Tag Archives: childhood
Office Moms bring love to kids in twilight zone
A couple years ago, foster mom Sarah Desjarlais was at a meeting at the downtown Vancouver office of the Department of Social and Health Services where she asked the obvious questions. “Who are all these little kids running around the office? Why are there two- and four-year-olds just wandering around in cubicle land?” Turned out, […]
Too many ACEs up these kids’ sleeves
The scary whispers and nasty rumors spreading around the playground at Washington Elementary School have nothing to do with typical kid controversies — who’s cool and who’s not, who can run fastest or climb highest, who can unleash the cuttingest comment or the rudest body-cavity sound. The hot playground topic at Washington these days is […]
Morning drive, morning talk
Strangely enough, the morning drive is one of my favorite times of the day. That isn’t to say I love commuting. I do love my job, but the morning slog can be a joyless affair. Good thing I’m a parent. As long as my kids have been going to school, I’ve been taking them there. […]
Care deeply and play it cool
Keep calm. Keep an eye out. Keep communicating. (And keep some frozen dinners ready.) Those are the back-to-school recommendations of Caitlin O’Dell and Jon Joebgen, mental health professionals with Children’s Center, a Vancouver clinic for uninsured and underinsured kids and their families. (The frozen dinner idea — a fallback when you’re totally stressed — is […]
Quiet truths and big explosions at the movies: “Boyhood”
It’s summer, so moviegoers must by law shut down their brains and become laser fodder in extravaganzas like “Soldiers of the Solar System” or whatever’s raking in the megamillions now. But if you feel like keeping your brain — and heart — alive while ducking those mandatory big explosions, here’s an enthusiastic movie recommendation: “Boyhood” […]
Early ACEs are anything but lucky
Who doesn’t have an ACE or two up their sleeve? Some of us have many more ACEs than others. And ACEs make all the difference in the life you lead, the way you feel – maybe even the manner of your demise. ACE means Adverse Childhood Experience. I recently sat in on a Vancouver Housing […]