Sure, they drive you nuts. They step on every last nerve and expect you to thank them for it. But, it's all worth it, right? Children bring so much joy into our lives that we couldn't possibly imagine living without them, right? They are our reason for being; they complete us. Right? Anyone?
But seriously, do kids make us more or less happy? Apparently, it's the latter -- they make us less happy. At least that's the conclusion a number of researchers have come to in recent years. One theory is that because couples are marrying and having children later, they are getting more of a taste for the footloose-and-fancy-free life and the responsibilities of parenthood just don't compare.
While they may very well make us less happy, it seems to me that the easy path isn't always the most rewarding. Certainly, sitting on the couch watching television is easier than climbing to the top of half dome, but which is the more rewarding in the long run? I'll take the blisters and backache, thanks.
Looking for an, er, interesting way to celebrate the 4th of July holiday this year? How about with food! Sure food will play a crucial role in your celebration--it generally does--but why not toss things up a bit this time around, and even make it fun for the kids?
We're considering doing a menu of all red, white and blue foods. Yes, blue foods. Now we all know there are no naturally occurring blue foods--unless you count blueberries amongst your tally--but it's a fun treasure hunt to think of and then collect foods that are blue (if not naturally so) along with their easier to uncover red and white versions, all in the name of patriotism.
Red foods include strawberries, tomatoes--if you're feeling adventurous, and I'm decidedly not this holiday weekend--as well as cherries and various other kinds of fruit. One could twist on that and include red meat in the menu along with ketchup. White foods, while not that healthy, are in abundance. You have white bread, potatoes (and therefore potato salad?) as well as eggs (sans the yolk), milk, yogurt and various kinds of cheese. You could also go the white meat route with this one. And the blue foods? Well, other than the blueberry and some types of edible flowers, the only blue foods I can think of are Popsicles and Icees. You could dye pasta blue, as I did once, for blue pasta salad, but I don't think anyone would eat it. There are also blue potatoes and blue Terra Chips as well as blue corn tortilla chips. Dessert could always be blue--no one seems to fear blue icing.
Can you think of any 'blue' foods to include at a picnic or celebration this Fourth of July?
As an elementary teacher, I get lots of the same kinds of questions from parents every year, and all of them fall into ghe general category of "How can I help my child to do his or her best in school." With Smart Start I'll be adressing a frequently asked issue realting to education. Feel free to respond in the comments with other questions you may have. My goal is to provide you with answers, tips, and insights to help you support your child as a learner at every stage.
Where I live, the air is fragrant with flowers and newly cut hay right now. It is July, and officially summer. Summer in a child's mind is a time of adventure and family, of lazy mornings and lazier afternoons.
But summer also marks the beginning of an important time in your child's academic career: a time of maintaining skills and progress. Children who do not spend time reading over the summer often show significant losses in their reading skills at the start of the new school year, and boys, specifically find it challenging to sink into a good book over the summer months.
Young boys who have just started reading chapter books often struggle with finding books that engage them. Many tend to prefer nonfiction texts or comics: stuff with a wow-factor and humor rather than character development and plot. Boys are often inclined to put the book down mid-way through and zip off to something more engaging if the book hasn't fully drawn them in, and nonfiction reading or comics caters to this style of reading.
But strong comprehension strategies are built and sustained by reading fictional chapter books that require readers to keep track of characters, monitor plot changes, make predictions, and build on prior knowledge. And it's a worthy summer cause to try and find at least one or two chapter books that belong to a series that your son likes, so that he can practice and build on some of these important reaching comprehension skills.
One of the best things about Halloween is the assortment of candy bars the little goblins bring home. I consider it repayment for my costuming efforts as there is always WAY too many for tender tummies to handle, so I help reduce the inventory levels of chocolate covered goodness from the communal treat bowl. ( And, you know, to save the little scamps from cavities. I eat because I love!)
Because of this yearly crash course in chocolatery, I fancied myself somewhat of an expert on the various candy bar brands available until I took this quiz asking you to identify cross-sectioned chocolate bars. Even with multiple choice answers available, I scored a dismal 14 out of 20 which shocked me. Obviously, I need to do more research treat myself a little more often than just Halloween and build up a better understanding of chocolate and caramel and nougat!
Test your candy bar knowledge against your kids and see who is candy king in your house! It's trickier than you'd think!
