Is it the instant gratification generation or helicopter parents?

Back when it was okay to helicopter.
Back when it was okay to helicopter.

This is my second most read post of all time, written in 2015.

Letting my kids play and be kids.
Letting my kids be kids.
My kids being kids. They're okay despite my hovering.
The kids are okay despite my hovering.

My Confessions as a Helicopter Mom 

10 Things Our Kids Need to Know Before College

How times have changed: the story of Dr. Sammy Lee

US Olympic Gold Medalist Sammy Lee

Sammy Lee on a diving tower.

Here’s an excerpt of an obituary from SwimSwam.com after Sammy Lee died at the age of 96.

Permission from SwimSwam.com
Sammy Lee with other divers

Sammy Lee coaches diver Paula Jean Myers

Gary Hall flag bearer

Sammy Lee, Olympic Gold Medalist and Doctor:

As a civilian, Lee discovered that his status as a veteran didn’t shield him from prejudice. He and his wife Rosalind were turned away when they wanted to buy a home in one part of Orange County. Eventually, they bought a home nearby from a sympathetic developer. Eventually they owned a house with a pool, where Lee coached students. He also coached divers for the 1960 Rome Olympics. Later, he’d mentor Olympic gold medalist Greg Louganis, and he served as an ambassador to the Olympics under three presidents.

Here’s is a link to the USC Obituary that describes Dr. Sammy Lee’s life in more detail.

What are your thoughts of how hard Sammy Lee had to work, the prejudice he faced from striving to be an Olympic Diver and not being able to use the pool?

As an adult he was blocked from buying a home in Orange County despite being serving our country, being an Olympic Gold Medalist and a doctor.

Why is my daughter so annoyed with me?

My kids not wanting me to take their pic.
My kids not wanting me to take their pic.
Mom and me in the early 90s.
Mom and me in the early 90s. I lost her to COVID in January this year.
My baby girl years ago.
A beach day with my daughter.
A beach day with my daughter.

What are your thoughts about adult kids being annoyed with you? Is it deserved or is it growing pains?

Do you think when people close to us are going through rough times, it’s easy for them to take it out on those closest to them?

Gold Medalist Babashoff “Making Waves”

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Shirley Babashoff with her Olympic Medals at at Southern Pacific Masters Clinic in Mission Viejo, Calif.

I was invited as a reporter to an event in Mission Viejo several years ago. Babashoff was the guest speaker. I noticed how generous Babashoff was with her time answering questions, letting attendees try on her Olympic medals and snap selfies with her. Her sense of humor, outspoken and down-to-earth answers were refreshing.

THE EARLY YEARS IN CALIFORNIA:

MISSION VIEJO NADADORES AND MARK SCHUBERT:

ENCOUNTERS WITH THE EAST GERMAN WOMEN:

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The Belmont Pool on the beach, site of the 1976 Olympic Trials. My own kids competed in this pool, but since then it’s been torn down.

1976 MONTREAL OLYMPICS:

“Shirley, Shirley! What do you think of the East German team?”

“What can you tell us about the East German team?”

The questions were all redundant and overlapping. But I stopped for a moment and said into one of the reporters’ microphones, “Well except for their deep voices and mustaches, I think they’ll probably do fine.”

I saw some eyes widen and a couple of jaws drop. The reporters then fired off a couple of follow-up questions, which I answered basically the same way. Then I got on the bus and went back to the village to have dinner with my teammates.

VIDEO OF THE 4 x 100 FREE RELAY WHERE THE US WOMEN’S TEAM WON GOLD AT THE 1976 OLYMPICS — beating the East Germans:

THE RECORD BOOKS:

What are your thoughts about Shirley Babashoff being outspoken about what she saw happening with the East German swimmers and the media turning against her?

Decide how you feel

Here’s an excerpt:

For example, let’s imagine you have a job that is really bringing you down. Let’s say you are bored and stressed, and your boss isn’t competent. You come home every day tired and frustrated, and you wind up drinking too much and watching a lot of dumb television to distract your mind. Tomorrow, try a new tactic. During the day, take a few minutes every hour or so, and ask, “How am I feeling?” Jot it down. Then after work, journal your experiences and feelings over the course of the day. Also write down how you responded to these feelings, and which responses were more and less constructive.

Have you heard about metacognition before? What are your thoughts about “thinking about thinking?”

Life as a worrywart

Do you worry more about the unknown, not having information or do you worry more once you have all the facts and it’s not good news?

Views and things on my mind

The article was called “Cancer Runs in Families. Too Few Are Getting Tested.”

by Brianna Abbott:

Dr. Shoshana Ungerleider knew what her father’s pancreatic cancer diagnosis meant for his future. She didn’t realize what it meant for her own cancer risk. 

Steven Ungerleider’s doctors ordered genetic testing in 2022 to see if his cancer might respond to a new treatment. They found he had a mutation in the BRCA2 gene, which raises risks for cancers including pancreatic, breast and ovarian—and can be passed from parents to children

Ungerleider and her sister got tested and discovered they had the same mutation

“I had no idea that this was possible for me,” said Ungerleider, 43, an internal medicine doctor and founder of End Well, a nonprofit focused on end-of-life care. 

Doctors are recommending genetic tests to more cancer patients and their families. Testing costs have droppedand the results are helping doctors choose newer targeted drugs and encourage relatives to confront their own cancer risk. 

“We can test you for dozens of genes at the same time, and it’s going to influence your treatment,” said Dr. Jewel Samadder, co-leader of the Office of Precision Medicine at the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center in Phoenix.

Here’s more from the article:

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What are your thoughts about cancer running in families? Would you get tested if your parents or siblings had cancer? Would you recommend friends to have testing done?