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Family Time, by Diane Chase

The getting-dressed-for-school battle

When my son was young, some of the simplest tasks became a battle. It felt like the transition happened overnight. I’d read him a story, turn out the lights and wake up to a child who refused to wear trousers. These transitions never happened over a weekend when I’d have a second to adapt. ...

Princess parking

I was parking the car at the market when my daughter laughingly told me to Princess Park. To me, that meant she wanted to be dropped off at the entrance while I found parking so she didn’t have to walk any distance in inclement weather. Why should my little princess be uncomfortable? We are ...

On gaslighting

I hear the term “gaslighting” being bantered around when people disagree. Sadly, the meaning of the word isn’t so simple. The word definition doesn’t even have anything to do with either “gas” or “light.” Gaslighting someone is a subtle manipulative technique. It’s playing the ...

The solar eclipse and our other senses

I know. Here is one more item about the solar eclipse. What’s the big deal? Well, tell that to the people asking to camp in my yard. I’ve never had so many friends until they remembered that I live on the pathway to totality. I’m getting all the vibes of alien invasion movies where ...

That crying baby

We’ve all been next to the person with the crying baby. If you want to get technical about the situation, we have all been that crying baby. I recently attended an event where a mother desperately attempted to soothe her crying child. There was no amount of food, holding or nursing to ...

Stories and oral history

My father’s birthday was a few days ago, and though he passed many years ago, I sent my children the annual note reminding them of a few of their grandfather’s stories. Some of the events I share are not from my memories but accounts he shared with me about previous generations. I never ...