Finals Fears

I don’t have any scientific data to back me up on this (though it may exist) but I’m quite certain I’ve figured out at least one reason I tend to score fairly well on tests for courses, classes, and other evaluative procedures. Today I took a test. I took a big test. The test covered 2500 years (actually much more) of topics, over 3000 pages of material, an innumerable variety of topics, approximately 12 in-depth student presentations, a couple of in-class videos, and some other abstract topics. It covered countries all over the world and performance practices and practitioners from … Continue reading

Elvis Week In Memphis

My dad has always made a big deal of the fact that I was born on August 16th—the same day (though different year) that Elvis Presley died. (For the record the legendary singer died on August 16, 1977—-I was born a few years prior.) While my dad has made the trip to Graceland, I have never toured the mansion myself. If you too have never been to Elvis’ home, you may want to make plans to go this year. Memphis is planning to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the icon’s death with an entire week of Elvis related festivities from … Continue reading

Finals Week Update

Well, we all made it. Today is the final day of the term and all the projects have been turned in and the tests taken and I know there are at least three high schoolers and one mom who are glad to see the term end. But, like so many things, this ending also has the wonderful seeds of beginnings wrapped up in it as well. Everyone is breathing a little easier, basking in some good tests and letting go of some not-so-good tests–and making all sorts of plans for how things are going “to be different” in the coming … Continue reading

Encouraging Youth to Attend Weekly Activities

As your young men and young women enter high school and become involved in extra curricular activities and begin to work part-time jobs, it can become more difficult to find the time to attend the Wednesday night activities. It is important that you help your children to find a balance so that they can still have the time to attend these uplifting activities each week. Here are five suggestions, which might help. 1) You may want to limit the number of extracurricular activities that your teenager participates in. Teenagers often stretch themselves too thin, as they try to experience all … Continue reading

Stuck in a Bind

It’s the week of finals, so when my son woke up with a high fever last night I was more than a little worried about what the following day would bring. I gave him some medicine and comforted him as best I could until he fell asleep again. We made it through the night only to find that the fever had not subsided this morning. Most daycares are sticklers when it comes to caring for sick children, and for good reason. They can’t have all the other kids getting sick, and our daycare is no exception. Normally I would take … Continue reading

Cold, Cold Go Away!

I’m getting that dreaded winter cold that’s going around. Inevitably this always seems to come the week before finals. Why this is happening? I don’t really know. The only conclusion I have been able to come up with is that the universe is combining against me to make finals week as miserable as possible! In all seriousness though, having a cold while trying to take care of a four year old on your own is a pretty tough job in and of itself, with or without finals. Poor Logan has been suffering from the same cold for several weeks now. … Continue reading

ADHD Medications for Kids Who Don’t Have ADHD?

A doctor in Georgia has been prescribing ADHD medication to children who come from low income families. The children have not been diagnosed with having ADHD. Instead, the doctor is giving them the medication in an effort to help them improve their grades. There are a lot of parents who have concerns about what their child’s ADHD medication might be doing to him or her beyond helping with the symptoms of the disorder. Some parents will go to great lengths to try alternative forms of treatment first, hoping that they will not have to put their child on a daily … Continue reading

Single Parent Chaos

It was one of those mornings. They seem to happen much more frequently as a single parent than they did when I was married. I am in the middle of my college finals this week. This is stressful in and of itself; then you add a three year old in the mix and things get slightly more stressful (ever tried studying with a three year old?); to top things off you’re doing it on your own, there’s no one there to give you a 20 minute study break, you simply learn to multi-task like a mad woman. As if this … Continue reading

Miss Universe Canada Disqualified

When you read this headline, you might thing “What does this have to do with Green Living?” Well, if you’ve read my blog before, you know that I believe that social conscious and civil rights are a huge part of living green. Yes, it is great to recycle your flip flops, but if those flip flops were made by slaves in a third world country, it’s still not green. As a child of the ‘60s, I’ve seen people protest for equal rights for African Americans and women. Now, at least in America, it seems the big civil rights struggle is … Continue reading

Oh to be a SAHM again!

I have had the last few days off of school. My professors were nice enough to have our tests before our break so that we didn’t have any homework over the holiday weekend. While normally I would be using this time to prepare for finals in a couple of weeks I decided to dedicate this time to my son instead. We both needed some time together. As a single mom it is so easy to get caught up in all of the little every day things that need to be done that we often don’t get real quality time together, … Continue reading