Saturday, January 26, 2013
When my toddler asked about death, I tried to be honest.
Now that Sweet G is almost three, 95 percent of the time I spend caring for him is allotted to explaining the workings of the world, the mind, and the body. It rains when the sky fills up with water. Your mind is the part of you that fills up with thoughts and ideas. We poop when our butts fill up with the food our body doesn’t need. It amounts to some of the best conversations I’ve ever had and some of the most acute stress I’ve ever felt. Sometimes I end up worried that I’ve skewed my son’s worldview so drastically that no one—not even the therapist I’m inadvertently pushing him toward—will be able to realign it. In fact, I’m certain that I did some actual damage last year when I tried to explain life and death to Sweet G, who had just …
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Brighton is home to several locally owned and operated small businesses. Show you appreciate them by reviewing a business on Brighton Patch.
Locally owned and operated businesses make up the majority of small businesses in Brighton. Why not show you appreciate shopping local by reviewing a business on Brighton Patch. Patch reader Elaine Godlewski wrote this about the Brighton Center for Performing Arts after giving the business five-out-of-five stars: It's super easy to review a business. Here are the steps: There is no limit to how many businesses you can review. The more reviews people provide, the more informed consumers will be. If you have questions about a directory listing or own the business and need to claim your listing, don't hesitate to contact editor Nicole Krawcke at nicole.krawcke@patch.com.
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Once upon a time, my toddler would eat anything I put on his plate. Not anymore.
When he first started eating solids, Sweet G was a champion of nutrition. He’d eat quinoa, mushrooms, plain yogurt. He’d even ask for a second serving of pureed prunes. He loved vegetables so much that the hub and I used to joke about the blue ribbons he’d win in steamed broccoli eating contests. But, by the time his second birthday came around, his food preferences were altogether different. He demanded cookies and candy. At his second birthday party, we found him alone in the kitchen with his face in the cake. It’s all our fault. Though the hub and I limited his sugar intake until his first birthday, we quickly fell into the habit of giving him treats. Like most parents, we didn’t see the harm in giving him a lollipop during a long …
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Brighton residents speak out on which Christmas songs make them grind their teeth.
Christmas music comes to stay on radio stations earlier and earlier every year. And it seems like the same songs are remade over and over and then they're all played on the radio repeatedly, like a broken record. Brighton Patch readers shared certain songs that they just can't stand this time of year on Facebook. Trish Kilbane commented that all Christmas music is too much when that's all she hears for hours on end at work. Linda Rowland Bowen's vote went to "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas" by Gayla Peevey. "That horrid hippopotamus song was cute the first time I ever heard it...afterwards, not so much," she wrote. "I just want to hear some of the songs sung in the 'old classic' way they are meant to be sung," Jill Sullins wrote. "I …
Saturday, December 22, 2012
When things get to be too much, it's okay to take a moment for yourself.
Let's face it, the holidays are not always filled with peace, love and happiness. In fact, for some people, they can be downright stressful. I'm one of the later people. Every year as December rolls around, I start to cringe. See, in my family, not only do we celebrate Christmas, but we happen to celebrate six birthdays too: mine, my husband's, my brother's, two of my sisters in law and my grandfather's. So in addition to all the Christmas gifts I get to buy, I also have to come up with birthday gifts. Not to mention the incredibly nice Happy Birthday message from the State of Michigan reminding me to pay my tabs. It's enough to make a saint stress out. The holidays have not always been this way. Not too long ago, they were something to …
As the nation mourns the deaths of students at Sandy Hook Elementary School, local pastors remind Dexter residents that God's love will prevail.
- OPINION
-
Saturday, December 22, 2012
By Rev. Larry Van Slambrook St. Andrew's United Church of Christ From Thanksgiving Day on, it seemed as though you could sense a growing atmosphere of joy and happiness in anticipation of the upcoming celebration of Christmas. The stores filled with shoppers, the lighted trees and carol singing all added to the joy of the season. Then came the news of the massacre of 20 children and 6 adults in Newtown, Conn. last Friday, which sent shock waves all across this country. We have felt the grief and pain of the parents and families of these children whose lives were taken and the adults who died trying to protect them. How can we celebrate Christmas in the wake of this tragedy? What can help us find peace and joy in the midst of this storm? …
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Brighton Patch celebrates its second birthday Dec. 20.
Another year has flown by and Brighton Patch is celebrating its second birthday since the site was launched in 2010. It's been more than a year since I moved to Brighton and became its second editor and it's hard to believe how much Brighton Patch has grown in that time. Some of my greatest moments in 2012 were covering stories like the Howell Balloon Festival from the air and the on the track at the Brighton Roller Dollz Christmas bout. But most of all, I've enjoyed getting to know so many wonderful and supportive people in the Brighton community. Last year, we highlighted all the great stories of 2011. This year, here's a look back at some of the very first stories published on Brighton Patch: I've had such a great time in Brighton this …
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Find out what the experts are saying about the Dec. 21, 2012, Doomsday prophesies, the end of the Mayan calendar and their potential impact on Brighton.
- OPINION
-
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Don’t make any rash decisions: Experts say 12/21/12 is going to be just another typical winter solstice. Killer solar flares aren’t expected. Another planet isn’t on a collision course with ours. And the Mayan “long count calendar” ending on this date has no real significance—they had to end it somewhere! What is All the Fuss About? There are a number of theories and predictions that call for earth’s demise on Dec. 21, 2012. They include: What are the Experts Saying? The intrigue created by multiple end-of-the-world predictions has made many scholars and even NASA stand up to make statements debunking the claims. From professors at Tampa Bay’s own New College to the scientific minds at NASA, they’re all saying the same thing: Go ahead and …
Saturday, December 15, 2012
The pictures may show the perfect kids, but sometimes they might not tell the whole story.
If you are a parent, chances are you know the real story behind all those adorable pictures of smiling kids plastered on the annual holiday cards. It’s the nitty-gritty, down and dirty true story that involves wardrobe malfunctions, hair debacles and all out meltdowns at the photo studio. It’s the fight with your kids about what color shirt they are going to wear or how they will refuse to let you curl, straighten or fix the rat nest on top of their head the morning of pictures. It’s the one where the moms are sweating bullets as they wait for their turn in front of the cameras, chasing toddlers, bouncing infants and carefully feeding Cheerios to bored kids, praying that nothing lands on the perfect holiday outfits you searched weeks for…
Friday, December 14, 2012
On Friday, a gunman killed at least 27 at a school in Newtown, CT. Meanwhile in Michigan, Gov. Snyder has a bill on his desk that would allow some concealed guns in schools. What do you think?
- OPINION
-
Friday, December 14, 2012
The Michigan Legislature on Friday approved a bill allowing those with additional training to carry concealed weapons into venues such as schools, day care centers, churches and sports stadiums, according to WDIV-TV in Detroit. The debate over carrying guns in schools was compounded Friday with news that a gunman killed at least 27 people, including 18 students, at an elementary school in Newtown, CT, according to Newtown Patch. Under the bill, open carry would be illegal in such venues, and those who carry concealed weapons would need extra training and time at the gun range, WDIV-TV reported. The bill awaits Gov. Rick Snyder's signature after it cleared the Republican controlled House on Friday and the Senate on Thursday, WDIV-TV …
Jessica Nunez
1:56 pm on Monday, January 7, 2013
"Can I have just one marshmallow?" So funny! My daughter is approaching her second birthday, and I also see an increase in her appetite for sweets. It's hard when they get older and remember not only that there are cookies in the house, but also where they are! I was also debating taking sugar out of the house completely but I don't think I'd be able to handle that myself :) I'm interested in … more ›