In 1995, as my family was headed to a Wednesday night church service, my nine-year-old daughter decided to take her stuffed Lion King toy. A guest speaker was in the pulpit and during her message, she spoke about Mufasa from the movie The Lion King. My little girl squeezed her toy and smiled with glee.

As in fairy tales, the stepmother is generally deemed as evil: Lady Tremaine in Cinderella, The Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Mother Gothel in Rapunzel, and last but certainly not least, Maleficent. These scorned women often live in the shadows of a beautiful princess who sings with a voice so beautiful, forest animals appear. A peasant girl forced into indentured servitude, who fits the glass slipper as if it were made for her foot exclusively—because it was! A stepmother so envious, she exiles the young child to a dark, sky-reaching tower, her beauty hidden from all the land. A woman so evil, she goes as far as cursing a newborn child, as a means of seeking revenge on the child’s father.

Not that Her Majesty posts an ad in Craigslist when she requires new members of her Secret Service, but if she did, here are all the reasons why mums should be the first to apply.

Children, especially teenagers, go through a vast gamut of changes while growing up. Some go through occasional mood swings or the emotional outbursts that are likely to be experienced amongst most adolescents. But few changes are not the part of this development process, yet remain deceptively cloaked under the false front of growing up issues. With this, we refer to the prolonged sadness/ irritability/ aches and pains/ lack of energy etc. It starts interfering and affecting the child's social as well as inter-personal activities, causing Depression. It is, therefore, pivotal to dig up this thin line between the two so that one can take action and attend to it ASAP.

The idea of making a baby… well I did not imagine it would involve an uncomfortably short bed, clinical white walls, a syringe full of sperm, gloves, and the smell of disinfectant. But here I am.

To say the least, my life is a fucking train wreck at the moment as it has been for quite a while. I thought I may have had it all in check at sometimes, but it would always come crumbling down every time that thought ever entered my mind. Usually they say get therapy, or connect with nature, but what if your body, your soul and mind don’t allow you to do that, and each day spent in bed becomes the reason for this suffering. What do we do then? Not a single person’s words are going to help, be it good or bad ones. The bad ones just constantly hurt, and the good ones you're questioning yourself about. Like is this really true, am I really a beautiful, clever, and confident individual. This feeling leaves you questioning the slightest of things, as well as the most important ones, such as your own life.

Divorce affects every child differently. However, all children of divorce do best when both parents stay actively involved in their lives. This continuing connection makes a positive difference for children of all ages—even teens—minimizing the fact that their parents no longer live together.

According to the every-now-and-then reminder notice from Facebook (also known as Memories), it's been six years since I took Alex to a celebratory lunch after we attended his graduation ceremony for promoting from Tevis Junior High School to Stockdale High School. I was so proud of him, and it was some rare quality time he and I would share that became less and less common as he got older, and I moved farther away.

How can this be? I know I am a woman at heart, but am a father... of four boys, nonetheless. As if raising four boys to become amazing men wasn’t full of its own challenges. Throw my being transgender and it’s quite an adventure. How lucky am I though to be a parent of blood borne children! I am so blessed!

I had failed, that’s all I could think. I was a failure as a parent, a foster parent and a decent human being. In training, they all but said that if we disrupted it was all our fault because we weren’t trying hard enough. (Disrupted means asking a child to be removed from your home before they are reunified, sent to live with relatives, or moved to their forever home). I had tried so hard, but I just couldn’t take it anymore and this child and our family was suffering because of it.

“I couldn’t be a Foster Parent, I worry I would get attached.”

Royal homebirth has been in the press a lot lately. Both Kate Middleton and Megan Markle considered having their babies at home, and just their suggestion was poignant—Royal homebirth hasn't been the norm for decades.

Children, especially teenagers, go through a vast gamut of changes while growing up. Some go through occasional mood swings or the emotional outbursts that are likely to be experienced amongst most adolescents. But few changes are not the part of this development process, yet remain deceptively cloaked under the false front of growing up issues. With this, we refer to the prolonged sadness/ irritability/ aches and pains/ lack of energy etc. It starts interfering and affecting the child's social as well as inter-personal activities, causing Depression. It is, therefore, pivotal to dig up this thin line between the two so that one can take action and attend to it ASAP.

Are the kids driving you bonkers? Do you feel stressed out all the time and in need of some help? Whether you are a new parent, or you have a toddler, school age, or teenager, parenting can be hard, especially if the other parent isn’t able to be involved. Let’s take a closer look at what stress can do to you and tips to help relieve some of it too.

When I lost my 14-year-old son to a tragic accident, I was plunged into a world of utter darkness. The light had gone out in my world. Everything moved in slow motion, and I would only hear the sounding of my heart trying to stop beating. The pain was so unbearable, I thought for sure I would not live until morning.

Not that Her Majesty posts an ad in Craigslist when she requires new members of her Secret Service, but if she did, here are all the reasons why mums should be the first to apply.

