When I was growing up in New York, my dad, the earliest riser in the house, would drive to the deli to buy kaiser rolls, and the Sunday editions of the New York Times and the Daily News every week. If we were lucky, he would be in a good mood and buy us sugar coated jelly rolls and cook up a pound of bacon, as well. Continue reading
family
16 posts
The losses came quickly for me. My Dad, the rock of our family, had gone into the hospital with swelling in his legs and pain in his hip. At most, we thought that they would say that his heart disease had worsened and that he needed his other hip to be replaced. What we didn’t expect, was the diagnosis: metastatic cancer with only a couple of weeks to live. Continue reading
All of the media attention goes to female birth control because the Biblical stance on ladies is solid, but what about male erectile dysfunction (ED) medication like Cialis and Viagra? What are the Biblical implications of allowing those pills to be covered on company provided insurance or for Christian doctors who want to prescribe ED treatment in good faith?
This guide will help companies and doctors of good morals uphold Christian values. Continue reading
I get no pleasure from watching the television shows about hoarders. For most,the shows will motivate them to clean and toss away unneeded junk, making them feel better about their lives. For me, it makes me want to curl up in bed and take a nap. Why is this? My father is an honest to goodness, pathological hoarder and my mother in her codependency has become a willing participant. Growing up in the household, I developed tendencies to want to hoard, but work on fighting them daily.
I’m not sharing this to shame my parents or make fun of them. Although, the fake Christmas tree left standing in June, that my mother will buy ornaments for year round, has become an absurd joke between my sister and I. I share this, because there is a side most don’t necessarily see on these shows. And that is the humanity behind the hoards. What has brought people to live in homes where they literally have to crawl over things to get from one side of the house to another. Continue reading
Well, you’ve probably seen Aram Grumet. He’s the three year-old seen breastfeeding on the cover of the upcoming Time magazine issue, “Are You Mom Enough.” The youngster shown clad in camouflage pants and standing on a stool with his eyes slightly tilted toward the camera as he latches on was posed by photographer Martin Schoeller who wanted to make Aram seem bigger, taller, older and more independent to emphasize the unusualness of the activity. But the question remains how all of this, let’s say notoriety, will impact him? Continue reading
They say it takes a village to raise a child. Any new parent can tell you that the village certainly seems to think so. When you have children, people come out of the woodwork to offer you unsolicited and often, unhelpful advice.
It starts when you are pregnant. The first thing I remember is someone telling me to spend the money on a high-end digital thermometer. That’s actually not bad advice as babies are squirmy especially when they are sick. Those thermometers are fast and are certainly better than the mercury thermometers that were around when I was a child. They took forever and were next to impossible to read. Continue reading
No, I’m not lurking around Toys R US waiting for someone to leave their child unattended. I am, however, starting to pick up speed as I careen down the hill into my mid-to-late-thirties. My age isn’t worrying me as much as my Father’s age and his health. He’s fairly obese and over 70 so I’m starting to think if I’m going to have a child and if that child will ever know my father, I better get on with finding a child.
There’s a lot to consider. First of all does my partner really want a child? He said he did when we started dating. This topic was one of my qualifiers for dating. “I want kids,” I’d say and then scrutinize his face for that “something you said just farted” look. We agreed, tentatively, that this sounded like a good goal to push into the five years down the road plan. Now it’s three years later and my clock feels like it’s ticking. How do I pass the time? As anyone would pass the time: A) reading B) scheming, which I’ll refer to as “planning.” Continue reading
What are your annual family Christmas traditions? If you don’t have a family, have you created your own Christmas traditions?
My family is not one to invest a lot of energy into “doing things”, if you know what I mean. It didn’t bother me so much as a child, but as an adult I’m frequently exasperated at how much cajoling and convincing it takes to get my family to expend energy on anything that’s outside their expected routine. This year, for instance, will be the first time that everybody will be present – to include me! – in the same house, at the same time, in several years due to my recent multi-year tour through Southwest Asia. As we were planning the get together this year I suggested we should do a White Elephant gift exchange instead of a more traditional gift exchange, owing to the shitty economy and the fact we’re all (blessedly) employed adults who frankly don’t need more stuff. No money spent and you get rid of crap laying around your house! What’s not to like? But oh my lord the anxiety at discussing trying something new . . . Continue reading
Unschooling is a movement that gathered steam from dissatisfaction with the public school system. It is not to be confused with homeschooling, which is another movement entirely. Homeschooling is popular with both very conservative Christians who want to shield their children from the demonic influence of secular humanism and some more liberal people who want to take a more active role in their children’s education. It’s also filled a gap for children who struggle socially and don’t have alternative schooling options that are available in some areas. Continue reading
My mom has seven siblings. My dad has three. I have one. Can you imagine having 150? As the New York Times recently reported, Cynthia Daily wanted to find some her child’s half siblings. (She and her partner used a sperm donor to conceive.) Apparently Daily’s child has 150 half-siblings.
“Today there are 150 children, all conceived with sperm from one donor, in this group of half siblings, and more are on the way. “It’s wild when we see them all together — they all look alike,” said Ms. Daily, 48, a social worker in the Washington area who sometimes vacations with other families in her son’s group.” Continue reading