It was huge… it was gross… it was a centipede by Pamela Francis

The little pair of boxer briefs sat in a damp corner of the tub.

“Yuck,” I thought. What would I find? A nighttime accident…? A Virgil’s vanilla cream soda spill…? Or maybe not. Maybe they had simply been hanging over the wall of the bathtub one day, had gotten too close to the shower spray, had fallen in, and were just left there. Fermenting. In the tub. For too long now.

I reached in and fished them out. I knew I would have to sniff them. How else could I be sure about the back story surrounding their appearance in the guest bathroom tub? How else would I know whether they needed to be thoroughly rinsed and wrung…(nighttime accident) or just tossed into the next load…(Virgil’s vanilla cream soda spill)?

I wasn’t wearing my glasses. So maybe that was why the… thing… the… shape… outlined against the black cotton draws… didn’t readily register. I put those draws way too close to my face, hesitantly about to take a whiff… when all of a sudden…

IT MOVED!!!

Not the undies. That… THING… ON the undies…!!

It was huge…! It was gross…! It was a centipede.

I knee-jerk flung the underwear into … Continue reading..

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“Feathers of Fire–The Movie,” Shadow Theater On Film, A Review by Andrea Santo Felcone

Perhaps you have already streamed everything on your movie ‘wish-list’ and are finding drive-in movie tickets hard to come by? (As they sell out at lightning speed.) This scramble for entertainment will most likely be a common thread this summer, but there is some good news. There are talented companies putting creative projects together in ways that families can experience entertainment, easily, and affordably. One such project, is “Feathers of Fire”–a cinematic version of a live animation shadow play.

I knew nothing about shadow plays and shadow theater before I started watching “Feathers of Fire”. By the end, I became so fascinated with shadow theater, I researched a bit more about it. Shadow theater goes back a very long way. Ever since ancient man had been sitting around fire, in caves, he used shadows to tell stories. In today’s world of shadow theater, of course, the art form has expanded, but at its most basic, think of it in this way: instead of actors acting on a stage under lights, the actors perform backstage in front of lights, so the audience sees the performers in shadow.

Ancient cave shadows are a long, long way from what you will see when … Continue reading..

Posted in Blog, Film & Entertainment, Theatre | No Comments by Andrea Santo Felcone

But They Are Such Cute Little Narcissists……by Kristen Howerton, author, Rage Against The Minivan (Book Excerpt)

They’re awful people.

They’re tiny, tiny little Hitlers, all of them……Donald Glover

If I had to sum up motherhood in one philosophical statement it would be this: They come out of the womb as narcissists, and you have eighteen years to try to change that. If, by the time they move out of your house, they are able to consider others with some level of empathy, attend to the feelings of others, and see the world outside themselves and the people who inhabit it as valid and important, you’ve done your job.

Most people dislike the idea of their own kid being a narcissist, but hear me out. Babies have absolutely no concept of thinking about how others are feeling. In fact, developmentally, at first they don’t even understand that other people are separate from them. Other people function only to meet their needs, be it food, comfort, or changing.

I found parenting newborns to be particularly difficult be- cause they don’t give you much positive feedback. My first child joined our family at six months old. On my first day as a mom, he was reacting to me (and sleeping through the night can I get an … Continue reading..

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Navigating Adoption Later in Life – Meet Later Mom Melissa Couch Salim, founder, Baby Buzz Adoption Advisory & Head, Houston Chapter of MotherhoodLater.com: Interview by Robin Gorman Newman, founder, MotherhoodLater.com

Robin: What led you to adopt?

Melissa: My road to adoption was a long and winding one with many speed bumps, hills and unexpected pot holes.  But I stayed the course as somehow, I knew in my heart adoption was for me.  What I didn’t realize is that by the time I could really provide a wonderful home to a child I would be in my late 40’s.

I was single most of my life and was a sole business owner so the timing never felt right.  Still I researched and explored all types and methods of adoption. I would even start the process realizing the clock was ticking, but then I would reconsider, feeling scared and overwhelmed at the thought of being a single mom and a business owner.  It was when I met my husband who, despite having three grown children, encouraged and supported me to start my journey again to become a mom and together, we would parent.  My final adoption journey began again at age 50.

Robin: For some it can be a challenging and complex undertaking.  What was that experience and process like for you?