All of my life I wanted to be a mother. When I was younger I wanted to have kids young. My mom had me when she was 20, about to turn 21. I loved having a young mom. My mind boggled at my friends who had older parents. I just thought having kids while you were younger would mean you would have more energy and be more interactive in their lives.

It is essential to teach children about the environment, so that they will want to protect it from the dangers of pollution that harm the air, soil and water. Parents and teachers can help children to learn more about the environment in a variety of ways.

While it is essential to try and make time for your family each and every day throughout the year, it is especially important that you try to make time for your family and friends during the summer.

Who comes first to you? Is it your wife? Is it your mother? Maybe your kids? Where does your baby mama fit in? Who is the one that you turn to in your time of need? Who do you count on when you're upset? Who is the one who can calm you down when you are angry? Who is the one that is above all your number one before anyone else?

I want to answer this by asking, "Well, duh. Are you stupid?" But that might be too mean, so I will answer this by saying of course! Would you not want your wife to do the same? How can you let ANYONE, let alone any of your family members? Even if your family does not like your wife, or if they think she is not good enough, they still need to respect who you chose. And remember, by allowing them to disrespect your wife, they are also disrespecting your marriage, and by an extension... you as well.

In 1995, as my family was headed to a Wednesday night church service, my nine-year-old daughter decided to take her stuffed Lion King toy. A guest speaker was in the pulpit and during her message, she spoke about Mufasa from the movie The Lion King. My little girl squeezed her toy and smiled with glee.

It had been a long night. At least for D. Of course, O. would go into labor during a terrible storm. A tornado watch had been issued for the Small Town area about six o'clock the previous evening. Rain was falling in sheets and one could barely see their hand in front of their face. A green tint fell over the sky and it was a good thing they lived so close to the salon; just about three blocks. If the weather was good and they weren't dog tired, they could walk home. Since O. had been pregnant, though, they had been riding home. It felt a little extravagant to be driving a mere three blocks and the exercise would have been great for her, but who was he to tell her she would benefit from the walk? Besides, standing on her feet all day, booked solid with appointments, he knew her body must hurt. At the very least, he knew her feet were tired. Good thing they rode home because she went into labor just about the second they crossed the threshold. D.'s mother lived with them and took care of M. and B. while they were at the salon. D. ran into the kitchen, where Mama was preparing chicken and dumplings for dinner, telling her it was time to go to the hospital. He grabbed her suitcase which was parked at the front door and they left. The trip downtown would take a good 20 minutes and that was only if there wasn't much traffic. Good job Central Expressway was completed in Small Town last year. It sure helped make the trip downtown seem shorter. They made it in record time and the nurse guided her to a room while he stayed at the desk completing paper work. The contractions were extraordinarily painful and only two minutes apart already. O. wondered how long it would be before this baby made its way into the world. She hoped the stormy weather would not be indicative of this baby's life.

In the Beginning

Whenever things get rough in life, and you have to turn to somebody for help or comfort, the first people you think of are usually your parents. You know that their love for you is unconditional, and that they are always there when you need advice, a kind word, or you have a problem you don’t know how to handle on your own. However, at some point, they become the ones who need your attention, time, and sometimes even help. Here are some ways to give some of that love back to your aging parents and treat them with the kindness they deserve.

Becoming a grandparent is supposed to be the happiest time of your life. It is the icing on the cake of parenting... right? Well, it doesn't work out that way for an ever growing number of grandparents. For a huge percentage, becoming a grandparent is coupled with the role of parent for one or more of your child's child.

It’s difficult to make sense of families, sometimes. You grow up thinking that you know people completely because they are always present. They seem so familiar that you never quite see what is glaringly obvious, in hindsight.

Hello all! I want to start writing a chain of articles dealing with how we handle grief and bereavement in this crazy world today; it's an inevitable fact that as humans we will all die eventually. I'm sorry to be blunt, but it's just something that we will all have to deal with. When I was 20 years old, I was thrown into this select group of kids who have lost a parent before they're old enough to rent a car. No one tells you what it's going to be like after one or more of your parents leaves the planet, but if I can drive one thing home, it's that through death there is life. Death is a natural game changer in our lives, and there is truth in that through death there is rebirth, so I would like introduce myself by sharing my experience with death.

Paige was our youngest daughter. Youngest of three, in fact. Julie and Michelle were in their early 20s and in college, starting at life. Kenan would be so proud. He used to say, “Thank the Lord for my beautiful black girls.” We buried him on Julie’s 21st birthday. The honor guard sounded their rifles, each shot shaking my insides. Then, they took the neatly-folded flag in white gloves and walked uniformly to me, and handed me the fabric for which Kenan had fought and died. And it was everything I could do, not to crumble. I had to be strong for my daughters.

Absolutely Perfectly Correct

“Our dog Chloe was really old for a dog, and couldn’t do that much stuff anymore. She couldn’t see or hear, so someone came to our house and put her to sleep. I felt really, really sad, because she was a good, behaving dog. I started crying. The whole family was sad because they loved her. I still miss her,” says nine-year-old Audrey Jones. There’s no doubt having a pet is a special part of childhood. Pets bring joy and fun to a household. So how do you handle it when that pet dies?

