children

Children: Our most valuable natural resource.

Every Kid Deserves a Champion
My entire life, I have been told I should work with children. Even as a child, I never felt like a kid. I always felt as if it was my purpose to care for others. So much so that I started babysitting at an alarmingly early age. Connecting to and understanding kids have always been a natural part of my makeup. In searching for a career in my early college days, I fell in love with Paramedicine. As a paramedic, I was responsible for patients regardless of age, but I always went above and beyond to protect and advocate for pediatric patients.
By A. Lusch5 years ago in Families
The First Hour
THE FIRST HOUR I never knew that baby girls were capable of projectile peeing. The pee lands on the dresser and like mortar fire creeping closer to its target, my favorite hat is in the path of destruction. As I race to remove it from the line of fire, the trajectory changes and I am caught midface by the warm, sticky stream of urine.
By Josh Hirsch5 years ago in Families
A New Day
Back in 1997, my parents were going through some hard times; arguments, not sleeping in the same bed, all the things that my young mind didn't really process what was really happening. Then one day, shortly after I turned 10, we packed up our belongings, me thinking we got a bigger house, but my dad went one way, me, my brother and my mom went the other way.
By Denietra Franklin5 years ago in Families
Always and Forever
When I was a little girl I was as happy as I could be. I didn't have a care in the world, mommy and daddy both loved me, that was all I needed. Somewhere along the line something went horribly wrong. My parents split up, that's pretty normal I suppose. Never did I think they would stop loving me. Their only daughter. Daddy signed his rights away. Mommy can't stand me most of the time. I thought a parents love was unconditional. I thought mommy and daddy would always love me, even when I wasn't a little girl anymore. I'm only 20 years old. How do you mourn for someone whose still alive?
By Bailey Smith5 years ago in Families
Going on a Berry Hunt
We're going on a BERRY HUNT! We're going to pick some big ones! What a beautiful day! We are excited! What would be better than to go on a berry hunt in the beautiful sunshine and crisp air foraging through the bushes to find bursts of bright berries sparkling like rubies in the earth. Then sink your teeth into a fresh strawberry and have the delicious juice melt in your mouth. Then why not go on a berry hunt with your family? If you are lucky enough to be an avid gardener you can make a game of it in the yard at home, if not don't despair you can visit a local berry farm and collect a bucketful of nature's treasures to eat.
By Alana5 years ago in Families
Going Home
Winter is long. It is long and extremely cold. As Rem sat there wondering when someone would come buy him, he watched the many people come through the doors with their large coats.
By Jessica Kulik5 years ago in Families
After 6 Years They’re Still Calling My Son By His Birth Name
As his mom, should it really anger and offend me so much? Do they not realize how hurtful that is to him? Do they not realize how ill-mannered and disrespectful that is?
By Zada Kent5 years ago in Families
3 Brain Foods For Kids: Nutrition That Makes A Difference
As a parent, you already know that nutrition plays a significant role in your child's growth and development. In addition to keeping your child from gorging themselves on sweets and other types of junk food, you also have to find inventive ways of getting your children to eat nutritious foods consistently.
By Stephanie Snyder5 years ago in Families
Discovering My Outer Limits
Discovering My Outer Limits SL Kirby Sometimes social shock occurs with children, because they don’t understand the world the way older people do. I was four years old in 1965. Our large black and white TV set sat in the center of our living room in our apartment in Falls Church, Virginia. That television was the center of my mornings. Part of my routine. It played an important role in whether it was a good day or a bad day. I would have breakfast at about nine. Then I would sit down and watch cartoons. I loved cartoons. I had spent the last few years in another country so cartoons were new and in English, which I could understand. I soon realized though, that watching cartoons, was not without risk.
By S. L. Kirby5 years ago in Families
Breaking the cycle
When I was 12 years old, my mom left me. I thought it was me, and it took me a long time to realize that it wasn't. I spent years in rebellion; stealing cars, doing drugs, and running away from every foster home I was placed in. I was the girl whose mom abandoned her, but kept her other siblings, and I was angry and confused. I turned to heroin at 13 years old, and than alcohol at 14, and lost the few friends I had kept the past two years. My mom wasn't a bad mom, and that made it all the more painful that she didn't want me. I was separated from my siblings, except one older sister, who was already doing meth, and had her first kid at 15. I was 13 when my niece was born and I was terrified she was going to be taken from us.
By Dessa goodlett5 years ago in Families
Storytelling
My passion is animation. It’s a wonderful art that combines audio and visual engineering along with a story. The story carries the animation and most of the bigger studios know this and spend 2 years or more developing their story idea. Animation allows my keen attention to detail to really shine. Details from how a chair sounds crossing the dining room floor to the level of complexity the characters themselves can be.
By Paul Laflamme5 years ago in Families
A Fathers Day Confession
Today is supposed to be a day that celebrates good dads. Fathers who provide for their children, who are a great role model for their children. Fathers who protect their children and raise them to know right from wrong. Fathers who attend after school activities like sports and dance, fathers who are there whenever their children need them... Those are the kinds of fathers who are to be celebrated today.
By Carlos Guerra5 years ago in Families