May
23
Posted by
Rona Proudfoot
By Aisha Sultan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Patti Flynn fell in the shower the week before she was going to be married. She was 20 years old and suddenly couldn’t talk or move her right side.
The stroke changed her life.
She still had a 4-year-old son from a previous relationship to care for and a long road of rehabilitation ahead. Her fiance left, but her parents stepped in to help. Eventually, she relearned to walk and regained a limited ability to talk. She figured out how to change diapers with one hand.
After a few years, she fell in love again and had another baby. That relationship fell apart.
And now, with their child in kindergarten, she’s trapped in a yearlong custody battle with her ex-boyfriend, the baby’s father....
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Oct
15
Posted by
Rona Proudfoot
By Marla Jo Fisher, The Orange County Register
If you read my column regularly, you know that when they passed out the parenting manual for raising kids, I didn’t get one.
I was too busy talking to my friends in the back of the class.
Oh, wait, that’s my son, according to his algebra teacher.
But that’s another subject.
In any event, it is frequently brought to my attention that I’m doing things all wrong. Sometimes, this information comes from my children, Cheetah Boy and Curly Girl, who are now adolescents and old enough to know how they’re supposed to be raised.
“Stop shouting,” Cheetah Boy will tell me, when I discover that he’s gotten another F on a chapter test. I usually decline to...
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Sep
22
Posted by
Rona Proudfoot
A North Ridgeville mom is hoping whoever took a bus stop built for her daughters from her front yard yesterday afternoon will reconsider and return it.
Carrie Adams said the partially-built bus stop was taken sometime Monday between 2 and 3:30 p.m. Her entire extended family spent all weekend building the structure, which she said has a 6-foot by 4-foot floor, one eight-foot wall and three six-foot walls. …
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Jul
07
Posted by
Rona Proudfoot
By Jack Perconte, McClatchy-Tribune
This week, former major leaguer Jack Perconte gives the first of two columns running through his ABC’s of positive sports parenting. It’s a distillation of everything he’s learned from over 20 years of training young baseball players. Check back next week to get the rest of the tips, from O to Z.
Attention — Getting the attention of youth athletes can be difficult, and keeping their attention can be even more trying for youth coaches. The attention span of youth is often short and when they are around teammates and friends, it tends to be even shorter. A couple of techniques I use to help this situation is to allow players time to warm up and socialize with their teammates before giving a talk on...
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May
25
Posted by
Rona Proudfoot
By Lisa, Rocky Mountain Moms Blog
I used to lose my voice. A lot. Every few months I’d be unable to talk to my family in anything above a whisper, to yell at the dogs for chasing the cats, to conduct business. The hardest part was the conducting of business. I was an editor. At the newspaper. With several associates awaiting my direction … and protection from the publishing powers that be.
When I lost my voice I didn’t answer the phone — at work or at home. I had to recruit one of my staff to return my must-return calls and I’d e-mail those that could wait. I had to whisper to folks who would understand, remain silent around those who wouldn’t.
Then I was laid off. That was a year and a half ago, and I’ve not lost my...
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Oct
01
Posted by
Rona Proudfoot
AVON — A student at Avon Middle School is hospitalized with MRSA (Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) and a younger sibling of the student, a student at Avon Heritage South Elementary School, is out of school with a less severe case of MRSA.
MRSA is a type of staph infection that is difficult to treat because it is resistant to many antibiotics.
(Scroll down to read letters from both schools’ principals.)
Koehler declined to identify the middle schooler by sex or grade level (seventh- and eighth-graders go to Avon Middle). He did say the student is involved in fall sports.
The student has been out sick for about a week, and Koehler received a call from the student’s mother a little before 2 p.m. yesterday to let him...
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Sep
25
Posted by
Rona Proudfoot
Visit a museum
Museums across the country will celebrate Museum Day 2009 with free admission Saturday.
Participating Cleveland museums:
- Western Reserve Historical Society, 10825 East Blvd.; Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; www.wrhs.org.
- Cleveland Museum of Natural History, 1 Wade Oval Drive; Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; www.cmnh.org.
- Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland, 8501 Carnegie Ave.; Hours: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.; www.mocacleveland.org.
- International Women’s Air & Space Museum, 1501 N. Marginal Road; Hours: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; www.iwasm.org.
- Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, 1100 Rock and Roll Blvd.; 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.; www.rockhall.com.
Info: Read more
Sep
18
Posted by
Rona Proudfoot
[caption id="attachment_34762" align="aligncenter" width="575" caption="Expect candy apples and much, much more at this weekend's Apple Festival. (CT file photo.)"]
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Elyria Apple Festival
Celebrate fall’s favorite fruit this weekend in Ely Square as the Elyria Apple Festival marks its 29th year. There’ll be activities, entertainment and, of course, apples. Some of the apple-y highlights include apple pie judging,...
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Aug
14
Posted by
Rona Proudfoot
Celebrate the sunset
Lakeview Park’s Sunset Festival, which began in 1982 and returned last year after a hiatus, is noon to 9 p.m. Sunday. Celebrate the park’s rich history of community, culture and beautiful sun-sets with musical entertainment, children’s activities and performances all day. Artists, crafters and community groups will have items on display. Sunset (8:45 p.m.) will be marked with a butter-fly release, and the Black River Astronomical Society will have telescopes for stargazing after dark. Bring a canned good for Second Harvest Food Bank for admission. Info: www.loraincountymetroparks.com.
Duck Dash
Thousands of ducks will race...
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Jul
27
Posted by
Rona Proudfoot
LeapFrog Enterprises Inc. of Emeryville, Calif., has recalled about 3,700 My Pal Scout electronic plush toy dogs.
My Pal Scout, a green and beige electronic plush dog with plastic decals on its paws, was sold at Toys “R” Us stores nationwide and at www.toysrus.com, www.leapfrog.com and other retail Web sites during May and June 2009 for about $20. …
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