We were sitting around in the living room when an ad for Dr. Phil's new episode came on - all about the 'n' word. I looked at my twelve year old daughter and asked, "Do you know what the 'n' word is?"

She nodded emphatically. "Yes!"

"Okay," I said, "What is it?"

In a whisper, she spelled, "N-E-G-R-O!"What?" I said ( Read more... )

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She found a magazine that specializes in publishing children's work, and drafted a letter. Then she asked me to read it.

There's no salutation, signature, or contact info (she'll definitely have to add those in before she puts this in the mail).

My name is ________, and I am twelve years old. I am sending you two poems that I am rather proud of ( Read more... )

Kit Kittredge (not the U.N.C.L.E. Agent), was apprehended recently trying to smuggle rum into Prince Edward Island, where as of 1934, Prohibition has yet to be repealed.

( Click here for mug shots! )

My 10yo son was a little shocked and a lot amused when they showed the class what he described as an "eighties video" about puberty. I'm hoping it was filmed more recently than the eighties, but he definitely picked up on out-of-date hairstyles and clothes.

( Frank discussion ensues... )

Since I'm very close to finishing my 30_lemons challenge, I decided I'd try tackling the 30_deathfics challenge ( Read more... )

Dawn is "Pakistan's most widely circulated English language newspaper", and every week they publish Young World, a magazine for kids. My mother brought back a huge stack when she came home to Canada, and my kids have been reading them with great pleasure. There are cute little stories (with morals), cartoons, poems, and discussions on various ( Read more... )

My 10yo son was assigned an essay describing how food travels through the human digestive system. Here's what he handed in...

( I hope his teacher has a good sense of humour! )

While I was out walking my dog with EH last night, a pitbull and a pitbull-mix broke out of their yard and charged us. They literally broke right through a latched gate ( Read more... )

The boy (10) talked me into coming and picking him up from school a few weeks ago. But as soon as we stepped outside the school building he was skipping over puddles, completely fine. He wasn't deliberately trying to trick me, but the upshot was that his problem was mainly anxiety, which was - of course - relieved as soon as he was out of school ( Read more... )