All parents of young children know the feeling—that life revolves around night feedings, potty training, mediating sibling squabbles, daily chauffeuring to school/day care/soccer and endless loads of laundry. Even if you work, there’s always the before and after—feeding them, getting them dressed, getting them where they need to be, picking them up from where they need to be, ad infinitum. It can be hard to have a conversation that doesn’t somehow reference your offspring. Occasionally, however, one gets to “slip the surly bonds of earth” (as well as the surly looks of children) and truly …
Me: “Taking violin lessons?”My son: “That’s OK.”Me: “How about if you failed a spelling test?”My son: “Nope.”Me: “What about if you still rode a bike with training wheels?”My son: “I don’t!”Me: “What if you did?”My son: “No.”Me: “What if I didn’t write about you at all?”My son: “You should write about me at least some of the time—just not all of the time.” Most of the articles you read about kids and the Internet revolve around tweens and teens and their safety on social media networks and chatrooms. However, most children today have an online presence by age 2, according to a study by …
Our oldest son started third grade this week. Third grade! It doesn’t quite seem real. Oh, there have been signs that he’s getting older. Jeans he wore in the spring are now several inches too short. He has two more loose teeth. He’s starting to develop more of an attitude with us, and more often than not he thinks his way is best. On the other hand, he is more coordinated than ever, reads like a fiend, and is getting more and more self-sufficient (at least when he wants to be). The 3-year-old is growing by leaps and bounds as well. He’s competently cutting with scissors, asking the …
Newsflash: Kids and adults don’t like the same things. This is true when it comes to food, activities—really, just about anything. I think as adults we often forget this immutable rule. After all, it’s been a long time since we looked at the world from a pint-sized perspective, and a long time since we’ve had to live by someone else’s rules and on someone else’s schedule. Nowhere is this more obvious than when the family is on vacation, when all the normal schedules and accommodations are disrupted. We’re just returning from a week in northern Michigan, which was wonderful. The boys’ least …
“So please, oh PLEASE, we beg, we pray,Go throw your TV set away,And in its place you can install,A lovely bookshelf on the wall.”– Roald Dahl, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory I was sorry to hear about the bankruptcy and pending closing of Borders bookstores. I’m not here to argue the various merits (or lack thereof) of chain bookstores versus independent bookstores. It just means there will be that many fewer places to lose yourself in the stacks and find new treasures. I’m a reader. And have been since age 3, according to my mom. Rarely during childhood or adolescence did anyone see me …
Recent news items have reignited the debate over children’s behavior in public places, and parents’ ability (or inability) to control that behavior. Nadya Suleman (of Octomom fame) recently took 12 of her 14 kids on a 6-hour flight from New York to Los Angeles that ended up being delayed two hours. Apparently, the kids (eight of whom were 2 years old) were being noisy and disruptive. Suleman and her helpers (one other adult and two older children) were apparently unable or unwilling to control the octuplets, to the dismay of other passengers. In other airline news, Malaysia Airlines has …
Ah, the lazy days of summer – nothing to do for kids but loaf around blowing dandelion puffs. Shooting the occasional water gun at your brother. Begging mom and dad to take you to the pool or a friend’s house. Nope. Not these days. Almost every family I know has their kid(s) lined up for a variety of summer camps. For some, camps are just a way to get the kids out of the house for a while – maybe expose them to something new or brush up on some skills. For others, camps are a necessity. Working parents still require a place for their offspring to be when school isn’t in session. Come to think…
Great, now the federal government has given me yet another reason to feel like a failure as a parent. Oh, sure, the reason was really always there, but now it’s just so, well, obvious. I’m talking about “My Plate” of course--the new USDA graphic representing how we should be eating every day. You’ve seen it, right? Half the plate is made up of fruits and vegetables. The other half protein and grains, and there’s a small glass representing dairy over on the side. Don’t get me wrong, I think this new plate is a vast improvement over the old pyramid. There’s truly no way to misinterpret the …
“Bye, Mom!” he said, sprinting away up the last slight incline to the finish line. Regular readers may remember that my 8-year-old son and I were training to run in the University City Memorial Day 5K run. And, after 10 weeks of training, we accomplished our goal! I won’t say our times were incredible. Overall, we finished 493rd and 518th out of 862 runners. It sounds slightly better when you put it in terms of gender-divided age groups. He came in 25th out of 45, and I finished 9th out of 16. We did manage under 11-minute miles, which wasn’t too bad for our first race. I have to admit the …
Sometimes, I think one of the biggest differences between parents and nonparents is time. No matter if you work or stay home, after kids come along, there simply never seems to be enough time. My husband and I used to go hiking and backpacking and skiing. We used to rollerblade and have game nights with our friends. We saw movies in theatres. But between the chores that come with home ownership and the limitless duties that accompany parenting, we don’t do any of those things anymore. I often wonder if this is a phase, and when we’re empty nesters, we’ll be able to pick back up where we left …
