Tag Archives: childcare

The Hana Chronicles: Month 6, Day 19

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Historical, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, Social, Striving

July 10, 2026- Today was the Commemoration of the Martyrdom of al-Bab, a Baha’i Holy Day. On this day, in 1850, al-Bab, the Herald of the Baha’i Dispensation, was executed by firing squad, along with a personal assistant. Baha’is generally gather to say prayers and readings associated with al-Bab, Whose name means “The Gate”, in English. His Teachings were the gate to understanding those of Baha’ullah, Who came after Him.

As Hana is too young to attend such events, I said my own Tablet of Visitation here at the house. Hana sat in the playpen, right in front of me, and listened quietly as I prayed. She does the same when I say my daily morning prayers, each day. I sense that this practice is having an orienting influence on her.

This evening, Yunhee remarked that Hana is much more composed now. She sleeps through the night and only gets irritable when she is hungry. While Yunhee is at work, Hana and I have the feeding routine pretty much down. If she is napping before her medication, she wakes herself on time to receive it. Her lunch meal and bottle feeding are on schedule, as she is awake then and happily watches me prepare the items. I also have her watch me prepare the mid-afternoo0n bottle. After Yunhee gives her the evening feeding, she is ready for a good night’s sleep.

HANA’S NOTE- Papa and I watched some workers take our old sidewalk from in front of the house. Papa says they will put a new one in, next week. Since we also saw them putting in new sidewalks at the end of the street, I know he’s right.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE- 1962 It was a year of transition. I finished Grade 6. Boys began teasing one another about things of which I had no idea. One of the “faster” kids in my neighbourhood noticed my naivete and talked to me about some of it. My father also gave me “The Talk”, before I entered Grade 7.

I had my share of friends in my immediate neighbourhood. Eddie and Allan were the closest, of the boys. After Ellen moved, I would go by her old house and hang out with the Geotis kids, whose father let me stomp grapes for his homemade wine. I got a glass or two of grape juice, that their mother set aside from the batch that was to be fermented. A group of us boys played touch football, in the middle of the street. Some men driving home from work would go around us. Others demanded we stop and make a hole for them. I was probably the worst of the players, but some of the boys felt it was a good thing to include even a klutz like me.

Grade 7, Junior High School, brought the concept of rotating between classes. I had a good Math teacher, Mr. Anzalone, a large man with a booming voice and quick temper, who also had a keen sense of humour and a heart of gold. My Social Studies and Science teachers were also competent. Mr. Anzalone talked with us about current affairs, during our home room time. This was the year of the Cuban Missile Crisis, and President Kennedy took a firm stance with the Soviet Union. We froze our missiles in Turkey and they, their missiles in Cuba. Thus, did cool heads walk back from the brink of nuclear war.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 6, Day 17

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Historical, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Striving

July 8, 2026– “AMPA!!” My granddaughter called to me, while she was in the playpen and I was in another room. She keeps close tabs on loved ones.

These things also happened today: A spammer called me and left a voice mail: “Gary, can you hear me?” I deleted the call and the voice mail. I do not answer anyone who hides behind a number.

Aram dealt very well with a private matter that was making him nervous. He handled it himself, as I knew he could.

Hana fed herself some of the beef and spinach that could be easily picked up with her fingers. I told her I was proud of her. I, of course, fed her the rest of the meal.

We went out for our walk, before the temperature got too hot, just before her lunch. The sidewalks are being replaced at the cul-de-sac corners, so the first part of our walk involved sharing the cul-de-sac with a couple of vehicles. We had enough room to pull off to the side, until they went by. The rest of the sidewalk was open.

After her lunch, I brought Hana into the kitchen, while I fixed mine. When she saw the container of sliced watermelon, she said “watermelon!”, in a hopeful manner. I told her I’d have to ask her mother first. Yunhee said, this evening, that she thinks watermelon is too sweet for Hana right now. The girl was sitting there and more or less shrugged her shoulders.

HANA’S NOTE- So many yummy-looking things in this house. I get a few of them. Mommy says NO to sugar and salt. Those must be not good for me. I would eat them anyway, so I am glad my grownups keep me safe.

