Browsing all posts in Family.
Emmet O’Neal Library Annual Book Sale
Readers, it’s time for one of the most enjoyable events of the year, the Annual Book Sale at the Emmet O’Neal Library in Mountain Brook on February 24 – 26, 2012. The friends of other local libraries have book sales or shops, but it’s fair to say [...]
Miss Representation- And This Ain’t a Beauty Pageant
Concern with how women are portrayed in the media is nothing new. What is new is the explosion in media forms available now, with kids consuming media an average of over 10 hours per day. Our kids can’t avoid exposure to popular images and lyrics. How will our daughters imagine themselves as future leaders when there [...]
Find: Grisham Thriller for Kids
Surely you remember the first thrill of reading a John Grisham novel even before Denzel and Julia or the perpetually running Tom Cruise brought the stories to the big screen.
Grisham’s adventures involve law school students or new attorneys up against the establishment, whether that is [...]
Volunteers Don’t Have to Take This
Every season I’m struck again by the difficulty volunteers face in meeting the exacting demands of their most outspoken critics, the non-volunteers. Like backseat drivers and Monday morning quarterbacks, non-volunteers seem to have all the answers and they’re happy to mutter their criticisms to anyone [...]
Chinese New Year Celebration in Birmingham
Maybe Dick Clark claims a Rockin’ Eve at Times Square, but the Chinese surely earned bragging rights to New Year parties with their invention of fireworks a few millenia ago.
The Chinese New Year Festival, or Spring Festival, is a major holiday in Chinese and other eastern cultures and our Chinese [...]
Brighter New Year?
I received an email last December wishing me a “Merry Christmas and a Brighter New Year” and I couldn’t miss the obvious implication that 2011 had been crummy. I think a lot of us have been ready to kiss 2011 goodbye and good riddance.
There’s no [...]
Meet New January, Same as Old January
Storage bins, exercise equipment, calendars, here we go again. THIS YEAR we will accomplish the things we haven’t had the will to do ever before in our lives. Tomorrow is, to paraphrase our dear Scarlet, another year.
Well, this year I’m taking a more mellow approach. [...]
Goodbye, Elves. Don’t Let the Doorknob Hit You…
I gotta be honest, Elves. You’re headed back to the North Pole with Santa now, and I’m relieved.
It’s not that we haven’t had fun. Of course we have! But you’ve heard that old saying about fish and company getting old after three days. You’ve been hanging [...]
Making the Most of Precious Holiday Time Off
The holiday break begins and you mentally start the timer. How will you fit in family, hostessing, relaxation and couple time during a few short days?
With young children, you’ll be up with the roosters just like usual. Plan to load up the mornings. You can get in [...]
Real Joy Guaranteed?
Walking through the mall the other day I spotted this sign and my inner cynic commented, “How ridiculous. You can’t possibly guarantee someone’s joy.”
Then the light bulb went off. But that’s exactly what we moms try to do! We guarantee joy for everyone, as if [...]