Nature vs. Nurture
What plays into our humanity? Nature vs. Nurture – how two factors affect one individual.
To the Grandmother I Never Knew...
You didn't know me, and I didn't know you. We were merely strangers that shared DNA. The saying blood runs deep is both true and yet, a lie. You see, I will never live without you, even though I did live without you. I will never forget you, though from day to day, you were like a whisper rather than an actual presence in my life.
By Jessie Melanson8 years ago in Families
Stress at a Young Age?
Have you ever seen anyone that was so stressed out that they changed, including yourself? As I remember as being a young girl and helping my mom watch my younger brothers, I have seen it a lot in my family and friends to identify it. To see anyone you love go through harsh times is not fun to see nor tempting to bring out of the blue, mostly being at the age of four. Looking back, I had been affected and now look at me, my emotions take control of me more than it should.
By Putting It Out There8 years ago in Families
Parenting Truth
Parenting is the process of promoting and supporting the physical, emotional, social, financial, and intellectual development of a child from infancy to adulthood. When people think of parenting, they picture changing diapers, messy feeding times, chasing them around a grocery store, little league, back to school shopping, or paying for school lunches.
By Paige Whitaker8 years ago in Families
The Expectations of Children
Parents or guardians expect a child to achieve specific goals in their life. If the child shows signs in their early childhood years that they are not heading toward the straight path to these life goals the parent or guardian can become terrified of the unknown and deem them a disappointment. Additionally, this child is often treated unfairly, isolated, and neglected by the same people who are supposed to support him or her with unconditional love and understanding; that they will not conform to the life that their parents expect. In The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo, the main character Despereaux is a non-conforming individual who naturally is not born with the mice-like instincts that his mom, dad and two siblings ascribe to. His mother states very early in his childhood to “please look for crumbs. Eat them to make your mama happy. You are such the skinny mouse. You are a disappointment to your mama.” (Di Camillo, 18) Despereaux, being a non-conformed mouse, is expected to be like all the other mice and follow all of the mice rules. When he does not follow the rules she and the rest of the family fear that he will become a disappointment and shame the entire family. This leads to Despereaux’s brutal treatment, isolation and neglect. Why does his family treat him negatively? Their expectations of Despereaux are not met and therefore, they fear that he will bring shame to their family. The author explores the ways in which Despereaux is treated when his parents and siblings don't accept the rambunctious mouse.
By Traveling From Heavenly Places8 years ago in Families
Staying Together for the Kids
I write this story because I am a child from a household that stayed together for the children. Growing up, I can remember never liking my father. Before I get to telling you why, let me tell you the little bit of the history I know of my father's past.
By Audrey Woods8 years ago in Families
My Parents Weren't Scholars
My parents were not scholars. They were not socialites. They were not bright, optimistic, souls with hope for their futures. They were, in fact, kids who grew up too soon with ugly pasts and sad, sad scars, not knowing how to function in a hapless world that moved too fast for their liking.
By Scotty French8 years ago in Families
Parenting Without Using Physical Punishment
As promised in my last article, I’d like to share some ways of parenting children without using physical punishment that I learned both as a parent and a grandparent. This article is not designed to change your beliefs about smacking children: if you believe physical punishment works, then my goal is not to change your opinion, because as I stated in my first article I too used to hit my children. However, I do believe there are many parents out there who are looking for an alternative way of raising their kids. This one is for you!
By Mari-Louise Speirs8 years ago in Families
I Am NOT the Adoptive Daughter Of...
My uncle and I stood awkwardly across from one another in the nursing home room. In between us, my mother lay dead in her bed; her mouth agape and the left side of her face blackened from a violent fall a few days prior. Her final expression was one of fear and discomfort and not one of the peaceful relief my father had conveyed when he passed away from cancer 26 years earlier.
By Christine O'Reilly8 years ago in Families
To Smack or Not to Smack?. Top Story - September 2017.
The debate on smacking is an interesting one in as much as there are not many fence-sitters on this subject: people either have no problem with it at all, saying “I was smacked as a child and it didn’t do me any harm” while others are vehemently against violence of any sort against children. Just using the word “violence” evokes very strong feelings in many who hit their children because they don’t consider smacking a child to be violence. The “no hitting” camp generally believe that we hit our children out of instantaneous anger, frustration, and basically because we don’t know what else to do.
By Mari-Louise Speirs8 years ago in Families
Coming Face to Face With Me
I still remember the day I met you. I was the bratty little sister of one of your friends. You were playing basketball at the fair grounds.My brother was so mad that mom made him bring me along. As I sit there watching you guys play while pretending to read my book, one of the two I brought with me. I finally started to get into one of them when you came up to me. Taking a seat next to me.“What are you reading?” taking a drink from your water bottle.I had no idea what to say, it was the first time you never talked to me. I just kept my head down. I didn’t even look up when you placed your thumb on the page I was reading to mark my place as you turned to read the title.“Out Stealing Horses,” you flipped the book back to the page I was on. “Sounds interesting.”We sat there for what seemed like forever. I wished that you would just leave, being around you made my head spin. The way you smelled made it so hard to catch my breath. I was so happy when my brother called you to come finish the game. You stood and winked as you ran off to rejoin the game. I knew that whatever just happened, was well I don’t know if you started hanging out with my brother more or I started noticing you more, but it was like every where I went you were there.My mind kept going to you sitting there in class, I would day dream about you. Thinking if you were thinking about me too. The age difference didn’t bother me at all. But back then I didn’t know you lied about that too.There were a lot of lies told. I still don’t know what I was to you. I think that is what bothers me the most. Was I just another mark? A score to settle with my foster family for not keeping you? There are so many questions I have and no one will give me the answers. That's another thing that bothers me, they say that they want to protect me from what is going to happen now. That I should not have to relive the nightmare. That’s not the case, every time I close my eyes I see you. I see all the good things that has happened between us. Even though there were more bad times than good, it's the good times that stay with me. It’s at night that the bad memories come.It has been six years since it has ended, and now I sit here wondering what is going on. From the next room, the only good thing that has happened between us is playing tea party with her stuffed animals. I know she hears me cry at night. She asks me why I am sad. I can’t tell her its because of you. She doesn’t know about you. I couldn’t even if I wanted to. It’s still to fresh in my mind to relive.But maybe it is time. To reach out to you at least. Maybe it will help me get over you and move on so I can start living again.
By Lizz DeBow8 years ago in Families
Narcissistic Siblings and the Pain You Feel from Them
Growing up in a dysfunctional household puts you at a risk for not having a very close relationship with siblings. It is shown that many siblings that come from abusive and dysfunctional homes do not have good relationships as adults and continue the abuse they were subjected to as kids through adulthood. Sisters and brothers are often made to compete for love and attention in a dysfunctional house as well as many are turned against each other by the narcissistic or abusive parent. Some of these children actually take on the role of the abuser in their adult life. These siblings are not in any way what a bond between siblings should be. They do not want the best for you and will do such horrendous things to damage you, they can and will try to destroy every asset of your life.
By Ash astrid8 years ago in Families
