Ode to Soren
Throughout the day when I play with the kiddos I burst out into silly, made up on the fly, songs or poems. I dont know why, I've just always done this. I wonder sometimes if it's just me or if other parents find themselves making up songs about toes or rhyming stories about the naughty step to get their kids to laugh. I always mean to write them down, but by the time I actually have a moment to find a pen and paper I've already forgotten most of what I made up. I found myself starting a few little ditties today while playing with Soren and realized *during* it that it was forming into something cute, so I decided to find a pen and paper right then. I worked at it for awhile, cr

A Dad's Point of View: Random Musings
Sometimes there are many ideas fighting for attention in my mind, covering all the subjects I tend to write a column about, but each isn’t worthy of its own full-length coverage. Consequently, I collect them.  So, in no particular order, here are my current random musings. * A great feel-good dad moment occurred when I complimented Will on how terrific and cute his new girlfriend was.  Without missing a beat, he replied, “You taught me well, Dad.”  Guess he’ll get to use my truck, after all. * Do you wonder how your kids can watch the same video over and over again? . I’ve never gone to see a m

Vision in Children
Imagine that while you are reading this paragraph, the words became fuzzy and faded into gray. Or imagine that suddenly the paragraph became double or the words were distorted. Would you want to read or do schoolwork? Probably not. Would you feel distracted and frustrated? Certainly. You would be experiencing one of many common vision conditions that exist in children. However, many children do not complain of vision problems because they don’t realize they have a problem. Screening tests may detect some problems, but there are also many more serious hidden visual problems that occur in children. Some common visual conditions in

The Day I Gave Up My Medical Career to Become a Stay-at-home Mom
Okay so it wasn’t as dramatic as ONE DAY, but I did, in essence, put away my medical career for good (unless the government changes the requirements to practice medicine, i.e., stops requiring doctors to attend residency, be licensed, be board-eligible, etc.) I was a fourth-year medical student whose husband, S, was a second-year resident in pediatrics.  We had thought on and off about getting pregnant but the PLAN was to wait until I was a second-year pediatric resident when I would have the least amount of hours to work.  Well, in January 2006, I’m two weeks late. Like any normal medical student, I think: I wou

Toe Fetish
Every child has a comfort habit. It might be normal, like thumb sucking. Or you could be one of those "lucky" parents whose kids have a completely unique and sometimes awkward, habit. Like me. Leave it to my kids to find a habit that can actually gross me out. And I'm hard to gross out.I've noticed the past few weeks that while Ashe happily sits down to watch his favorite tv show that once in awhile he's munching on his toes. No, I did not make a typo there. You read it right. He munches on his TOES.Don't ask me why, I've been scratching my head in bewilderment and anytime I ask him why he just shrugs and goes back to nomming on his big toe.The first time I witnessed