It's officially summer. To me that means long evenings, watermelon and picnics. Preferably watermelon served all day at the picnic and into the long evening. While I never grow tired of picnic food--burgers, potato salad and pasta salad come to mind--by the end of the summer many people do. The Minimalist over at the New York Times has compiled a list of 101 ideas to ratchet your picnic dining experience up a notch. I was interested enough in trying something new to give the menu a glance, but my critical eye looked for easy, simple recipes and ingredients I'd be able to both pronounce and unearth at a local supermarket while still tending to my number one job, being a mom.
Some of the recipes are familiar or simple enough. Make egg salad and add curry powder to make curried egg salad. That sounds yummy. If I had kids old enough to eat egg salad they might freak out though. The cornflake chicken bites seem more the kid-speed. If you're going to take the time to make fried chicken you might as well throw cornflakes on it and make it bite-sized for your little ones. I would definitely give that one a try. Other recommendations include some that can be store-bought, which is simpler and easier if not cheaper. My aunt never arrives to any event without a deli-bought relish tray. Does it really make a difference if she or someone else is cutting up the vegetables? I don't think so--they crunch just the same.
The 101 ideas provide something for everyone and some recipes are easy enough to make, to modify or to buy at the store. That makes for a good picnic. The kids might be confused by the non-picnic basics though. Worst case scenario? Make some of these for the adults and stick with the hotdogs and burgers for the kids. But perhaps try to get them to try some egg salad with curry in it, just for fun. Jsut don't forget the watermelon.
What about you? Any great ideas for a little something different at the picnic that even the kids will enjoy?
How often do you find yourself searching for answers to life's little parenting problems? You know, like how to get the sand off your kids at the end of a long day at the beach, or what to serve the kid who hates broccoli, or when to buy your toddler her first real shoes? Every day? Probably.
Fortunately for you, we've got the answers! Or at least some strategies that have worked for us, and that we're sure will work for you as well.
ParentDish is happy to announce the DailyDish, a compilation of tips and tricks to make your life as a parent a little easier. Each week, our crack team of parent bloggers will help you with various common dilemmas -- this week's tips, for example, are all geared toward making your day at the beach or pool more enjoyable and less stressful. Coming next week: strategies for making your staycation a YAYcation.
Tips will appear daily in the special fancy box over on the right , under the logo you see here (today's tip: how to prevent bringing the beach home with you). We'll set you up with a new tip every weekday, so stop by to see what we're dishing about today.
A lot of people love Pixar. The amazing animation studio, with incredible artists like John Lasseter and Pete Docter, has a knack for infusing life and soul into normally inanimate objects. With hits like the Toy Story movies, Monsters, Inc, Finding Nemo, Cars, and now WALL-E (which I got to see last week), the company has much to be proud of.
So are you one of their fans? Have you seen all nine of their full-length films? Can you name them all? (They are: Toy Story (1995), A Bug's Life (1998), Toy Story 2 (1999), Monsters, Inc (2001), Finding Nemo (2003), The Incredibles (2004), Cars (2006), Ratatouille (2007), and WALL-E (2008).)
Well, if you fancy yourself to be as big a fan as I am, you might want to try your hand at this Pixar-related quiz over at Moviefone. I got nine out of fourteen correct (I missed a few actors and cultural references) -- how will you do?
I have a friend with three daughters who has a simple plan for when his daughters come of age -- he'll bury the first boyfriend in the front yard to serve as a warning to others. I think I'm going to use the advice someone gave me -- When a boy comes to take my daughter out, I'll put my arm around his shoulders as I walk him into the living room and calmly explain that "I just wanted to let you know that I'm not afraid to go back to prison -- but I know you'll treat my daughter right."
All kidding aside, the rules you set for your kids do have an effect on their love lives, the Wall Street Journal reports. Not only that, they reflect your own satisfaction with your relationships. Rules that set parameters for dates, including curfews, minimum dating ages, and limits on where teens can go are most often set by parents in stable relationships. Those rules, however, often lead to closer, more positive relationships for the teens.
On the other hand, parents who dictate specifics about dating behaviour are often insecure in their own relationships. By telling their teens to "act like a gentleman" or not to let their dates "walk all over" them, parents may be trying to steer their kids into a happier situation than their own. This apparently doesn't work, though. Such kids weren't especially happy in their own relationships.
