Mari Walker

Packing up and hitting a beach somewhere along the Gulf seems to be an annual event for most middle- and upper-class families in our area, at least according to my Facebook feed. This year, we decided to join the fray, meeting my in-laws from Virginia at Perdido Key for a five-day beach-front condo stay. Several years ago, when we only had one child, we made the much longer drive to the Outer Banks, North Carolina, a beach my husband visited often during his childhood. (I was a Pacific coast girl, as my mom’s parents lived in Orange County, Calif.) The Outer Banks trip–also with the in-laws–was good but didn’t seem feasible for us this summer. A four-hour drive is much more doable, although basically, we shifted the long driving to my husband’s aging parents! Read the rest on the Baton Rouge Parents Magazine website .

“Making the decision to have a child–it is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.” ―Elizabeth Stone Parenting through the elementary years seems to be a gradual release, letting go of the demands (and some of the rewards) of mothering small children. Part of me welcomes the release, and I want nothing more for my daughters than to soar into fulfilling, independent lives of their own. But another part chafes from the change, wanting to keep the chubby hands in mine, kiss the soft cheeks whenever I want, and to feel OK with pushing the rest of the world aside while I do the important work of bonding with my babies. I thought it would be years from now before I experienced a night away from my older daughter, a rising second grader. But when the opportunity arose to attend sleepaway camp, the day in which my heart would be an hour away from me came much sooner than I expected. The Girl Scouts in our region offer...

You will never meet a nicer girl than Carissa Murray. The 11-year-old is sweet, kind and caring, with an inquisitive mind and an ear for languages and music. She also has faced unique medical challenges throughout her young life. Although she’s received no single diagnosis, she has undergone multiple procedures and surgeries, including five craniotomies. “These have left noticeable scars on her face and head that tell of much darker times,” says Ginger Gauthier, Carissa’s mom. However, life at home is bright and full of love. Carissa lives with her mom and stepdad, Maurice; her sister, Cadee; and her aunt and grandma. “We have a unique family blend,” Ginger says. Read the rest on the Baton Rouge Parents Magazine website .

As Community and Education sections editor, I wrote pages 16 to 25 of the July 2019 issue of Baton Rouge Parents Magazine , except Silver Steppers, which was added during layout. See the layout on the magazine's website . I also wrote Pathways to Parenting: Plantar Fasciitis and Exceptional Lives: A Bright Future After Darker Times .

At nine years old, Tyler Brazier already holds two ambassadorships. He is an ambassador for Westdale Heights Academic Magnet (WHAM), meaning he represents his school to prospective parents and visitors. A rising fifth grader, Tyler is the youngest Flipgrid Ambassador of Student Voice in the country. Flipgrid is a video discussion platform created by Microsoft. Tyler first started using Flipgrid as an alternative to creating his own YouTube channel, about which his parents, Wiley and Tirza, had reservations. Read the rest on the Baton Rouge Parent Magazine website .

Kalyee Freiberger is known for her incredible volunteer work. The 18-year-old recent graduate from Runnels High School received the 2018 Outstanding High School Volunteer Award at last year’s Greater Baton Rouge State Fair. The award includes a $500 scholarship, which Kalyee will use at Louisiana State University. “I’m looking at pre-med track, either biology or biochemistry major,” Kalyee says. Read the rest on the Baton Rouge Parents Magazine website .

A recent Baby Center email for my seven year old (yes, I still open them to read about her development!) had the headline, “How to Encourage Reading.” I laughed and read along, knowing the advice doesn’t apply to me just now. Miss Seven is an avid reader, almost to the detriment of anything else. She wants to stay up late reading and has been known to use her alarm clock or nightlight (both of which are too dim for reading!) to stay up past bedtime to get in a few more pages. On school nights, this leads to disastrous mornings, but she persists in her love of the written word. She reads on the potty, while she’s eating, in the car and during church. She still prefers screen time on her Kindle or the TV, but since those are more rationed, she’ll most often be toting a book or two. She will also read to her three-year-old sister, and those are some of the sweetest moments of my life so far–gazing on my angelic children enjoying a book together. Read the rest on the ...