My six-year-old daughter and I walked the cold, bare lines of February evening concrete in Philadelphia’s Chinatown. We were seeking a favorite restaurant after spending the afternoon at the Franklin Institute’s BodyWorlds exhibit, trying to see in those brilliantly split cadavers what makes us work. [Read more →]
As we withstand the informational deluge from Penn State, we are faced with the possibility of another case of institutional child abuse, in which a whole group of people, a whole structure, contributed to the horrific abuse of children. It is clear that we are just not getting it. [Read more →]
I’ve been away, dear reader, for quite some time. I’ve been busy driving a child to and from preschool, making Target runs, finding my spiritual center on Oprah’s Lifeclass (the first lesson taught us about the false power of ego), watching The Bachelor and Bachelor Pad (it takes three hours to watch that show every Monday night — that keeps a girl busy!), and wondering how I can avoid cooking the Thanksgiving Day turkey. [Read more →]
In the overall scope of human history, we are a prosperous people, us Americans living right now. Yes, the rich are getting richer, the economy is looking bleak, and there are sit-ins and protests around the country — the world could always stand a few straightenings — but if you take a moment you realize we have more, and more access to, things than anybody else ever has. With apologies to the diehard pessimists and the political gain they hope their pessimism brings about, Americans have it pretty good. [Read more →]
Lately I’ve been chasing my father all over Hell – figuratively speaking. I don’t expect to catch him; he died seven years ago, taking with him some secrets I wish I could have asked him about, and others that I know I couldn’t have. He left behind some intriguing clues about himself, but remained something of a mystery to the end. [Read more →]
When I was in second grade, I was enrolled in CCD at our church. The point of this venture was to instill me with a more fundamental knowledge of my/my parent’s faith — to help me realize more fully what it meant to believe in God, and what it meant to be Catholic. There was a textbook, with pastel paintings of Jesus and his disciples, portraying his efforts to help the sick and feed the poor. There were tests — memorizing the Commandments and reciting the Our Father. I needed to learn these things to make my first Holy Communion, to advance in my faith. The weight of the spiritual world was essentially resting on my shoulders, being this was the first rite of Christian passage that I actively was participating in.
But none of that mattered. The fear and anxiety of the tests and the practicing and the ultimatums (“If you don’t learn this, you won’t be able to get Communion,” which loosely translated into “You won’t be able to wear a pretty white dress and have your own special party”) completely paled in comparison to my true source of anxiety every Sunday: the open staircase that led to our classroom.
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Plagiarizing was once clear-cut. Those intrepid college students who drove to a paper mill (which back in the day was a real warehouse full of papers) and bought someone else’s paper — they knew they were cheaters. If someone wrote a paper for you, you knew you were a lazy cheater. Xeroxing a big chunk of an encyclopedia and putting it word for word into your paper: Obviously, cheating! [Read more →]
In honor of National Coming Out Day, I’d like to steer your awareness in the direction of a project I hold very close to my heart… a project that will maybe, one day, help eliminate the need for a specified day where the public and government are encouraged to raise their awareness of something that in my opinion, is seemingly natural. Sadly, that is not a nationally shared opinion — yet. Luckily for most, although “she” came out last week, I would like to introduce you to a little girl named Jessie. My co-authors Phylliss DelGreco, Kathryn Silverio and I have written a series of children’s books. Seven books (one for each day of the week) about a little girl named Jessie, growing up in the city with her two moms. The focus of each story is Jessie and her adventures. The focus is not on her parents. Jeanne Sager wrote a wonderful blog about “The Jessie Books.” She summed it up perfectly, “… they created a series of books about a little girl who just so happens to have two moms, but otherwise is exactly like any curious tot who enjoys playing… She’s not OK despite her moms. She’s OK. Period.” [Read more →]
Youth coaches should get a start-up package when they begin coaching: A whistle, a handbook, a clipboard, maybe a golf shirt and a visor. They should also get a foldable chair — perhaps with a seat belt. [Read more →]
What is it like being a kid in the standardized testing labyrinth of American education? I wonder if those of us who aren’t kids ask that question enough. I also wonder if kids themselves understand their own feelings about being tested, understand that it isn’t an inevitable aspect of being educated. [Read more →]
The day began for me in the oddest of ways. As is my habit, I worked late into the night of Monday Sept. 10th 2001, writing in my study, and slept in the morning of the 11th. At exactly 10 a.m. I was awoken by the doorbell, and suddenly remembered the appointment I had with some sound engineers. So I hurriedly dressed and rushed to the front door. I opened the door to a bright, perfect-looking day, but it struck me as odd that one of the two men had some blood on his face and shirt. [Read more →]
I have been a volunteer New Jersey school board member since 2004. This year, I was informed that a new law requires all New Jersey board of ed members to undergo background checks. Then I learned that included fingerprinting. Then I learned the process would cost $81. [Read more →]
If you have talented, dedicated, interested older children, I recognize the value of getting them to someone who knows things about sports that you and/or their coaches don’t. But it strikes me that there is an epidemic of personal trainers out there, a horde of people charging parents for drilling little kids in one-on-one practice sessions. Many of the little kids would rather be, well, doing something else, and this explosion of personal trainers is another sign of our era of sports-obsessed parenting.
