2- Jen 
on Mar. 7 2008
3- Anstey on Mar. 7 2008
beautiful snapshot. Love it! Couple of points.
S2, L1 - I'd cut the 'and'
S2 L3 - nine-year-old is hyphenated, i believe (by the way, i love the way you can picture this as her having a fist for 9 years. To me it ads to this image of this little girl who fights for everything)
S3 L2 - I wonder if parentheses might really give a nifty aside affect, at once de-emphasizing the gumball machine grammatically, but drawing attention to it both visually and by adding that semi-conspiratorial editorial tone that mothers have
And, by the way, she gets that from her Mom. I happen to know the woman a bit, and she's absolutely extraordinary.
4- Emeya on Mar. 12 2008
Children are amazing, for sure. I friend told me that in a small school in rural Mozambique right after 9/11 the children put out a collection jar for the victims. Worlds away and poverty aside. Isn't that beautiful? I think that this is something that should be cultivated in young children. They have such a strong sense of humanity. This is a lovely acknowledgement of that. I think Anstey's suggestions are worth considering, just to tighten up a little.
-Em
5- Sinnaminsun 
on Apr. 23 2008
1- Colleen
on Mar. 7 2008