The better tactic is what Dr. Stephanie Madsen, the author of the study, calls "supervisory" rules. This involves keeping communication going -- having the teens let you know what their plans are, tell you when they change, and check in occasionally. Hmm... I guess I won't be getting that Mossberg shotgun with the pistol grip after all.
Actress Tori Spelling recently debuted her new baby girl, Stella, to the media and the world. She also revealed that it only took one try for her to get pregnant. According to OK Magazine, Tori is quoted as saying she'd been on one type of birth control pill and was feeling nauseous, so went on a different pill prescribed by her doctor. She somehow missed a day in between though, and it was on that day she claims she became pregnant.
Spelling also said Stella was rather an accident--or, I guess, that they weren't trying to get pregnant. In my opinion, they weren't not trying to get pregnant, though, as we all know it only takes one shot to seal the deal and they knew that Tori wasn't protected when they had sex! Good for them--as my friend wisely said, another baby in the world is a wonderful thing. Little Stella is a beauty and I'm sure is making her parents unbelievably happy.
I can also confirm that you can, indeed, get pregnant the first shot. I wasn't trying either, nor was I not trying. And, bam, the first time we did it without protection, I became pregnant with my daughter. Seems like Tori and I are on the same track--we both have toddler sons, both got knocked up after one try, and both either have or will have a daughter in the very near future. Another thing we have in common? Well, Spelling says she might like to have a third child, just like me. Too bad i don't have an acting career paycheck to go with my life though!
Good luck, Tori--and congrats on beautiful Stella!
Arctic Cat Inc. and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission have announced the recall of about 6,000 ATV's due to a faulty speed controller. The controller can fail to return to the idle position when the throttle is released, or can sometimes fail to be at idle on start up. This could result in some major loss of vehicle control and in turn, serious injury or even death to the driver (not to mention those in the path of the out-of-control ATV).
The recall involves eighteen different models of the 2008 Arctic Cat 50cc and 90cc All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs). A complete list of the recalled models as well as additional pictures can be found here.
The ATV's were made in Taiwan and sold by Arctic Cat dealers nationwide from July 2007 through June 2008 for between $1,800 and $2,400.
If you have one, you should immediately stop using it and contact your local dealer to schedule a free repair. If you are a registered owner, you should have already been contacted by mail about the recall. For more information, contact Arctic Cat at (800) 279-6851 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT, Monday through Friday or visit their Web site.
Time Magazine recently interviewed an editor-at-large from popular magazine Psychology Today. The topic? Children, and whether or not we're turning our kids into wimps. Hara Estroff Marano, the interviewee, had much to say on the subject of children, and how we raise them. Marano, who is also a grandmother and author of a new book titled A Nation of Wimps: The High Cost of Invasive Parenting, says we are turning our kids into wimps. She says we need to let our kids have bad experiences as it's the only way they learn.
Marano pointed out her research on the college campus, noting that her colleagues commented that many of the students they were treating lacked coping skills. Says Marano, "...they have no idea how to manage the vicissitudes of life." Why has this happened? Well, according to Marano we're worried about our kids being successful. We push them too hard to achieve, and we worry more about branding than experience, focusing on sending them to the best schools, etc., when perhaps the brand name of Harvard or Yale is not what they need. Access to information through the Internet makes everything fleeting and transitional and ultimately obsolete before we can even understand it fully.
Marano also argues, along with much of our nation, that our children are being over-medicated and that play time is not valued as it should be. And, shocker, she feels we're too involved in every aspect of our children's lives. So how to deal? Well, according to Marano, we need to step back, let kids prove their competence, let them play, and make sure we eat together five times a week. I don't know if doing these things will save our kids from being wimps, or if they're wimps in the first place, but she does provide an interesting perspective.
Your thoughts? Do you think we overprotect our children and undervalue their ability? Or is that what it takes to get through this crazy modern world?
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced the recall of about 1,400 playground tire swings made by Miracle Equipment Company of Monett, Missouri. The hanger clamp on the swings can fail and cause the swing to detach, posing a fall hazard to children.
Miracle Recreation has received three reports of this happening, including two reports of cuts requiring stitches and one report of a fractured foot.
The recalled swings consist of a tire hanging from a swivel and three chains. The following product and model numbers are included in the recall:
Kids' Choice Arch Tire Swing Sets - Model # 714-852
Kids' Choice Arch Tire Swing Extension - Model # 714-852-X
Kids' Choice Arch Tire Swing Swivel Replacement - Model #278
These swings were made in the United States and sold by authorized dealers to schools, parks and municipalities nationwide from February 1995 through March 2008 for between $570 and $2,100 each.
