Fostering curiosity in kids (and their parents) since 2011

Posts from the ‘Miscellaneous’ category

Happy Memorial Day!

After spending the last month making appearances around the country, 107-year-old Richard Arvine Overton, America’s oldest veteran, plans to spend Memorial Day sipping whisky and smoking…

Sometimes I hate spring

When I was in second grade, a tornado passed directly over my elementary school. Growing up in Dallas, our school had tornado drills at least once a month in the spring, so we all knew what to do when the warning came. Within minutes, my classmates and I were huddled in the hall, heads tucked into the crack between the smooth cold concrete floor and the brick wall of the reinforced hallway, fingers laced over the back of our heads, braced for impact.

How to have end-of-life care conversations with your parents (Not appropriate for children)

Being in the sandwich generation can be pretty terrible sometimes. Last year, my mother sat down with my husband and me to talk about my role as her healthcare proxy. Although she is not sick now, in the event that she becomes sick, she wanted to be certain I knew her wishes so that I could advocate for them on her behalf, if necessary. It was a painful conversation. But also vital, because making end-of-life decisions on behalf of another person is impossibly hard. When you have this conversation with your parents, it’s important to know how to structure it, so that you can align your loved ones’ end-of-life care with their quality-of-life goals.

Holiday Madness & Other News of the Week

Greetings from the one remaining corner of my home where there is room to seat both me and my computer. I really thought this decluttering stuff was supposed to create space. Instead, it seems to have completely eliminated it. I hope to have better news on this front next week. But in the meantime, here’s this week’s news party.