Salon.com > parents

Okla. mother’s tearful reunion with her 8-year-old son

Tue, 21 May 2013 17:22:00 +0000

Another happy reunion caught on film: Moore, Okla., mother Trenda Purcell tearfully embraces her 8-year-old son Kamden after Briarwood Elementary was severely damaged by the tornado. Officials have confirmed that all of the students at the school survived the disaster, meaning there were, thankfully, many more moments like this for Briarwood parents.

Father of gay high school student arrested for dating classmate speaks out

Mon, 20 May 2013 19:04:00 +0000

Kaitlyn Hunt is an 18-year-old high school senior, a cheerleader and varsity basketball player who classmates once dubbed "student with the most school spirit." In February of this year, two police officers appeared at her Florida home, put her in handcuffs and, without explanation to either of her parents, placed her under arrest.

Kaitlyn now faces two felony counts of "lewd and lascivious battery on a child 12 to 16 because of her consensual, same-sex relationship with a high school classmate, a freshman she met while both played on the varsity basketball team.

On Monday, her father, Steven Hunt Jr., wrote about the experience of having his daughter become the target of anti-gay discrimination and the very real possibility that Kaitlyn could go to prison simply for dating in high school:

My lover, my client

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 00:00:00 +0000

Dear Cary,

I am a freelance bookkeeper. I had been seeing one of my clients a couple of times a week at his home office for over 15 years. Over time, we became friends -- having dinner together every once in a while and even going to the movies. He knew my family and was invited to holiday meals. There was never any indication that he had romantic feelings for me even though he has always been very generous and kind. In fact, I always thought he was the best person character-wise that I know but he always has seemed rather cold, emotionally. As an example, there was one time I just naturally tried to give him a hug on my way out the door and he stiffened like I had really crossed a line. It struck me as being very strange. I vowed then never again to be so "friendly." He's never seemed to have any friends much less a girlfriend.

About eight years ago, I advised him to purchase a house as he was making good money and doing so would (and did) save him quite a bit at tax time. He was resistant to the idea and always "teased" that if things didn't work out he would come to live with me. To make a long story short, his business took a dive, he lost the house and had to declare bankruptcy in March of last year.

Study: Social networks play significant role in parents’ decision to vaccinate

Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:04:00 +0000

A new study found that an overwhelming majority of vaccination "naysayer" parents surveyed were influenced by friends, family and other non-medical peer recommendations when deciding whether or not to vaccinate their child, leading researchers to conclude that changing parents’ attitudes about vaccines may be a matter of influencing their influencers.

Researchers surveyed 196 parents of children 18 months or younger in a Seattle county with vaccination rates below the national average: 126 of these parents followed the national recommendations on childhood-vaccination from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), while 70 delayed vaccination, partially vaccinated or didn't vaccinate their child at all.

While both were informed by friends and family, peer influence in the vaccination "naysayer" group was a much bigger factor than in vaccine "conforming" circles, researchers found. Advice from social networks "blew any other variable out of the water” for vaccine doubters, Emily Brunson, who conducted the research as an anthropology graduate student at the University of Washington, told Time magazine. It “was more important in terms of predicting what parents decide to do than any other factor, including parents’ own opinions," she added.

Meet the blogger who says “Hey, parents! STFU!”

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 15:20:00 +0000

Blair Koenig is not the enemy, parents. Sure, she's been portrayed in certain whipped-up media venues as everything from "mommies' worst nightmare" to one of the scolding "sancti-childless." Earlier this week, "Good Morning America" helpfully introduced her as a "childless blogger" who has "a lot of moms and dads up in arms." And it's true, she does provocatively declare on her site that "You used to be fun. Now you have a baby."

Yet Koenig, in reality, is an eminently reasonable, very funny 30-something Brooklynite whose STFU, Parents happens to sum up the exasperation that plenty of us – the child-free and breeders alike – feel when dealing with the parental self-righteousness and oversharing that permeates our social media feeds.

Expectant parents die in NY car crash, baby survives

Sun, 03 Mar 2013 17:35:00 +0000

NEW YORK (AP) -- A young couple who had taken a car service to a hospital for the birth of their first child were killed en route in a hit and run early Sunday, but their baby boy survived, born prematurely, authorities and a neighbor said.

