At the Check-out Counter

Most people get excited for couples expecting their first child, and rightly so. There are still looks of pleasant surprise and congratulations with the second and the third. The fourth pregnancy can bring about moments of silence for some, looks of genuine surprise from others. It gets pretty interesting from the fifth [...]

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Highly Recommended — Batteries Not Needed

I’d like you to meet my daughter Isabel. She is 6 years, 7 months and 22 days old, and was born after we had had four of her brothers in succession. You can imagine how thrilled we were at the birth of a girl after years of hoping for another one. My [...]

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Once in a Blue Moon

Only three more days left until Christmas day, and where do I find myself on this Saturday? The lower level of Sears in the toy department, looking around for possibilities. (Yes, I really have to work on this procrastination business…….) The whole store, not to mention the mall, was packed with people. [...]

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The Gift of Time

A portable manual typewriter and a bedside lamp — not exactly your typical kid’s idea of the best Christmas gifts, but these happen to have been mine at the age of twelve. My parents certainly paid attention to what I was doing those days. I had taken to using an old IBM electric [...]

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‘Tis the Season to be Jolly

There is this palpable sense of frenzy in the air as people rush around looking, considering, thinking, wondering, checking, turning here, there and everywhere. There are extremely focused people, nearly oblivious to others around them. There are those who wander about, almost aimlessly, with a bit of panic on their faces. There [...]

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All in the Family

(This is taken from the November 2007 newsletter of a girls’ club we run once a month from home.)
Allow me to gush: I love being a part of a large family! Eight kids, all singletons –thank you very much! I have friends who have more than eight, and some who are close to the number. [...]

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Birthing Bling-bling

I won’t lie to you: giving birth is no picnic. Does it hurt? You bet. A lot? Yup. From the moment the contractions start to when they come one on top of the other and the baby’s head is crowning, it is an experience like no other. But [...]

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