Parenting Children

The love between a father and his son:

sailor surprises his son, fathers and sons, dads, children, love,

I think compared to most kids our children do not watch a lot of television. They do watch TV in the morning after they wake up and they may watch one show in the afternoon after a nap. I have shows that I like them to watch and others that I do not. They also rarely watch live television. I TiVo the shows I like on Noggin, which doesn’t have commercials during the show. They also love shows on PBS, no commercials for the golden arches or silly Barbie dolls there either.

According to the Washington Post, a new study done on commercials in 2005 found that “Food is the number one product advertised to kids, followed by media such as music, video games and movies”.
You know what kind of food they are talking about, it is not fruits and vegetables.

The study found that 8-to-12-year-old children see the most food commercials, an average of 21 a day which is 7,600 ads per year, 13 to 17 years old viewed 17 food ads a day, an annual total of more than 6,000 and kids ages 2 to 7, saw 12 food ads per day, or 4,400 a year.
That is a lot of candy, snacks and fast food ads.

After food, the most common products in televisions ads aimed at children and teens were music, video games and movies.

We know advertisers love teens and kids. They want the cereal box with the toy inside, they love the toys from their favorite movies and have you seen the gummy snacks lately? Every box is another character from Cinderella, to Spiderman to Animal Planet.
Don’t even get me started on the cereal aisle.

It is bad enough that they come home from preschool and ask me for all of the things they never knew existed that their friends had like yogos, or gummy snacks.
This study made me realize that I will be taping our kids shows and skipping the commercials for a long time to come!

commercials, kid’s tv, kid’s shows, television for kids, kids, teens, toddlers, food for kids, snacks, fast food

There is a new study out that says pregnant woman who eat meat at least six or seven times a week, may produce sons who have a lower sperm count.
The reason isn’t clear but they do think it has to do with the pesticides, hormones and chemicals found in beef and they are affecting the testes of the male babies while in the womb.

There are six different anabolic hormones that are used in cattle in the US and Canada, three are synthetic and three are natural. All of these have been banned from use in cattle in Europe in 1988.

The women, who ate at meat at least seven times a week, had sperm concentrations 24.3 percent lower then sons whose mothers did not that much beef. They were still fertile, but may take longer to conceive a child.

I am not sure what to think of this study. When I first read it, I thought to myself “It is always something, don’t eat big fish, no sushi, beware of deli meats and no soft cheese!” What should you eat when you are pregnant?
Any regular readers of this blog will know how I feel about organic foods. When I was pregnant I know I watched what I ate, other moms I knew ate whatever they felt like.
I know I did have aversions to meat and chicken and did not eat much of those my entire pregnancy.
I also think pregnant women need protein but there are many different ways to get protein then from meat.

What do you think of this study? If you are pregnant will it keep you away from meat, or do you eat what you want to eat?

pregnant, pregnancy, cravings, pregnant women and red meat, fertility, what to eat when you are pregnant, organic foods

Check out this hysterical video on how to potty train your kids:

potty training, kids, learnign to use teh potty, funny videos

L: Oh God!
Me: L! We don’t say that
L: ooohhhhh.
L: Oh Jesus!

R: Mom, when I am a baby in your belly again I promise not to kick you!
Me: Gee, thanks

L: whispers sometimg to me
Me: I can’t hear you
L: quiet again
Me: Speak up, L, I can’t hear you!
L: still so quietly sayig something
me: Forget, it I can’t hear you!
L: finally yelling at me “Mom, I told you a hunderd times! Gosh!”

funny things kids say, kids, preschoolers, life with kids

The choice for me to stay at home with our twins was made for me. My husband was transferred 1.5 hours away from our hometown where all of our friends and family are when I was 8 months pregnant. I would have to leave my job, and there was nobody to watch our kids full or part time unless we put them in daycare. With two infants, the cost of daycare would have taken up 75% of my paycheck and therefore, not financially worth working outside the home.

I am thankful, because I love staying home with my kids and I couldn’t imagine them staying with a stranger all day.

Many mothers chose to continue their career or do not have a choice in the matter. They leave their children in daycare during their working hours and I am sure that must be very hard.

Today, an article in the New York Times caught my eye about children in daycare. An American child care center has found a preschooler who is in day care for at least one year has an increased chance of having behavior problems in grade school up until the sixth grade.
This was despite the child’s gender, parent’s income or the quality of the day care center.

What does this mean? I guess that we need to be more sensitive to children’s development and how hard it may be to transition into grade school.

What do you think of this study?

You can read the entire article from the New York Times here.

daycare, kids in day care, preschoolers, moms, dads, working mothers

My twins go in and out of being picky eaters just like most preschoolers. Sometimes they will eat everything and anything that I have in the house, other times they suddenly are repulsed by granola bars and hate mini bagels.
Those are the times when I start pulling out my hair.