The driver of a BMW slammed into the car carrying Nathan and Raizy Glauber, both 21, at an intersection in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, said Isaac Abraham, a neighbor of Raizy Glauber's parents who lives two blocks from the scene of the crash. Both of the Glaubers were pronounced dead at hospitals, police said.

Their infant son was in serious condition at a hospital, said Abraham, and the driver of their car was in stable condition, police said.

Both the driver of the vehicle that hit the couple's car and a passenger fled and are being sought, police said.

Photos taken after the accident showed both cars mangled and the front end of the BMW crumpled. Issac said the Glaubers called a car service because they didn't own a car, which is common for New Yorkers.

Study: “Tiger Mom” and her critics are both right about parenting

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 16:44:00 +0000

Yale Law professor and world-famous mean mommy Amy Chua made waves in 2011 with a Wall Street Journal article on her hyper-strict parenting style. The backlash to Chua's "Tiger Mom" manifesto was explosive, with critics accusing her of borderline abuse and hurting her daughters in her quest to make them succeed.

And so began the media battle between Chua and her critics, a debate that often broke down along "Eastern" versus "Western" parenting styles.

But a new study suggests a cease-fire could be on the way. Researchers at Stanford University found that it isn't the parenting philosophy that matters most to kid's success -- it's the family culture and strength of the parent-child relationship that really helps kids thrive.

As reported by LiveScience:

Parents divided on gun control

Mon, 17 Dec 2012 17:53:00 +0000

It's little surprise that parents are talking about gun control in the wake of the the mass shooting at Sandy Hook. What might shock you is where they come out on the issue. It seems that the death of 20 young children -- and six adults -- at the hands of gunman Adam Lanza has done little to persuade some parents that restricting access to guns is the answer. As NBC news reports:

Some parents turned their shock and grief into arguments for stricter gun laws, but others say it’s time to think seriously about protecting Second Amendment rights, and maybe even arm teachers so that adults can defend students against attacks like this.

“I do feel that those kids would have been better protected, more lives would have been saved, if someone had had some type of weapon at the school,” says Jillian Mae Hagle, of Tahlequah, Okla., the mother of a 1-year-old.

My Thanksgiving panic

Thu, 22 Nov 2012 00:30:00 +0000

There is a room in New York City with which I am very familiar. But I am familiar with it in two profoundly different modes.

In one mode, it is a room in which I sit. It is a room where my mother sits and works, surrounded by piles of papers. It was once my father's study. Much has changed since he occupied it. Much hasn't. It is dynamic, a country with different regions.

In the other mode, however, I see it but do not occupy it. It is an image, at times as still as a photo. More often, it's a movie. And this movie stars my mother, who sits in her chair accompanied by her array of toys and funny stuffed animals who come trotting into view to the delight of my children. This room is the backdrop to our video conferences. They used to take place Sunday morning. Now they occur Saturday morning.

On my mother's end it is a still shot -- the camera on her iMac is unmoving. She has accompanied us for hours. Her stamina in these video conferences is incredible. At times I feel like she is a virtual baby sitter. She is so inventive! The monkey, Flamingo, Duckie, I could go on. And music. If there is one shortcoming it is her limited mastery of the computer.

Will marriage make me happy?

Wed, 03 Oct 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Dear Cary,

I love reading your columns and am very grateful for your insights gained through hard experience. These past three years have been extremely difficult as well as incredibly illuminating for me. I graduated college, had my heart broken by the man I love, saw the breakdown of my parents' marriage, left to work with refugees in a conflict zone, and saw so much excruciatingly painful suffering. I had large patches of my hair fall out, was diagnosed with hepatitis B, was incredibly fatigued, and had major depression. I'm glossing over these experiences just to give you the context for my question. The protective shell of my innocence about the world and my own morality has been broken. I've also been drifting in these past years, searching for meaning, for some firm ground to get stronger. I have traveled extensively, meditated and talked to some very inspiring people. I also met a man that I love very much and who has been with me through the worst year of my depression. Slowly, and through the tremendous support of my family and friends, I've emerged from the ashes and overcome my depression.