Notes from Around the Block- Olive the trees have olives
- Wanda Hickey and the Frog Pond
- A recently discovered DNA thread: forwarding news articles
- A Bride in Blue
- The Gates to a President’s Hell: Water and the IRS
- Marriage in Oxymoronica
- The Present Moment
- If your life were a book
- From the mouths of old babes
- The Atlanta Teachers’ Onion, then and now
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Category Archives: Parenting
A recently discovered DNA thread: forwarding news articles
by cheri block This morning I forwarded an article from The Wall Street Journal to my son about the SARS-like virus in the Middle East. You see, their nanny is traveling in Tunisia at this moment and will be home … Continue reading
Posted in My childhood, Parenting
Tagged 1st person, childhood, Hawaiian steel guitar, Herbert Westphal, ukelele
12 Comments
“I’m Looking Through You, What Do I See? *
Take a good look at yourself in the mirror. by cheri block My daughter and I took her two-year-old to Happy Hollow on one of the coldest days of the year here in the San Francisco Bay Area. Only … Continue reading
Rose of Sharon and Teresa Vega
by cheri block The Economist’s Andreas Kluth is a master storyteller and in the Christmas issue on newsstands this week, he tells the troubling but inspiring story of the Vega family. It is tough to read, especially for those … Continue reading
Posted in Education, Life, Parenting
Tagged dignity, farm workers, Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath
43 Comments
The Total Worlders
I’ve lived long enough to know that the Gods have a sense of humor, thank God. The Gods who have been spending time in my company these past several weeks are busy and swift, sentimental and gentle. Not Greek or … Continue reading
The Only Place Success Comes before Work is in the Dictionary
My first vivid childhood memories took place in what the famous American poet T.S. Eliot would have called, The Wasteland. That barren tundra, teeming with lizards, snakes, and scorpions, is New Mexico, more specifically, White Sands Proving Ground in Las … Continue reading
Almost a Sleepover
Since I am a former day camp counselor, with a Masters in the Psychology of Boys, Ages 6-10, my daughter invited me to chaperone Noah’s 6th Birthday party. We might be going to the beach that weekend, I said, after … Continue reading
I’m Sorry. I Don’t Approve.
I read a book several months ago written by poet Lucy Grealy entitled The Autobiography of a Face. The story is sad, especially for those of us who are parents and want only the best for our kids. Raised in … Continue reading
Posted in Parenting, People, Writing and Teaching
6 Comments
Maybe SpongeBob is Under That Water!
A five-year-old proved me wrong last month and in the process reminded me not to judge a sponge by his pants. Noah, my grandson, and I traveled to Target to buy a toy. A Leapster owner, he hoped for a … Continue reading
Posted in Parenting
18 Comments
Who’s Alpha?
My first foray into a wolf pack was courtesy of Jack London. His tales of Buck in The Call of the Wild, and White Fang himself in White Fang captivated me. My dad continued to remind me that wolves were … Continue reading
Posted in Parenting
29 Comments
Take it from Ladybug: A job may be more important than your SAT score.
My first “job” was a volunteer position with the City of Fremont in 1963. I was thirteen years old. My parents insisted that we get out of the house, stop watching TV, and do something for others. By the age … Continue reading
