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Picky Eaters: A Primer
Picky Eaters, Part 1: The Root Where does picky eating come from? Dealing with picky eaters can be a challenge for the omnivorous or adventurous…
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Dreams of a Dream-Keeper
I am the first child born in the United States in my mother’s family. My mother and the rest of her generation arrived here as…
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The Price of Freedom
You think, “Survivor,” and you think: bravery. Grit. Resilience. Tenacity. Determination. You think of all those people in water so cold it stopped their hearts,…
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The Shortwave
“The outside world was unknown to her, but she could see a glimpse of it through the window in his room,” Sakia read aloud as…
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On The Edge of Something Breaking
Javi brought the motorbike to a slow stop and leaned it against a tree ten feet from the house. He had to hand it to…
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Happier Than She Was
“If walls could talk -” “ – they’d tell you to shut up and start hauling.” “How do you know they wouldn’t tell me who…
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for the day is long
Fish don’t understand the concept of small talk. You’d think they’d be better at it, especially the ones who spend most of their days in…
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fouls in the cornfield
There was a rule at the community baseball field: once the cornfield at its edge reached knee height, players were required to rescue any ball…
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The Holdout
Cyrus worked up enough wet in his mouth to spit in the snow at John Engel’s feet. Having to move his scarf out of the…
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The Right Way To Have a Foster Shower
Every time I see a post or a story about someone hosting a “foster shower,” I cringe. I can’t help it. What is a foster…
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5 Worst Things To Say To A New Foster Parent
There are 400,000 kids in the 50 foster care systems across the US. That may seem like a huge pile of kids, but it’s fewer…
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Room for Better
Your child has been taken away. The people take her ask you to help them pack her things. You shake as you stuff her favorite…
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All the Places We Went
There are no photos of the time machine. There couldn’t be. In our childhoods, only adults wielded cameras, and there were no adults involved in…
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A Man, The Plan, and How Bambi Nearly Wrecked Thanksgiving
My family had Thanksgiving down to a science. Which is to say, my mother had Thanksgiving down to a science. A science broken down into a multi-page…
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You gave me nothing. It was everything I needed.
Dear Ms. Staffa, The older kids warned us about you. Strict Staffa was probably the kindest name I heard, along with a sympathetic lip-pursed inhale,…
