children
Children: Our most valuable natural resource.
Our Adoption Story
Three years ago, my wife and I decided to start a family. It was the right time for both of us, and we wanted a child. Since we're a lesbian couple, we can't just have a child like most conventional couples. We turned to adoption. However, this isn't your typical happy adoption story. This is the side no one really likes to talk about.
By Linda Belcher8 years ago in Families
Hatchimals
For those of you that may not know what these cute things are, Hatchimals are adorable children's toys that when activated they hatch and and a mysterious animal comes out. I never really thought anything about this toy until one day my son saw a commercial for them and told me that he wanted one. Eventually I brought this to his dad's attention (seeing that he spends more time in stores than me, I figured he can go buy it), but for all the times that he has gone shopping, he never came in the house with the Hatchimal.
By Mis Understood8 years ago in Families
Teaching Children Resilience: 4 Strategies to Develop a Growth Mindset
"I'm rubbish at spellings... I never get them right." These words have been bouncing around in my head today after my six-year-old blurted it out during her morning practice. I know she can do it, and she does very often do well in her tests. But all too often I see her becoming frustrated and angry at herself for not being able to get them right as quickly as she would like.
By Daisy Willand8 years ago in Families
How Does Child Abuse Happen?
Child abuse, how it happens, how to recognize it, and how to stop it, has always been an area of interest for me. I was abused mentally, physically, and sexually as a small child. I was saved from the horrors in my life, but not before I was old enough for it to permanently scar me. My abuse has effected my entire life; it has affected how I am with people, my ability to have long term relationships, and worse than that, I have had nightmares since I was a kid.
By Merilynn Bezzic8 years ago in Families
The Pied Pippa
I am cursed with the knowledge that I have a friendship limit. By this I don’t mean that I can only have so many friends, but rather I acknowledge that there is a side to me that only true friends will put up with. This side of my personality inevitably rears its ugly head when people have known me for a certain length of time. It’s when the crazy comes out, it can take years, it could be hours of time spent together. It merely lies in wait, waiting for some flash of recognition, a hint of zane in the other person and then BAM, she’s here. The real me. The girl who doesn’t censor her speech, swears too much, unloads geekery, sends too many Buzzfeed links, reads YA fiction, and puts on the delightful voice of Sally Sourbottom. I have seriously been punched for putting on that voice.
By Philippa Robinson8 years ago in Families
Why Kids Need to Play Dirty
Can you remember the magic of picking up wet, cold mud and letting it ooze through your fingers? Mud play was a magic part of childhood. Did you ever used to grab handfuls of dry soil and scoop water to mix with the mud? Next the stones, flowers, and grass would be thrown into the pot and you'd mix the entire concoction with a stick until it looked just right. Mud pies were my speciality. Painting with mud was always fun too, especially on a hot day. I’d use my hands to rub wet mud onto the walls in the garden, making patterns and pictures. In time, it would start to dry, crack, and change colour. There was a great sense of satisfaction I would get from peeling the mud off the walls as it dried. Once I even ate a handful of soil, just to see how it tasted. Earthy.
By Daisy Willand8 years ago in Families
The Blackout and the Baby Centaur
I used to live in a village that, though lovely, liked to remind me that it wasn't perfect. It did this through the aggressive old ladies who ruled it, through the pub I didn’t enter because I was from "the other end of the village," and from the occasional flickering light.
By Philippa Robinson8 years ago in Families
The Voice of a Child. Top Story - January 2018.
I am a firm believer in not bubble wrapping my future children. This includes teaching them how to deal with a scraped knee following a natural consequence, to dealing with rude kids at the park, and even the concept of losing at a family or school activity. Now, notice as I said the word “future” children, making it pretty clear that I am not a parent yet. I am six weeks away from being one, and parenting is all I think about. Though no one has yet to call me “mum,” I have worked with children for close to a decade. Yes, I am aware that working with children is not the same as having my own, a fact that many parents have informed me of. However, I do believe that, through the school system, or child minding, or educational therapy, I have picked up a thing or two. I will never compare myself to a seasoned parent, one who juggles one, two, three, four or more children all the while running a house, working, being self-employed, starting up a business, going back to school, renovating a house, being a single parent, having a child with special needs, or any of the other countless things those superhero parents manage to do.
By Adrienne Amy8 years ago in Families