Let’s get real here. Once your baby arrives, you won’t have time for basic hygiene, let alone cooking. Babies are on their own time schedule, which means when you’re ready to prepare a fabulous five-course meal, your crying bundle of joy is ready to be held nonstop. And who wants to spend Baby’s future college fund on take-out? Besides, the goal is to lose the baby weight, not to pack on more pounds eating pizza day and night just because it’s a quick fix.

Although serving your community all year around is very important, it is especially important during the winter months, when temperatures are very cold and frigid in most areas. Getting the whole family involved in helping the community is not only a great way to make an impact on the environment around you, but is also a great way to teach kids about those less fortunate and how to give back. Below are a few simple ways to help serve the community as a family, especially during the winter months.

There was a time when library shelves were filled with old dusty books. The librarian was an older person, usually a woman who was modestly dressed. If you spoke too loudly she would put a finger to her mouth and tell you "Shhh." I cannot ever remember in my 61 years ever hearing kids shouting and running through a library, that is until now. Libraries today are vastly different than what they used to be. Instead of rows and rows of books on shelves, most libraries today are filled with video games, CDs, video game systems, and DVDs. Unsupervised children run around shouting, play fighting, and having outdoor games such as hide and seek and tag indoors.

I have been accused of having a story for every circumstance by my dearest friends. I believe they think I am making the story up. I felt cut off and cut down not because they didn't believe me, but because I couldn't tell the story. The truth is that real storytellers see the world of circumstance and immediately put what seems like scattered facts into a cogent story. This is how storytellers organize their memories. It also helps to have a great memory for these kinds of facts.

It’s been a long while since I’ve written anything and that’s mostly because I’ve been lacking inspiration and have been trying to figure out this thing called life. My first introduction to writing was when I began writing diary entries because I used to find it difficult to express myself verbally. I have now been inspired to write again because I have been dealing with some things and I feel that speaking on a small part of them will help to improve my mental state and inspire me to start writing again.

To say the least, my life is a fucking train wreck at the moment as it has been for quite a while. I thought I may have had it all in check at sometimes, but it would always come crumbling down every time that thought ever entered my mind. Usually they say get therapy, or connect with nature, but what if your body, your soul and mind don’t allow you to do that, and each day spent in bed becomes the reason for this suffering. What do we do then? Not a single person’s words are going to help, be it good or bad ones. The bad ones just constantly hurt, and the good ones you're questioning yourself about. Like is this really true, am I really a beautiful, clever, and confident individual. This feeling leaves you questioning the slightest of things, as well as the most important ones, such as your own life.

Introduction

My mom is a very interesting person. The experiences of her life have shaped her into the strong woman she is today. I wanted to better understand how this shaped her and learn about her life. I started by asking her about her childhood. It was 9:54 PM, on August 23, 1973, the hottest day of the year, when Grandma Jackie delivered Michelle Bonnie Gackstetter into the hands of Dr. Richard Mulder. When he unwrapped the umbilical cord from her neck, and she started to turn pink instead of blue, he probably started calling her 'Pumpkin.' My mom said, “The Catholic nuns from the hospital in Ivanhoe, MN, would pray for me every day from then on out, and knowing that has always made me feel a little more close to God.” I like to think that my mom has always been a fighter. I never knew that she had been born with her umbilical cord around her neck. I bet that really scared my grandma.

As in fairy tales, the stepmother is generally deemed as evil: Lady Tremaine in Cinderella, The Queen in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Mother Gothel in Rapunzel, and last but certainly not least, Maleficent. These scorned women often live in the shadows of a beautiful princess who sings with a voice so beautiful, forest animals appear. A peasant girl forced into indentured servitude, who fits the glass slipper as if it were made for her foot exclusively—because it was! A stepmother so envious, she exiles the young child to a dark, sky-reaching tower, her beauty hidden from all the land. A woman so evil, she goes as far as cursing a newborn child, as a means of seeking revenge on the child’s father.

It’s all over social media. The current American obsession for all things French, from diet to shoes. Jeanne Damas is the stylish It Girl. Everyone is looking at the French girl’s plate to try to figure out how they all stay so slim. French music is showing up on TV, and French movies are being re-released.

I wrote out 100 things I want to thank my mom for. Here they are:

"I hate my life! I hate my life! I want to get out! I want all of this to end!" I screamed angrily into my pillow. It was not a loud scream, but a soft one with all the ferociousness and intensity from my body of a loud one... I do not have the privilege of letting out my frustrations for the neighbor and their dog to hear.

Today I went out with family! Mom found my sister who was missing for months, and we decided to celebrate. She was not hurt, she was a bit dirty and looked like she had been hiding on the streets and stuff. Mom is gonna take her to get checked, and get her new clothes and stuff, and get her set up with an apartment!

For the first time in my life, I can feel myself aging.