I have a few tricks that gets my kids to eat even when they are on a eating strike.

Kids love to dip anything, put fruit chunks on popsicle sticks and lt them dip their “kebobs” into yogurt.

My children love to dip vegetable sticks into spinach dip that I make. They will eat tons of it and I even serve it for lunch sometimes.

Tortilla chips and salsa is a great snack, one that I even pack for lunch for them.

My sister and I loved celery sticks with cream cheese or peanut butter when we were kids and although at first my kids were not into it, but after watching an episode of Wonder Pets (who eat celery), they now love it.
I add raisins and tell them to eat all of the ants on the log.

Fruit and nut granola in yogurt is one of their everyday favorites and I love it for breakfast or after dinner snack also.

Lastly the new trick in my house to get a child to finish their meal is to tell them not to.
I will say “OK R, that sandwich doesn’t want you to be eaten” ” Don’t you eat it”. That gets her giggling and eating it all up as I feign horror.

[picky eaters, preschoolers, toddlers, snack ideas, parenting ideas, parenting help, meal ideas for kids, moms [/tags]

It was 8pm and both of my children have been in bed for a half an hour. My husband and I were excited to sit down and watch TV together with a little wine.
As we debated which show to watch we heard footsteps. Someone has come downstairs and I know exactly how it is going to play out.

“R, what are you doing out of bed?” I asked.
“I have to ask Daddy something Mommy”
“Daddy, L said we should get out of bed and tell you we can’t sleep and we want to watch a show in L’s room”
“Oh? L said?” my husband asked.
“Yes, Daddy, just one show, just one and then we will go to bed” She told him cocking her head to one side and sparkling those big blue eyes at him.
I knew he was in trouble. BIG trouble.
“Ok, just ONE show though and no fooling around!” he told her trying to sound stern

“Oh now we make bargains with four year olds? I ask my husband
He just turned and smiled. My kids knew who to send down as a representative for their cause and which parent to ask. They know he is more lenient when it comes to things like watching TV or getting chips packed in their lunches.

All I can do is laugh, because he has the daughter and son he always wanted and they have him wrapped around their little fingers.

parenting, Dads, spoiled kids, spoiling kids, life with kids, moms

Here are some cute ideas for your school age or even toddler children for Easter. Have them draw chicks, eggs, bunny’s, crosses, anything easter or spring related. Then seal them in clear con-tac paper or laminate them at your locale office supply store. Glue a magnet on the back.
Then you have decoarations year after year!

Fill a bowl with green jellybeans. Then place chocolate bunny lollipops in the jellybeans. That is a cute and yummy centerpiece.

Take a clear or white candle holder and glue on colored peeps. It is an adorable way to have a little bit of spring in every room of the house.

Make rice Krispie treats color them with orange food coloring and shape them into carrot shapes. Then leave as is, or shape a green gumdrop for the stem.
That is a cute favor for a party or to bring into school.

Buy some big peeps and turn one over. Fill with frosting, whipped cream or cool whip then add another peep on top. Yummy peep sandwiches.

I hope this helps you fill a rain day around the house, or just adds a little bit of Easter and springtime inside.

What are some of yoru favorite Easter treats or decorations?

spring decorations, Easter crafts, Easter ideas, kid crafts, rainy day ideas, peeps, treat ideas, SAHM, crafts, favors for kids, Easter, spring

Everyone knows that new babies sleep all the time. Everyone that is, except the new baby.
Just ask my friend A whose adorable son is just four weeks old.

She is struggling with night feeding when the baby just wants to be awake and every fiber of your being wants to be asleep. After all, he is sleeping most of the day while you are attending to his every need. Did he forget to read the sleep memo you gave him in the womb?

I wanted to strangle the people who told me to “just sleep when the babies sleep”. That is great, in theory, but then when do you shower/eat/make bottles/clean/do laundry/make SOS calls to your husband? That didn’t work for me.

The best laid plains can backfire but at least you have a plan to agree on. I think planning on who is going to do what feeding with your husband or partner is a good idea even before you have the baby.
Who likes to go to sleep earlier? That person can take a morning feeding.
When can you pump during the day to make sure there is a bottle ready for your partner in the night so you can get that block of 3-4 hour uninterrupted sleep? That four hour block makes such a difference on your outlook for the day.

Try and make sure your baby can “self soothe”. Babies do wake up at night, even if your child sleeps through the night, but the difference is he is putting himself back to sleep without your assistance.
Stimulating him by rocking or picking him up and singing to him doesn’t give him the skills to get himself back to sleep.
I know, easier said then done when there is a crying baby at 3am!

