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Significance of Father's Day Today

Image via  Wikipedia

In any society, be it modern, medieval or ancient, fathers have had a
significant position. There may be several relationships in a child's life but
not a single one of these can be a perfect substitute of a father-child
relationship. He is a guide, a philosopher and more than that, a dear and most
reliable friend of the child after a certain age. A father helps his child to
set his or her aim in life. Then he helps us in selecting the just ways of
attaining our goals in life. Again, when someone gets too tired of the
weariness and doldrums of life, his/her father is always there to offer the
shoulders of a friend where we can rest for a while.

Father's Day celebrates such an important relationship. It was an ancient
practice of worshiping ancestors including father and mother. The following civilizations maintained this tradition. In the modern society, people started celebrating Mother's Day first. Gradually, the civilization understood the necessity of Father's Day too. In the early 20th century, efforts to recognize
Father's Day were made, however it was not until the 1970s when President Nixon
recognized Father’s Day officially in the US. Gradually most other countries
acknowledged Father’s Day and started celebrating fatherhood.

She Blinded Me with Science!

After ranting and raving about the anti-vax movement and its total idiocy, I realized that there are a lot of people who just can't look at scientific information and separate out the real stuff from the drivel.

That's when I remembered that old Chinese proverb:

If you give a mom a scientific paper analysis, you protect her family for the day; if you teach a mom to analyze a scientific paper, you protect her family for a lifetime.

I think something got lost in translation, but you get the basic idea.

So, from time to time (as in, when some great example presents itself and I feel like doing the research), I will be posting some basic information on how to evaluate "scientific" data.

Let me preface this by noting: There's a LOT of bad science out there.

And then there's good science, hyped out of proportion by the media, who can turn even mediocre studies and insignificant results into major news events that get people like Jenny McCarthy all riled up.

Eco-friendly Kids' Birthday Party Ideas

In this new age of social responsibility and environmental concern, parents are looking for easy and fun ways to teach their children about the necessity of giving back to those in need & cleaning up the environment. However, this has also become a time of extravagant birthday party celebrations for young children with inflatable jumping machines, balloon arches, disposable party utensils and lots of unnecessary gifts; none of which seem to teach our children about social issues or the environment. So, what can we as “green” parents do? There are several different ways to incorporate giving back to others and environmentally friendly ideas to create a fun and exciting Birthday celebration.

A Brush With Death

As I lay in bed, I instinctively, lovingly, rested my hand on my pregnant belly. Little did I know as I felt the kicking of my unborn baby that in just a few short minutes my life would be changed forever.

The time was getting nearer for our baby to be born. I had been having contractions all day. I figured our baby would be born that night or the next day when I went to my scheduled appointment.

I crawled out of bed to go use the bathroom - again. Anyone who has ever been pregnant knows that this is a ritual done virtually every night in the latter stages of pregnancy. Go to the bathroom, go to bed, wait ten minutes, get up again to use the bathroom, and the cycle continues until you finally fall asleep.

As I sat on the toilet, I began to get excited because I thought my water had broken. But the flow didn’t stop. I called for Steve to come in and turn on the light.

If The Shoe Fits... Do Your Children Have Healthy Feet?

It seems that every few months your children need new shoes and you may try to stretch your budget by fixing their current shoes or by giving them a pair a big sister or brother has discarded. Unfortunately, either solution may not be good for the feet of the child who needs a shoe fix. Some health issues caused by improperly fitted, worn out or hand me down shoes include plantar fasciitis, Morton's neuroma, excessive sweating, hammertoes, corns, bunions and blisters.

Open the Windows

This morning when I looked out my windows I could see the sun was shinning in a crystal clear blue sky and the leaves of the trees were swaying in a gentle breeze. I decided to open one of my two office windows a few inches to enjoy a little of the refreshing mountain breeze and the birds songs while I typed away at my computer.

Using TV to Teach Diversity

In many communities across America the complaint is the same; “I want to help my children learn about other races, religions and cultures, but my community isn’t very integrated & my circle of friends is not diverse, what do I do?” It’s true that although we are a country of diverse backgrounds, most people tend to seek out groups of friends of the same race, religion and/or ethnicity. It is easier to find common ground and the language barrier is not present when spending time with others who share in our culture. However, parents would like their children to be accepting and tolerant of other cultures even though they may not be exposed to them on a regular basis, what’s a parent to do?

Enter the wonderful world of children’s television programming. With the choices our children now have, you can expose your children to multiple cultures, languages and traditions all in the same afternoon. A new study released recently from the American Academy of Pediatrics reveals that high-quality educational programming can have a positive effect on young children. These programs assist in the acquisition of general knowledge and improve cognitive learning among children ages six and younger. The report also states that educational programming which emphasizes cultural and racial diversity can improve children’s attitudes to those subjects.

My Child's Prayer

At night I see my little one
Kneeling by her bed,
Precious is the site I see
A scarf upon her head.

Her little hands are folded
And her little head is bent,
I wonder what her prayers may be
Within them she seems so intent.

Her little lashes kiss her cheeks
With every breath she takes,
Silent as the one before
Another prayer she makes.

I linger and I listen
Just outside her door,
Then I hear a whisper
Please God end the war.

Then I say my own prayer
Just outside her door,
Thank you for this child God
She’s a blessing and some more!

Elaine K Stephen
Inspirational Gift Gallery

The Pardoxes of Caring

The Pardoxes of Caring A brief piece in the November 21 issue of The Week describes my novel In Hovering Flight as, among other things, a consideration of “the paradoxes of caring.” The more I’ve thought about that phrase the more apt it’s come to seem to me.

Addie and Tom, two of the novel’s central characters, care passionately about birds and about the natural world, and also about the work they do in connection with this passion for the environment—Tom as an ornithologist, Addie as a bird artist and, eventually, an environmental activist. They also care deeply about their daughter Scarlet, the book’s other important character. For Tom, there’s a healthy balance and a meaningful connection between his various loves. But for Addie, the people and things she cares about often seem at war with one another. When Scarlet is a baby, Addie finds it nearly impossible to get to her blind in the woods and sketch, much less do any painting. When Scarlet is older and more independent, Addie’s despair over overdevelopment and environmental degradation often pulls her away from her work. Later, her own declining health interferes. So there’s one paradox of caring: for the mother in this book, the various people and things she cares about seem to interfere with this other important thing, her work as an artist.

Chocolate and Three Generations of Honesty

Some of my earliest preschool memories in the 1960’s involve tagging along with my mother doing all the things mothers have to do – picking up my brothers from school, shopping at the grocery store, banking, and stopping by the drug store for home permanents, coloring books, and the occasional chocolate bar. My mother loves chocolate, but was very health-conscious, so it was fairly rare that we were treated to candy, and we knew not to ask more than once for something after she said “no”.

I got a life-long lesson on honesty as a result of one of these trips to the drug store. On this particular day I wanted that eye-level chocolate bar more than I’d ever wanted anything. I was pretty sure that my mom was going to deny it to me if I asked, because we’d already been given salt-water taffy through the bank-teller window a few minutes before.