Articles written by Alida Chacon

Where Knowledge Rules

What is Helium

About me - Alida Chacon

I've been writing since I can remember. My favorite topics are politics, child rearing and relationships. All affect me at a personal level. I live in the Pacific Northwest with my husband and two of our four beautiful children.

+ more bio information

RSS Feed

Food & Drink > Soft Drinks Are soft drinks containing artificial sweeteners really healthier than soft drinks containing sugar?: 1 of 24
From everything I've read, not only are artificial sweeteners in soft drinks not healthier, they are actually more detrimental to weight loss efforts. First and foremost anything artificial is never "better" than the real thing. Secondly, it seems that your body doesn't recognize artificial sweeteners they way it recognizes ... More..
Creative Writing > Memoirs Memoirs: Birth stories: 39 of 220
"Honey, you need to come home, I'm having the baby." That's what I said. Notice there is no exclamation point behind my request. I wasn't actually in labor per se. At least not the way they described it in our Lamaze class, you know, contractions five minutes apart so intense you can't speak, no not like that. It was more of... More..
Parenting & Pregnancy > Teen Challenges Thoughts on methods for reducing teen pregnancy: 9 of 33
Reducing teen pregnancy can be accomplished in three easy steps. Step 1: Education We must educate our children while very young in how their bodies function. As early as three years of age, children are curious about their bodies. If we use appropriate terms for all body parts and explain in simple terms how their bodies wo... More..
Home & Garden > Gardening (Other) True gardening stories: Memories of a loved one and gardening: 9 of 31
I never heard my grandmother refer to herself as a gardener. I've never heard my mother refer to herself as a gardener. My sister is not a gardener. I am not a gardener. We are however, the third generation of plant and flower lovers and of the herb lovers. We care within us an obsessive curiosity about what we can grow. As ... More..
Education > Early Childhood Ed How to assess the quality of a day care center: 4 of 13
Assessing the quality of a daycare can seem like a daunting task. The key is to understand first and foremost that your child is not going to recieve the same care that he would at home. Not the same does not necessarily mean lower quality care. Nothing provides a perfect environment. My children stay home with me, some days... More..
Education > Early Childhood Ed Will "universal preschool" for 3- and 4-year-olds improve academic achievement over the long term?: 8 of 24
Universal preschool will not improve academic achievement over the long term. We have been sold this mumble jumble because as more and more working men and women decide to have children the question of who will raise them becomes obsolete if we have universal preschool in place. The fact of the matter is the preschools do no... More..
Creative Writing > Short Stories Short stories: Shopping: 4 of 9
Finally, a moment alone. Time to ponder. When was the last time she had been in the dressing room alone? Six years ago. Yeah that's about right. Five and a half years ago she experienced what would become the rest of her life. The rest of her life until this moment. She bought her wedding dress at a discount store. There the... More..
Parenting & Pregnancy > Adolescence How to understand your teen: 6 of 13
Does anyone really understand another person? I don't want to get too philosophical, but when I think back at all the advice I received when I was pregnant, I'd have to say no one really understood what that was like. Sure, some advice helped, but most of it was not applicable. In fact what worked with morning sickness durin... More..
Education > Alternative Education (Other) Alternative to what?: 13 of 22
An alternative to the current public education system must be found. It's not hard to believe the statistics that lower income children do not recieve the best quality education available. What some might find hard to believe is that the public education system in general, is failing all our students whether they pass or not... More..
Arts & Humanities > Origins & Firsts in History The importance of storytelling to the development of mankind: 16 of 25
It's been said that cave paintings were a type of story-telling. Perhaps man did not yet have command of language. Perhaps they were like the pictures in a book, put on the walls to enhance what was being told. Whether it's true or not, I cannot say with certainty. What I am certain of is this, I do not want to imagine a wor... More..