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Baltimore's Child
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May 2009
When it comes to Mother’s Day, on the one hand, I resist the idea of setting aside o ne day out of the year to honor mothers. On the other hand, I think it is a sweet idea to set aside one day to honor mothers.
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Baltimore's Child
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April 2009
It’s Spring – that wonder-filled graphic reminder of renewal when everything around us, every pale green tree and budding shrub announces another beginning. It is the season of hope and promise. Despite these troubling times, or because of it, it’s a perfect time to think about filling our children with the spirit of Spring. Let’s see how we can give them hope for the future and faith in themselves to handle whatever life hands them. What better symbol of resiliency than Spring? What better gift for their lives than resiliency?
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Baltimore's Child
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March 2009
The current financial and economic downturn in our country forces us to deal with new concerns for our children. Suddenly we are faced with a widespread decline in the moral values of integrity and honesty in our society. We hear that greed was the virus that contributed to the economic calamity — greed and excessive materialism. So how will such an atmosphere affect our children? And how, in this atmosphere, can we preserve for them our once-cherished values?
Back in the old days, when I was growing up, the marketplace had far fewer choices. The shelves in the little grocery store on the corner held but a handful of cereal choices, flakes made from corn, rice that made sounds in the milk, oatmeal, and a few others. Now I go to the supermarket and I’m overwhelmed by the seemingly endless number of choices. Too many for my weary brain. Sure, choices are good, but . . .
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Baltimore's Child
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Here we are in the month of February and, thanks to Valentine’s Day, our thoughts turn to love. We scurry around buying cards, flowers, trinkets, and chocolates to let those we love know how we feel about them. And everyone gets into the act. Little children give valentines’ cards to their classmates and teachers; husbands and wives exchange them; mothers, fathers, children, friends, neighbors, grandparents, the mailman, and even the family cat gets a card.
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Baltimore's Child
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Many years ago, I asked my grandfather, “How did it feel to fly for the first time when you were 90 years old?” “Wonder of wonders!” he answered.
If you were asked about your first-time experiences, how would you respond? Would you say “wonder of wonders?” Or do you find it hard to deal with new situations or sudden change? Some of us have the ability to seamlessly accept the changes in our lives, or within ourselves, or in the world around us. Indeed, we don’t miss a beat as we welcome change as an exciting adventure.
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Baltimore's Child
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The holidays are just around the around the corner, and I'd like to take this opportunity to talk about the not-so-obvious meaning they hold for children. Meaning? What other meaning could there be besides their religious significance or the generosity of parents and grandparents who buy them gifts?
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Baltimore's Child
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So the presidential election is over and I can't help but wonder how people are reacting to the outcome. Mainly, I wonder (as you've probably guessed) how parents' reactions affect their children. Since children absorb attitudes from the people closest to them,
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Baltimore's Child
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Every so often we hear a story about a public servant who falls from grace – falling also from a respected position he held in service to his country. Senator John Edwards is the latest politician to confess to having an extramarital affair.
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Baltimore's Child
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Teenage daughter to her mother: "You never listen!"
Mother to teenage daughter: "I heard every word you said!"
Did the daughter say exactly what she means, and did she mean what she said? If she didn't, how can her mother know what she really means?
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Baltimore's Child
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In a television commercial, an adorable little girl in a blue tutu emerges victorious from the bathroom. She jumps up and down and, along with her mother, claps her hands over her success at toilet training. Perhaps her first. Mom ought to memorize the picture of her child's glee and satisfaction over "a-job-well-done" as a reminder of the vital role success plays in a child's self-image.
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Baltimore's Child
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At first I was puzzled when my friend Laura, a retired teacher, told me she used to start her classes with someone telling a joke. It didn't have to be funny for everyone to laugh, she said, because they were all instructed to laugh anyway. In fact, not getting the joke was in itself funny – and the infectious laugh of thirty kids had the classroom in an uproar. She didn't say how long the hilarity lasted, but she did say that when they couldn't laugh any more, they were ready to get down to work.
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Baltimore's Child
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Some parents are not happy with the results they are getting from their methods of discipline. Instead of reevaluating their methods, they blame their children for the poor results. So they continue to do what wasn't working and expect the children will eventually "come around." Other parents who were dissatisfied with their results were eager for new ideas. I found just such a group of parents at an inner city school.
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