Parenting

Is Racism Natural?

There was a video on CNN yesterday that stopped me in my tracks. It wasn’t footage from Thailand, or election coverage.  It is a video of a little 5 year old girl  sitting in front of an image of 5 cartoon children. The children are all wearing the same dress and the same expression, only the color of their skin is different.  An interviewer...

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Extreme Makeover: HOPE edition
Extreme Makeover: HOPE edition

Would you let go of your child if it meant giving them a better life? This past Sunday I was watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, a show that I love even though it makes me cry.  It was the season premiere – did you see it? Instead of building a house for one family they built a home for Boys Hope Girls Hope Baltimore, a group that takes at...

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Understanding Cutting
Understanding Cutting

My daughter cut herself for the first time when she was 12 years old. Today, 11 years later, she is still struggling to overcome this problem. At the time I knew absolutely nothing about "self-harm" and it scared me to death. I was shocked and bewildered that she would do such a thing. It’s important to understand cutting - what it is, who does...

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Top 10 Back-to-School Resources
Top 10 Back-to-School Resources

It's back-to-school time ... what, already?! Yup, and whether you're heading to university for the first time or coming back for your final year, you should be able to find an article here that will help you have a more enjoyable and productive school year. From high school to grad school, there's something here for everyone: 1) Decorating:...

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Do You Want a Boy or Girl?
Do You Want a Boy or Girl?

If you could choose the gender of your unborn child, would you? For $9 000, there are doctors in Thailand who are happy to help. The concept of “designer babies” is not a new one.  Arguments against preselecting or prescreening embryos usually focus on two main areas: how far is too far and what happens to the unwanted embryos? Popular opinion...

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When Parents Feel Helpless
When Parents Feel Helpless

The term "helicopter parent" describes the sort of parents who always must be intimately involved in the development of their children. This kind of parent seeks to prevent any harm from coming to them by hovering nearby, ready to swoop in at a moment's notice to prevent any failure from befalling their kids. But what happens when parents discover...

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Accounts of Autism
Accounts of Autism

One of my favorite books is “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” by Mark Haddon.  The book follows the intricate and, to me, sometimes seemingly irrational thoughts and actions of the main character as he solves a mystery. While reading the book I became quickly aware that while it did not implicitly say so, it was implied...

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Freedom, More or Less
Freedom, More or Less

I was intrigued this morning by an article from O, the Oprah Magazine which asked “Bikini or headscarf -- which offers more freedom?” I was raised in England and Canada and my western brain immediately answered “not the head scarf”.  But as I read through the article – one woman’s account of her daughter’s choice to cover up – I...

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