What's in a word ...

Sometimes, adding one (or failing to fully delete one from corrupted shortening of a phrase) changes meaning. Consider this from a newspaper today:

Sanford spokesman Will Folks said Sanford remains committed to creating tax credits as an option for low-income and middle-class parents when deciding which schools their children should attend.

As written: Sanford remains committed to creating ... when ... it sounds as if the governor's going to be telling folks where to send their children to school (when, as an adverb, wants to work on the nearest verb or verb form). It's a problem with trying to shorten things too much, in this case when they decide. The solution if you want it short -- just take out the when and you have a perfectly good participle form modifying parents: parents deciding which schools their children should attend.

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Another story noted that lab equipment was waiting to be unpacked from its swaddling. The noun, however, for such things that drape and envelop is swaddle. No gerund form here.