Parenting Children

A simple hearing test given at birth may indicated a SIDS risk, a new U.S. study finds. Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center, in Seattle, analyzed data on 31 Rhode Island babies who died of SIDS.
They found that they all had the same difference in newborn hearing test. “Compared with other babies, those who died of SIDS scored four points lower in standard newborn hearing tests, across three different sound frequencies in the right ear.”
It was also found that healthy infants typically test stronger in the right ear than in the left. However, this was not true of the babies who died of SIDS.

Sudden Infant Death Syndrome kills about 1 in 1,000 infants a year, typically between 3-6 months of age.

SIDS, hearing tests, newborn hearing tests, infants, newborns, parents, parenting children

And Miles to go before we sleep has a blog carnival going on right now with a ton of recipes and craft ideas called Make it From Scratch, hosted by Heather L at It’s All For The Best.

People have submitted great ideas to do with or for your kids this summer from making your own homemade microwave popcorn, to making your own board games to making homemade pesto.

Go check it out!

summer fun, rainy day ideas, crafts, crafts for kids, teens, parents, school age kids, parenting

We are off to the beach for a few days and I am thinking of some things to do with the kids. Here are some fun beach ideas for kids of all ages.

PAINT SHELLS
1. Rinse a few shells with water and let them dry
2. Paint pictures on the inside of each shell
3. Set finished shells out in the sun until dry

MAKE BUBBLES
1. mix 1 cup of water with 1/3 cup of Dawn dishwashing liquid and 2 tablespoons of light corn syrup. Use straws to blow little bubbles.

MAKE SAND PICTURE
1. Get black or dark colored paper
2. Use the glue to draw a picture on the paper.
3. Sprinkle sand on the glue picture, then shake excess off.
4. Frame the masterpiece!

Have fun in the sun!

vacations, family vacations, kids, children, beach crafts, crafts for vacation, arts & crafts, parenting children, family

Have you heard of this new show that is to be premiering on CBS this fall called Kid Nation? It is a modern day Lord of the Flies where they will be 40 children aged 8 to 15 years old, that are all on their own in a old mining town in New Mexico. Their mission to fix adult’s mistakes and make the ghost town into a town that works.

They are left to fend for themselves, they need to make sure they sleep, eat and work all while dealing with things many of these children have not dealt with before, isolation, homesickness and maybe even breaking some rules. Rules that they themselves made.

I have read that CBS would not say how close these parents were to the set or if they had any invovement with their kids at all during the 40 day stay. As for it being a good show, that remains to be seen, I like reality TV but this seems like pushing the envelope.
The show is also under some harsh critisism from the state child labor law officials saying that the kids sometimes worked 14 hours a day to rebuild the town.

I wonder who these parents are who sign away their children’s lives for 40 days. I would never want to be separated from my young children for 40 days never mind unsupervised and with 39 other children. When I have teenagers I may just change my mind. Please, take them for 40 days, I will pay you!

I want to know what you think of this show, will you be watching it with your children? Would you let your children do a project like this one? Is this a little too real for young children or is it inspiring?

Kid Nation, TV shows, teens, preteens, parenting, family, parenting children, kids, media, television

In my last post, I talked about parenting styles and do you have one or do you match one to the personality of your child.

Maybe people aren’t even aware of their parenting styles. If you want to see what type of parent you are, take this quiz.

parenting styles, parenting, kids, moms, dads

Having twins is truly a blessing but difficult as well. Just because you had two babies at once doesn’t mean they are the same child, they are individuals and they have shown that to us since they were in the womb. My daughter was bigger, she was taking all the nutrients, and on one ultrasound I did witness her kicking her brother in the head.
L, my son was and still is smaller, more sensitive, a follower and his sister is his leader.

Parenting these children at the same time can be challenging. I was glad I found this article on parenting styles on www.aboutourkids.org.
Do you have a parenting style like authoritative or laid back and parent all your children that way, or do you change your parenting style to fit the child? Does having a different parenting style for each child cause conflict in the family, like jealousy?

These are things my husband and I struggle with when one child is a better sleeper and is very bossy and the other is very sensitive and shy.

