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Golden Rule Applies When Establishing Friendships
Q: Our daughter started attending a new school this year and she's struggling to develop healthy friendships. What can we do to help her seek out connections with kids who will be positive influences?
Jim: Much of what our children learn about friendships comes from us as parents. This often happens unconsciously, but it helps a lot if Mom and ...Read more

Family guide to new movie releases
'PAW PATROL: THE MIGHTY MOVIE'
Rated PG for mild action/peril.
What it’s about: A platoon of pups who protect the citizens of Adventure City face off with a mad scientist and a meteor.
The kid attractor factor: The wildly popular kids show and previous movie — it's animated, cute and aimed right for young audiences.
Good lessons/bad ...Read more
Ex-etiquette: Look for the compromise with kids' birthday parties
Q. My co-parent and I do not agree about who is to host our children’s birthday parties. We both agree it would be nice to have one party with all the friends and family, but she insists on having them all. She tells me I can have my own party for the kids, but if I do, the kids’ relatives and friends won’t want to go to two parties. The ...Read more

Basic manners are seldom overrated
We are past due for a review of basic manners and civic responsibility.
Such reviews used to happen every nine weeks when schools sent report cards home. At the bottom of the report card was a box titled "Citizenship."
Teachers placed check marks indicating "satisfactory" or "needs improvement" for categories like: courtesy, self-control, ...Read more

Opioid settlements help fund proactive drug curriculum
Using settlement money from opioid manufacturers and distributors, the Lake County, Illinois, Regional Office of Education is proactively developing an opioid education program ahead of statewide changes to how the subject is handled.
“Hopefully, Lake County is a leader in this going forward, as we’re going to have quite a bit of these ...Read more

3 gifts that will make nurses smile
Whether it’s a nurse in your own family, or one who’s gone above and beyond, it’s natural to want to show your admiration and gratitude with a gift. However, it can be challenging to find the perfect gift.
Stethoscopes and scrubs are popular gifts, but if you’d like to find something that’s a little more personal — that gives space ...Read more

How a Florida punk rocker inspired her mom to get back onstage
ST. PETERSBURG — It’s a Saturday night at The Bends in August, the kind where you could not cram one more sweaty body in the back of the bar. Everyone has shown up early, craning for a glimpse of Spoiled Rat. Until a few songs in, when bassist Summer Strickland decides to come to them.
Summer, 23, has hovered toward the back of the stage ...Read more

Biden administration invests $100 million in nurse workforce
The nursing shortage is a pressing issue affecting health care systems around the country.
The number of registered nurses in the U.S. is projected to decline by 1 million by 2027, according to a study by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing (NCSBN).
The Biden administration has taken several steps to address the issue. Most ...Read more
Take Multiple Steps When Making Fiscal Decisions
Q: My wife and I have decent incomes, but neither of us has ever been all that great at making informed financial decisions. I feel like most of the time we're just winging it. Do you have any practical insights for managing our resources well?
Jim: Realistically, I don't think you're asking for advice about the best way to use or apply (invest...Read more
Buy My Book, but Read 'Candide' First
A collection of my columns, titled "Everything Is Going To Be OK (Until It's Not)," has recently been released in book form, but I'm re-reading "Candide."
And while I hope everyone buys my book, I recommend first reading Voltaire's, which is also pretty good.
I mean, first of all, it'll impress the heck out of anyone sitting next to you on a...Read more
Got Kombucha?
"Where's the milk?" I asked my best friend from high school, Gigi, as I peered into her fridge.
"It's right there!"
"Where?"
"There!"
But, as Gertrude Stein would have said -- if she needed something to pour in her coffee and wasn't confused by the idea of "milking" a non-animal -- "There's no 'there' there, only almond milk."
Gigi shrugged...Read more

Family guide to new movie releases
'EXPEND4BLES'
Rated R for strong/bloody violence throughout, language and sexual material.
What it’s about: The fourth installment of the geezer teaser action franchise sees some new faces joining the crew as they embark on another mission.
The kid attractor factor: The broad action movie appeal might be a draw for teens.
Good lessons/bad ...Read more

Lori Borgman: On the count of three, everybody lift
This is one of those situations for which you could never fully prepare.
We are waiting for a grocery pickup order. Our oldest daughter, who has been pulling carpet from stairs, is slumped in the driver's seat riddled with exhaustion. I'm in the front passenger seat, offering commentary on the happenings around us, and three granddaughters in ...Read more

Ex-etiquette: Enabling dependence, or simply helping take care of kids?
Q. We pay child support and all med/dental bills, even though my husband’s ex is supposed to pay half. She says she can’t afford it. So she and my husband made a deal that she will just pay co-pays when she takes the kids to the doctor or dentist. I know she has a job. She works at Ross when the kids are at school. But, we are getting ...Read more

Community and friendship in wake of tragedy in YA coming-of-age
Ever hear the expression "So many lessons, so little time"?
Neither did I. But with so much to unpack in Shawn Samuelson Henry’s marvelous debut YA novel "Made in Maine" (Woodhall Press), it’s an appropriate way to characterize and celebrate this multi-pronged, issues-jammed teenagers’ search for their true selves and souls. It’s ...Read more

She moved to save her son from drugs. Fentanyl killed him in Texas
DALLAS -- “Please, God, forgive me for the times I was judgmental about someone who used drugs. Forgive me for thinking badly about their families.
“I get it now. This can happen to anyone.”
Dreika Harris has leaned on prayer since fentanyl killed her 20-year-old son, Dontrell, in their Frisco, Texas, apartment almost two years ago.
She...Read more

The poignant recounting of a childhood marred by the Lebanese Civil War
Edward Challita, 5 years old at the time, was deprived of his childhood. All he knew was a great tragedy was taking place — all he would ever know of his childhood was war.
Challita describes his harrowing experience of growing up in Beirut, Lebanon, during the country’s civil war — everything from the constant threat of bombs falling ...Read more

Touching and inspirational poetry encourages readers to reclaim their narratives
"we sacrifice relationships and burn bridges in the name of self-preservation … but who is really in control when our hands are forced?"
Are we the masters of our own narratives? Who pulls the strings in our lives?
These are the very questions Allen Vartanian asks in his newest collection of contemporary poetry, "marionette." Filled with ...Read more

5 grab-and-go breakfasts that get kids ready to learn
School is back in session and, for some parents, that means learning how to get a quick and nutritious breakfast into their children's stomachs before they head out the door.
I don't have school-aged kids anymore, but I sure remember how difficult it was after getting them dressed, readying their backpacks and making them brush their teeth to ...Read more
Be Honest With Young Kids Regarding Relative's Illness
Q: My grandfather has been battling cancer, but unfortunately is in the final stages -- it won't be long. He wants to see my two young children. But the illness and treatments have dramatically affected his appearance, and I'm afraid the kids would find the experience very upsetting. What do you advise?
Jim: I understand your dilemma; this is a...Read more
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