Eating disorders are often dismissed as a problem that impacts only teenage girls. In reality, parents with kids of all ages — both boys and girls — should be aware that eating disorders can occur in any family. In fact, over 20 million women and 10 million men in the United States will suffer from an […]
Teaching Your Teen Emotional Literacy
It’s easy to forget sometimes that emotional literacy is not something that comes naturally to most people. Some people can pick up on the subtle emotions behind their choices, perceptions, and feelings. But more often than not, emotional literacy needs to be taught. The teenage years are some of the most emotionally challenging, and it […]
Conversations With An Eight-Year Old: Christmas
It’s Thanksgiving in the United States, and since the frenzy of the earnings season is finally over (for now, at least), we were afforded long weekends off work. Mine started yesterday. But since I man the graveyard shift, most of yesterday was spent catching up on some much-needed sleep. Today, my eight-year old and I […]
Life According To Kurt: The Seal Deal
Last night, on our way to the bus terminal, Kurt, my six-year old son, asked, “Mama, what does seal mean?” The heavy traffic was getting the better of me so that the question was a welcome reprieve. I said, “Seal can mean two things. One, it can mean a sea creature that you usually see […]
All Things Bright and Beautiful
The moment I walked into the house yesterday, my moderately heavy travel bag still weighing me down, my youngest, Kurt, told me, “Mama, I need to memorize All Things Bright and Beautiful. I’m going to recite it on November 3.” “November 3?” I said. “Good. You have a lot of time to memorize, especially since […]
Conversations with an Eight-Year Old: Racing
I’ve been manning the graveyard shift for sometime now that even during my off days, I normally am awake at night and asleep during the day. Last night, however, I managed to sleep at 10 p.m. But at about 2 a.m., I woke up to distant clapping. My husband was awakened, too. And when I […]
Conversations With An Eight-Year Old: Cosmetic Surgery
“Mama, do pigs have extracts?” That was kind of difficult to answer as it was. I was thinking along the lines of blood and tissue extracts, so I had to ask back, hoping he meant something else. “What do you mean extracts?” “Extracts, you know. Extracts.” He was literally wracking his brain to come up […]
Life According to Kurt: Inheritance
The following is a story related to me by my daughter. Before we proceed though, let me tell you that my husband’s family is a typical Filipino family that lives by some sort of a “code” that says the parental house will be bequeathed to the youngest son for care-taking when the old folks pass […]
Conversations With An Eight-Year Old: Spiders
My eight-year old boy asked me one day, “Mama, will you die if a cockroach bit you?” That made me pause. “No.” “Will you die if a spider bites you?” I said, “It depends.” A picture of a humongous tarantula in a desert somewhere came to mind. Too much movies maybe? “Why are you asking […]