What type of parent are you?

parenting, parenting styles, kids, children, moms, dads, family, families, teens, new parents, raising children

While I was getting my kids ready for bed on Friday which includes reminding them to go to the bathroom, last call for everything fun and a requisite tooth brushing. I did R’s teeth first and noticed something strange. Did that tiny bottom tooth just move when I touched it with the toothbrush or am I losing my mind?

The tooth did move. My four year and five month old baby has a loose tooth. I did what every mom would do when presented with a loose tooth so early: I freaked out.
This is too early, don’t kids lose their teeth at 6 or 7 years old?
I examined L for any loose teeth (negative) and put them to bed.
Then I called my friend who is a dental hygienist.
“Can your baby teeth fall out because your Mom doesn’t brush them well enough?” I asked her. In the end no, her teeth are healthy but that little tooth that came in first and very early at 4 months and 6 days of age, is ready to come on out.

I am faced with having a toothless four year old! The tooth is loose but not super, hanging by a thread loose. I couldn’t handle that, I need to ease on into the pumpkin smile look.
Just to be sure I am making an appointment with a dentist for both of my kids, they are due for their annual checkup anyway.

When did your kids loose their teeth and how fast did they come in?

loose teeth, losing teeth, children, preschooler, moms, parenting, life with kids

If my sometimes picky children are having trouble eating what is on their plates, I try this trick: I say “please don’t eat me R!” or “Oh no, I don’t want to be eaten please. Save the broccoli!”

My ventriloquist skills need some work but it is enough to get some laughs and defiant bites of food. This trick works 80% of the time.

mom tricks, picky eaters, getting kids to eat, mom tips

Twin Ecuadorian girls who were separated at birth were recently reunited 15 years later. The mother of one of the twins girls saw a girl who more then resembled her daughter. She had to find out who this girl was.

The biological mother said she was not told she delivered twins and that the doctor who had raised one of the girls as his own, stole one of her babies.

The girls want to stay with the parents that raised them but would like to explore a relationship with the sister they never knew existed.

source

twins, family, families, parenting, children, separated at birth

There are a lot of things I wanted to talk about and there never seems like there is enough time in the day. I decided to put it all together in this one post.

Are you looking to make friends in your area like I am? Maybe you just relocated and are looking for great recommendations for spas, childcare or dentists? Try Mamasource.comYou can ask questions or give reviews to other moms in your community. It is a great resource.

The people of babble just launched babblepedia, a parenting Wikipedia, if you will. Right now they are having a contest, the person who writes the most entries by July 31st wins $1000.00! If you don’t want to write a review then just catch up on all your baby There are a lot of things I wanted to talk about and there never seems like there is enough time int he day. I decided to put it all together in this one post.

Gerber recalled some of their baby cereal.

Lead poisoning is still a concern for parents. Learn if your child is at risk for lead poisoning and if you need to get them tested.

If you are still in the market for kids bathing suits or beach towels, the Disney store is having a swim sale.

Lastly, if you are looking for something for your children to do online besides what Noggin.com or Nickjr.com has to offer, try www.uptoten.com. They offer free games, animated cards, coloring and more for kids who are under the age of ten. My kids, who are very new to the computer, love it.

kids, parenting, recalls, online games for kids, children, family, lead poisoning, babblepedia, moms

It is my worst fear, backing up into someone or something I did not or could not see and it happens every day.
Yesterday a Wisconsin Senator backed into his nearly two year old granddaughter and killed her.

He left to go to a meeting and she was in the couch with her grandmother, she must have slipped out of the house and seconds later was ran over by his vehicle.

It is a terrible accident, one that you must blame yourself for every day. Car makers must be made to make it easier for people to see behind them, especially on these huge, wide trucks that are all over the road. There must be better rearview windows on cars, sensors that tell you there is an object to close to the car and cameras on the back so you can accurately see what is in your path.
It is very, very sad.

senator runs over granddaughter, car safety, family cars, kids, children, toddlers, parenting, moms, dads

It seems like you can’t get away from these stories in the summer time, a four year old boy drowned in a pool at Great America in Santa Clara California on Thursday.

