List/Grid Tag Archives: Parent
Farewell And Hello
Some of you may know that as of April 5th, LIFEclectic will be closing its doors. It has been an amazing experience to write for this magazine and I am grateful to have had this opportunity. I’ve met so many wonderful, insightful and inspiring people. When one door closes, another door or two opens somewhere. That door for me is the launch of my own blog, Melanie Elliott, Mom To The Littlest E. If I…
Some Advice For Talking With An Adoptive Parent
If you’ve been following my blog, you’ll know that I am a transracial, adoptive mom. In many circles a transracial family is also known as a conspicuous family given that the parents are usually one ethnicity and the child another. In our case, my husband and I are Caucasian and our son, The Littlest E, is Ethiopian. I’ve been a mom now for 18 months and along the way have had a number of conversations…
Adventures In Potty Training
This past Presidents’ Day weekend, my husband and I spent the entire weekend potty training our 2½-year old son, The Littlest E. It’s a rite of passage for every child and parent. For a while our son had showed signs he was interested in going potty in his little potty and it had become part of his post bath routine. My husband and I talked about it and figured we’d give it an official try. …
A Durable Power Of Attorney For Health Care Decisions Is A Good Thing To Have In Place
In the summer of 2009, my father was vacationing in Reno, Nevada and had a heart attack. He’d had one twenty years before and this time the doctor told him he needed quadruple bypass surgery. Prior to his surgery (which had something like a 98% success rate), he was asked to fill out a Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care Decisions which would state his wishes if things went south during surgery. My dad’s…
A New Kind Of New Year’s Eve
As New Year’s Eve rolls around, I’ve been thinking about New Year’s Eves of the past and how they’ve changed over the years, especially since I have become a parent. Last year’s evening was extra special. We didn’t do anything extraordinary. In fact, we didn’t really do much at all and even went to sleep well before the stroke of midnight. What made the night special, after 7 years of marriage to my wonderful Tom,…
Are The 2s Really Terrible?
For years I’d heard about the terrible 2s, stories of endless tantrums, inexplicable behavior, screaming, throwing things, and major craziness. I built up this expectation that on the day our son, The Littlest E, turned 2, we would not find him in his crib on awakening, but a little hellion sent to torment us for the next year. The Littlest E turned 2 in July and he is in the thick of what I call…
There’s No Excuse For Disrespecting A Child
It takes a lot to get me upset. The other day I witnessed something that riled me. I was at the store running an errand while my son, The Littlest E, was in preschool. I was in the check out line and had the unfortunate luck to be privy to a mom/grandmother (who was behind me in line) demeaning her children/grandchildren. Now, I don’t know what preceded this and, obviously, I don’t know their family…
Did I Need A Life Coach?
I ended my last post, “Financial Ruin…The Snowball Effect,” where I broke my foot after being laid up for a few weeks due to surgery. One of my family members had approached me (for my parents) to see if I would meet with a life coach they had hired for me because they were worried about me. As I listened to this person all I heard was “worried” and “hired.” I remember feeling defensive right…
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