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Outdoor fun & festivities are blooming all around Boston

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:41:06 GMT

When it comes to May and blossoms in Greater Boston, it’s not just the flowers coming to life.As most of the city’s amazing seasonal activities swing back into action the coming days and weeks, May is a perfect time for a day trip or overnight to visit or revisit.While the college graduation season crowds are there, the post school year summer crush is still a way off, leaving the fun things the city offers to those smart enough to visit now.Consider these for a fun day, weekend or more as we push through May toward summer.Duckling Day ParadeDo you even know Boston if you cannot at least partially recite “Make Way For Ducklings?” A great way to celebrate that classic – or get to know it – is by joining in on the annual Duckling Day Parade on May 14 (https://friendsofthepublicgarden.org/events/ducklingday/). Whether you’re a kid who wants to dress up and parade along or a kid of any age who’d enjoy cheering on the parade, this is a Boston tradition worth building a visit over.This ye...

Work on secure co-parenting relationship with ex

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:41:06 GMT

Q. I just asked my girlfriend to marry me. We’ve been together for three years and have lived together for two. I have a son from a previous relationship who absolutely adores my fiancé. He is 5, and his mother and I share equal custody. For some reason, my ex does not want our son to participate in the wedding. My son is very upset. I’m pushing to elope. What’s good ex-etiquette?A. There’s a lot going on here, so let’s take it one point at a time. Once again I must admit, I am reading between the lines.I think you are telling me you did not marry your son’s mother, but you are going to marry your girlfriend — and that may be at the root of why your son’s mother does not want your son to participate in the wedding. I certainly cannot put words in her mouth, but it sounds to me like she feels like she had your child, but you’re marrying someone else — and to top it all off, your son “adores” your fiancé.The only control his mom has at this point is to say he can’t participate. And yo...

Hankinson: End of Title 42 means end to secure border

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:41:06 GMT

Nearly every headline about the expected surge in migrants mentions something called Title 42 — and with good reason. On May 11, this U.S. law expires and won’t be available to stop mass illegal entry on our southern border.Think of Title 42, which covers public health, as a bouncer keeping someone out of a bar. Easy, no paperwork. Then there’s Title 8, which deals with immigration. Think of it as how you evict terrible tenants from a rental property: lawyers, lots of paperwork, and very slow, even if you usually win in the end.In March 2020, the CDC enacted a public health provision under Title 42 to block foreigners who have been in “Coronavirus Impacted Areas.” Simply put, U.S. border authorities (Customs and Border Protection at the ports of entry, and Border Patrol in between) blocked nearly everyone attempting to enter and sent them back to Mexico.Because Title 42 allows immediate expulsion, intending migrants weren’t able to claim a “credible fear” of persecution, the f...

‘Bridgerton’ prequel leads TV shows to watch this week

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:41:06 GMT

It’s a good week for fans of historical fiction, awards shows, documentaries, Broadway musicals and Muppets‘Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story’This “Bridgerton” prequel has a few things in common with the blockbuster original: witty dialogue, graphic sex scenes, orchestrated versions of pop songs, Julia Andrews’ narration. It also has a star-making performance from lead India Amarteifio, embracing a character who’s not afraid of embracing her character’s urges to wriggle out of her corset and romp in the royal hay. But the eight-part series is grounded in reality, which means creator Shonda Rhimes has to deal with the madness of King George III. The ways his advisers handle his “condition” could never be mistaken for romantic gestures. If you’re just thirsty for another costumed comedy, this won’t be your cup of tea. Netflix‘Jewish Matchmaking’Aleeza Ben Shalom has little in common with Yente, the v...

Sweet Kealan loves listening to music

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:41:06 GMT

Kealan is a sweet and animated boy. He loves flipping the pages of his favorite board books. Kealon also enjoys and tapping on objects to listen to the different noises they make. Kealan enjoys music and being part of activities with other children. He loves bouncing on a trampoline on his back. He loves water in sensory tables, pools, and the bathtub. Kealan is mobile and able to navigate playgrounds. He has recently started to enjoy slides and navigate them on his own.Kealan uses eye contact, vocalizations, touch, and some symbols to communicate throughout the day. Kealan has a great sense of humor and loves to be playful. He enjoys the structure of his schedule including school and time at home. Kealan is usually happy to go places in the community even if it is just running errands and he likes to be active. While Kealan likes routine, he is also flexible and can be spontaneous.Kealan has a way of sharing his sense of humor with those around him and his laugh is infectious! Keal...

