Posted by: Liza N. Burby in: ● July 6, 2010
Over 70,000 children on Long Island rely on school lunch programs. So what happens to them now that school is closed? Island Harvest, Long Island’s largest hunger relief organization, is now providing supplemental meals through the Summer Food Service Program (SFSP) to children who would ordinarily rely on free or reduced breakfast, lunch and snacks during the school [...]
Posted by: Liza N. Burby in: ● May 31, 2010
I took my girls to see Glee Live at Radio City Music Hall this weekend. The show was fantastic. But the audience, especially for the warm-up act, was horrendous. Getting up from their seats to move around and chat with friends, coming and going as though they were walking the supermarket aisles, chatting, texting, in general annoying [...]
Posted by: Liza N. Burby in: ● April 30, 2010
I’ll be speaking about this topic Sunday, but it’s one that many parents ask me about. Though we don’t need experts to tell us so, they all concur: Yes. Technology alone makes it difficult for parents to both control their children’s exposure to what’s going on in the wider world (earthquakes, terrorism, plane crashes), and [...]
Posted by: Liza N. Burby in: ● January 15, 2010
If you have a young child who has seen any images of the earthquake in Haiti, chances are you’re also getting the question: Can it happen here? Our instinct is to shield our children from information about all possible dangers in the belief if we don’t talk about it, they won’t worry. But if you [...]
Posted by: Liza N. Burby in: ● December 31, 2009
It’s snowing again, and the world looks peaceful outside. My daughters are still sleeping at 10:30 am, which is typical of teenagers. So things are peaceful indoors as well. Everyone is a little tired since we just returned from four days in Williamsburg, VA, and beyond, where we stepped back in time to the first [...]
Posted by: Liza N. Burby in: ● December 6, 2009
Every holiday season there’s that one special toy, like Tickle-Me-Elmo or Wii, that is on every child’s list. And every season ordinarily rational parents turn into Rambo-like creatures who will stand in line before the dawn and not worry about who they have to knock out of their way to get what their child wants. This year, it’s a [...]
Posted by: Liza N. Burby in: ● September 3, 2009
Lately I feel as though every time I pick up the paper, Chicken Little is blaring out from the headlines with these constant “the sky is falling” warnings. It’s not that I don’t take seriously all the talk of swine flu. And I have the deepest sympathy for anyone who lost a loved one to [...]
Posted by: Liza N. Burby in: ● July 1, 2009
It happens every year, and I never remember to prepare my girls for it. With end-of-school year parties/projects/teacher gifts/half days, my kids and I are just so grateful for the finish line, that last day of school, that we don’t think about the after. We have summer plans, of course, that include camp and vacations and [...]
Posted by: Liza N. Burby in: ● May 6, 2009
A father is caught erratically pushing a three-month-old baby in a stroller in a local parking lot. Police determine he’s under the influence of drugs and was trying to buy more. A mother is arrested for endangering the life of her nine-year-old who is seriously injured in a car accident. The mother had been driving [...]
Posted by: lizanburby in: ● March 27, 2009
One of the most challenging aspects of being a parent to me has been seeing my children hurt during such times as being excluded from a social event or having those first unrequited crushes. My first instinct is always this very visceral, from-the-gut anger that makes me want to grab the phone or car keys to [...]