Parenting

A few months back, we talked about how some schools were banning Silly Bandz (more like Silly Banz—get it?). But the latest in bracelet bans is a controversial accessory that reads “I Love Boobies.”

Or at least it’s controversial in one school district in California. The bracelets, which are part of a fundraising campaign to raise awareness about breast cancer, have been banned because the word “boobies” was deemed offensive.

That’s silly! Maybe if it were a more offensive word than “boobies” (of which there are many), but combine that with the fact that these are made by the American Cancer Society, and I think we have the most ridiculous school ban of the year.

Do you think “I Love Boobies” bracelets should be banned from school?

From the Fresno Bee.

On a recent trip back to see my dad, I unearthed some of my elementary school class pictures. I expected a little more fanfare from my two sons as in, “Wow Mommy, you actually did used to be a kid!”, but they showed less interest than if I had supplied perhaps Spongebob’s second grade photo. “Did he wear a tie back then?”

I cannot stop studying the old photographs. I am the tiniest one front and center. My outfits range from an overly patterned jumper with dirty plastic go-go boots over drooping tights to a lovely fire retardant polyester top (is that a vest?) and matching elastic waist pants. The seventies were cruel fashion times.

I am certain that each outfit was in direct contrast to the taffeta skirt with a bow and a tartan plaid top that my mother had most likely picked out for me the night before picture day. I have blocked out the memories of our tears and sobs on the morning when I came downstairs in something I had chosen on my own.
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In fact it’s no surprise as we begin the new school year that I keep hearing moms ask the two questions, “How do I get my child to read everyday? And even more importantly how do I get him or her to love reading?”

Most schools ask that your child read 20 minutes a day as part of the daily homework routine. But when you’ve got a little one fighting reading time, that 20 minutes can feel like an hour. You may even start asking yourself the question, “What am I doing wrong?” Or even worse “Why does my child hate to read?”

Well first of all, you’re not alone. It’s been a pretty hot topic among the moms I know and threads keeping showing up on just about every parenting website out there with different variations of those same questions.

So here are a few tips on getting your little one to read.
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OK, that headline might be a little sensational, but many critics have called journalist Lenore Skenazy the “worst mom in America” (without irony) since she wrote about letting her 9-year-old son ride the subway by himself. It’s part of being a “free range parent,” which aims at raising self-reliant kids by letting them experience things on their own.

“I think we are much more pre-occupied with our children every second of the day,” says Skenazy. “Are they safe? Are they learning? Are they getting enough out of this moment, this class, this instant, when we’re supposed to be bonding, and we’re really afraid for them all the time.”

While I think Skenazy is a little bit on the extreme side — making sure your children are safe is paramount to parenting — I can’t help but think of free range kids as a reaction to the idea of the helicopter parent. Sure, a nine-year-old is too young to ride the subway by himself, but I can’t help but admire the idea of pushing kids to do more things on their own. As long as they’re safe, of course.

From Big Think. Photo by denmar.

Well, here we are, slowly inching our way toward the end of summer. School is back in session for the kids and once again, as parents, our schedules have changed. Perhaps we need to be up a bit earlier in the morning to get breakfast going and lunches made. There are the extra-curricular activities that we need to make sure the kids get to after school and at some point in the day we need to get our homework done. It’s also a shift to earlier bed times, which can pose additional challenges. The kids may be the ones who physically attend school, but mentally we are right there with them.

As I always do, I would like to acknowledge those of you with more than one child and the hard work you put out in taking care of all your kid’s needs. Having even just one child has shown me the light, and I now have a greater respect for all my mom did for my sister and me each and every day. It’s something us parents simply do without much appreciation, but it doesn’t mean we can’t appreciate ourselves and recognize that stay-at-home parents work hard. Do I dare say that going to work each day was a lot easier than raising a child or children every day?
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This surprised me: according to a poll from Skyscanner, 68% of respondents said they would support a no-kids-allowed section of an airplane. You know, so babies and children couldn’t bother passengers.

I think this is ridiculous that anyone would even suggestion an idea like that. Aside from the fact it would be impossible for an airline to segregate families, can’t we all get past the fact that flying is inevitably a miserable experience? If it’s not a baby keeping you up on that transcontinental red eye, it’s going to be the very large man snoring next to you.

I agree with the bloggers at Slate’s DoubleXX who think this is just another example of family bashing. She writes:

“Flying with fellow members of the great unwashed takes away our sense of having our own little fiefdoms of climate-controlled personal space and forces us to accommodate one another in ways that we’ve grown wary of… Kids are bad enough, but oh, the fat, the chatty, the rude, the smelly, why should any of us have to put up with such things? Perhaps the airlines recognize that once you begin excluding the ill-mannered, there won’t be anyone left to fly. ”

Should airlines have a no-children section on flights?

From Slate. Photo by jpmatth.

It feels like only yesterday my husband and I had a conversation about having a baby. How we ended up going from that one casual conversation to the proud parents of a second grader and a kindergartner is totally beyond me.

We wondered what it would be like to have our babies grow older and go to school, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t feel completely surreal once it actually happens. Letting our children go when they enter school is one of the most highly charged moments a parent can face.

Especially when it’s a child’s first year of school.

I think one reason sending the kids to kindergarten can be so anxiety ridden for some parents is because they have no control over what happens at school.
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Martha at Live Simply got rid of her DVR to save money, but she wonders if its absence is actually costing her money. Why? Because now that her family can’t fast forward through commercials, her kids are being influenced by them.

“My kids aren’t unusual here,” she writes. “Most kids believe what they see on TV. They want what they see. They want to do what they see the kids in TV commercials doing. This makes it all the more frustrating that children’s programming is so stuffed full of advertising—even stuff on PBS.”

Which of course turns into kids asking for and making parents buy whatever product is currently being hocked on high-rotation. Still, the real question here isn’t whether or not we should buy a DVR — although they are great — but why do parents have to “pay the price for the commercials our kids see on TV”?

From Live Simply. Photo by Leonid Mamchenkov.

It’s tough letting your kids go off to college. In a way, it’s one of the few parenting moments that really marks how your kids aren’t kids anymore. But how can your role as a parent extend through their college years?

Keeping in touch with your child is important, as long as you don’t go overboard. Obviously, the amount you can call depends on your child, but don’t be afraid to push a little bit. Even if your son or daughter says he/she is too cool to talk to their folks, they secretly appreciate it.

And of course, let your son/daughter know that if they ever need help with anything, you’re just a phone call or email away. They might not be under your roof anymore, but they can still rely on you for anything. Except beer money, of course.

If your child is having adjustment problems at college (which is common), give him/her the opportunity to work it out there. Every dormitory has a resident director or resident advisor trained to deal with such situations. Annoying roommates? Bad breakups? Homesickness? More likely than not, they’ve dealt with it before.

How did you cope with your child going to college?

From US News.

We all know that exercise for kids is a good thing. Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic in the United States and making sure our kids are getting enough exercise is almost as important as making sure they are eating healthy foods. This’s not exactly a hot news flash for most of us. But there is one specific aspect to exercise, specifically walking to school each day

It relieves stress.

OK, so we know exercise is a good stress relief for adults, but we hardly think of kids in need of stress relief. But they are, and according to a University of Buffalo study that was just released walking to school each day is a great way to help kids reduce the stress of the school day.

According to the study, kids who took a simulated “walk to school” showed lower elevations in blood pressure than kids who took a simulated “ride to school” when they all had a sudden test sprung on them later in the day.
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