He had come to the park with his mother and his sister but nobody knew if they were supervising him in the pool. There are always lifeguards on duty but with so many people in a pool at a given time and how quickly it takes and accident to happen I could never count on the lifeguards to save anyone.

The problem with water parks is that there are many people who go there who are not good swimmers or are mediocre swimmers but think the lifeguards will be there to save them when things go wrong. I would never let my children go in a pool unsupervised at someone’s home, never mind a water park.

This is one of many deaths and injuries at Great America. There have been a number of notable injuries and accidents at Great America, some of which are listed below. Please see Incidents at Cedar Fair parks for additional information on these and other incidents.

In 1980, a 14-year-old boy was killed and several others injured on the (now defunct) Willard’s Whizzer roller coaster.
In 1989, two boys intentionally jumped out of the Loggers’ Run ride. One was killed and the other fell safely onto a platform.[citation needed]
In 1998, after riding Top Gun, a man disregarded the warning signs and entered a locked, gated area underneath the ride to retrieve a hat. He was hit and killed by the foot of a passenger on the Top Gun train. The passenger suffered a broken leg.
In 1999, a 12-year-old boy fell out of the Drop Zone Stunt Tower and died
On July 12, 2007, a 4 year old boy drowned in the Boomerang Bay’s Great Barrier Reef wave pool.*

How safe do you think amusement or water parks are? Do you let your children go to these places in the summer time?

water parks, Great America, amusement parks, dangerous water parks, kids, teens, parenting, family

Some days of motherhood are so very long, others seem to fly by. Most feel like groundhog’s day, the same routine, the same meals, the same everything just repeated day after day.
I wasn’t aware there would be this much loneliness and boredom with the job of “mother”. Even with friends and people who email me about this blog or comment that they too are in the same boat, a person can still feel lonely.

Many more days then I care to admit, I lose my patience with the kids. I have no help it is just my husband E, and I. Having twins makes it more challenging. I know on some days the only thing that keeps me going is bedtime! Sweet, sweet bedtime.

Then when they are asleep under their covers, reminding me of when I first brought them home from the hospital, my little bundles of love. That makes it all alright. I forget the pains of the day like I have forgotten the pains of labor. I vow to do it better the next day.

Even now as I hear my children fighting over a toy in the next room, as my mind wanders to bedtime, I promise to do it better today.
Its my job.

kids, parenting, moms, SAHM, twins, children, staying sane at home

Top five reason why my children are strange:

1) They love Christmas music.* All year round they listen to it on their little cd player they have and sing along at the top of their lungs.

2) My son will not wear collared shirts or shirts with stripes. Oh yeah, and he won’t wear plain gap t-shirts either because they “have a bear tag on them”. The result is that I have at least 20 shirts he will not wear, most of them are brand new.

3) Every night at dinner they say they do not like something on their plate that they have eaten and loved no less then 10 times. They always end up eating it. Now we just ignore their initial disgust.

4) They do not like chicken nuggets, french fries, any kind of potato in any form, eggs, hot dogs or cotton candy. I thought all kids like this stuff!
Not that I want them to like these things, I try to feed them healthy meals but they have been offered these things at parties, fairs and school and neither of them like any of it at all.
Instead they like sushi, feta cheese, peas, sharp cheddar, past with LOTS of parmesean cheese and almonds.

5) They love each other and us. When my husband is at work or if one of us takes another out, the twins ask for each other the whole time. Or one of us.
I am sure this will change in about 4 years or so. I am holding on while it lasts.

* I love Christmas music all year long too, I admit it.

kids, children, parents, parenting, twins

Do you have a child who suffers from ADD, ADHD, Depression or Bipolar disorder? Do you have questions about medications, diagnosis or what exactly the disorder is?

Now you can ask a specialist. I have someone who has worked in the mental health field and has a vast knowledge of the disorders of children and the treatment. He is willing to answer your questions and maybe give you the extra help or knowledge that maybe you are lacking from your doctor or schools.

Email me from the “contact me” link on the right hand of the page and let us see if we can help you out!

ADD, ADHD, bipolar disorder, depression in kids, depression, kids, children, parenting, ADD medications, children on medications, parenting