Life as a parent

When to start kindergarten?

19 August 2010 Family
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In retrospect, I should have had all my kids in January. That would have made kindergarten decisions so much easier. Thirty years ago when I was a kid, skipping grades was all the rage. Newspapers featured articles on the youngest kids to finish college. Being a child prodigy – or having one – was much [...]

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My phantom life

20 July 2010 Family
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My old life…the one before kids.  It’s long gone.  Past denial, past anger (years), past depression (more years), even past acceptance (relief at last).  For a long time it haunted me – my phantom life of being an independent person – a person without dependents.

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80 digits (40 pictured)

19 July 2010 Kids
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Like many jobs around the house, cutting the kids’ fingernails and toenails is one that falls to me by default.  Perhaps because it is such a thankless task, I avoid it as long as I can.  Then someone gets inadvertently clawed, and with a guilty conscience I line them up for the overdue trim.  During [...]

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The hole picture

18 July 2010 Family
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For nine years I’ve had a baby in the house, and it’s all ending in a few weeks when my youngest turns 2. I wish I could bottle the pure happiness of babyhood, the freedom of being entirely unselfconscious – and sprinkle it back on my kids on the inevitable tough days of adolescence. I [...]

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A sinking feeling

18 July 2010 Health
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Q: What does a drowning person look like? A: Not much different from a person treading water. No wonder that so many children drown with adults close by. Coast Guard Marine Safety Specialist Mario Vittone wrote a post, entitled Drowning Doesn’t Look Like Drowning, on his blog earlier this year. Due to the body’s instinctive [...]

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