Search Results for: help i lost my voice

China Adoption Book Review Series: Kids Like Me in China

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What does a nine-year-old think and feel about her adoption? What thoughts and feelings does she have on revisiting the orphanage where she lived during the first year of her life and meeting her caregivers? My recent China Adoption Book Review Series (The Lost Daughters of China, China Ghosts, and Wanting a Daughter, Needing a Son Parts One, Two, and Three, has covered writings by adoptive parents and from researchers, journalists and academics into abandonment, orphanage care, and domestic and international adoption in China. With Kids Like Me in China, we get to hear from an adoptee. Ying Ying Fry … Continue reading →

Does Michelle Obama’s Discipline Style Work for You?

In Barbara Walters’ interview with First Lady Michelle Obama, who she chose as the ‘Most Fascinating Person of 2009’, they had the opportunity to speak about parenting. Mrs. Obama admits to trying to spank her kids in the past but found it unproductive. She says that she now issues ‘lots of lectures’ in the place of spankings. I definitely understand where she’s coming from. While I am not against spanking, I can count the number of spankings I have given on one hand. For the most part, I found that spanking or the threat of it only works for some … Continue reading →

Screaming Babies

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I may have to buy a pair of earplugs if I want to protect myself from hearing loss. My 4-month-old has recently discovered that he can scream. He screams so loud, it feels like your ear drums are going to pop. He’s decided that screaming is a much more fun way of expressing himself than cooing or laughing. When we tickle him, when he watches TV, when he plays with his toys, or when he recognizes someone, he screams at the top of his lungs with delight. I’m surprised he hasn’t lost his voice yet! Until he finds a new … Continue reading →

How to Keep Your Toddler Occupied on a Road Trip

Who says you have to break the bank to keep your toddler occupied on a long road trip? The following frugal ideas are simple, cost-effective, and will help you preserve your sanity while traveling to grandma’s house this summer: Make Your Own Books on Tape: Each year my mom presents my daughter with a backpack full of new books and cassettes of her reading each out loud. This is an ideal gift for toddlers who cannot read on their own. In addition to reading the words on each page, my mom describes the pictures, then instructs my daughter to “turn … Continue reading →

Digitize Your Directions

I absolutely love having a GPS in the car. For me, it is a necessary tool, since I am very prone to getting lost…very prone. I could go on and on about how I was headed in one place and ended up somewhere else, even in a different state. But for those times when I don’t have the GPS or when the newest roads aren’t available on it, I have found a little trick that really helps. Sure I could look the directions up online and then print them out, but about 50 percent of the time, the online directions … Continue reading →

Does Becoming Orthodox Mean Giving Everything Up?

The other day, I saw a letter published on the internet to Rabbi Tzvi Freeman. The writer was concerned about a friend of his who was once a successful musician, but who had given everything up when he became religious. The friend was learning in Yeshiva (an academy where Torah is learned intensively) day and night and didn’t have time for his music, much less, to spend time with his friends. When the concerned man asked his friend if he spent any time composing and playing, the newly-religious friend said he had “lost his musical soul and gained another one,” … Continue reading →

In The Team’s Best Interests

Recently I heard of a sporting team where the selfish actions of three players cost their team the final and therefore the prize. In any team there is no room for those seeking their own glory. What is needed are those who will play for the team and put the team’s best interests above their own personal ambitions. Anyone who knows me, knows I am an avid Sydney Swans supporter. What I like is that the team is united. Everyone knows their role in the team and plays for each other and the team. ‘The culture of the club doesn’t … Continue reading →

Scripture Study: 1 Nephi 16:26-32

Lehi’s family is wandering in the wilderness, and they are starving. The bows have lost their springs, and Nephi’s high quality steel bow was their last chance for survival. When his bow breaks, his brothers begin to murmur, and even Lehi complains against the Lord. But after Nephi speaks to his father and shows him loving respect befitting his position as patriarch of the family and prophet of the Lord, Lehi repents and goes to the Lord to inquire where Nephi should go to look for food. 26. And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord said … Continue reading →

Scripture Study – 1 Nephi 16:20-25

Lehi and his family have departed further into the wilderness and are depending on the land to provide them with the food they need. The Liahona has led them through a fertile stretch of land, but Nephi’s bow has broken and they aren’t able to hunt very effectively. Laman and Lemuel are starting to complain about the lack of meat, their first recorded murmuring since Nephi’s impassioned plea for their repentance. 20. And it came to pass that Laman and Lemuel and the sons of Ishmael did begin to murmur exceedingly, because of their sufferings and afflictions in the wilderness; … Continue reading →

Tinker Bell the Movie – Finally!

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My daughter is going to be in seventh heaven this Fall when Tinker Bell the movie finally makes it’s debut. You can pre-order it at Amazon right now and trust me, I already have. What’s unique about Tinker Bell? If you’ve read any of the novels that began with Gail Carson Levine’s wonderful Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg and has continued through several Fairies of Pixie Hollow novels including The Trouble with Tink, Rani and the Mermaid Lagoon and so many more, then you know that the world of Tinker Bell is expanded beyond that of Peter … Continue reading →