children

Children: Our most valuable natural resource.

Taking the Scenic Route to the Point
My wife and I do not always take the same route through a conversation. If I ask her a straightforward question, I generally expect a straightforward answer.
By George Dimitriadis2 days ago in Families
I Traded 997 for 955. Now I’m Rethinking My Daughter’s Grades.
At five in the afternoon, I push the door open. Little Lemon is sitting on the play mat, building with blocks. She looks up at me, then lowers her head and keeps building. I hang my bag behind the door, squat down, and ask what she is making. “A big tall building,” she says, and presses a red block onto the top. The building collapses. She stops for a second, then starts laughing.
By Jin2 days ago in Families
I Won’t Hold My Daughter to a Standard I Refuse to Live By
I A few years ago, the last thing I did every night before lying down was open job-hunting apps. Not to send résumés. Just to scroll. Scroll through what peers were doing, which companies were hiring, what job titles and salaries people my age had. I’d scroll until one or two in the morning, eyes dry, mind still running. The next day I still had to go to work. 955. Not tiring, but I was sleepy.
By Jin2 days ago in Families
The Long Way to the Sea
You're half asleep, your cheek resting on his shoulder as the cold morning air brushes your face. He settles you into your seat, tucks a blanket around you, and before long your brothers and sister climb in beside you, still sleepy and warm from their beds.
By CJ Lindy5 days ago in Families
I Don’t Have $1 Million. I’m Still Feeding My Goose.
Every payday I do one thing. I pay bills, set aside what the family needs, and move the small remainder into a card I rarely touch. The amount is small enough that I would rather not say it out loud. A few days later I open the app and see the number has risen since last month. Something in me brightens. The feeling is ordinary and solid, like pulling a sun-dried blanket over my hands.
By Jin5 days ago in Families
I Didn’t Give My Kid a Phone Until 9th Grade. Here’s the Rule That Made It Work.
Many children’s dependence on phones began during the pandemic online classes. Long periods of online schooling gave many kids early exposure to phones. Our family was stricter at the time, and we never gave our child a phone during elementary school.
By Jin5 days ago in Families
The First Thing My 17-Year-Old Does When She Gets Home Is Look for the Tablet
I once asked a kid who got into the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology whether she liked looking at her phone. She said, “There’s nothing much to look at on a phone.”
By Jin5 days ago in Families
My Grandson Logan
We are going to my grandson's bull riding today about three hours from home. I never expected Logan to be a bull rider, and he has been riding bulls since probably the middle of summer. I am not sure which ride this will be today. I am nervous to go and watch him, but I told him I would go before the season is over.
By Denise E Lindquist6 days ago in Families
Four Workers, Ten Dependents: The Population Math That Breaks Family Budgets
A household with four grandparents, two working adults, and one child does not need a demographic model to feel the pressure. The monthly paycheck splits into four piles: pension top-ups and medical bills for the old, mortgage and utilities, childcare and school fees, and a reserve for the next emergency. When one pile grows, another shrinks. Fertility is usually the pile that disappears.
By Jin6 days ago in Families
I Stopped Saying “Everything’s Fine” to My Parents. Then I Asked My Dad About a Leaky Pipe.
1 The call came at eight in the evening. My mother answered. Her first sentence was always the same: “Have you eaten?” I said I had. She asked what I ate. I said tomato and egg noodles. She said, “Oh, that’s all right. Don’t keep ordering takeout.” I said okay.
By Jin6 days ago in Families
The “Good Son” Who Turned a Family Fight Into a Criminal Case
When the two copies of the “Agreement to Sever the Father-Son Relationship” landed on the table, their paper edges pressed on the coaster. Xiao Liu wanted his father, Lao Liu, to sign. Lao Liu tore them up. The fight moved from the house to the courtyard. The two exchanged punches and kicks. Lao Liu picked up a broom and struck Xiao Liu, breaking a metacarpal bone. The injury was minor, Grade II.
By Jin8 days ago in Families
The School Mask
At school, Alexia is proper and she adapts to everyone. Her teacher tells me in every meeting that she is so well behaved, that she tries so hard, that she follows every rule. And I know she does. I know she does it with all her soul. All her energy goes into fitting in, doing it right, masking her daily challenges.
By Diary of an Autistic World8 days ago in Families