A Table for a Comforting Meal
I am looking for a woman's shelter that could use a dining set. It is from the 1930's and has 6 chairs. Anyone know of a shelter in need?
Are We There Yet? archive for Jan. 1, 2009
TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2009
SUNDAY, JULY 26, 2009
Squabbling siblings
Spokesman-Review reporter Becky Nappi’s Sunday story, “The power of siblings,” shows us how our brothers and sisters not only provide us with company especially in the early years; but they also keep us healthy and sharp as we get older. Becky focused on three families,…
WEDNESDAY, JULY 22, 2009
Free babysitting?
Need a break from the kids? If you lived in the Seattle area, you could head over to Ikea. According to this New York Times’ story, “A Cheap Date, With Child Care by Ikea,” a growing number of moms and dads are taking advantage of…
MONDAY, JULY 20, 2009
Trusting your own parenting instinct 1
As a mom of young kids, I often look to other parents for advice.By seeking their wisdom through experience, I’ve learned more about childbirth, breastfeeding and other issues that I never even thought about before having kids. One mom has inspired me to cook more…
WEDNESDAY, JULY 15, 2009
Saving for college 1
Parents who want to help pay for their children’s college tuition are often advised to start saving right away – even if their kid is still in diapers. During the 2008-2009 academic year, the average tuition (not including room and board and other expenses) at…
TUESDAY, JULY 14, 2009
Wombs for rent
Women from the United States, Great Britain and other parts of the world are now going to India to have babies. In this article published earlier this year in Marie Claire, reporter Abigail Haworth tells us the story of the Akanksha Infertility Clinic, located in…
WEDNESDAY, JULY 8, 2009
Is the war taking a toll on kids?
A growing number of children of U.S. military troops are seeking mental health care, according to “Military kids seek more care,” an Associated Press story published in today’s Spokesman-Review. Here are some statistics from the article:From 2007 to 2008, some 20 percent more children of…
SUNDAY, JULY 5, 2009
Waiting to have kids
During the Great Depression, the U.S. fertility declined from about 3.5 to 2.3, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control. The same thing happened in the 1970s as Americans struggled with a recession and oil crisis. With the current economic downturn, some couples…
TUESDAY, JUNE 30, 2009
Is it a boy or girl?
Nobody knows – except the parents of “Pop,” a 2-year-old in Sweden whose parents refuse to reveal whether their child is a boy or girl. Pop’s mom and dad decided to keep their child’s gender a secret because they believe gender is a social construction,…
SUNDAY, JUNE 28, 2009
The “Marriage Go-Round”
Americans are more likely to get married, divorced and remarried compared to people in other Western countries, statistics show. We also have more live-in partners. But when a relationship sours, we quickly bail. “We step on and off the carousel of marriages and partnerships faster…
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24, 2009
Boomerang kids
They’re known as “boomerang kids” – young people in their late teens or early 20s (sometimes 30s, and yes, even 40s) who have already gone to college or asserted their independence but are now finding themselves back at home with their parents. Statistics from the…
MONDAY, JUNE 22, 2009
Maternity and paternity leave
To observe Father’s Day, newspapers and other media published and broadcasted a flurry of dad-related stories over the weekend. Many of them, focused on how fathers have changed over the years – how many of them are becoming more involved with their children, especially in...
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2009
Birthday party advice
A recent story I wrote about art parties for birthdays prompted a reader named Annie to send me an e-mail this week. She thinks there's way too much pressure out there for parents. So she advises moms like me to chill out and not worry…
MONDAY, JUNE 15, 2009
The Sandwich Generation
As more couples wait a few years before having children, some are finding themselves caught between raising their own kids and caring for aging parents. These adults are among the 10 to 16 million Americans who belong to the Sandwich Generation – people in their…
THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 2009
Closet Tip Needed 1
Need help from you do-it-yourselfers. We have a laundryoom closet that needs some sort of cover. We did not reinstall the bi-fold doors becuase it would have required drilling holes in our new tiled floor. One option is a curtain rod. Have any other ideas?
Boys and Aggression 2
The other day, while playing in the yard, my 5-year-old son took a tent stake and started punching holes into a cardboard box. He wasn’t hurting his little sister or property, I figured, so I just allowed him to continue pounding away. Still, the action…
TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 2009
Summer Reading 2
For my family, one of the best things about living in Spokane is having the Spokane Public Library. Every Monday, we visit the South Hill branch and come home with more than two dozen books as well as a few DVDs. It’s something that my…
SUNDAY, JUNE 7, 2009
Teens and drug use
According to 2007 statistics from the Centers for Disease Control, nearly half of all teens drink alcohol. The same report noted that 26 percent of high school students binge drink and that 11 percent reported driving a car or other vehicle during the past 30…
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3, 2009
How much activity is too much for the kids and family? 1
Recently, I polled my friends on Facebook: Should I enroll my 5-year-old son in soccer or T-ball? Or should he do both? About a dozen wise mothers and fathers cautioned me to think twice before we take on both sports. (In addition to swimming lessons,…
MONDAY, JUNE 1, 2009
Dads: “A bridge between the mother’s body and the rest of the world”
At our house, the division of labor is almost 50-50. Or at least, that's what we aim for.I work part-time and go to night classes. My husband works full-time, but in the evenings and on weekends, he really makes an effort to play with the…
WEDNESDAY, MAY 27, 2009
Salt, sugar, sushi, spices… What does your kid eat?
As a toddler, my son ate curry. Not the seriously spicy stuff, but when he was 2 or so, his favorite foods included rice and his grandmother's yellowish-green, Filipino version of chicken curry. Even now, he digs ethnic food. But perhaps that’s because it was…
TUESDAY, MAY 26, 2009
Math in Spokane
Laurie Rogers, one of the original members of the newspaper's Parents' Council, asked us to post this on the blog:On May 27 at 7 p.m., Spokane school administrators are scheduled to address the school board about proposed teaching materials for mathematics. I’m asking parents and…
MONDAY, MAY 25, 2009
"Mom, I'm bored..."
Summer can be a challenging time for tweens and young teens. They’re old enough to stay home alone, but many can’t work or find regular activities to do without adult supervision. Today’s story in The Spokesman-Review, “Keeping kids busy during break on a budget,” acknowledged…
WEDNESDAY, MAY 20, 2009
The blowout bash for graduation 1
To celebrate the culmination of high school next month, hundreds of area graduates will stay up all night partying with friends at a bash complete with karaoke, casino-style gambling and raffle prizes that include iPods and gift certificates to local stores and restaurants.It’s called the…
SUNDAY, MAY 17, 2009
Cleaning house
Are some people just messy by nature or is it really possible to “train” our loved ones to be tidy? I was once a neat freak – the kind that couldn’t sit still in a room if there was dust on a shelf or a…
This blog is intended to provide a forum for parents to share knowledge and resources. It's a place for parents young and old to combine their experiences raising families into a collective whole to help others.
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