Saturday, 12:30 PM. The scene is a local burger hangout. The pleasant aroma of burgers and fries fills the air. I am sitting at a table with my kids and another family. A group of older middle school children are hanging out at the next table waiting for their food. Each one has a smartphone. Each one is texting furiously. None of them are talking, looking at each other or engaging in any way. My friend says to me “They are probably all texting each other” and I realize this is probably true.
As I continue with this article, critiquing our society’s obsession with electronic media and subsequent non-human interaction, I want you to know that I am no media saint myself. The kids watch too much TV, we have a Wii, they play computer games more than they should. I have an iPhone, which I look at during dinner at restaurants with my family. My kids see me check my e-mail first thing in the morning and frequently during the day. I am not a great role model, and am therefore as much to blame as anyone else in the growing concern regarding the effect that TV and new media obsession has on personal interactions. Read More
I registered Eric for kindergarten again with a vague sense of déjà vu. Some of it was familiar (I still had the same folder with the paperwork from last year), but everything else seemed different. I felt much more relaxed and confident that Eric was going to be ready. And he would be starting kindergarten with an IEP — an Individual Education Program. Basically it meant that Eric had special needs and it was up to the school to meet those needs. He still needed to be reassessed to determine how much extra help he would receive.
I had mixed feelings about him qualifying for help. Of course I wanted him to get help. I just didn’t want him to need help. Read More
Canada is now ready for an emergency. Photo by Skyler Jokiel
Two years after being directed to create an “all hazards” emergency plan, Public Safety Canada hammered out the details of a scheme to respond to everything from cyber terrorism to train crashes to viral outbreaks.
The involved process took longer than officials hoped, and the public safety agency got a bit of a tongue lashing last year for their slow progress, but Canada believes it’s now prepared for any man-made or natural disaster that comes its way. You can find the article at the Canadian Free Press and ways to jumpstart your family emergency planning at the Life360 homepage.
It has been raining a lot here lately, but a week or so ago, we had this beautiful spring-like day. I found myself up the street from my house sitting on a rock that overlooked a local lake. It was one of those calm and warm days where it’s easy to understand what it feels like to be a lizard perched on a rock soaking in the sun. As is the norm these days, I started thinking about my life over the past few years and evaluating my decision not to work. Read More
Could a video game make your kid eat this? Michelle Obama thinks so. Photo by Anushruti RK
There’s been plenty of concern about video games’ role in the growing obesity rates of America’s youth, but the White House is hoping they can become a force for better health and education.
At a recent game developers’ conference, First Lady Michelle Obama announced a competition called “Apps for Healthy Kids,” which boasts $10,000 top prize. The challenge encourages designers to create socially conscious games that help kids eat right and learn about nutrition. Read More
Over at Babble, David Shenk has “4 Ways to Guide Your Child Toward Excellent,” or better put, tips for parents to help their kids succeed. The advice isn’t too specific, but I think it’s intentionally ambiguous so it can be applied to whatever part of your child’s life needs parental support. Here are the four steps and some excerpts from Shenk:
1. Believe
“Rather than wonder if their child is among the “gifted” chosen few, parents should believe deeply in the extraordinary potential of their children.”
2. Support, don’t smother
“Early exposure to resources is wonderful, as is setting high expectations and demonstrating persistence and resilience when it comes to life challenges. But a parent must not use affection as a reward for success or a punishment for failure.” Read More
I think we can all agree that the expectations we have of kids today is tremendous, but just how dangerous is it to their psychological health? Seeking to answer that question is a new documentary called Race to Nowhere, which looks into the pressures on students to overachieve. Watch the trailer below. Via ParentsAsk.
Race to Nowhere is a new documentary about the dark side of America’s achievement culture. Watch the trailer here.
The administration of Sacred Heart, a Catholic pre-school in Boulder, CO, expelled a student for having gay parents, citing the Catholic churches stern views on homosexuality.
“To allow children in these circumstances to continue in our school would be a cause of confusion for the student in that what they are being taught in school conflicts with what they experience in the home,” said the Archdiocese of Denver, in a formal statement.
Growing up, I went to a private Episcopalian high school. I was not Episcopalian, and many other students were of different denominations and entirely different religions. While I understand that Boulder’s Sacred Heart is there to serve the Catholic community, I think by not accepting students of different backgrounds undoes much of what the Catholic church stands for.
When parents push their kids to succeed — whether it’s academically or athletically — there’s a careful balance of nurturing a will to do his/her best and not forcing your kids to do something just because the parent is living vicariously through them. It’s tricky. In her column for the Los Angeles Times, Sandy Banks talks about how that tension can strengthen the bond between mother and daughter.
It took years on the soccer sidelines for me to learn to walk away, to honor my daughter’s wish that I please, please not embarrass her by becoming one of those parents who strides out onto the field to pick a fight with the referee.
I only recently realized that she was honoring my wish by strapping on those shin guards every week. She got tired of playing long before I let her quit.
I spent weekends with my daughter, traveling to games and tournaments. And if the love of soccer didn’t stick, well, the closeness between mother and daughter did.
The truth is I was surprised to find out that there was something scientific wrong with Eric. And I was shocked that it had a name.
I had secretly thought that his problems were my fault, and if only I had been making ABC photo books for Eric like I had for Paul, Eric would have been reading already. I had been so proud of myself for not comparing him to Paul. But I thought Paul was a genius, so Eric must just be average. And I was proud of myself for accepting that! But now I had to admit that Paul might be average and Eric was, perhaps, below average.
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Saturday, 12:30 PM. The scene is a local burger hangout. The pleasant aroma of burgers and fries fills the air. I am sitting at a table with my kids and another family. A group of older middle school children are hanging out at the next table waiting for their food. Each one has a smartphone. Each one is texting furiously. None of them are talking, looking at each other or engaging in any way. My friend says to me “They are probably all texting each other” and I realize this is probably true. 
I registered Eric for kindergarten again with a vague sense of déjà vu. Some of it was familiar (I still had the same folder with the paperwork from last year), but everything else seemed different. I felt much more relaxed and confident that Eric was going to be ready. And he would be starting kindergarten with an IEP — an Individual Education Program. Basically it meant that Eric had special needs and it was up to the school to meet those needs. He still needed to be reassessed to determine how much extra help he would receive. 
It has been raining a lot here lately, but a week or so ago, we had this beautiful spring-like day. I found myself up the street from my house sitting on a rock that overlooked a local lake. It was one of those calm and warm days where it’s easy to understand what it feels like to be a lizard perched on a rock soaking in the sun. As is the norm these days, I started thinking about my life over the past few years and evaluating my decision not to work.
Over at Babble, David Shenk has “4 Ways to Guide Your Child Toward Excellent,” or better put, tips for parents to help their kids succeed. The advice isn’t too specific, but I think it’s intentionally ambiguous so it can be applied to whatever part of your child’s life needs parental support. Here are the four steps and some excerpts from Shenk:
When parents push their kids to succeed — whether it’s academically or athletically — there’s a careful balance of nurturing a will to do his/her best and not forcing your kids to do something just because the parent is living vicariously through them. It’s tricky. In her column for the Los Angeles Times, Sandy Banks talks about how that tension can strengthen the bond between mother and daughter.
The truth is I was surprised to find out that there was something scientific wrong with Eric. And I was shocked that it had a name. 
