Karen Alley, The Daily Post. As web editor, Karen blogs every day about news and events that are going on either in our area or on a national realm. Bringing together hot topics with local ties is what keeps her perspective on the news interesting.
Renee, Teen-dom Tales, provides a look into the life of a mom of a teen, a stage of life that brings with it a whole new realm of parenting challenges.
Stephanie, Mamma Said, writes witty and insightful posts chronicling the development of her two young boys, ages 3 and 1. As a Greensboro resident, they're out and about at locales around the Triad quite often, and she also brings in the working mom perspective at times, with her part time job.
Lisa, The Single Mom's Soliloquy, adds a different spin on parenting as she writes about the issues, challenges and joys of raising a daughter as a single mom. Her look at life in the new world order of blended families and split families is refreshing and sometimes controversial.
Heather Maggs, of The Time Out Corner, presents a humorous blog on the roller coaster life of a stay-at-home mom of a toddler.
Myra Wright, familiar to you as our editor, also blogs inPiedmont Ponderings. It's a great outlet for her creative sense of humor, and she brings some great perspective to life in King as the mother of three kids.
Halloween is here! And is it just my imagination, or does it seem like the sugar high the kids will be on after this weekend lasts all the way through to New Year's? Halloween is sort of the unofficial start of the holiday season, and the kids know how exciting it all is, and soak it all in. Whether you "trunk or treat" at your church, hit one of the events at the mall or trick or treat in your neighborhood, the fun of Halloween is getting a bunch of candy, just for saying "trick or treat." But we parents are watching all that candy fall into the bags and having nightmares of cavities and hyperactivity!
How can you control the sugar high? One way is to make sure they're well fed before trick or treating. Have a good dinner, with protein, fiber and a lot of water, to give them energy for the activities but also curb the cravings for sugar. When you're home, let them choose one or two pieces, but you don't have to put the candy away and end the fun. Sort the candy into different piles by type, or by size, or even by color. It's a great way to enjoy the candy and sneak in a little learning as well.
About.com offers some other tips for avoiding eating too much candy, including taking it to work after a few days. Keeps the kids from the sugar overload, but that's where the parents start packing on the holiday pounds!
Here's some good news. Not everything associated with Halloween is bad for you. Those pumpkins that we carve are really a power food, full of beta carotene and fiber. So in addition to carving one up, pick up a couple of cans of pumpkin at the store and make your favorite pumpkin bread, or try Stephanie's Pumpkin Bars, they're easy to make and the kids love them.
Sugar, sugar and more sugar. We all know it's important for kids to eat something in the morning. It keeps their energy up and helps them do better in school. But what they eat is just as important, improving retention school performance. Which makes the news this week that the top cereals marketed to children contain 85% more sugar than cereals marketed to adults important for parents to take note. The report also states that kids see 642 cereal ads a year on TV. This surprised me, knowing that cereal manufacturers such as Kelloggs had voluntarily put marketing restraints on their comipanies a couple of years ago, limiting marketing of cereals to kids to ones that have less than 12 teaspoons of sugar.
Cereal's not a bad choice. It's quick and easy, kids like it, and thanks to the changes in labeling, it's easier than ever to make smart choices when purchasing the boxes that populate your kitchen cabinets. Just make sure you're reading labels and helping kids make the decisions, rather than letting them have free reign over what cereals make it home from the grocery store.
And there are plenty of other ways to entice kids to eat a healthy breakfast before school. Try yogurt, whole wheat toast, fruit smoothies or an egg sandwich.
SouthernFood.About.com offers some good ideas for breakfast prep tips, things to do to make it faster to fix breakfast in the morning.
And for those days when you have a little more time, here are a couple of sites with good breakfast recipes.
It's never too early to start thinking about preschool. If the thought's crossed your mind that you might want to start your child in a program next year, now is the time to be figuring out where you might want to enroll. It takes time to check out schools, ask friends for advice and fully do your research. And that spring enrollment will come earlier than you think!
Our November issue has hit the stands, and it includes our coveted Preschool Directory, a comprehensive listing of preschools in the area which includes their rates, information about their programs and more. Wondering if preschool is really necessary? Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has made improving childhood education one of his priorities, and for a reason. It helps kids be ready for the rigors of kindergarten, but there's much more to be learned at preschool than just how to write their name. Read Cristi Driver's article, Preschool--More Than Just the ABCs.
By now you've probably heard that Walt Disney is offering a refund for parents who bought Baby Einstein DVDs thinking they were going to make their kids smarter. It's not really a new debate, for years there have been articles written about whether the dvds were really good for babies, like this Newsweek article from 2007. But the official mea culpa from Disney is creating a firestorm of editorials and blogs about the subject now, and I think it's all pretty fascinating. From moms who admit to be taken in by the whole campaign, looking to do everything they could to give their children a better start, to people who say the fact that parents even fell for the marketing ploy prove even the parents aren't Einsteins. This article pulls from a few blogs and editorials to give you a summary of what's being said.
Maybe there's no guarantee your child will be smarter because he watched some Baby Einstein videos. But it can't be bad to be exposed to a little Mozart, right? I learned quite a bit of classical music appreciation just by watching Tom & Jerry as a kid, and whenever I hear the Barber of Seville I immediately think of Bugs Bunny.
There are parents who keep their kids from watching TV at all. And there are parents who probably let their kids watch too much TV. I know I've used it as a babysitter before, grabbing a few minutes where both kids will sit still just so I can get the laundry in the dryer and lunch made in peace. The important thing to remember is to limit the amount of screen time kids have. The American Academy of Pedicatrics recommends 1-2 hours per day at the most. And watch TV with your kids. When you're by their side you can enhance the educational benefits they'll be getting. Because let's face it, kids can learn from watching TV. Sesame Street gets them singing the alphabet, among many other things that educational program teaches. My kids know quite a bit of Spanish, thanks to Dora. And even watching some good old sitcoms can be a learning opportunity. My daughter's been watching reruns of Full House and the Cosby Show in the afternoons, and when Jesse's father died on the show it was a good opportunity for me and my daughter to talk about a recent death in our own family and how we've been affected by it since the funeral.
What do you think about the Baby Einstein refund and all the debate on TV? Will you be getting your money back?
Do you every yell at your kids? Who doesn't? Apparently, now that spanking is taboo and we're all sending the kids to timeout (right...) the newest social taboo is yelling. It's just not cool for parents to lose their cool, and an article in last week's New York Times even goes so far as to suggest that yelling at our children might actually be harmful to them. Thank goodness the mom bloggers immediately took note and came back with the "give me a break" reaction. We all raise our voices at our kids at some point. And sure, we all feel guilty about it. But is our society really getting to the point where we're going to try to make parents feel even worse for yelling at their kids?
The New Republic blogger states this isn't even worth being written about as news, that it's not a trend and it's been going on for years and kids don't turn out psychologically damaged. Momlogic agrees the article went a bit overboard. And Momfidence gives the writer of the article her weekly "Lighten up and eat a cookie" award.
I'm glad I'm not the only one that has been known to yell at my kids. And I'm glad to see plenty of moms chiming in, at least in cyberspace, that calling yelling the new spanking is a little bit of a stretch.
But haven't we all wished we could stop the yelling? I have had a friend recommend the book, "Have a New Kid in a Week." Of course, she hasn't finished reading it yet, and I haven't started, but I've heard it's great and that it really helps curb the yelling. For some other tips on how to help not yell at your kids quite so much, check out these tips from Suite 101's Parenting Insights. But most importantly, the next time you raise your voice and then wish you hadn't, remember, you're not alone!
