author · composer
I am trying to figure out how to open this post with something snappy that will make everyone click through, and I’m coming up blank. There are weeks when all you can do is put your head down and charge through. But I realize it’s pretty whiny to call what I experienced the past seven…
Read MoreI hope you’ll bear with me today, because there’s a reason I’m about to tell this story. One thing that sometimes accompanies an extra 21st chromosome is “pronation.” This means that due to low muscle tone, the feet turn out. Julianna has fabulous health and good cognitive functioning but her feet are regularly regarded as…
Read MoreThere is a reason I generally don’t post about headlines: it takes me time to process things and make sure my first reactions all hold water. I hate the tendency to react without thinking, the way it leads us to view everything in black and white and fail to acknowledge the nuances in every situation,…
Read MoreWhen I heard the radio headline yesterday afternoon, I groaned. Because I knew I was going to have to blog about the pope’s comments, and as a proponent of natural family planning, it would be hard to convince anyone that I’m approaching the topic objectively. But there under the awning of the Gerbes fuel station,…
Read MoreEven in high school, I thought people were insane when they said, “These are the best days of your life.” If this is as good as it gets, I thought, I might as well just give up right now. Now, don’t get me wrong. Three of four years of high school I enjoyed very much.…
Read MoreIt is no secret to anyone who reads this blog that I am a not a fan of birth control. I think it’s unconscionable that women have been expected to suppress or perhaps even damage a healthy, normal part of who they are in the interest of unrestricted sex. Contraception has led to an expectation…
Read MoreOver the summer, I have been to the doctor with my kids eight times, plus Michael’s tubes and four visits to have Julianna’s glasses fixed after Michael got hold of them. It’s always tiresome and chaotic, but nothing compares to yesterday’s ENT visit. Let’s back up a week, to Julianna’s well child check, the visit…
Read More___1___ Alex brought this home from school this week. They had to write a song based on the blues. ___2___ Julianna’s language can be killingly funny. She tries so hard to tell us something, and we listen, we have her repeat, but we are so lost. So we take a stab at it. “Bacon?” “Doh doh…
Read MoreIt’s no secret that I have a healthy skepticism of a lot of modern “wisdom.” This often puts me at odds with doctors. I’ve complained before about the waste of time that is a well-child check, unless immunizations are necessary, because it fills up appointments that would better serve someone who is–gasp–sick. I get particularly…
Read MoreI was offline all day yesterday, and I haven’t even checked my email yet to see what kind of backup I have to claw out from beneath today…so I am merely going to share a few photos from the Children’s Miracle Network radiothon last Thursday, pictures I can subtitle “how many adults does it take…
Read More
Kathleen M. Basi 