Cancer Survivor, writing about Health and Fitness as you age

You'd think that the smoke coming from my ears and nose would be a sure hint to my children NOT to aggravate me.  And if not, then for sure the wide, crazed eyes and the clenched teeth should tell them something.  Maybe I need to write an instruction manual: "How to read your Mama". You'd think after being hurt by or punished for something two times already, there wouldn't be a third.  What can I say? It appears that some children need more experiences than others to cement learning. You'd think that if I'm taking them to do something they enjoy, I wouldn't have to say scream four times: "Change and get in the car!"  Obviously what they are doing at the present time is more "funner" than any planned activity. You'd think that as an adult, I'd be better able to let go of the trials my children put me through and not let things fester.  I guess despite my advanced age, I still have some maturing to do.

That was the first question that friends asked when I told them I was going back to work. The simple answer is that we would have to make choices that we are not prepared to, in order for me to stay at home. And what choices would those be? Well, it really boils down to just one - private school for Lucas. If we put Lucas back into public school (or homeschool), I can continue to stay at home.  So, even if I could see myself surviving 1 year of homeschooling Lucas, what about the following year and the year after that?  And what about Liam?  Good grief - there is only so much stress I can handle.  Besides, I can imagine that after homeschooling, public school will become less and less appealing in terms of challenge.  So, homeschooling would be indefinite and I've already said enough on public school. Why did I stay home in the first place? When we first made to decision for me to stay home, it was borne of necessity - Liam was getting so sick in daycare so

So this post is not about the horrors of vacationing with children, it's more about what is a family vacation anyway?  Having just returned from ours to the beach, I got to thinking about this on the long trip back home.  To me, the family vacation has two components: 1. The family should vacation together (see how insightful this is?) and 2. The family should decide on the family vacation together So, despite the fact that for me, the two components of a vacation are without kids and without kitchen, that doesn't qualify as a family vacation.  The second criterion I was forced to acknowledge because I found myself having to cajole my kids too many times to venture out to the beach with me.  What if they decided on the family vacation?...Hmmmm. So at what age does a child earn the ability to have a say in vacation destination and activities (within constraints of course)?  I figure that in about 4 years time, Liam will be 7 and able to make sensible choices. Lucas

My husband recently showed me an article about swimming in the Wall Street Journal .  The article references a report that shows "70% of African-American children and 58% of Hispanic children have little or no swimming ability, compared with 40% of Caucasian children."  The article says that the biggest barrier to learning to swim is not resources, but parents' fear of water. Whether the parent is afraid of the water, or whether they are fearful that their children may drown so they keep them away from the water, it would seem to me to be the exact reason to ensure your child can swim.  How? Why would a parent choose to saddle their children with their own fears?  It is quite incomprehensible to me.  (Although I am sure I do it in other things.) I could not swim as a child and I remember having to stay in the shallow end of the pool while friends and family were frolicking in the deep. I felt isolated and left out until I dreaded going to the pool.  A