Tag Archives: milestones

Keeping a Parenting Journal

As a writer, I have boxes and drawers of journals. I’ve been scribbling in notebooks and journals for four decades and it tends to be how I organize my work, keep track of my life, and vent about all sorts of things going on. I would like to suggest that even if you aren’t a writer, and even if you’re handy with a camera or a video recorder—keeping a parenting journal can be a very worthwhile activity. When all three of my children were small, I kept a special journal just for “parenting” stuff—it is full of accounts of our … Continue reading →

Rite of Passage: My Son Tied His Own Shoes!

Yesterday my son tied his own shoes. This may not seem like much of a cause for celebration since he’s almost seven but it was. You see, Tyler has worn Velcro shoes most of his life. I had all but given up on trying to teach him how to ties his shoes. I bought one of those little books with the shoestrings where kids can practice the fine art of shoe tying but frankly, Tyler wasn’t interested. He tried a few times but when he could not get the hang of it, he announced that he would simply wear Velcro … Continue reading →

The Husband’s Having a Birthday (And It’s a Biggun’!)

This Friday Wayne hits a milestone: 40. Here’s what I had envisioned for his big birthday weekend: • Sabotaging the house the night before with balloons, streamers, banners and whatever other birthday decorations I could come up with so he’d wake up to birthday chaos. • Making a special breakfast of some sort. • Making his favorite dinner. • Making sure to have whatever desert he wants after. (He’s got a sweet tooth almost as bad as mine. However, where I’m predictable when it comes to cakes –give me chocolate!—he’s not so easy. He’s got a ton of favorite desserts, … Continue reading →

Finding Ways to Mark the Passing Time

Kids grow up. There doesn’t seem to be much we can do about that, or maybe we do so much about that process of “growing up” as parents that it just seems so normal and obvious. I do think in our culture, however, we’ve lost sight of the importance of taking time out to acknowledge developmental and maturity leaps and to mark that passing of time and phases with any sort of ritual. I think we need to find ways of acknowledging and celebrating milestones and changes. Now, I should probably admit to you that my kids tease me, saying … Continue reading →

Every Day Milestones

When I look back over all these years of living with and raising my kids (and letting them do some raising up of me too), I can remember some of the big milestones—first days of school and first words—but it seems to be every day details that stand out most in my mind. For example, toilet training is one of those huge issues for parents with tots—you fuss and worry and stress over whether you’re doing it right or whether you might be causing permanent psychological damage to your little one. I know I fussed and cajoled and worried over … Continue reading →

Project X (1987)

In the 1987 movie “Project X,” Helen Hunt stars as Teri, a graduate student at a prestigious university. Her thesis project revolves around teaching sign language to a chimpanzee she affectionately names Virgil. He’s a sweet little chimp with a sense of humor, and she’s very attached to him, but when her project doesn’t merit more funding, she has to give him up. She doesn’t have the money to purchase him or to care for him. It breaks her heart, but she agrees to send him to a zoo. Meanwhile, Airman Jimmy Garrett (Matthew Broderick) has gotten in trouble with … Continue reading →

Hug-A-Hero Doll

Could it be the next hot, hot toy? Could it be destined for the annals of popular culture? I’m no Merlin, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the “Hug-A-Hero” doll experience a surge in popularity in the coming months. If you have a loved one in the military you may have heard of these unique dolls. After all, they were the brainchild of a military wife who had three children at home missing their father who was deployed a half a world away. Tricia Dyal says desperate times called for desperate measures. Two weeks after her husband was sent … Continue reading →

Military Bans Popular Websites

A policy effective today (May 14, 2007) bans military serving worldwide from visiting twelve popular websites. The Department of Defense has chosen to block access worldwide to YouTube, MySpace and more on its computers and networks. Military soldiers often turn to those websites for news from home, updates from their loved ones and entertainment while they are in Afghanistan and Iraq. While they will still be able to access the banned sites from their own computers and networks, the reality is that Defense Department computers are generally the only ones available to those serving in the war. The news comes … Continue reading →

5 More Red Flags to Watch For in Your Toddler

Yesterday, I listed 5 red flags that you should watch for in your toddler. All of these things signal that something could be wrong. Keep in mind of course, that toddlers are little people and they develop on their own time table. However, if you sense that something is wrong you should always speak to your pediatrician, even if you can’t pin point exactly what it is. Many doctors will say that mothering ‘instincts’ are the best when it comes to early diagnosis of problems. (And often times early diagnosis equals more successful intervention.) With that said, here are 5 … Continue reading →

5 Red Flags That May Signal a Motor Development Problem

Experts say that it helps to think of motor development problems in terms of two categories: qualitative and quantitative. A qualitative disorder is something that is not normal in and of itself. Extreme stiffness in the limbs for example, is abnormal at any age. A quantitative disorder on the other hand, is when the behavior is appropriate but the timing is all off. For example, if your child is crawling but maybe shows no signs of walking well after one year. With that said, here are 5 red flags that something is not right in terms of motor development. 1. … Continue reading →