Children

Breast is best, but what if you’re bottle feeding a baby? Even babies who are breastfed often take bottles from a spouse, a relative, or a caregiver. When bottle feeding, there are several ways to emulate breastfeeding that benefit the infant—in both body and mind. These days, many parents and caregivers hold the infant in…

The feelings that come like a flood when mothers face the impending empty nest are universal and timeless. Whether they have stayed at home, or have enjoyed rewarding careers, many mothers feel varying degrees of loss and confusion as their children head out into the world. Recently, I wrote about what it means to be a…

Last weekend, out-of-town relatives were visiting and wanted to go to the beach while they were here. It’s always interesting for us to see our Presque Isle State Park in northwestern Pennsylvania through fresh eyes. We grew up with the lake and beaches and often take them for granted. The older we get, though, the…

Recently, I had my aging piano tuned. As pianos go, it’s a middle of the road model. We purchased it when my daughter was taking lessons and showed more promise than the clunker we had purchased from someone’s basement could accommodate. She’s grown up, and I don’t play much anymore, but it’s handy for rehearsing…

Highly respected and iconic actor, Glenn Close, gave a heartfelt tribute to her mother at the 2019 Golden Globe ceremony as she accepted the award for best actress in a drama for her role in The Wife. While I agree with her beliefs about women following their dreams, I think that her message might be misinterpreted…

Every year around 9/11 we see a procession of posts on social media with the message, “Never Forget.” It is not likely that any of us who lived through that horrible day could forget exactly where we were when it happened and the many tears we shed afterward for people that most of us had never even met.…

Recently, I visited with my daughter, son-in-law, and two-year-old grandson for three weeks around the birth of my new granddaughter. Not 24-hours in, I remembered why I was so tired when my three kids were small in the 80’s. How did we survive? Well, we had youth on our side, I guess. Many things have…

I just became a member of the grandmother club. This magical experience brings back many memories of my own babies, and it seems like just yesterday that we were preparing our nursery for the first time. My grandchild’s home is filled with baby gear that would have seemed otherworldly, when I had my own children…

I’ve been culling paper from the files in my house. The amount of stuff I’ve shoved into files for years is ridiculous. Anyhow, in my adventure I found the following piece by the late humorist, Erma Bombeck. I watched her recite it on TV back in the 1980s when my kids were too young to…