children

Children: Our most valuable natural resource.

Dance With Your Child
"Dancing is the most fun you can have. That is a scientific fact! I'm not sure if y'all knew that, so I'm telling ya now."
By Bradley Weaver6 years ago in Families
A Day No Mother Should Go Through
January 4th 2019 is a day that will replay in my mind for forever. A day no mother should ever have to go through. It was the day I almost lost my daughter.
By Halie Marie6 years ago in Families
I’m just not that into you kid
I could be hung, drawn and quartered for even whispering this. I may definitely be thrown off the Earth Mother Island, but here goes….I do not think all kids are likeable just because they are kids. There, I said it. I feel the relief flooding my ovaries as I write this. I am not one of those women who sees a baby and feels my womb ache. More often I feel it drop to my knees in wild retreat. I’ve even had people send me photos of their new born loves and as I’ve opened the image, expecting to see a guffaw inducing meme, I’ve instead emitted an involuntary ‘gawd’! as my unfetter response flows out into the world. It’s just the shock. Those wrinkly little faces looking at me expectantly. I’m learning to mask my automatic responses. People don’t seem to enjoy my candour on this particular subject. We love your honesty they say! Oh really? This seems to cross the parental line.
By Sonny Mac6 years ago in Families
My Favorite Mistake
The task was simple: a walk from point A to point B. My guardian (don’t remember which relative or friend) had told me with specific instructions to return home before it got dark. As the scenery was bathed a soft pink my body laid comfortably on the soft grass, the sound of the moving trees bringing a smile to my face. The sudden chill made my sleepy eyes open as I eyed the sinking sun. Abruptly her words awoke me from my peaceful day dream;
By Shay Hanae6 years ago in Families
Your child is not angry, your child is afraid
Whenever I hear other people talking about their childhood, I listen to them talking about mostly happy memories, how they played outside in the summer, the visits at their grandparents or the trip to Disneyland.
By Gracekelly6 years ago in Families
Roll with the punches
How can a statement like this, really be that true! Well let me tell you, I cannot tell you how many time I have heard other say lives gives you lemons make lemonade, but in my experience, I am about to through the lemons at the person saying it. Most think yeah someone else just told me the time old statement, they really don’t care what the meaning is behind what I am telling them, or at least I have had this feeling more than once. What I am trying to get at here is we all think it is just a statement but what happens if a series events in your life gives you no other choice but to “roll with the punches”
By Felisha Savard6 years ago in Families
The Love Chromosome
I woke up one morning an hour before my alarm was supposed to go off to my phone ringing. An unknown number showed on the screen, so I threw it on the floor, tucked the covers over my head, and drifted back to sleep. Only a few minutes later, the number tried again. With an irritated grumble, I rolled out of bed like a whale out of water and curled up face first on the floor before answering.
By Eden Row6 years ago in Families
Losing Contact With My 3 Children
I am a father of three beautiful children. I have no relationship with any of them, but I am not absent from their lives by choice.
By Lee Serpa Azevado6 years ago in Families
Choose to be Happy
I was in a terrible car accident years ago. A seemingly normal day. I was on my way to work. Only 22 years old, cruising 80mph down the freeway when I heard my phone buzz from the passenger seat. Maybe it was human reflex or force of habit that pulled my eyes away the road. I turned my gaze toward the cell phone hum against the leather seat. Only a blink. A moment. When I looked up, a semi-trailer was at a dead stop not 10 feet ahead. Time stopped. Calm came over me as I watched the front end of my car folding against the trailer, my inevitable demise, in slow motion. My higher conscious spoke, “I’m ready. I’m ready to go home.” Overcome with peace and trust I lifted my foot off the break...
By Billie Lynn Codi 6 years ago in Families
Welcome, Little One
I always wanted to be a Dad. I guess that's something I wanted far more than any childhood dream, to be honest. I mean, sure, I used to think about being an actor waltzing down the West End, but really – I had a calling elsewhere in the world. And that calling was to be a father to beautiful children someday.