Melissa: It certainly was challenging and very complicated.  RESEARCH, RESEARCH, … Continue reading..

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How to Give Your Kids the Pre-Reading Skills They Need

Learning to read isn’t easy, as most educators can attest, but it’s one of the most important academic skills most children will learn — and one that they’ll need to use daily for the rest of their lives. As a parent, you can take steps at home to give very young children pre-literacy skills that will prepare them to learn to read when they begin elementary education.

Pre-literacy skills like print motivation, print awareness, narrative skills, sequencing, letter recognition, phonological awareness, and vocabulary can lay a solid foundation on which later education can begin to build reading and writing skills. Just as they do to learn other skills, children use play and interaction with adults to develop literacy skills. Here are strategies to help your kids build on these….

Read to Your Kids

One of the best things you can do to cultivate early literacy skills in your kids is to read to them from a young age. Your kids can’t be too young to enjoy reading — research shows that even from birth, kids like being read to, and reading can strengthen the bond between parents and children from the youngest age. For example, parents who read to … Continue reading..

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Father’s Day Gift & Other Finds/Giveaway by Robin Gorman Newman

Periodically I like to review new products that come to my attention….or at least that are new to me…..so I wanted to share about the following.

With Father’s Day approaching, this is a cool company to keep on your radar for this occasion and others.

Jerky isn’t something we keep in the house regularly, so it was a novelty treat to be offered the opportunity to sample something from this company.  We ordered the Bacon & Beer Gift Box, and it did not disappoint.  My son eagerly dove in to enjoy with my husband, and I sampled a few of the flavors and really liked as well.  I had tried beef and turkey jerky in the past, but never bacon. This was well presented and prepared, and it was a nice touch to have the gift items of a glass and bottle opener.

It comes with a variety of bacon jerky flavors, a coaster, a bottle opener, and a pint glass to wash it down with a tasty brew. (Beer not included.) The gift specifically includes:

• Manly Man Pint Glass.
• Man Card Bottle Opener.
• Manly Man Co. Coaster.
• Honey Pepper Style Bacon Jerky.
• Spicy Sriracha Bacon Jerky.
• Old Fashioned

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Humour, Curiosity and Playfulness – Being 7 All Over Again by Dave Keeling, author, Laughter (Book Excerpt)

Growing old is compulsory, growing up is optional.

                                                         …….Bob Monkhouse

A statistic that is often bandied around regarding laughter states that children laugh up to 300 times a day whereas adults laugh only around 17 times a day. That said, I’ve seen plenty of adults who never laugh, although that might just be the nature of the INSET I was doing at the time. What is it that these kids know that we don’t? Why do they get to have all the fun while we adults slave away day after day without so much as a whiff of a Jelly Baby, star of the week certificate or times-table badge for our troubles? I firmly believe that there is much to be gleaned from copying a child’s approach to life, laughter and learning, and it starts with that wonderful little word – curiosity. Curiosity is the natural inclination to question, challenge and make sense of the world around us. This wonderful quality is inherent in every youngster and comes from a deep-seated desire to understand and be understood. In the words of the 20th-century philosopher Wittgenstein: ‘Humour is not a mood but a way of looking at the world.’

For me, … Continue reading..

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“Bleeding Love” Musical Podcast, Review by Andrea Santo Felcone

I miss going to live theater, and what makes it harder still is not knowing when it will be possible to sit in a theater again (or when I will feel comfortable doing so). But, thankfully, theater folk are creative, problem-solving types, and they have found ways around our current situation, to the benefit of theater-lovers everywhere. The show must go on— right? I had the recent pleasure of spending time hunkered down in my basement, (I know it doesn’t sound all that pleasant, but it was), listening to an entertaining and smartly-executed musical, “Bleeding Love” now available on the Broadway Podcast Network, performed as a musical podcast—with a stellar cast of Broadway powerhouses.

Now, you do not have to hunker down in your basement to enjoy “Bleeding Love”, but it does kind of set the stage nicely since the subject matter is a bit dark. In fact, the show is set in a post-apocalyptic world that has grown so dangerous parents won’t let their children outside. (Sound familiar?) There’s also no sunlight any longer due to extreme climate change. (Hopefully, this is not next.) In this backdrop, a sequestered teen cellist, a gifted cellist, named Bronwyn (2-time Tony … Continue reading..

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