Got a Harry Potter fan in your life? Here’s how to see London, with tips from this week’s expert, Celia Baula.
THE TRAVELER: Celia Baula, project management consultant, San Ramon, and her sister
THE TREK: “For my 30th birthday, I decided to go to Europe with my sister. The bulk of my birthday trip was spent in Paris, but I decided to spend a day in London on my way back to the U.S. to dabble in the magic of Harry Potter.”
Hello, happy travelers! As we mentioned Friday, we’re launching a family travel Q&A this weekend, and we’ve recruited TravelMuse’s Donna Airoldi and her staff to help. We’re leading off with a question of our own, and hoping you guys will chime in with comments and questions of your own, either by clicking “Comments” or via e-mail. Let’s start, shall we, with the question on everyone’s minds:
Q: Summer’s almost over, it’s too late to get away before school starts, isn’t it? I mean, we have no reservations, no ideas. Where can we go right this minute without busting the bank?
A: Ah, it’s never too late. If you’re not set on a destination, there are tons of options. New York, Los Angeles, Orlando, Chicago, Cancun and Las Vegas are often the most popular last-minute getaway spots, but there are lots of possibilities. Look for online deals and packages, be flexible about dates and destinations. And if you have preschoolers or college kids who have not yet left, the week after Labor Day is a good time to travel - fewer crowds, more discounts. But here are four family-friendly possibilities, two a quick flight away, and two closer to home. Read the rest of this entry »
Apparently, it’s not just bullies’ victims who are at risk. It’s the bullies too, according to a just-released Yale School of Medicine study. According to a story in today’s New York Times, researchers found heightened risks for suicidal thoughts among bullied children — and their aggressors as well. Children who beat up other kids, physically or emotionally, are two to nine times more likely to entertain suicidal thoughts than youngsters in the general population, and young female bullies are at the high end of the spectrum. What’s unclear is whether bullying behavior increases the suicide risk, or whether suicidal kids are more likely to become bullies.
My ragging on Alicea is officially over, at least for now. After the baby round on “Baby Borrowers,” I pegged her as hopelessly deficient. Ever since, she has come around nicely. Last week, she showed real promise with toddler Isaiah. This week, she really shined with pre-teen Hannah the “drama queen.” Alicea opted to ignore Hannah’s temper tantrum — and instinctively, I would have done the same. Hannah’s mom, Leslie, had another tact so she intervened, suggesting Alicea engage the child in some sort of activity.
I braced myself for the meltdown. The last time someone dared to challenge Little Miss Know It All, she essentially gave up on her parenting duties. But surprise, surprise, Alicea handled the constructive criticism with some maturity. Ditto Cory. When Hannah locked him out of the house, he put her in timeout. She threw yet another tantrum but Cory found a way to outlast her. Love the “I’m sorry” letter Hannah pushed under the door. And his rewarding her with a popsicle — nice parenting move. But still, I wondered if this couple could truly make it when the sleepover edict arrived.
(”Waiting for Baby” is a closer look at adoption and my family’s personal experience as we go through the process. It will appear every Wednesday in the aPARENTly Speaking blog.)
“I just know someone will pick you because…” Family and friends all have voiced reasons why they think my husband, step-daughter and I will be chosen by a birthmom (and maybe the birthdad, too) to raise her child. The reasons? Because we have an instant big sister in Dana. Because we put a high value on our children having a college education. Because we have a nice suburban house with a backyard and a swingset. Because we have two dogs. And my personal favorite, because we have a sense of humor.
Now, an ongoing national study of birthparents and adoptive families is shedding some light on the subject. The Early Growth and Development Study is tracking 360 adoptive families, 359 birthmothers and 114 birthfathers and monitoring the development of the adopted children through age 7. The study hopes to answer key questions about nature vs. nuture. And so far, it’s answering some big questions about why these birthparents selected a particular adoptive families. Interestingly, the adoptive families’ physical appearance, religious affiliation and type of home ranked well below the families’ ability to provide educational opportunities for the child and the close marital relationship of the couple. A full breakdown of the results is available in the July/August edition of Adoptive Families magazine. As for the swingset, it ranked in the basement in terms of importance. Guess we’ll have to rely on our sense of humor.