YEAR IN REMEMBRANCE, 1960- Grade 4 ended, with me knowing all multiplication and division tables, cold, as well as the steps for long division. Mrs. Kimball, it turned out, had been dealing with a serious health issue. She would only teach a few more years,

My second brother, Glenn, came along, right after school was out for summer. All three of us boys were in one bedroom, after he reached six month, and was in a crib. That was while I was in Grade 5. Miss Hanlon, our teacher, told us that a man and a woman working together can accomplish a lot more than two men or two women. I saw this in action, with my parents, especially once Dad went back to day shift. Miss Hanlon taught us more about kickball, which the previous two teachers had started letting us play. I was never very good in sports, but I could at least kick the ball to the outfield and catch it fairly well.

John F. Kennedy was elected President of the United States. We were all proud because he was from Massachusetts and was fairly young.

Saddest of all, though, we lost our Grandma. She was the one who kept Cheryl and me feeling secure, when both of our parents had to go grocery shopping on Saturday mornings, when we lived on Central Street. She would come to visit us on Adams Avenue, taking the bus to the corner and walking up the street, always wearing a full dress. I missed her terribly.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 6, Day 1

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Posted by on in children, distraction issues, Family, impediments, Personal Values, Social, Striving

June 22, 2026- “I don’t WANT it!” With two bites left of pureed beef, my granddaughter said she was not happy with the fare. She tried to take off her bib and wanted out of the high chair. I told her it was okay and we would go to the bottle feeding, which follows the solid food. I took the bib off, cleaned her face and took her out of the chair.

Hana is too much of a Clean Plate Club member to refuse food without cause; so when her parents got home, we discussed the matter and determined that heating up the beef at the same time I defrosted a cube of rice was a bad idea. They will be prepared separately, going forward. Hana is likely to be okay with the meal, tomorrow.

I encourage her to be discerning, but outspoken, when something seems wrong. A reasonable adult will hear the child out and either explain why something is so or make the effort to correct anything that is amiss. Sometimes, fatigue will set in, and she won’t know what she wants, so it’s nap time. She knows that Papa’s-and her parents’- response to her bad mood is to check the diaper first, then determine if she needs a feeding, then put her in the crib. She was more than happy to lie down for a rest, three times today-and still went to bed at 7:30 p.m.

She likes to share her ‘sphere inside a cube’ toy with me, so I shake the cube and bounce it off the playpen mat, with a moderate amount of gusto. She is delighted that I play this with her for ten or fifteen minutes. Then she goes on to something else, just periodically checking over her shoulder, to make sure I am still there. I leave my cloth slippers outside the playpen. As I was sitting in a recliner, with the slippers just outside the open playpen gate, Hana took a cloth that was sitting on the pen floor, and started to wipe my slippers. I don’t know where she got that from, but it is just another small thing that endears her to us.

My father passed away, forty years ago today. He would have been over the moon with this little girl.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 5, Day 30

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Education, Entertainment, Family, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Striving

June 20, 2026-

The play pen doubled in size, this afternoon, an advance gift to Hana as she reaches six months. Her mom and dad worked hard on this, and she appreciated it on a certain level. She will have a lot more room to exercise and is very close to being able to sit up. without assistance. That would be a fine gift to Aram, for his first Father’s Day.

She has also resumed sleeping on her back, which will be more restful for her spine. It could be her body’s cue for both sitting and trying to stand up, but we’ll see. Solstice energy may also be coming into play here.

My day was fairly quiet- a trip to Farmer’s Market and over to Staples, for photocopying in advance of my hosting of a devotional tomorrow. We looked at our two trees in front. One of them will at least need to be trimmed. The days of yours truly going up on a 12-foot ladder, saw in hand, are most likely over- if only for son’s peace of mind. We will hire a tree specialist.

As we took a brief stroll, this evening, the strains of South Asian music-either Indian or Pakistani, could be heard coming from the ramada at Hoblitzelle Park. This bodes well for the summer nights ahead. We could go over and sit for a while, as Hana gets older. For now, though, it’s bedtime at 7 or 7:30.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 5, Day 23

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Posted by on in Assistance, children, collaborating, Community, Entertainment, Family, impediments, Inspiration, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Striving

June 13, 2026– My most treasured little girl is asleep in her crib, as I sit her in my office space, watching her on the monitor. Her mother is out grocery shopping and her father is at Monthly Drill. I am in my element. Caring for this delightful child is almost a capstone.