You: Celebrating 70 years of alliance between Korea, U.S.

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:41:06 GMT

With President Yoon Suk Yeol’s historic state visit to the United States of America now completed, this is time for the two nations to reflect on the precious path traveled in the ROK-U.S. alliance. On July 27, 1953, the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed after the ROK and the U.S. fought together on the Korean Peninsula. They ultimately emerged triumphant in a struggle to safeguard the most precious values: democracy and the freedom. Thanks to the alliance, the ROK proved able and emerged from the ravages of war to develop into a thriving democracy and market economy.The ROK-U.S. alliance was forged in blood, and the efforts were not in vain. It has long served as the linchpin for peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the alliance. At this juncture, it is gratifying to see that the bonds have evolved. In recognition of the deepening trust and cooperation, the ties have been developed as a Global Compre...

Blockbusters set to roll for summer movie season

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:41:06 GMT

With its shocking and surprising billion dollar gross, “Super Mario Brothers” has given Hollywood a powerful signal that, finally, moviegoers will be ready to be to return to movie theaters and make this summer’s box-office haul one to remember.Yes, writers may be on strike but since movies are routinely made a year ahead, Hollywood’s all-important summer slate – officially from Memorial Day weekend to Labor Day — is unaffected.And with billions of dollars invested in Come See packaging, the message is clear:  Come to theaters and be truly entertained!Studios are hopeful of a “halo” effect where the season’s blockbusters will become box-office behemoths and generate interest in more modest fare.Hare are, then, the season’s mightiest contenders.Easily leading the way and generating intense interest is one of the most expensive movies ever made: Tom Cruise’s years in the making “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.” When it opens — on a global scale (July 1...

Bruins playoff report card: Team gets an ‘incomplete’

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:41:06 GMT

We thought this marking period had, oh, another seven weeks to go. How wrong we were.Hockey is hockey and anything can happen, but this Bruins team gave every indication that it could buck the Presidents’ Trophy curse and go on a long run. Nope.Despite the fact that GM Don Sweeney seemed to have planned for every contingency, there’s only so much you can do when your top two centers and elite goaltender pull up lame at the most inopportune time. When the B’s blew a 3-0 series lead to the Flyers in 2010, that team was still on the rise and won the Stanley Cup the next year, immediately removing the stench of that loss. With a cap crunch and possible retirements of stalwarts Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, this one could leave a mark on the franchise that could take a long time to remove.Here are the playoff grades:ForwardsBrad Marchand, B: Yes, a minus-6 is a minus-6. But Marchand elevated his game with the top two centermen out and led by example. The regular se...

Michael J. Fox shares his journey with viewers in ‘Still’ on AppleTV+

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:41:06 GMT

Michael J. Fox, rightly regarded as a hero having raised a billion dollars in research funds for Parkinson’s disease, now stars in “Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie,” streaming Friday on AppleTV+.Directed by Davis Guggenheim, an Oscar-winning documentarian for “An Inconvenient Truth,” “Still” mixes scenes from Fox’s career, new interviews and archival material to let Fox, 62 next month, tell his story in his own way.The movie offers re-enactments from Fox’s movies and blurs the line between the man and the characters he plays. It uses moments in his movies to portray moments in his life, like meeting Tracy Pollan, his wife.“I was excited,” Guggenheim, 59, said in a joint virtual press conference with Fox, “to try this idea of, Can you make a documentary that feels like an ‘80s movie? Something that’s big, something’s that fun, a lot of laughs, big music.  And part of that is to put ‘80s and ‘90s movies in it.“It’s a different kind of documentary. It’s a wild ride in the way that those ...

How to teach children about body safety, boundaries

Published Sun, 16 Feb 2025 16:41:06 GMT

The statistics reported by the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network are sobering: 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 20 boys will experience sexual abuse or sexual assault by the time they reach age 17.The idea that anyone would sexually abuse a child is terrifying, especially for parents and caregivers. But like with any risk our children might face, we need to be able to empower them with information that will help them recognize unsafe situations.Children and teens who feel in control of their bodies are less likely to fall prey to sexual abusers. And if they do suffer abuse, they are more likely to tell a trusted adult — which can make all the difference in stopping the events and subsequently helping them recover from this painful experience.Here are some tips to help parents teach their children about body boundaries and safety:Use appropriate language. Teach children proper names for all body parts, including their genitals. Making up names for body parts may give the impression that...