Search Results for: blog lightning can strike twice

The Lottery Can Be Good For You

Even if you don’t win, playing the lottery can give you a different sort of payoff — an emotional one. The anticipation and excitement and hope of a lottery win activate exactly the same parts of your brain that an actual win does! Neuroscientists have been investigating the power of anticipation, and when it comes to the lottery and other cash prizes, you’ll still win big even if you don’t hit the jackpot. Think about it for a second — buying that lottery ticket kicks your imagination into gear. Whenever I buy a ticket, I spend a lot of time … Continue reading →

When Lightning Strikes… Twice

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They say lightning doesn’t strike twice in the same place. I don’t believe it. Saturday our family was struck for the second time…with Juvenile Diabetes. On our recent trip to California, I noticed my eleven-year-old son, Riley, kept asking to stop for the restroom. Once. Again. And again. A bit of fear shot down my back. It all felt so familiar… it had been a road trip eight years ago when my oldest son showed his first symptoms. Often times, it takes a long drive to really see how often your child is using the bathroom. I mean, once they’re … Continue reading →

Busted for Poor Parenting

When it comes to disciplining children, most parents know that sometimes what works for one kid can fail miserably with another. Interestingly, a Staten Island mom recently found out that what works for some parents in the discipline department gets others thrown in jail. Annette Gerhardt… remember the name… because you don’t ever want to end up like her. According to news reports, the New York mom was hoping to scare some sense into her six-year-old by taking her to the police department and threatening to leave her there. Gerhardt thought the idea was out of this world brilliant after … Continue reading →

A Picture Book for Kids with Juvenile Diabetes

I am very excited about a project I’m working on with my mentor and hero, Rick Walton. Rick has a son with juvenile diabetes, and I have two, and because we write picture books, we decided to join forces and create a book for very young children who are newly-diagnosed with the disease. The book will be donated to kids in the hospital, as a gift inside the “bags of hope” which contain items to help these newly-diagnosed children (and their parents) cope. Pitching the Book Although we had seen picture books written about diabetes, we hadn’t seen one specifically … Continue reading →

Celebrity Fire Watch—–Update

If you are Suzanne Somers’ neighbors you have to be wondering if she is a lightning rod of sorts. Can lightning really strike the same place twice? The actress and her family have been forced to evacuate their temporary residence in Malibu as a ferocious wildfire closes in. Sadly, the former “Three’s Company” star knows the drill all to well. You’ll recall Somers lost her beachfront home in another Malibu fire earlier this year. The actress moved into temporary digs nearby and news reports are now confirming that the massive blaze that has already charred thousands of acres is threatening … Continue reading →

Guilt-Free Shopping

Is there such a thing? I suppose if you are a multi-millionaire shopping is almost something you have to do so you don’t die with money left over. (Oh, the horror!) But, for the rest of us non-Powerball winners we tend to pick and choose our “necessities” carefully. For example, diaper bags. If you have a baby you need a bag of some sort to tote around the ton of infant essentials associated with a newborn. The bag needs to be able to hold the equivalent of an entire nursery, but you still want it to be stylish (even if … Continue reading →

Great Eight—The Day After The Lucky Sevens

Well, I dug under couch, stuck my hand in between the car seats, rummaged through every pocket in the house and raided my daughter’s piggy bank (okay, I stopped short of raiding her pig) and came up with $3.07. The good news: it was enough money to purchase three lottery tickets. The bad news: I woke up this morning and learned that of the six set of numbers printed on the ticket not one single one (let me repeat, not ONE single one) matched any of the winning digits. So much for lucky dates. July 7, 2007 was a bust … Continue reading →

A Toast to Parents of Special Needs Kids

With the year 2006 coming to a close, let’s consider the milestones our children have reached these past twelve months. As parents of special needs kids, we already know that comparing our sons or daughters with other children their age, or with a teacher or doctor’s random expectations, can be discouraging. So we don’t. We learn to make comparisons only with the past. What steps have our children taken this year, no matter how small or unsteady, which have moved them just a little bit further down their own path? Were there any “miracle moments,” or breakthroughs? What about silly … Continue reading →

A Special Show-and-Tell

I was talking to my twelve-year-old son’s teacher in a conference. “He’s a perfectionist,” the teacher said. “He works so hard at perfecting his assignments, he often doesn’t finish.” I looked over his grades. They weren’t bad grades, but they certainly weren’t indicative of his abilities. My son Riley is a high-achiever. This is a child who, when asked to create a simple comic strip for art, spent days mapping out a fantasy world with dragon-like creatures, then wrote a plot, character description, and an episodic story line. He often goes well beyond what is expected. “What do you think … Continue reading →

Agonizing Journey: The Undiagnosed Child

When a child is born with (or develops) physical problems, parents experience a sense of panic: What is wrong with our baby? The anomalies might be obvious or subtle. Sometimes it is only a parent’s “gut feeling” indicating that something just isn’t right. There are few things as frightening as having a baby or child with an unknown medical condition. When Parents Become Medical Researchers Many parents find their feet set upon this difficult, frustrating path. They become their child’s own medical researcher, trying to find a diagnosis that matches the baffling symptoms. Along this mysterious journey, their child might … Continue reading →