Mailbag - September 2019

Scott and Leslie Bormaster support daughter Kim as she competes in Special Olympics. (Photo: Dylan Aguilar)

The fabulous Bormasters

I just finished reading the story about the fabulous Bormaster family [The Bormaster Family: Ties that bind – no matter what, by Pooja Salhotra, August 2019]! Pooja Salhotra did an excellent job of capturing the essence of the Bormaster family. Congratulations to Scott and Leslie on having such an inspirational family whose members clearly know what the meaning of family and love really are. They are all truly blessed to have each other. I loved reading about Kim and all her accomplishments. She is one amazing young lady!!

Linda Freedman Block 

Dangers of co-sleeping

As pediatricians and mothers, we often get asked how being pediatricians changes the things we are concerned about as parents. Our answer is that having both perspectives makes us less nervous about some common things (like fevers, coughs, and runny noses), but more worried about other things (like water safety, booster seats, and co-sleeping with infants). The reason why these things make us more worried is because we have seen children and babies of very loving, very responsible parents die from drowning, from car accidents, and from co-sleeping with infants. Because of this, we were frustrated to read the article about co-sleeping in your most recent edition [Baby Buzz: Co-sleeping, by Annie Blaylock McQueen, August 2019] which did not mention the risk of death for infants who co-sleep.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) strongly recommends against co-sleeping, especially if the infant is younger than 4 months. This is not because pediatricians are trying to be mean, disrupt family dynamics, or disrespect different cultures. It is because we have seen the faces of parents who unintentionally rolled over on their infant in the night or whose infant became stuck between the mattress and the headboard, and we do not want that parent to be you. See healthychildren.org for the current AAP recommendations for safe sleep in infants. 

If your readers have any questions about this topic, or want to discuss it further, we strongly encourage them to talk to their pediatricians.

Lindy McGee, MD, and Christina Propst, MD

Getting calls on D-Day article

Tracy, thank you for the article and the pictures [Travel Buzz: Reflections on D-Day and Dad, by Tracy L. Barnett, August 2019]. I have already gotten calls from friends, and the magazine was just delivered yesterday! I also must say that I like the article on Al Mampre and his daughter Virginia. Again, thanks and all my best. 

Gene Dewhurst

From exchange students to peace

I just wanted to thank you for the great article about AFS in The Buzz Magazines [Exchange Students: Part of the family, by Andria Frankfort, August 2019]! It is a wonderful and warm piece that captures the love, adventure, and care that makes our organization so special. Thank you for taking the time to get to know 3 of our wonderful families and for making them shine! We have 33 new foreign exchange students arriving in August, making for another magical year for AFS and Houston. Thank you again for all your support of foreign exchange, and for highlighting the power we have to build a more peaceful and just world. 

Kelly Nugent, AFS-USA TX Gulf Coast

She kept all her 45s

Thanks for the story [Vinyl 45s: When music was round, by Russell Weil, August 2019]. I am 70 years old and have all of my 45s from the ’60s and all my yellow childhood 33s records. When friends come over for dinner we play a game called “name that tune.” They win prizes when they guess the song.

Lizzy Hargrove

45s were a lot of fun

I read Russell Weil’s article on vinyl 45s with great interest. I have thousands of 45s going back to the ’50s. My first 45 was probably either The Ballad of Davy Crockett by Bill Hayes or Rock Around the Clock by Bill Haley and the Comets. I also have a 45 jukebox, an RCA 45 record player, and a hifi to play them on. Too bad the kids today don’t have 45s today. They were a lot of fun.  

Robert Creager

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