By Jord Tury6 years ago in Families
Mommy’s girl
hi everyone my name is sabrea and this is me and my daughters story.. it all started on sept 4th 2019 at 3:30 am my beautiful little girl was born. She was the most precious little thing and I was so happy that she was finally here. The day after she was born she began to breathe heavily and her voice was cracks so I knew that something was wrong. We told the nurses at the hospital and they said they would do an X-ray and do a deep suction that maybe mucus was just built up. They brought her back to the room and said that everything looked okay and that she just had floppy airways. I knew it was more than that but the just wouldn’t listen. The next day we got sent home and I was so excited. The first 6 weeks was hectic and I was depressed and scared because I knew something was wrong she had a fever couldn’t keep her food down so we went to the hospital. We were at this hospital for 2 weeks and they had put a breathing tube in and paralyzed her with medicine because they were trying to figure out what was wrong and she was in so much pain.. she came back positive with rhinovirus but that wasn’t the only thing and I was so scared to hear this news. They told me that she had a rare birth defect called a vascular ring that wrapped around her trachea and esphougus that made it hard for her to breathe and that there was nothing more they could do for us so they had to transfer us to Riley children’s hospital so they could help us more. When we get there they tell us that they wanna try to wait to do surgery because of how young she was and we were already there for a month.. She wasn’t getting any better so they decided to go ahead and do the surgery and after she was doing good but she had to recover and then they wanted to try to feed her by mouth she still couldn’t keep anything down so they decided to put in a feeding tube. After two months we finally get to go home and she is doing so great she is 5 months now and is able to eat of a bottle again and she can eat baby food after a long recovering she is such a happy baby and I love her so much ❤️
By Sabrea vickers 6 years ago in Families
The Bliss of a Child
“For my birthday I want beach,” the forthcoming 4 year old slurred, mouth full of chewed cereal. She corrected herself after finishing her bite of breakfast. “I want to go to the beach for my birthday.” Her name is Jermanie, like the country she was born in, only spelled differently in a way meant to be more cute, more unique but pronounced all the same like Germany. She was born on the sea; her mother was traveling on the US Navy boat as a 2nd in command until her water broke and moments later the introspective child was here. It was like ever since that moment all she thought about was the sea. Call her Moana from Disney if you want or even Ariel the Little Mermaid, all Jermanie thought of was the beach, the ocean, the water. She would cry if she was taken from the bath tub after playtime was over and it was actually time to bathe and her favorite thing to play with, then and even now? A cup of water where she splashes all of her toys around and about. So it didn’t surprise me, her eldest cousin, when she asked to go to the beach for her upcoming 4th birthday. I gave her mother, my aunt a pointed look and we both knew that instead of planning an extravagant elaborate party with happy screaming kids and cake and candy and unicorns decorations galore, we would just take a family trip down to the beach where she could see the “the line where the sky meets the sea” that called her, ergo Moana of course. When we arrived at the beach on her birthday, Jermanie could not contain her excitement. As soon as the car stopped to park, her big and brown doe eyes widened at the vast blue crashing back and forth against the pure white sand that stretched for miles. She was so giddy, the child kicked her flip-flops off in the car, wiggling her toes. It amazed me at how someone who had never in their only four years of living been to the beach, knew so much about the beach, right down to the little moment of happiness that can be given from feeling the sand wiggle and slip between your toes. She smiled her 1000 watt smile once her car seat belt was unbuckled and she was given the “ALL CLEAR” from her mommy and daddy to help us find the perfect spot for her birthday picnic and to settle. She chose gullibly right near the shoreline where the brush of ocean water crashes then flows back but we suggested a little further away in order to avoid ... you know, getting unnecessarily splashed with beach salt water. After settling in, the child skipped merrily to the cold California ocean waters. On a hot summer day, ranging from the high 80s to 90s, the ocean still manages to stay cold but she didn’t mind it. She splashed and played to her heart’s content. It was heartwarming and truly sweet to see a young girl so excited and happy to be in the water. Jermanie jumped head first in and came up to the surface laughing as the wave gently rocked and hit her. She splashed and wiggled around in the water for over an hour. Most kids fear the beach and the waves, not wanting to go near and are mainly fascinated with the sand and making castles; not Jermanie! All she wanted to do that day was play in the water. She dragged me from my comfortable spot, cold water dripping all over onto me and walked me over to stand and watch her skip across the water, giggling all while she did so. I was happy and it touched my heart to see her so blissful at the most smallest thing ever. Although the water was cold and I dreaded standing as the waves crashed and water splashed over my shorts and sometimes onto my shirt, I stood in that spot watching her... then my hand reached for my IPhone tucked in my hand, safe from being wet from the ocean. It was said the new iPhones are waterproof and while I still didn’t want to take any chances, I held it out, clicking over to the portrait mode and began snapping pictures as if I were a photographer. I saw an old trick of finding the perfect lighting so I held my finger down on the camera, locking the focus grid in place, which would activate the AE/AF lock to better keep the camera at the settings I chose. My finger slid down the lighting and I snapped one final picture of her in action, skipping almost gracefully across the water. She came back and hugged me with wide open and wet arms. Jermanie was so happy that day, claiming spending the day at the beach was the best birthday ever. That night once we got home and relaxed, I looked through all of the photos I took of the little one, amazed at the quality and pure emotion shown through just the snap of a picture on my smartphone. This picture truly shows the bliss of a child. A child who loves the beach and a child who is truly enjoying her time on the beach. Not taken on a professional camera but a simple iPhone camera. She was my inspiration that day. Her actions were my subject that day. And this picture truly captures just what the title of this story is. The bliss right of a child.
By Tianna Spence 6 years ago in Families