Continued from part 1

It's been below freezing here at night, so Toby has been coming in after Caleb was safely asleep in bed. Toby knows he is forbidden to enter bedrooms, so I wasn't worried about Caleb waking in the night with a dog in his face. However, he got up to use the bathroom last week in the middle of the night only to come face to face with the dog in the hallway. Toby was just doing his duty as anytime he hears children stirring he goes and checks on them. A scream of "Nooo! Nooo! Maaaamaaaa!", let me know that Caleb was not wild about the experience.

After realizing that Toby was in the... more

Why on earth, you may ask is my child eating his breakfast while squatting on the kitchen counter? Because he's afraid of the dog. Toby is merely an 85 pound Rottweiler/Lab mix, so I can't imagine why Caleb is afraid of him. :-) Yes, he's large, but he loves children. This is the same dog that allowed Benjamin to pull on his penis one day when Ben was much younger and didn't even flinch. I figure if he was ever going to bite a child, that would have been the moment.

Fear of animals in children who have... more

When my son Taylor was only 4 years old, we were driving home from preschool and he excitedly pointed to the sky. "Look Mom!", he shouted excitedly, "There's a Goldberg and Osborne!" I was puzzled, as these were the names of two personal injury attorneys who often advertised on the television, but we were not on a street with any billboards.

As he kept pointing upward, however, I noticed a hawk that was circling in the air. It was all I could do to not burst out laughing, as Taylor was very sincere. The commercials for these attorneys used an eagle--I... more

Having recently arrived home with our new 11 year old son from China, we are experiencing what might be called a cold war when it comes to food and siblings. With age, my taste buds have become varied enough that I can endure almost any food...at least once.

Alyssa, however, will only eat fried rice or noodles when it comes to Chinese food, and Caleb promptly turns up his nose at cold cereal, pancakes, and many other American dishes.

In the interest of pleasing all and keeping peace in the... more