You A Myers-Briggs School Mom? 

    _11 Books & Films That Make Us Bawl Like Little Babies
      
    _That Stranger Danger
    Video Is Short on Facts

    ​
    _Loving Tips for Grieving
    the Family Pet


    _Lockdown Drills Are the Least We Can Do to Protect Our Kids

    _Joan Rivers: Mother
    of Invention

    _In Defense of Helicopter Parents

    _What If You Knew What Your Spouse Would Look
    ​Like in 60 Years?

    _Yes.


    _Portrait of a Woman

    _Your Real Best Friend

    _My collected writing for The Mid, now merged into Scary Mommy 



    Travel Guide
    _Author of Frommer's
    WASHINGTON, D.C. DAY BY DAY (2007)


    CV
    _My professional experience


    PAINTINGS
    _Father and Son
    _Portrait of Kristine
    _Girls at the Diner, 7 a.m.
    _Dive
    _Plum Is 2
    _Embrace
    _Toes
    ​_Ophelia
    _Nancy's Mother
    ​_A Dog I Loved
    ​_Footrest
    ​_Woman's Best Friend



    ALL ORIGINAL WRITING & ARTWORKS
     © LAUREN PAIGE KENNEDY
    2007–2023



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