Minivan Moments

Are you aware of your child's eye strain?  Did you know that current educational advancements are partly responsible for the decline in eyesight among the young?  Yeah, i didn't know either... until last week. In a routine eye appointment with our family eye doctor, we discovered a few interesting tidbits: children are supposed to be far-sighted when they're young (that means they see well far away, but not great up close); my eldest needs reading glasses; and fifth grade is apparently a typical point when we see children begin having trouble with print, though normally it is temporary.  In discussing this stage of "need them now but probably not forever" with our doctor, we learned something fascinating: the educational system we enjoy in this country is a large contributor to eye strain in the young, which leads to a need for glasses.  Huh.  Seriously? The doctor told me about a study that was done over 50 years ago in which the Eskimos were evaluated, the...

Lately, i have noticed incredibly high numbers in my blog traffic. ( Cheer! Cheer! ) Upon further inspection, i note the various countries from which people are visiting.  ( Cheer! Cheer! ) Then i wonder, "WHY?"  So i look at what is driving them here... and it is the clicking on "Next Blog" in the upper portion of the Blogger Bar. ( Cheer! Cheer! ) Hmm... why, do you suppose, is it that folks from all over the world are popping in by clicking "Next Blog"... especially when i discover that most of the visitors to my blog stay "less than 5 seconds?" ( Boo! Boo! ) Seriously, there's not much i write on here that can be digested in fewer than a few seconds, so i have to assume that these people in other countries are, for the most part, passing through quite quickly.  Still, i wonder, why now?  i mean, this is dozens of instances in a given week... all of a sudden. Ah, well, doesn't much matter if they aren't staying around long e...