If you have one of these swings, you should immediately remove the tire swing, including the swivel, chains and tire, from the hanger clamp until a free repair kit can be installed. For more information, contact Miracle Recreation at (800) 523-4202 ext 683, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. CT Monday through Friday, send them an email at recalls@miraclerec.com, or visit their Web site.
A recent New York Times article calls attention to a humorous bumper sticker: "I'm spending my children's inheritance." While that sentiment may be a funny one, it turns out to be true in more ways than we know. Our parents, who may have had something to give us at one point, are now spending what they once might have earmarked for us. And it's a trend we'll probably be continuing with our own children. Never mind the Paris Hiltons of the world, who are sure to inherit a fortune if not the earth itself. What about the rest of us? The economy is tanking, and there's no quick financial solution to that. Those of us with retiree parents are finding our parents need what they have just to contend with inflation.
Many parents are doing what my grandparents made a veritable hobby of years ago. They give away their furniture, jewelry and other assets while they're still alive. According to the AARP, 21% of folks interviewed who were born after 1964 thought they'd receive an inheritance, not Grandma's fiesta ware. So what stops the inheritance buck here? Things like the fact that people are living longer than ever, that social security is dwindling and will probably end, that medicare stinks and will probably get worse. Fewer people have pensions and more of them have soaring healthcare costs. All of this and more contributes to a lack of inheritance.
As for me, I'm probably never going to make any money any way, so I won't have anything but a wiener dog and an old Honda CRV to pass on to my kids. I will try to instill in them to instead save, save, save. The American dream is capitalism, and the old American way used to be inheritance. The new American way is to save--because no one is going to do it for you. And while I may not be able to pass on any money to my kids, I've made sure my husband and I won't be passing on any debt either.
What about you? Do you have an inheritance coming, or do you plan on setting one up for your children?
Many of you know Jason Segel. He recently starred in the film Forgetting Sarah Marshall and basically stole the movie away from the leads in Knocked Up. He was also the pitiful love interest, if you could call it that, in television's Freaks and Geeks and currently stars in the hit How I Met Your Mother. Segel wrote a lot of the Sarah Marshall movie, and is now being offered a highly coveted writing position: writing a Muppets movie!
Disney has slated Segel to write the upcoming Muppets movie, but the write/actor commented the film will not be a modern take. Says Segel, the new Muppets film will be retro and 80's styled, with the plot surrounding the gang's getting back together to save the studio.
This will be the first Muppets movie to hit the big screen since 1999's Muppets from Space. If I recall that film didn't do as well as The Muppets Take Manhattan, despite cameos (which Segel promises will happen in the new movie). Is Segel the "write" man for the job? Only time will tell. At press time no release date had been set for the new film. I've always been a hug fan of the muppets, so I'll be seeing it regardless. Hopefully, I will actually get to see it in the theater--so Segel better make it worth getting a babysitter!
Sure, they drive you nuts. They step on every last nerve and expect you to thank them for it. But, it's all worth it, right? Children bring so much joy into our lives that we couldn't possibly imagine living without them, right? They are our reason for being; they complete us. Right? Anyone?
One of the best things about Halloween is the assortment of candy bars the little goblins bring home. I consider it repayment for my costuming efforts as there is always WAY too many for tender tummies to handle, so I help reduce the inventory levels of chocolate covered goodness from the communal treat bowl. ( And, you know, to save the little scamps from cavities. I eat because I love!)
How often do you find yourself searching for answers to life's little parenting problems? You know, like how to get the sand off your kids at the end of a long day at the beach, or what to serve the kid who hates broccoli, or when to buy your toddler her first real shoes? Every day? Probably.
I have a friend with three daughters who has a simple plan for when his daughters come of age -- he'll bury the first boyfriend in the front yard to serve as a warning to others. I think I'm going to use the advice someone gave me -- When a boy comes to take my daughter out, I'll put my arm around his shoulders as I walk him into the living room and calmly explain that "I just wanted to let you know that I'm not afraid to go back to prison -- but I know you'll treat my daughter right."
Actress Tori Spelling recently debuted her new baby girl, Stella, to the media and the world. She also revealed that it only took 
