March 14, 2008
March 14, 2008
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Can Your Teenager Protect Herself?

WARNING: SENSITIVE INFO AHEAD. GET YOUR COFFEE AND TAKE THE OLD LAPTOP TO YOUR ROOM. THANKS. Yesterday USA Today ran a news excerpt about a study from the Centers for Disease Control about the prevalence of STDs in teenagers (ages 14-19). Brace yourself… A 2003-04 government survey of 838 girls, conducted by CDC analyst SaraForhan, finds that one in four of all teenagers (fully half of all African-American teens) have or have had an STD. The most common is the HPV (human papilloma), along with incidences of chlamydia, genital herpes, and trichomoniasis. One in four. Kind of makes you want to send them to a […]
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March 12, 2008
March 12, 2008
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Training for Life: Report for Adoptive Parents

Today I found this insightful report from the Evan B. Donaldson Adoption Institute for adoptive parents and others who facilitate adoptions, concerning the developmental needs of adopted children at every stage of life, with a special section for those who adopt through the foster care system. After identifying a number of factors (including adoptive parents’ reluctance to acknowledge the need for ongoing training in their quest for a placement) that have led to insufficient ongoing training of both parents and adoption facilitators, the study indicates that there are a number of issues of which we need to be aware in order to help our children […]
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March 11, 2008
March 11, 2008
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Mother Envy…

Yesterday as I waited for Christopher’s class to come back so I could take them to the cafeteria, I stood in the hallway and admired an international student showcase. Each student had recorded his family’s story about how they came to America. Flags from every continent on the globe were represented. (To order the flag stickers in this illustration for your next project, click here.)I was particularly touched by the contribution of adopted twins. One child told the story of how they flew on a plane to meet their parents from Beijing … the other told the story of the ancestors of their “forever family.” […]
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March 6, 2008
March 6, 2008
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Grace in the Nick of Time

Today I had a difficult chat with the mother of a little boy who had been visiting with us last weekend. Long story short, I alerted her to some “acting out” that I had observed, and reported a conversation I’d had with my son about his friend that sounded to me as though his friend might be being abused by an older child or adult. I told my story, and the mother (with me still on the phone) turned to her son and asked him what happened. His story did not match mine, so she shrugged and thanked me, clearly taking her son’s version over […]
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February 21, 2008
February 21, 2008
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Remedial Class Moms … Untie!

My children attend a charter school that divides each grade into three classes, “Basic” (for those needing a little extra coaching), “Standard” (for the middle of the pack) and “Proficient” (for those who would benefit from some enrichment activities). So far Christopher has managed to keep his head above water in the “Standard” class (though if his reading scores don’t soon improve, that may change). I, on the other hand, have decided that I belong solidly in the “Basic” camp. It all started in preschool. The first school we tried — an expensive Montessori program — was a disaster. We were asked to leave after […]
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February 16, 2008
February 16, 2008
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Favorite Mommy Quote of the Week

“I don’t understand why Cupid was chosen to represent Valentine’s Day. When I think about romance, the last thing on my mind is a short, chubby toddler coming at me with a weapon.” Mishelle at “Secret Agent Mama” Favorite mommy quotes are chosen on the basis of how many drops of Diet Coke get sprayed on my computer screen at first reading. This was a six-dropper. Way to go, Mishelle!
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February 16, 2008
February 16, 2008
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The Great T.V. Experiment

Well, heading deep into week three of the Great No-TV-For-Lent, Gotta-Read-Five-Hours-A-Week-Or-No-Pizza-Party Experiment. While I’ve yet to get them to embrace fully my “five different types of books each week” idea, the basic plan itself does seem to be working. Even for Craig and me. Which, the more I think of it, is really something because we have more control over our choices than our children have over theirs. But when Valentine’s Day yesterday went to H-E-double hockey sticks in the proverbial handbasket yesterday … we sat and talked. Till almost midnight. It’s been a while since we’d done that. And at the end, just before […]
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February 15, 2008
February 15, 2008
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Missteps and Mercy

These past few days a series of events have led me think about the human tendency to make mistakes that require us to extend grace and mercy to others, just as God extends that grace and mercy to us when we deliberately choose sin. The primary difference is intentionality: The thoughtless action (or omission) The unintended offense The hastily spoken (and poorly chosen) word While these things do wound and grieve other people, we tend to gloss them over with, “But that’s not what I MEANT! That’s not what I INTENDED!” Nevertheless, these “slips” do contain destructive seeds, capable of wounding and alienating those we […]
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February 14, 2008
February 14, 2008
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Does Your Mommy Monster Need Taming?!

Drum roll, please! Simon Peter Press has just released … Raising Up Mommy Virtues for Difficult Mothering Moments Moms everywhere will understand what I mean when I say that there are days when the monsters win. Those seven deadly habits — pride or envy, gluttony or sloth, greed or lust or (in my case) anger — eat away at the soul until the very fabric of family life begins to come apart at the seams. Fortunately, as women we have also been blessed with extraordinary gifts, spiritual antidotes to these sinful inclinations. As we exercise ourselves in virtue — whether that spiritual “weight training” be […]
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