My only other piece of advice is accept help. When people come over and tell you they will watch the baby, don’t feel bad or that you have to entertain them, accept the help and take a nap. The dishes will wait.
After all they are there to see the baby, not you.

infants, sleep, babies and sleep, new moms, pregnancy, first time moms, sleep advice

Every day, about 300 young children with burn injuries are taken to emergency rooms.
They are not children who were playing with matches or running around a campfire, they were burned with hot, scalding water.

Scald burns (caused by hot liquids or steam) are the most common burn injury among children age 4 and younger. In 2003, U.S. hospitals treated an estimated 16,000 children under 5 for scalds, according to the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

These number are distressing but what is more upsetting is knowing that these burns could have been prevented because 95% of them happen in the home.

I recently was watching a program with new home ideas and this was one of them. It is a LED light that attaches to your faucet and lights the water blue. Very cool and will get yoru kids to wash their hands longer then .07 seconds. The best part of this faucet light is that the color of the water turns red if the temperature of the water gets up to 89 degrees.

This way kids can see that it is hot and not to touch the water. The best part? It is cheap at $19.99.

Maybe this will help a child not be badly burned.

LED faucet lights, scalds, burns, children and burns, kids, children, scalding water, parenting ideas

We first took our kids on a airplane when they were nine months old. Since then they have been on three other flights. I was always nervous about flying with them, how they would react, how they would deal with sitting for a three + hour flight. I have always been pleasantly surprised.

I had a plan. I would have bottles ready for them during takeoff and landing. I had baby tylenol ready to go in case someone was miserable. I put away some of their toys weeks before our flight so they would be all new to them when we got on the plane.

When they were a little older I worried they would want to get down and walk around, explore. They sure did but I redirected their attention to the new little toys I had bought at the dollar store before our trip like crayons, books, molding clay and toy cars. It worked. Snacks in your carry on or purse are like gold.
I also always tried to arrange the flight around nap time. When we could we booked flights on JetBlue so they could watch nickelodeon and we always traveled with our portable dvd player and they even got a new movie or two (one for the flight home).

We always tried to get to the gate early and go off to an unused corner and let them out of their stroller to run around. Burn off some energy and let them run wild. This would scare the passengers on our plane, they would think they were going to fly with two little hellions, but they would sleep most of the flight just like they do on long car rides.
Plus here is a tip, if you don’t want kids on your flight? Don’t go to Florida.

What are your tips for traveling with kids?

traveling with kids, flying with kids, children, kids, babies, vacation, family vacations, parent hack, parenting

When someone says these two words to you, what springs to your mind: new baby.
I know what comes first to my mind, luscious, smooth baby skin. For some babies this soft skin doesn’t last because 20% of all babies have eczema, a skin condition that leaves scaly, dry patches in certain spots on your child or in more severe cases, all over.
It is itchy and uncomfortable to have.

It also can be inherited.
A family that suffers from the “atopic triad” of linked ailments (hay fever, asthma, and eczema) may have children throughout generations that can have either these illnesses or eczema.

Although it can never be “cured” most kids will outgrow eczema by the time they are seven years old or so. In other cases it can be controlled by diet, or by recognizing what is triggering it like detergent, food (milk, eggs, nuts or tomatoes)pet dander and dry skin.

If your child has eczema remember to moisturize well and when it comes to moisturizers, less is more. My rule of thumb is, the more natural the ingredients and the ones with the least amount of chemicals you cannot pronounce is the better one for your child’s skin.
As always if you think that your child’s rash is more then just eczema or if your child is very uncomfortable and nothing is working, consult your doctor. They can prescribe steroid creams that work very well for the more extreme cases.

eczema, rashes, babies, infants, kids, skin rash, moisturizers, lotions for kids, parenting

I think the hardest part of being a child is the pressure to conform. You remember what it is like to have the same jeans or shoes as all your friends or how you talked just like your friends.
You wanted to fit in, to be like them so you didn’t stand out. The kids who stood out were the “freaks” or “nerds”.

Nobody wanted to be labeled. Nobody wanted to be different. A lot of the times the “in or cool” things are the expensive purses or designer shirts. Many parents can’t afford those things, or think it is ridiculous to pay $49.00 for a T-shirt. Who can blame them?

That is why I am liking school uniforms more and more. To create an even playing ground, so in school everyone looks the same. Individuality or creativity with clothing will have to come after school and on weekends. It could also help curb gang violence or theft in schools.
How do you feel about this?

school uniforms, school, kids, conforming, parenting

R and L have so many toys. Really too many. I know I am partially to blame for that because in the past I have bought them toys just because. I have since changed my ways but the kids still have too much.

How much do you hate it when they go to a friends house and play with a toy they have but never play with at home??
We started rotating toys when the kids were about 12 months old. I will take some toys put them away in a box in the basement and bring some toys up that they haven’t seen in awhile.
This keeps the toys fresh without having to buy new toys.
It is new, to them!

toys, kids, toddlers, children, parenting ideas, parents, too many toys