Thursday, March 22, 2012
Sometimes it takes a leap of faith to raise a child with a labor-intensive approach like attachment parenting.
The nurse had wrapped the baby snug as a burrito. In the darkened hospital room, my husband and I watched as she nearly tossed our bundle in the air, trying to soothe the cries of someone so new to the world that she sounded as if she regretted entry, and was wondering about the alternatives. The way this expert dressed in scrubs knew she was in for a challenge gave me a sense of foreboding. After the safety of the maternity ward, what was to come? How wanted this baby had been, how completely grateful we were that she had arrived, did not ease the sense that I had just given birth to a handful. We waited over the next few weeks, then months, for this child to seem more happy than tearful to be here. We sang our favorite songs, we danced…
Saturday, March 10, 2012
If we recognize that eating disorders are related to obesity, lawmakers in Boston and in Massachusetts can help more kids at risk.
“Mommy, I’m fat,” says my daughter, all 40-something lbs. and 40-something inches of her. I see a perfectly smooth belly, and a body that is all little-kid taut. She looks in the mirror and manages to stick out her tummy a bit farther by arching her back. “You’re not fat,” comes my truthful response. It's a conversation that goes on. As much as kids are their parents’ parrots, I hope my child is not copying my own body concerns – since I have my metabolism and city walking to thank and I’m not overweight. But to blame her behavior on any media is all too easy. Yet talk about fat we will – from Michelle Obama to Tom Menino, Disney World to City Hall, the conversation is hard to escape. Half of the adults and a third of Boston’s children are…
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
There are no public neighborhood elementary schools in the Back Bay or Beacon Hill. In this year's reforms, will hundreds of kids be left out again?
There’s little magic to being “in the zone” when it comes to school assignments in Boston. After Patch.com columnists Jack Kelly and John Keith both wrote about the promise of neighborhood schools last week, I thought about our limited access to public schools in the downtown neighborhoods. According to Boston Public Schools (BPS), every address in the city has a “walk zone” elementary school, which is one mile or less away. The walk zone is the main factor by which school assignments are made in our city. Yet since Beacon Hill lost its elementary school in 1975, the neighborhood, as well as the Back Bay (plus the West End and Fenway/Kenmore), has had the distinction of being the only part of the city with no neighborhood elementary. …
Monday, February 13, 2012
Need an excuse to practice random acts of kindness? Good deeds are contagious.
- VALENTINE'S DAY GUIDE
- Angela Wang
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Monday, February 13, 2012
On the spectrum of risky behaviors, this one ranks high only if you fear the fluorescent orange envelope. We’d just finished an errand on Newbury Street one Saturday afternoon, and the kids were waiting for me to unlock the car. As I dug out my keys, a couple was parking just in front of us. They got out of their car and headed for the “pay and display” meter, the kind that gives you a sticker receipt. I looked quickly around for someone who might disapprove of what I was about to do. I then took my own parking sticker off the window and asked the driver who was about to pay the machine, “if you only need a few minutes of parking, would you like mine?” Surprised, the man looked at me as if I’d made his day. He smiled and thanked me, and …
Sarah DeAnna
12:43 pm on Sunday, March 11, 2012
This article is very touching! I am a HEALTHY high fashion fashion model. I wrote a book called, Model Skinny, which addressing these "weight" issues in a positive way. I consulted with Lynn Grefe at Neda. If I can help in anyway, please don't hesitate to reach out to me. My information/email is available at www.facebook.com/modelskinny. more ›