While Hana and Yunhee hosted a friend from DHL and her 9-year-old daughter, I headed over to Plano’s Red Cross Donation Center and played host to about twenty blood donors. I also trained a 16-year-old high school Senior, who wants to study medicine. She will be a fine volunteer, probably mostly doing weekends, as I am. The need for such hosts, though, is pretty light during the summer months, as those senior citizens who are occupied with Substitute Teaching during the school year-as well as University students on break, tend to take the slots as soon as they open-fine by me, as it gives me weekends with family.

I watched a few more Dhar Mann videos, in between registrations. One, which was particularly interesting, was a bit dystopian. Eugenicists had taken over California, and had instituted a “culling” program, involving a standardized test. The son of the eugenicist Governor teamed with a student activist, and turned his father, and his school’s Headmaster, in to Federal authorities, just as they were about to initiate culling. Of course, this was another ‘feel good” story, with a last-minute happy ending, but it got me thinking. We always have a path to resist and overcome misfortune-and it is usually one that involves informed and diligent group action. That last-minute turn of events was preceded by a lot of research and documentation on the part of the students and one adult investigative reporter. So it may be with various challenges our society faces.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 5, Day 18

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Education, Family, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Striving

June 8, 2026- Hana took it upon herself to help me in revising her schedule today. On her own, she pointed towards the master bedroom, wanting to be put down for a nap. This nap lasted two hours, after which she enjoyed her lunch of beef and rice, followed by a bottle. There was then an hour or so of play, in the pen,-and a second nap, which wasn’t nearly as long.

Another hour of play was followed by a couple of stories, which she found amusing and a short walk along one of the nearby side streets. By this time, four hours had passed since her last meal, so she had her second bottle of the day. Altogether, she is down to four feedings of milk per day and the given day’s pureed solid food.

She is diligently working at crawling with her torso off the ground and trying to sit unassisted. She is also vocalizing more, especially calling for her mom and dad. She is also less prone to crying for them, perhaps starting to be secure in knowing that they will be coming home after work.

It is a joy to see my granddaughter want to be a full agent in her growth and development. I look forward to all the stages ahead.

The Hana Chronicles, Month 5, Day 17

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Education, Entertainment, Family, Inspiration, Personal Values, service, Social, Striving

June 7, 2026- Hana had her first taste of meat today. It was boiled, pureed beef, which she found underwhelming. I can’t imagine it would be all that appetizing, especially after having the same meat, seasoned and grilled, as part of a steak salad dinner, this evening. Still, a baby can only eat soft foods at first. Four incisors don’t make for very good chewing. She finished the serving, though, and will have the same tomorrow.

She also went on her first coffee shop visit, this afternoon. Local Good Coffee House is a shop that is staffed mostly by high school students who are doing community service. Only the manager is paid. The rest of the proceeds, outside of overhead costs, go to education and public health funding. We sat and enjoyed cold lattes, while Hana alternately looked around and napped on her Daddy’s shoulder. She noticed a toddler arguing with her mother, at one point and babbled some words in what sounded like a scolding tone. The little girl may or may not have heard her, but decided to obey her mother, shortly afterward. Energy can have a positive effect.

I spent the morning volunteering at the Red Cross Donation Center, in southwest Plano. We had about twenty donors, but after registering them, I passed the time watching Dhar Mann videos on the center’s TV. Dhar Mann is a producer of short episodes that teach a positive moral lesson, often using plot twists. The scripts are simplistic and the acting so/so, but for children and adolescents, the stories could be useful. When the time comes, I will watch some of them with Hana, say when she is 8 or 9.

It was a nice weekend. Now, we get ready for another week of developmental activities. Her current focus is on getting herself to sit upright. She is almost there.

The Hana Chronicles: Month 5, Day 14

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Education, Family, Inner Struggles, Personal Values, service, Social, Striving

June 4, 2026- My granddaughter had a few comments on the singing birds and on encountering the same mother and baby we met yesterday. She was quite happy with our walk, even along the somewhat bumpy grass path that brought us closer to our house, on the way back. It was warmer today, and the sun was more direct, but Hana was shielded by both a sun visor and her stroller’s canopy. Her skin was warm when we got back, so I put infant-safe lotion on her arms, legs and neck. Sunscreen is not recommended for children under the age of two.

She likes the solid foods to which she’s been introduced so far-and that includes the broccoli that she’s had for the past three days. Tomorrow, it will be cabbage’s turn. Sitting in a high chair, for ten-minutes, has also proven easier than I had thought. She sits straight and keeps her posture-and I have a tray in place, for extra support. Sitting in the chair for more than ten minutes is probably not a good idea until she can sit up straight, without support from furniture. Still, the high chair makes feeding easier.

