Be Kind to Animals Week

This week is the Humane Society’s Be Kind to Animals Week, so for the next few articles I’m going to share details and tips on responsible pet ownership. Or in today’s case, acknowledge some great animal rights workers. When I first started writing the pet blog, my husband joked that I could create a monthly column entitled “Reasons Why Angela Isn’t Allowed to Watch Animal Planet.” He said that because, on occasion, I get worked up watching the channel. In particular, the show I should really never let myself watch is Animal Cops. There’s a smattering of these series now, … Continue reading

Mister Rogers’ Legacy Lives On

They didn’t show up in cardigans, but the people who gathered to help carry on Fred Rogers’ legacy Sunday kept the TV star’s memory close to their hearts. Two days ago three college students learned that they had been chosen as the latest recipients of the Fred Rogers Memorial Scholarship. The 4-year-old scholarship program named for the popular children’s TV host awards students $10,000 each to help them fund media projects and studies that focus on such issues as children’s literacy and health. Rogers’ 80-year-old wife Joanne said of the annual awards, “Fred would have been just ecstatic. He loved … Continue reading

Wrong Reasons to Adopt

There isn’t anything wrong with wanting to adopt because you would like to parent a child and provide a loving home. These are typically the same reasons many couple’s conceive biologically. The problem is so many people want to adopt for the wrong reasons—even if their heart means well. Some of the wrong primary motivations for adoption are not wrong as a “bonus”, however to those who find justification in some of the examples provided below, I suggest visiting a local animal shelter instead. Children being placed for adoption often have needs beyond what biological or birth children have. Adoption … Continue reading

The Magic of Dad

Too often we get caught up in the needs of new moms and new babies that we forget how magical the relationship is between dad and baby. When my daughter was a baby, there were evenings when she was inconsolable, when she just didn’t want to sleep or eat or whatever it was she was being stubborn about. This started as early as 8 to 10 weeks. As most new moms can attest, this is not the most patient time for us. We’re usually exhausted and running on very little sleep. It can also be stressful when baby refuses to … Continue reading

Please Understand

Another topic that popped up in a different conversation I was having a few days ago was the melding of two lives in the bonds of holy matrimony. Sometimes that isn’t so easy when one person has been raised with one understanding of the patriarchal role and the other raised in another way. Let me begin with the quote of a prophet to set the tone of this blog: President Spencer W. Kimball said this: “When we speak of marriage as a partnership, let us speak of marriage as a full partnership. We do not want our LDS women to … Continue reading