Thrilled that I'm going to get to tell the stories of parents and other caretakers across the planet, from the cuddly to the creepy-crawly (whenever my own offspring are, of course, far away from me):

RT @petridishes: love to make unacceptably political comments about the weather like

RT @mcsweeneys: "When I wrote these words, I lived alone, in the bathroom, three to ten feet from any family member, in a house of solitude….

Happy birthday to Thoreau, who probably would have hated this! My latest for @mcsweeneys:

One thing about being from a place like Syracuse, NY, is that it only makes the national news when something deranged happens in a neighboring suburb (such as three teens killing and eating a celebrity swan under the impression that it was a large duck):

RT @nytimes: As spring gives way to summer, you’re sure to notice wasps and hornets buzzing around you. Test your identification skills wit….

Oh my God this is so good.

As wasps and other buzzing critters show up this spring, don't let a scary nickname psych you out! Boost your wasp savvy with this quiz I wrote for @NYTScience:

RT @jilltwiss: Oh I can help with this one. She is the woman you're about to pay $5 million to

Signs you might have a six-year-old: You looked up the correct pronunciation of "pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis" to settle an argument and now someone's demanding that you apologize for ruining their life.

I strongly relate to this, and would add that it’s extra crazy-making to be navigating 2 weeks of illness and work loss at the exact time the rest of the country/world has decided Covid Is Over.

- Instead of larvae, termites make babies that are just mini termites. But they can still develop into different forms. Some become soldiers, which have unique defensive traits like giant heads for blocking tunnels, or snouts that spray noxious chemicals.

- Termites can’t live alone or they’ll be immediately enveloped in fungus. They need a buddy to clean them. So some adult termites that can’t find mates settle down in male-male or female-female pairs.

Some things I learned that didn’t make it into the article:. - Rather than letting their daughters inherit their reproductive thrones, some queen termites clone themselves before they die.

Whoops! I tried to write a silly coronation-themed story for @NYTScience and now termites are my new favorite social insects (apologies to the ants, bees and wasps):

By me!.

RT @hakaimagazine: North Atlantic right whales seem to find food by sniffing for a chemical cue. Scientists are hoping to turn this into an….

Frankly rude for this article to come out as I'm sitting at home with my first case of Covid, which I acquired out of thin air after 3+ years of precautions.

"We should note that the risks go up with repeated infection and that it’s rational for even the healthiest among us to try to take reasonable measures to avoid getting Covid." Thank you @KendraWrites for saying this:

Kindergartener was listing the kids of my friend who visited recently, then got stuck. Her: "What's the baby's name?".Me: "You mean Orla?".Her: "No, remember you showed me a video with a pop and blue confetti?".Me: "Oh, that baby isn't born yet.".Her: "Then what was the pop??".

RT @brotherjones_: When you get off the plane with the legendary Joan Baez you know it’s a movement of the spirit. She stands with us in ou….