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Barbara Falconer Newhall

Veteran journalist Barbara Falconer Newhall riffs on life as she knows it.

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What Makes Me Happy? Having a Happy Kid, of Course

July 2, 2022 By Barbara Falconer Newhall

what makes me happy? -- a happy kid
Here’s what happy looks like — a brand new father and a newborn baby. Photo by Barbara Newhall

What makes me happy? Noticing that one of my kids is happy.

For example, meeting Peter at the hospital on the day his first child is born — and taking a picture of his beatific, Mona Lisa smile.

I’m working super hard on a couple of projects this week — namely, playing with my granddaughters and spending some quality time with my son and daughter-in-law — so I’m going to let this photo of happy Peter with his swaddled newborn say it all for me.

What else is making me happy these days? I’ve got two — count ’em, two — books in the works. More about that soon.

This is not the first picture of Peter I’ve posted.  I’ve been photographing and writing about my kids for decades. Here’s a story about mothering Peter when he was a teenager, “How Selective Service Made a Man of My Son — Without Even Trying.”   And here’s one about Christina being Christina, “What’s Rhetoric? Let My Two-Year-Old Tell You.”

Filed Under: My Ever-Changing Family

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LET’S CONNECT

ON THE FUNNY SIDE

We’re Having a — Merry — Christmas Without the Kids This Year

A young woman carves the Thanksgiving turkey in the kitchen. Photo by BF Newhall

Christmas has gotten to be a scheduling nightmare in our family. Peter lives in Minnesota. Christina lives in Southern California. Jon and I live in Northern California. That puts 400 miles between us and our daughter and 1600 miles between us and our son and daughter-in-law. Not exactly over the river and through the woods. Read more.

MORE "ON THE FUNNY SIDE"

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TO MY READERS

Please feel free to share links to my posts with one and all and to quote briefly from them in your own writing, remembering, of course, to attribute the quote to me and to provide a link back to this site.

My Oakland Tribune columns, btw, are reprinted by permission of the Trib. With the exception of review copies of books, I do not accept ads or freebies of any kind. Click on the "Contact" button if you have questions. Enjoy!

 

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