Buzzy, our four-year-old American Eskimo Dog is currently an only child. He came to a home already run by Sissy, an Esky. She was puppyish till Buzzy arrived, then immediately turned into a bipolar fun-police/grumpy old granny, alternately romping and bossing Buzzy. He was only supposed to have fun at her discretion. He enjoyed her Continue reading
memoir
Coming to Jesus
Though I wasn’t an actual heathen, I looked like one compared to my older sister Phyllis. In her religious fervor, she never missed a church service, sang in the choir, and volunteered for all kinds of activities, while I dreaded Sunday mornings, knowing I’d have to sit through another long service. This really rankled me, so one Sunday I decided to Continue reading
Kindergarten Sex Ed?
Underdaddy, the writer is hilarious, but this child’s conversation is shocking.
When and how should kids learn about sex? Or any controversial subject?
Excellent Question.
Lets ponder a while before we answer. Recently my wife and I held an anatomy conference/discussion for our second grader, Calamity Jane. There were a few questions on the car ride home that prompted the discussion. She was unimpressed and we learned that she probably had already learned most of these things in school from other kids. The school is public and children can be expected to be exposed to all types of beliefs, opinions, and realities that they wouldn’t see otherwise. After the talk my wife and I both wondered if second grade was too late and when was the time frame, on average, that kids become exposed to life’s truths.
Today I learned that the answer, in some cases, is Kindergarten.
You heard me. Kindergarten.
What truths you ask?
All of them, from what…
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Fish Tale
We were all going fishing! Katie, Johnnie, and Aunt Ellie had come to spend the night. Before daybreak the next morning, carrying a picnic lunch, we all headed for the deepest part of Cuthand Creek, where the biggest, laziest catfish lay in the deep water, under the tall trees, waiting for foolish little water critters to drift by. Luck was with us that day as we Continue reading
The Person I am Most Thankful For by Cate Luther
Families struggling with the problems of mentally ill children are so in need of encouragement and community, it is wonderful to be able to share this post. Please pass it on to those who struggle.
In this month of giving thanks, many people espouse that they are thankful for their health or their family or even a sunshiny day. While all of those things are pretty wonderful and worthy, I have one particular person that I’m most thankful for.
You might think it is my husband or even my best friend but you’d be mistaken. Don’t get me wrong both of these people have been my lifeline on many occasions but this person I am referring to, gave me my daughter. Nope, I did not adopt my daughter. She’s my flesh and blood. My daughter’s psychiatrist who I am referring to. She is my hero.
My daughter has a mental illness along with an alphabet soup of other disorders. In the Summer of 2013 my child’s mood swings and rages were out of control. They started because a medication that had been partially working for…
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The Secret Keepers
My impulse was to ignore this post, just like I’ve tried to ignore the impact of a similar event in my life, but I no longer ignore its impact. I celebrate this writer’s bravery. Thanks.
Working Things Out With Chris
original art by Kathleen Holdaway Swain
Chris was the meanest kid around. He threw rocks, kicked his dog, stole lunch money out of desks, broke in line for lunch, and was sassy to the teacher. He had a giant pile of sand in his yard and dared anyone come near it. All the kids avoided him.
This was a problem for me and my brother Billy when Mother visited Miss Alice, Chris’s next door neighbor. We sure didn’t want him to spot us so we always played in the far side of her shady yard. One day, we were making villages of stick houses with mossy fields and sandy tracks for roads when, out of nowhere, POW!! A rock popped me on the head, knocking me goofy. When I quit seeing stars, I heard Chris laughing, “Ha! Made you look!”
Look nothing!! He nearly made me dead!! We jumped up and chased him, but he left us in his dust, fuming! We had to come up with a plan to get that creep. We puzzled and plotted the rest of the day. He was the biggest, fastest, meanest bully around, so we’d have to outsmart him. We decided to spy on him the next time Mother went to visit Miss Alice.
We got our big chance the next day. He glared when we went in her gate, just waiting to torture us. The ladies decided to drink their tea in the backyard. Even Chris knew he couldn’t us get at us with adults around, so he skulked back to his own yard and kicked at his dog to cheer himself up. We lay on our stomachs and crawled into the bushes to spy on him as he stomped over to where his mother was working in her flower bed.
Chris was even mean to his mother. He sassed her when she told him to help, stepped on her flowers, sprayed the cat with water, and kicked over the flower pots. Suddenly, he went crazy jumping and screaming. When she finally caught up with him, she said, “Chris, it’s nothing but a little bitty frog!!! He can’t hurt you!! Just stay still and I’ll get him. I don’t know why you’re so scared of a little bitty frog.”
That big bully was bawling like a baby. “Get him off! Get him off! Get him off!!! I hate frogs!” We had our plan!
We headed to the pond and collected a few frogs as soon as we got home. The next morning at school I slipped in to the class room and got to work hiding frogs. I put a couple in Chris’s desk, a couple in his pencil box, and slipped a really nice one in the pocket of the jacket hanging on the back of his desk. I barely finished before the first bell rang. Chris strolled in after the last bell. All I had to do now was wait. I did wish Billy could be here for the fun.
The frogs stayed quiet as we all settled down. I kept waiting for the fun to start. After a while, I got involved in a story the teacher was reading and forgot about the frogs. That’s when it happened. “Ribbitt! Ribbitt! Ribbitt!” We all started giggling.
“Who did that?” Miz McZumley was not amused.
“Ribbitt!! Ribbitt!!” Kids guffawed! The class was out of control.
Miz McZumley whacked her ruler down on her desk. “That does it! Storytime is over! Get out your pencils and workbooks.”
You can imagine what happened next. Two fine frogs jumped out of Chris’s desk. He screamed and ran in place. The whole class was hysterical as they chased frogs. The teacher was furious at Chris for bringing frogs to class. He blubbered a pathetic defense “I didn’t!! I didn’t! I hate frogs!” Two more frogs jumped out of his desk, looking for their buddies.
“Then where did all these frogs come from?” She wasn’t convinced. Chris got paddled and was sentenced to pick up trash at recess. I couldn’t wait for him to put on his jacket!!! My bully problems were over. There were going to be a lot of frogs in Chris’s future.
Hand Me Down Glamour
“Hand-me-downs” were a vital part of every kid’s wardrobe during the depression. Though Annie and John were several years older, I wore their hand-me-downs, which had probably passed through other children before they got back to me. Kids only had to look at an older sibling to see what was in their wardrobe future. With any good luck, a kid got an Continue reading
Just Desserts
Billy was a good eater. He was over six feet tall by the time he was twelve, worked hard every day and was always hungry. Since Daddy had known real hunger growing up during the depression, he encouraged him to “eat well.” Billy liked to drink his milk from a quart jar to cut down on troublesome refills, and he would hurt a kid over a piece of leftover fried Continue reading
Nutsrok 