It seems I would be somehow remiss by not writing on the topic of Mother’s Day– this is, after all, a parenting column. But what, exactly, to write about? There are tiger moms, helicopter moms, uninvolved moms, soccer moms, stepmoms, working moms, stay-at-home moms – all types, from soon-to-be moms to moms with great-grandchildren. The choices seem endless, but of course, the mother I know best is my own. My mom was 45 when I was born – closer to the age of most of my peers’ grandmothers. In fact, if we’d had $1 for every time I was mistaken for her granddaughter, it would’ve paid my way …
Sesame Street has helped thousands of kids learn to count and recite their ABCs since its debut in 1969. As the parent of an 8-year-old and an almost-3-year-old, I’ve watched my fair share of episodes over the past several years. A number of things have changed since the early days when I was a child. Cookie Monster doesn’t gobble as many cookies. Oscar doesn’t seem quite as grouchy. Elmo was invented. I’m not convinced that all these changes are for the best; however, there’s one new character that we parents may be able to learn a few things from: Super Grover 2.0. Granted, Grover is not …
I’m going to run 196,416 inches next month. Usually, one doesn’t measure long distances in inches, but it just sounds so much better to say it that way when you’re talking about running. How hard could running a few inches be, right? For those of you who are math-challenged, or just don’t have easy access to a calculator, that’s 3.1 miles – more commonly known as a 5K. Many of you reading this may be scoffing at this point – there seem to be an awful lot of marathoner-types out there. But suffice it to say that I am NOT a runner. Never have been, and probably never really will be. For me, a …
Two weeks ago, I wrote about picky eating and the anticipation of my oldest son and I testing ourselves for “supertaster” tendencies. Well, the 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP)-impregnated test strips arrived in the mail, and we eagerly set out to prove to ourselves what awesome supertasters we were (no testing bias here). The instructions outlined three possible results: Supertasters will find the paper extremely bitter. Tasters will detect a mildly bitter and/or bland taste. Nontasters will taste nothing. We set out to chronicle the results. I grabbed the video camera, and my 8-year-old tried …
The “Moms’ Talk” question of the week last week was on feeding your family – “What’s your ‘go-to’ meal?” As I was thinking about that, I realized there’s really only one ‘go-to’ meal for us, and that’s pasta. Even then, three of us will eat it with tomato sauce, with one lone hold-out for simple toppings of olive oil and cheese. Yes, that’s right. I have picky eaters in my family. Not my husband – he’ll eat anything (and with my cooking, that’s a good thing). But my kids are not as open-minded. The 2-year-old had been pretty good for a while, but lately, he’s becoming more and more …
Recent conversations with two friends – one, age 40, just married, and the other, age 32, just engaged – both led to the topic of having kids. Both women are very interested in having children but are concerned about their age. This started me thinking – in an ideal world (obviously not all babies are planned) what IS the perfect age to have a child? With a wide range of options, from teen years to 60+ in some cases, how do you decide what’s best? Let’s take a look at the choices: Teens – Probably not a great choice. While physically, women may be in great shape, I dare say the vast majority …
“I do it! I do it!” Anyone who has parented two year olds will recognize this phrase instantly. Whether it’s trying to put on a shoe, pour milk from a carton or navigate the stairs, the cry is the same. Like many parents, we tend to feel this stage is something to be suffered through, rather than celebrated. It’s definitely great that our two and a half year old is becoming more independent and learning new things. On the other hand, “I do it!” is sure to take at least twice the amount of time as Mommy or Daddy doing it. Often, we find it difficult to allot the extra time for our budding do-…
To paraphrase Thomas Paine, “These are the times that try moms’ souls.” No, I’m not talking about the American Revolution, as he was. I’m talking about snow days. Now, don’t get me wrong: I work at a school. I understand why it’s important to call school off for inclement weather, especially when there’s ice involved, but it can definitely make for challenging times at home. If we could only have snow days when it’s 60 degrees or so, then the problems would all be solved. We could play outside without worrying about frostbite. We could go hiking, or go to the zoo, or play in the park. But no…
Whatever happened to Date Nights? Anyone remember those? When you and your significant other would go out – just the two of you – to a restaurant that didn’t have a climbing gym or kids’ meals? Maybe you’d take in a museum exhibit or a non-Disney movie? Perhaps you’d even get together with friends and play games that didn’t involve a Chocolate Swamp or potato-head parts? Of course, that was pre-kid. Once the little tykes come along, all bets are off. Planning a Date Night is no longer as simple as calling in a reservation to your favorite restaurant. My husband and I celebrated our 19th …
By now, many parents have heard about Amy Chua’s new book, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother or the excerpt in the Wall Street Journal, “Why Chinese Mothers are Superior.” Both deal with what she terms the “Chinese mother” style of parenting, which, on the surface, revolves around stringent discipline and expectations of perfection. Thousands of people commented on the Journal piece, and from what I’ve read, the majority of people who responded negatively seem to be appalled by her self-described high-pressure, no-holds-barred parenting tactics which include no playdates, hours of music …
