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Sneaky Ways to Remember Your Sunscreen

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Memorial Day has passed here in the States, and that means it’s semi-officially summer! Sure, you can count June 21st as the official start of summer if you like, but the pool’s open so it’s summer to me! (Back home at the Jersey shore, Memorial Day is also the official start of the summer tourist season, so that’s another good reason in my book.) In fact, I’m planning to spend a good chunk of the afternoon lounging by the pool with a book. That means it’s time for my annual nagging about wearing sunscreen! I’ll be the first to admit … Continue reading →

Mixed Feelings for a Child Member of the Majority Minority

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I recently wrote about Meg’s comment that she wanted to wear sunscreen because she didn’t like her skin getting darker. Today I showed my children the statistics from the website for If the World were a Village, after the book by geography teacher David Smith. The girls were incredibly thrilled to learn that they were among the majority of the world’s people. First I asked my older daughter, “Would you say more of the kids at school look like you or like Patrick?” She hesitated. “Like Patrick,” she said. I nodded. “But if you look at the whole world, more … Continue reading →

Protect Your Skin with UPF Clothing

As I’ve been driving around lately, I keep seeing billboards advertising SPF clothing. Since the Northern Hemisphere is officially starting summer on June 21st (though it may feel differently in some parts of the country), it’s a good time to look at skin protection! Basically, sun protective clothing uses fabric to protect your skin from the sun. Sounds simple, right? Sun protective clothing was developed in Australia in the 1990s. Why Australia? That country has the highest skin cancer numbers in the whole world — two out of three Australians will be treated for skin cancer during their lifetimes according … Continue reading →

Month in Review: May in the Adoption Blog, Part One

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This month I reported on several conversations I’ve had with my kids. Three of them were basically the “how babies are made” conversations, humorous but revealing insights into what my kids thought at different ages. You can read what I responded at each age and decide if you do, or don’t, want to base my answers on yours! First I had to deal with my older son’s questions about babies and his shock to realize that not all of them (including himself!) were Korean. This story is told in Where Babies Come From, or, Don’t Fall Asleep on an Airplane. … Continue reading →

Right Summer Safety Precaution, Wrong Reason. Now What?

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“I’m glad to see you’re remembering to use sunscreen,” I told my daughter. “Oh, yes,” she replied. “I always do because, you know, I don’t really like my skin. It gets really dark in summer.” HELLO? Haven’t we been over this already? (At least I think we have. I know I had a conversation with the four-year-old last year about skin. With this older one maybe the conversations were all about hair and about wanting wallpaper of blonde Barbies and Cinderellas. I can’t remember.) I didn’t know she’d noticed that her skin got darker in the summer. I hadn’t really … Continue reading →