She misses her parents, along about the time that her body clock tells her that they should be home. That is her challenge, but she also knows that she is safe with her Papa. Their schedules will even out, starting next week, so this should be less of a problem. Her awareness is, nonetheless, very keen.

Overall, though, Hana is a bright, engaging and generally happy little girl.

“A Space of Quiet Promise”

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Hiking and Nature, impediments, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving

May 28, 2026- I am now halfway through my diamond year. Much has changed, since my 75th birthday, and much, at least inside me, has remained the same.

I have left a mountain community, with many acts of service in the course of a week. There was also much in the way of natural beauty, in which I could become refreshed, even at the risk of encountering an apex predator. I left a solid community of friends, of all Faiths, though a good many of my interactions were with my fellow Baha’is; Friends were also from all points on the political spectrum; as apt to be women as men; many were older than 60, and many were younger. I finally mastered the art of teaching, just in time to retire.

I came to a place of quiet promise. (The phrase is borrowed from blogger Cynthia Ward’s essay, “Who I Used To Be”.)* I left a one-bedroom apartment and came into a two-story house, with three bedrooms and two offices that could convert to bedrooms. The kitchen and living room, alone, are the size of what I left behind. I came to live with family, as an active contributor, rather than as a dependent. My educational skills now go towards the development of my infant granddaughter. My Red Cross volunteering is strictly on weekends, and my Baha’i activities are on evenings and weekends. I have not changed my American Legion post, as yet. There is no activity at the nearest post, save gatherings centered on drinking and smoking, neither of which interest me, nor would they suit my coming home to a nursing mother and a little girl. As time goes on, Slow Food Dallas-Fort Worth could draw me into its activities.

Health-wise, I have found a fine, competent VA doctor, dentist and chiropractor. I go to a Planet Fitness, about ten minutes from here. There are plenty of parks nearby and several safe neighbourhoods in which to walk, day or night. I can still do a plank for 1 1/2-2 minutes. I can still walk 3-5 miles. (It’s mostly flat here, but the humidity makes up for the lack of elevation changes).

I have several bounties here: A loving son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter; a large and supportive Baha’i community; a quiet neighbourhood connected with the outside world by well-ordered streets and roads; and, for the next few months at least, a reliable supply network for what we need. This house, this community, are places of quiet promise.

  • “Who I Used to Be”, Still Amazed, Cynthia Ward May 25,2026

The Hana Chronicles: Month 5, Day 6

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Posted by on in children, collaborating, Community, Education, Family, Inspiration, Personal Values, Social, Striving, Travel

May 27,2026- I took a walk this evening. It was the first real solo walk that I’ve taken in months. I’ve been on short jaunts to Hoblitzelle Park with my family. yet these were done according to someone else’s schedule and at a pace set by others. My most satisfying steps have always been taken at my own pace-neither halting nor frenetic, but steady. That was true of hikes in Arizona and elsewhere. It’s true here in Plano, and thereabouts. It is what will keep me alive and well.

When I moved from Phoenix to Prescott, the door to regeneration had blown wide open. So, I took in nearly every natural space in the Prescott area, gradually widening my circle. There was someone whose point of view was that hikes don’t count, if one has to drive to the trailhead. I chose to ignore that particular admonition. My regeneration, after eleven years of caretaking, of watching the love of my life fade away, could stand no boundaries. I was a veritable Waldo, for a few years-sans the red-striped shirt and stocking cap. Fifty eight hiking trails, forty-eight states and twenty other countries later, that part of my resilience was well-established.

There was one part of me that waited: Who will be walking in my place, thirty, forty, fifty years from now? That question was answered, at least in part, in 1988, with the birth of my son, and was underscored in December of last year, when my first grandchild burst on scene.

For five months, though I have made forays around Plano and to surrounding towns in my car, most of my time has been spent cocooning, keeping my focus on Hana. That aspect of life will be even more pre-eminent, starting next week, when her mother starts a new job that will take her out of the house, five days a week. I will be Hana’s sole adult presence during the workweek.

This, however, brings about the need for an uptick in her daily routine-and walks in the stroller will be the first adjustment. I will be getting a car seat installed in Sportage, and short hops to the Public Library, for puppet shows and story time, will happen as the months roll by. Hana’s world continues to evolve and for me, there is a fifth regeneration.