Kelly Evenson's blog

I noticed the other day that one of Lauren's favorite things to do is to grab one of her books, climb into the recliner and read. Well, read as well as a 19-month-old can. I think she has learned this behavior from me. I always have a book in my hand. From a young age, I loved to read. In fact, I used to be able to read a small paper book in a  few hours. Now, of course, it takes a little longer.

Halloween is fast approaching, and I have to admit, it is one of my favorite holidays. I cannot say why, exactley. I am not into the horror and scare-factor of it all. More of the joy I see that it brings small children. I decorate my house with pumpkins, black cats and a Halloween Village that sits on top of my piano and take great joy in handing out Halloween candy to all of the trick-or-treaters.

Have any of you seen a video of a Public Service Announcemnt hitting the airwaves in Great Britain? The 30-minute video to be shown in British high schools shows the dangers of texting while driving. Now I am not an expert at text messaging, don't really like it much, but I know better not to attempt it while behind the wheel of a vehicle going 60 miles per hour.
Apparently, though, teenagers do not.

When my mother called a few weeks ago and basically told me that she wanted Lauren for a weekend, I thought "great." Grammy wanted to take Lauren to her first county fair and since Kansas City doesn't offer much for the typical county fair experience, I sent her to Grandma's for the weekend.

I am a child of the 80s. Sometimes I am proud to say that. Others, like if we were talking about 80s fashion, I am embarassed.
But a great part of the 1980s was the television programs for children and families. I was a fan of the Care Bears and Strawberry Shortcake. Rainbow Brite was a favorite too and every Saturday morning, I would sit myself down on the couch and watch some Looney Toons. At night, there was Family Ties, Who's the Boss, The Cosby Show and Kate and Allie. I loved those shows, and they were something I could watch with my own parents.

Where, exactly, do children learn to throw temper tantrums? My daughter is not even two, 16-months to be exact, and she can hurl herself to the floor so quickly, you are left wondering what happened. It started out slowly. She would get mad and sort of sit there, half crying, half flinging her arms, really not sure what to do to get what she wanted.

I was watching the news tonight when a story sparked my attention – more stores are beginning to sell plus size clothing for teenagers. My initial reaction was great! Nice, trendy clothes should be available to all people, no matter their size. What made me mad were the critics who were saying that offering plus-size clothing to teenagers pormotes obesity.

As I looked at my daughter this morning before leaving for work, I noticed something – sheis no longer  a baby. The baby face has gone, spotty hair has been replaced with curls and that grin that was alusive at first is now plastered on her face. She is no longer a baby. She is a little girl.

I would like to welcome you all to my first attempt at writing a blog. O.K., maybe that's not entirely true. I have written blogs for my family and friends on sites such as Myspace or Facebook, but nothing that can be read by all the Examiner's readers, so bare with me for a couple of weeks!