(”Waiting for Baby” is a closer look at adoption and my family’s personal experience as we go through the process. It will appear every Wednesday in the aPARENTly Speaking blog.)
She’s ready. Watching my step-daughter, Dana, with her baby cousin, I was immediately certain Dana would make a fabulous big sister. About a decade in age separates Dana and my niece Emily, but together they have this unspoken language that we adults simply don’t get. They look at each other as if the world around them ceases to exist. Their smiles reach right up to there eyes. Seeing that almost broke my heart.
That’s because we had come up short in three years of trying to have a baby. Adoption was the next step, but hardly one completed overnight. For that matter, it often takes a lot longer than nine months, too. And so the real question for us: when do we tell Dana?
Don’t know about you guys but Pixar’s new “WALL-E” is at the top of our must-see movie list this weekend. Critics are falling all over themselves singing its praises - the Orlando Sentinel’s Roger Moore calls the movie “genius,” the best Pixar movie since “Finding Nemo.” Plugged-In Online’s family reviewer says no, it’s the best one ever, with scenes that “evoke a sense of awestruck wonder, innocence and a childlike sense of possibility.” And Common Sense Media, our other favorite family-centric review site, says, “Who would’ve expected an animated feature with stretches of near-silence, a deeply intellectual and ecological bent, and a robot with relatively few bells and whistles to be profoundly moving and thought-provoking, yet still entertaining?”
Have you seen it yet? Click “comments” and tell us what you thought…
“Why Setting Limits is Difficult But Important”
June 25 at 7 p.m. the Swedenborgian Church, San Francisco
Speaker: Psychologist Barbara Sapienza. Free. Sponsored by the San Francisco Psychotherapy Research Group and Swedenborgian Church.
“10 Great Dates”
June 27-Aug. 29 from 7 to 9:15 p.m.at Danville’s Community Presbyterian Church
A 10-week series designed to energize marriages and strengthen families. Couples meet every Friday night for light hor d’ oeuvres and a 20-minute video on such topics as parenting, communication, becoming an encouraging spouse and building a creative love life. There’s childcare for kids in 1st through 5th grades (babysitting vouchers available for younger kids), and after the video, you’re supposed to take your spouse to dinner - they’re even providing discount vouchers for Valley restaurants - to reconnect on a deeper level. Sponsored by the Marriage and Family Ministry of the church, but they says it’s not “churchy.” (One time charge of $15 per couple plus $10 for the book.) Read the rest of this entry »
We’ve been reading Adair Lara’s new “Granny Diaries: An Opinionated How-To-Guide,” a wildly irreverent, often hilarious look at how to grandparent, from choosing a suitable name to dispensing advice without getting a Dr. Sears book flung in your face. Lara says she spent the entire nine months of her daughter’s pregnancy “trying to avoid Grandma, a word that lay in wait for me like a pair of dentures in a glass.” So here’s the question for you - what are the grandparents in your family called and why? Punch a button on the poll or — better yet — click “comments” and dish.
1. Catch the fun at Children’s Fairyland’s Storyteller Weekend with Native American stories Saturday amd Sunday at 12:30 and 3:30 p.m. and African tales at 1:30 and 2:30 p.m. ($6)
2. It’s “Family Dive In Movie Night” featuring “Flipper” this Friday from 7 to 9:30pm at Pleasant Hill Aquatic Park ($5-$8)
3. Join “Bluegrass for the Greenbelt,” a benefit concert for the Greenbelt Alliance, this Sunday at 2 p.m. at Oakland’s Dunsmuir estate. Music by Hot Buttered Rum, Laurie Lewis and the Right Hands, and The Wronglers. Plus, REI Berkeley is hosting an interactive Kids Corner. (Pricey for grownups at $40 a pop, but hey, it’s a fund-raiser, and kids under 12 are free.) Read the rest of this entry »
Got a Harry Potter fan in your life? Here’s how to see London, with tips from this week’s expert, Celia Baula.
