children
Children: Our most valuable natural resource.
48 Days — Rare Disease
No one ever thinks they will lose a child. When it does happen, no one ever thinks it will be to a rare disease or condition.
Sierra GunnellsPublished 7 years ago in FamiliesThe Real Reason...
Eight hours of sleep in your comfy bed not cutting it? Small cuts all over your feet from LEGOs that were so precisely laid out for you? (Such thoughtful little rugrats we have huh?)
It's a Girl
Sitting here next to my beautiful four month old daughter, wondering who will read this. I don't think many will but I'm hoping it at least touches the thoughts of a few people. May 8th 2017. The best day of my life and also the most terrifying. After two days of unruling back labor I finally gave birth to a tiny 6 pounds 7 ounces baby girl, only 17 inches long. I know what you're thinking "She was a premie?" No she was full term. I was always told growing up that God will only give you what you can handle, and it that is the case he must think I'm superman. The hospital had broken my water and 18 hours afterwards my darling Cecilia made her appearance, but to my shock she wasn't breathing. At the time we had no idea what was happening I mean really? I just gave birth I was feeling all kinds of emotions and couldn't think straight. My fiancé was by my side repeating the most heartbreaking question any parent would hate to hear. "Why isn't she crying?"
Martina HayesPublished 7 years ago in FamiliesPostpartum Depression Made Me a Better Mother
I dreamed of being the girl in the movie scene, crying in the bathroom, holding a pregnancy test, and hugging her husband that could not wait to see how beautiful she would be carrying their first child. Never once did I think that pregnancy could be traumatic and brutal and not so hard to accept as "beautiful" and "a miracle." Pregnancy reared its ugly head, and snapped me into reality when I was 23. Postpartum depression was inevitable for someone like me, who suffered from mental illness, someone who had just spent a summer partying with the worst of them and doing things any parent would tremble at. Out of everything that was difficult, being a mother would not be. I may not have realized it when I wanted nothing but to be cool and get high and go to the bar, but being a mom was always my very first dream. But still, I was completely and utterly devastated when the doctor came into the room and said, “The rabbit died,” an old phrase used to describe something very new. I understood neither. I accepted neither. I was incapable of loving myself, I was still looking for someone to save me, I was still completely dependent on everyone else. How was I supposed to validate the existence of another being when I was still using other people to validate my own? Within ten minutes, I was expected to plan for a life and a future of someone else; I hadn’t even cared about my own for the last ten years. The fairytale scene I wanted was robbed by a man in a white coat that wrote me a prescription for prenatal vitamins instead of the painkillers I was there for originally. That doctor said, “Good luck to you,” as I left his office, and the only thing that remotely resembled a movie scene was the white-knuckle grip I had on my paperwork and the words I screamed to God as I flew down the interstate to inform a soul as lost as my own that he was (regrettably) the father of my child.
Jessica wilsonPublished 7 years ago in FamiliesWhen I Found Out I Was Pregnant
My New Mom Experience The Moment Our Lives Changed Hi there! My name is Taylor. I'm 24 years old, I'm engaged to the most amazing man in the world (we'll get into that story later) and together we have a beautiful son named Sterling. We love our little one more than anything, but I'd be lying to you if I said we weren't terrified when we found out we were having a baby.
Taylor MitchellPublished 7 years ago in FamiliesLearning to Walk
Developing the ability to walk and talk were two of the biggest milestones of my life. As I mentioned in a recent blog I recall practicing vocal sounds almost from the moment I left the womb. Yet the trickiest part was developing the cognitive ability to group vocal sounds together to form words.
Rebecca SharrockPublished 7 years ago in FamiliesBeyond Five - The Realisation That She's Not A Baby Anymore
Becoming a parent is a weird and wonderful thing that is largely lived through 'stages' and 'phases'. As a new parent, you dread things like the 'teething stage', the 'terrible twos' and the 'threenager'. But nobody really talks about the stage that seems to kick in as your child heads beyond the age of five.
Stephanie WalkerPublished 7 years ago in FamiliesTheir First Screen-Free Day
I have been a nanny to three children for the past two years, I have watched these children grow, mature, and become addicted to technology, specifically, anything with a screen. Movies? They feel entitled to a constant stream of movies, no matter the time, nor their behavior. Phones? They see you with a phone in your hand and suddenly they want—no NEED—2,000 hugs and kisses as they peer at your screen and attempt to read over your shoulder (despite being 5, 3 and 2). The oldest demands Snapchat filters and pictures of herself as soon as she realizes that I am taking a photograph. As soon as their movie turns off, they are literally screaming at me to put another one on. It’s maddening!
Eadlyen GreenwoodPublished 7 years ago in Families10 Reasons Toddlers Rule!
Toddlerhood is my favourite stage so far. Seriously, terrible twos, threenager – why does the world take such a negative view of this vibrant time in a baby’s life? When I thought about it, I quickly realized that to be fair, most stages of childhood and adolescence are judged harshly and labelled negatively. Poor teens certainly don’t escape the judgement levelled their way.
Abellona TPublished 7 years ago in FamiliesWhat 30-Something Moms Know About the Parenting Struggle
My life as a mother has barely begun. I’m only two years into this adventure, but I’m already mid-way through my 30s. By the time my mother was my age, she had a pre-teen and a teen. Yikes.
Nature vs Nurture
There once was a boy who was energetic as a young child, subdued as a teenager. He because increasingly troubled as his family life broke down. His mother and father divorced, and his violent fantasies grew. He committed his first act of murder just after he graduated from high school. For the next thirteen years, this man lured other young men to his home where he killed them and mutilated their corpses. In total he killed 17 men. His name was Jeffery Dahmer. Dahmer is an extreme case of deviancy, but the question arises. What made Jeffery Dahmer behave this way? Was he just born with the predisposition to be a serial killer or did his social circumstances lead to his actions?
Danni GreerPublished 7 years ago in FamiliesOpen Letter
I want to start by saying thank you. Thank you for taking the time between parties to meet my mother. Your relationship was not one that any child could idolize, but through it I was conceived, so thank you.
Stella LanePublished 7 years ago in Families