Search Results for: blog worrying is eternal

Worrying is Eternal

Thank you to everyone who sent prayers and well wishes to my family in Hawaii and Japan in the hours following the massive earthquake and tsunami which flattened most of Miyagi and Fukushima Prefecture. Despite the dozens of earthquakes, tsunamis and tsunami warnings that I have lived through growing up on the Big Island of Hawaii, including a 7.2 earthquake in 1975, which generated a tsunami that claimed multiple lives, I’d be a fool to underestimate the power of Mother Nature’s wrath. Being jaded doesn’t pay. My heart goes out to the displaced families in Japan and to all of … Continue reading →

What Makes a Mother?

(Am I a “real” mom?) “It feels like you’re really officially, really truly a mother when you have two kids.” Really? I’m pretty sure actress Jessica Alba regrets having uttered those words during an interview with PEOPLE magazine. Then again, maybe she stands behind each and every syllable. Alba’s comment went viral months ago, yet whenever I conduct an online search for information about transitioning from a one-child household to a two-child home, the Hollywood mom’s infamous quote still pops up. Seems as though parents of singletons don’t much care for the movie star’s opinion on what it takes to … Continue reading →

Another Thing for Parents to Worry About

I worked in TV news for nearly 15 years and would roll my eyes whenever my photographer and I squeezed our way through a crowd to cover a major event and heard people shout: “I don’t watch the news!” C’mon, who doesn’t watch the news? Then, I gave birth and I figured out there really are people who avoid turning on the evening news. Parents. I now see why some parents don’t watch the news. They’re trying to preserve their sanity. With so much to worry about on a daily basis in their own little worlds, why fan the flames … Continue reading →

Easter Freedom

My daughter and I have always been exceptionally close. I chock it up to the hours and hours she spent attached to my breast while she was an infant. And by hours I mean days. Actually, months. Okay, years. The kid nursed for the first two-and-a-half years of her life. My bosom buddy is six now and breastfeeding has been replaced with quality time doing other things together, such as reading, playing tennis, taking hikes and playing with Barbie’s urinating pups. Whereas my daughter is in full-day school this year, I still pepper our playtime with little lessons, including stranger … Continue reading →

Unthinkable

It’s easy to see why parenting and paranoia go hand in hand. Between bullying, natural disasters, stranger danger, and suicide, parents have a lot to contend with when it comes to protecting their offspring from the world’s perils. However, just when you thought you’ve reached your capacity for worrying, along comes yet another reason to fret. The latest concern for parents with young children: being diagnosed with cancer… just nine days after your spouse is given the same news. It seems unthinkable, right? Wrong. Just ask Nathan and Elisa Bond, who made headlines recently when they were both diagnosed with … Continue reading →

Do You Allow Your Kids to Watch the News?

The other day a friend of mine sarcastically suggested that certain cable news shows should come with a PG-13 rating. If you have tweens or teens, you probably don’t do a lot of news censoring. However, if your kids are 12 or younger, you might be hesitant to allow your son or daughter to flip on CNN, MSNBC or Fox News without your permission, or more importantly, your presence in the room. Despite, or perhaps, because I spent nearly 10 years as a local TV news anchor/reporter, I never allow my 6-year-old to watch the evening news by herself. What’s … Continue reading →

The Downside of Parenting: Fear

Imagine sending your 9-year-old to school only to be called by administrators a few hours later notifying you that your child had been sent to the hospital. He didn’t fall off the monkey bars or have a science experiment blow up in his face; rather, he’s in the emergency room because he swallowed an unknown amount of cocaine. Cocaine that was brought to school in a baggie by a 10-year-old boy. Bullying, beatings, gun violence and drugs… in fourth grade. No wonder parents are choosing to homeschool their children now more than ever before. The cocaine story is true. According … Continue reading →

When Parents are Ill-Informed

See how I cleverly got around using the s-word (the six-lettered one) and “parents” in the same title? Believe me; it took a lot of restraint, especially after hearing yet another news story about moms and dads who are running from store to store desperately buying up potassium iodide as a preventative measure against radiation exposure. Did I mention that these procreating geniuses live in California and New York—-not Japan. According to news reports, potassium iodide tablets are flying off store shelves in California (and in states as far away as New York) amidst concern that Japan’s nuclear crisis poses … Continue reading →

Spring Travel to Aid Japan

Japan and its country of innovative and generous residents are typically on the minds of visitors to the D.C. area this time of year, but since the devastating 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami obliterated parts of the “Land of the Rising Sun” the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington has taken on new meaning this year. Organizers of the annual festival, which centers on thousands of gorgeous trees given by the mayor of Tokyo to the American people 99 years ago, are urging visitors to donate to the American Red Cross to aid relief efforts in Japan. In addition to … Continue reading →

Natural Disaster and the Impact on Mental Health

With the recent events in Japan, between the earthquake and then the devastation on the tsunami, and now the risk of a nuclear meltdown, it will be interesting to see the impact of these events on the mental health of the Japanese nation. Right now, I imagine most are running on survival mode, adrenaline levels are high, panic is setting in, reality is finding enough food and water to survive. The impact on mental health will be more long term, setting in once the initial chaos is over. It will probably be years before the whole impact on mental health … Continue reading →