February 2012
Don’t Stop the Hip-Hop
For as long as I can remember, I have been dancing. Like most little girls, when I was a toddler, I studied tap and ballet for a year or two. But, then a new style of dancing came into my life; that new style is hip-hop.
I love hip-hop because I can move with the music …
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January 2012
On an IT roll
When I came to Lamar High School as a freshman in 2009 I could never have imagined that I would one day work as an employee of the school district. I had always had an interest in computers and the way things worked, and I had spent much of my time at St. John’s middle school working …
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December 2011
A Fish in the Water
I began swimming the day I turned 2 years old. My parents wanted me to learn how to swim in case I fell into a pool or lake. After a few months of swim lessons, I passed the float test and thought my lessons would end. I was wrong! Some days I enjoyed swim lessons, …
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November 2011
A Real Showstopper
Yes, I am a drama queen. My father has always called me one, but now after the numerous productions I’ve been in, I must finally admit I love drama.
Last year, for the Second Baptist Middle School production of Peter Pan, I was a Lost Boy. Earlier this year, I played Mark Twain complete with a …
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October 2011
Were you one of those gung-ho Halloween kids? The ones who bravely pushed their way up past the spider webs and creepy music strung on the front porches, despite the fact that some overhyped dad in a zombie costume was going to jump out from a dark corner?
Or maybe you were more like me – the girl in the …
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October 2011
Almost Famous
I’ve always wanted to challenge the saying that only one in a million gets the chance to be famous in film or in music. I’m a harpist and play the prima balalaika, a three-string Russian instrument, in The Houston Balalaika Society. I also perform in hand bell choir with my mother at Second Baptist Church, and this past …
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October 2011
At parents’ night at my son’s school, I could have sworn that when the principal got to the part in her speech about not doing your children’s homework for them and allowing them to make their mistakes, her eyes fastened on me.
All parents wonder at times whether they are doing enough – or too much – for their children. …
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September 2011
Big hugs for little kids
Three years ago, my family became involved in Show Hope, a Christian non-profit that cares for special-needs orphans in China. Maria’s Big House of Hope is a special-care center in China that houses children whom the official state orphanage does not have the resources to support.
After organizing several fundraisers, my family and I were …
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September 2011
Last year, my son and I were introduced to the concept of required community-service hours. He had to do 12 hours of them to pass the sixth grade.
You will, perhaps, not be surprised to learn that we forgot all about those hours until a week before they were due.
During our last-minute search, we discovered many opportunities for kids …
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September 2011
PayPal cofounder and venture capitalist Peter Thiel recently made headlines for critiquing the “education bubble,” the newest ridicule-worthy institution since the housing bubble popped.
Higher education is overvalued, underwhelming and elitist, according to Stanford-educated Thiel. That’s why he created the “20 Under 20” Fellowship. He selected 20 young “visionaries” to drop out of college and receive $100,000 to pursue an …
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August 2011
What’s Old is New Again
I recall my parents shaking their heads at some of my fashion choices when I was a teen, critiquing them as “so old fashioned.”
Now my daughter is hunting through my closet. Too bad for her that I am not much of a pack rat.
It appears I’m not the only one whose yesteryear items …
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August 2011
Lights, Camera, Action
Sometimes inspiration can come in the form of a small, semi-aquatic mammal. Of course, this statement requires further explanation. When I was 14 years old and on vacation in the Canadian islands of Georgian Bay, Ontario, I had the good fortune to stumble upon a mink. As I watched the unusual creature skip across the rocks and …
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August 2011
August is so strange. It’s still 100 degrees outside and sunny well into the evening hours. But somehow we’re supposed to turn our minds to new semesters, school clothes and earlier bedtimes. Even if we don’t have school-aged children, all ads focus on fall, and workweeks get a bit more pumped up.
In my family, our most profound adjustment is …
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August 2011
They are two of life’s certainties – children grow up, and parents worry if they’re making the right decisions about their education. Some pending moms and dads feel compelled to make critical school choices as soon as they learn their child’s due date. The result of this planning is a growing number of older kids in class who have received …
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August 2011
This is the third in a three-part series on out-of-the-box ways to keep kids busy and happy this summer.
Summer’s winding down, and there’s a big question looming – how are we going to make the last few weeks count? If you’ve already breezed through your summer wish list and vacations are memories in a scrapbook (or if you’re like …
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