Whenever I see children exploited by their parents as part of some misguided attempt to feel better about themselves, or to “live vicariously” through their children, I become filled with righteous indignation. Actually, I feel a sort of sadness mixed with superiority. And a dash of moral outrage. These children don’t know what they’re doing. They’re simply trying to please the parents who are using them for their own selfish ends. It’s pathetic. It’s venal. It’s a form of child abuse. I can’t think of anything that’s worse.
No, no… I’m not talking about those strange, sad parents who put their children through the burdens of beauty pageants. I’m talking about this:
For crying out loud, why can’t we just let kids be kids?
Contract kids video via reason hit & run. See also: Iced Borsht.
This is not an anti-Michael Vick diatribe. You’ve read that before. Dog fighting does disgust and disturb me. It’s evident Vick took the inherent cruelty of it to another level. He was caught. He served a prison sentence prescribed by our legal system. He was released. Since his release, he’s been active denouncing dog fighting, even working with some members of animal humane societies. He has spent time building himself back into condition to play at the highest level in a professional sport I enjoy a lot for a team I root for. [Read more →]
Dear Ronald McDonald,
First, I want to say thank you. Sincerely and honestly, thank you for your recent announcement that you will be putting apple slices in your Happy Meals. Now, no longer will the toy be the healthiest thing children can remove from that colorful box and put in their mouths. Apple slices are naturally sweet and delicious, and I think you’ll find that the children who eat your food-like products will come to love these apple slices even more than the other things you put in those “meals.” [Read more →]
I enjoy my kids a lot, and I try to express interest in all of their goings-on. I want to know what they’re up to. I like to hear about what happened in school and who likes who and who cheated in kickball and the dead beetle they saw this morning. [Read more →]
In addition to being an avid runner and a foodie, I spend a lot of my free time as an amateur archeologist. On a recent dig, I came across what is perhaps my most amazing find since the Neanderthal enemata: An ancient and very primitive type of “newspaper,” carved on a large piece of flat stone.
The stone contained a number of interesting “stories,” which I was able to translate due to my also being a skilled linguist well-versed in ancient languages. What follows is an item that I would classify as a very early “editorial.” As you’ll see, the caveman days weren’t as carefree and easy as we’ve been led to believe. In fact, there were many controversies raging:
Stop “a wheel” before make rolling move over children innocence
Telling by Foo Thik
Foo Thik hear about new create thing come from Tril Pop. Tril Pop create thing that shape in sort of circle way, with hole in middle. Make what call rolling move. Tril Pop call create thing a “wheel.”
Foo Thik not like this new thing call “a wheel.” Foo Thik worry about what “a wheel” do to our children. “A wheel” make caveman children less innocent. [Read more →]
(From wire reports)
RIVERTON, NJ–Annoyed authorities have confirmed that a NJ family, in defiance of modern rules of common sense and maybe some real rules as well, took their three children on a driving vacation of 2,137 miles without an in-car DVD player or TV. [Read more →]
The summer is almost in full swing – and likewise, my skin looks like a barely cooked roast beef, and my barbecue grill is sweating from all the use I am giving it. After our trip last week to Lancaster, it was great to get back down to the shore and take a deep breath of salt air and a deep sip of a cold beer. This past weekend, Jack and I – as usual, were “party rocking” at many different locations at the Jersey shore. We played in the waves, rode a rollercoaster, and took a walk through a giant elephant. [Read more →]
