|
 |
|
 |
|
|
essays
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Baby Sign & Speech Delay
Family Times
Baby Sign Language, now found on the cover of Life and various
parenting magazines, has actually been around for quite some time. I
started signing with my first child nearly six years ago when she was a
just a preverbal squishy lazing in a bouncy chair. It was an admirable
enough experiment. But for her, words overcame sign and soon she was
off like a verbal rocket–and hasn’t slowed down since.
When our son was born, it again seemed like a worthwhile pastime. It
helped fill that period with young babies where there isn’t all that much
interaction other than nurse, diaper, bathe, repeat and one clamors to do
something, anything that won’t be completely undone in the next 45
minutes. And it was a fun compliment to our usual bag of tricks, an
activity that my preschool daughter could join in on and I was actually
learning something, too. This came at a time when I desperately needed
reminding of my intellectual capabilities.
|
|
|
|
Really Horrible Things
March 2006
--reprint rights available
excerpt
When I was a very new parent, I had no idea how important my
relationship with the pediatrician was to become. Honestly with the
newborn checks, shots and parental concerns, I was stepping into that
office with the regularity of Norm heading to Cheers...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
a virtual resume
Lucie B. Amundsen
Lucie's "Dr. Mom" column
appears regularly in
Family Times Magazine
The First Surgery Award
excerpt
I’ve earned another badge to sew onto my parenting uniform. Along side
my decorations earned for surviving nursing, purging the pacifier and
shepherding in a couple dozen teeth is my shiny “first surgery” award.
For about a year our pediatrician, Dr. Hobbs, had been mentioning my
daughter’s large tonsils, a near-constant pool of fluid in the middle ear,
and the perma-dark circles under her eyes—all apparently correctable
with surgery. While these observations didn’t exactly fall on deaf ears, I’ll
cop to a slight hearing impairment on the matter; I couldn’t hear while
rooting for spontaneous healing.
Walking the Insurance Tight Rope
Family Times
-
When my husband quit his job last year and joined me as a
freelancer, a friend sent me a gag gift of aspirin. On the side of
the box she had printed out instructions. “Use for aches, pains,
fever, double vision and spontaneous loss of limbs.” I laughed
… and then I didn’t.
When you decide to cut ties with the boss, it means that you
and your family are on your own not only for income, but also
medical coverage. So of course, we buy health insurance with
a fairly high deductible. Should we meet with that hypothetical
bus we probably wouldn’t lose the house - the big stuff, in
theory, should be covered. But there are plenty of routine
maintenance expenses that aren’t
Full Text Here
Baby Sign & Speech Delay
Family Times
Baby Sign Language, now found on the cover of Life and various
parenting magazines, has actually been around for quite some time. I
started signing with my first child nearly six years ago when she was a
just a preverbal squishy lazing in a bouncy chair. It was an admirable
enough experiment. But for her, words overcame sign and soon she was
off like a verbal rocket–and hasn’t slowed down since.
When our son was born, it again seemed like a worthwhile pastime. It
helped fill that period with young babies where there isn’t all that much
interaction other than nurse, diaper, bathe, repeat and one clamors to do
something, anything that won’t be completely undone in the next 45
minutes. And it was a fun compliment to our usual bag of tricks, an
activity that my preschool daughter could join in on and I was actually
learning something, too. This came at a time when I desperately needed
reminding of my intellectual capabilities.
Really Horrible Things
March 2006
--reprint rights available
excerpt
When I was a very new parent, I had no idea how important my
relationship with the pediatrician was to become. Honestly with the
newborn checks, shots and parental concerns, I was stepping into that
office with the regularity of Norm heading to Cheers...
The First Surgery Award
excerpt
I’ve earned another badge to sew onto my parenting uniform. Along side
my decorations earned for surviving nursing, purging the pacifier and
shepherding in a couple dozen teeth is my shiny “first surgery” award.
For about a year our pediatrician, Dr. Hobbs, had been mentioning my
daughter’s large tonsils, a near-constant pool of fluid in the middle ear,
and the perma-dark circles under her eyes—all apparently correctable
with surgery. While these observations didn’t exactly fall on deaf ears, I’ll
cop to a slight hearing impairment on the matter; I couldn’t hear while
rooting for spontaneous healing.
Front Row Tickets to the Lice Capades
Family Times - current issue
Our lives have been pretty wild recently. We’re in a transitional
phase where our family home is on the market, dad lives the
week out of town and I’m having a hard time fitting in all my
client work. Making a house into a real estate fantasy while real
children live there hasn’t been easy on any of us.
So when I saw the school nurse phone number pop up on
caller id, I sighed the sigh of a burdened parent. Honestly I
know I’m blessed there wasn’t a terrible accident or exposure to
a flesh eating bacteria, but what I heard stopped me cold. “Mrs.
Amundsen, you need to come get your child; she has lice.”
Now before you stop reading thinking this will never happen to
you, I’ve got bad news. Lice are more prevalent than ever.
Schools right here in the Twin Cities have temporarily closed
due to outbreaks they couldn’t get under control. Sadly, lice
happens.
Full Text Here
