Recently in Family Category

BBC News - German dialect in Texas is one of a kind, and dying out

These are the roots from which my father-in-law sprang. Youngest speakers are in their 60s, the last generation that grew up with German spoken at home, church, and school. A University of Texas scholar is documenting the dialect while there's still time. The BBC story explains some of the distinctives of the Texas variety of German. You can learn more at the Texas German Dialect Project website.

Greg Jaklewicz: Thanks, Mrs. Craig, for hiring this young journalist » Abilene Reporter-News

A heartwarming tribute to small-town newspapers and the late Dorothy Craig Drain, publisher of the Stamford (Texas) American.

Wang 2200

The computer on which I learned how to program, and the first computer I got paid to program. A wealth of info about the Wang 2200, a machine that pioneered the BASIC programming language and interactive computing.

I got angry at my daughter the other day - Rick Thomas

How sinful anger at a child's sin disqualifies a parent from helping that child to repentance and restoration, what's required to "re-qualify," and the consequences if you don't. Plus an important "heart check" at the end. If you asked your kids questions like this, what answers would they give?

• When you think of me, do you first think of my love for you or my displeasure in you?
• Which is greater in your mind, as it pertains to me: affection or correction?
• When I say I have something to say to you, what do you think first? I'm going to encourage you or discourage you?
• Am I generally a joy or a burden to be around?
• If you could choose a word that best describes my affection for you, what would that word be?

Space Cruiser I Retro Playground Equipment I 1974 Catalog I Plaidstallions.com

Regional Park in Midwest City, Oklahoma, had one of these, right across the street from my aunt's apartment. Pretty exciting sight for a young Star Trek fan.

All Work and No Play: Why Your Kids Are More Anxious, Depressed - Esther Entin - Life - The Atlantic

"An article in the most recent issue of the American Journal of Play details not only how much children's play time has declined, but how this lack of play affects emotional development, leading to the rise of anxiety, depression, and problems of attention and self control.

"'Since about 1955 ... children's free play has been continually declining, at least partly because adults have exerted ever-increasing control over children's activities,' says the author Peter Gray, Ph.D., Professor of Psychology (emeritus) at Boston College. Gray defines 'free play' as play a child undertakes him- or her-self and which is self-directed and an end in itself, rather than part of some organized activity.

"Gray describes this kind of unstructured, freely-chosen play as a testing ground for life. It provides critical life experiences without which young children cannot develop into confident and competent adults. Gray's article is meant to serve as a wake-up call regarding the effects of lost play, and he believes that lack of childhood free play time is a huge loss that must be addressed for the sake of our children and society."

Pioneer Woman: This is what homeschooling looks like.

"But as my preschooler draws various dinosaurs from his favorite board book, correcting my pronunciations of words a boy his age should not know how to say and my now 2nd-grader hands me last year's history book, apparently finished during her late night bedtime reading sessions just for fun, I'm realizing that school has already started.

"In fact, it probably never really ended last May."

snopes.com: Delayed Drowning Deaths

Sometimes erroneously called "dry drowning," these are cases where water in the lungs prevents oxygen intake, but the effects are delayed, sometimes as much as a day. Symptoms are extreme fatigue, changes in behavior, and difficulty breathing. Click the link to learn more. Anyone involved in a near-drowning incident should be closely monitored for at least 24 hours.

Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning

Parents, especially, you need to click that link and read the article.

"The Instinctive Drowning Response - so named by Francesco A. Pia, Ph.D., is what people do to avoid actual or perceived suffocation in the water. And it does not look like most people expect. There is very little splashing, no waving, and no yelling or calls for help of any kind. To get an idea of just how quiet and undramatic from the surface drowning can be, consider this: It is the number two cause of accidental death in children, age 15 and under (just behind vehicle accidents) - of the approximately 750 children who will drown next year, about 375 of them will do so within 25 yards of a parent or other adult. In ten percent of those drownings, the adult will actually watch them do it, having no idea it is happening (source: CDC)."

World's Eeriest Abandoned Places - Lehigh Acres, Florida

My wife's parents owned a vacation home here for a time.