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Monthly Archives: July 2012

Writing Children’s Lives

I never bought a baby book. Not even for my first-born. But I wrote about all of my children. At first I memorialized every razor-sharp tooth and taste of first food on our kitchen calendar. By the time our girls came along, four or five words had grown to full sentences that spilled into the calendar margins. I began writing vignettes, small scenes that capture setting and character and include dialogue.

For this I needed a journal. I wasn’t concerned that anyone else should find Continue reading

How a Scratch from Basketball Practice Killed an 11 Year-Old

Parents like to hang onto their kids. They’re sentimental that way.

And so I cannot imagine the utter helplessness, frustration, and grief Cieran and Orlaith Staunton must have felt when their 11 year-old son Rory became critically ill and later died from a scratch on his arm.

What the Queens, New York, couple didn’t know is that Rory’s scratch from basketball practice had become infected with streptococcus pyrogenes bacteria, and Continue reading

Kids of a Feather: Creating the Next Generation of Birdwatchers

This week I am yielding the floor to guest blogger Ted Floyd, editor of Birding Magazine. His post, Birding with Children, was published May 9, 2012 at www.blog.aba.org .  Humorous and insightful, it’s a natural for parents who want to enhance their kids’ appreciation of the great outdoors. I hope you enjoy Ted’s post as much as I did.  (Note: The opinions expressed in this article are strictly those of the writer.) FFG

Birding with Kids, by Ted Floyd

Giving parenting advice, I realize, can be a great way to make enemies. Just ask any mother-in-law. Better yet, just ask the recipient of any such advice: Ask any daughter-in-law. For sure, the dispensers of parenting advice—from Amy Chua to Continue reading