Wednesday, June 1, 2011
How much challenge is too much, too soon?
It all started with a parent-teacher conference at our daughter's daycare center. That was when my husband was told that our three-year-old had learned most of what they had to teach her at the center: she could count, was learning simple math, could write most of her letters and knew all of her shapes and colors, and even had a grasp on phonics. They had already been working with her individually rather than with the rest of her preschool class, and she had basically finished the entire daycare curriculum already, even though there was a higher preschool-level class of kids a year older than her at the center. They would start working with her on whole-word recognition, they told us, but suggested we might want to look for some other …
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
We're heading off on our first road trip since we became a family of four, and I'm scared to death.
Memorial Day Weekend is almost here, the official launch of summer and weeks when the Land of 10,000 Lakes becomes the highway of 10,000 road trips. We're getting an early start on the family vacation this year with a long weekend in Omaha for my grandmother's 90th birthday, an event I'm both excited about and filled with dread over. I can't wait to finally greet my family, many of whom have never even seen our new son, except via Facebook pictures and YouTube videos. But the actual process of getting there? That is definitely not something I'm looking forward to. Night Driving "We learned pretty early on from our car trips to Omaha with Vi that our best bet for easy traveling was to take off shortly before she was ready to go to bed, and …
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Is it wrong that on Mother's Day I sort of want to run away from the kids?
Mother's Day is coming up on Sunday, and just like every year since I gave birth, I'm filled with the tiniest sense of dread. I know full well that my family loves me, and I most definitely don't need a special day for them to show me that fact. I see it every time my daughter's eyes light up when I go to wake her up in the morning and we have a moment of snuggling together in her bed, or in that grin that takes over my five-month-old son's entire face when he sees me after daycare in the evenings. Still, I know that it's important for everyone to be able to participate in showing me that I matter to them, regardless of what sort of emotional toil and fallout may occur in the display. Like this morning, when I pointed out to Vi that she …
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Does doing things homemade help make holiday memories?
Do you have favorite holiday traditions and recipes? Add yours in comments below. With my children growing older, I have been looking for ways to rekindle the traditions I remember from my childhood and create new memories for my family. The more we could create together, the more memorable the holiday would be. We couldn't wait to introduce Violet to her first Easter-egg dying session and assumed three years old would be old enough to start. Although we lost as many eggs in the process as we actually managed to dye—no matter how hard you boil, eggs won't stand being thrown on the hardwood floor—the attempt was sort of a success. Store-bought vs. Homemade Egg Dyes You can purchase the traditional Paas egg kit at Target for about $1.50 to…
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Parents have their child's best interest at heart, but authorities sometimes say they have an obligation to step in.
Is it ever OK for authorities to overrule parents? It's a nightmare scenario: two new parents, just after the mother gives birth, learn they risk arrest if they leave the hospital with their child. That's what a couple in Nevada faced after a nurse called child protective services because the parents refused to allow their newborn to stay in the hospital's NICU for jaundice treatment, preferring to treat the disorder "naturally." The story, as reported, appears to be missing some details that might clarify the situation. It seems there might be another, underlying reason—beyond mild jaundice—that the nurse pushed for police intervention. But regardless, the story is a reminder for many parents that their parental decisions open them up to …
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Spring is here, the paths are clearing, but watch out for the stroller brigade.
Which strollers are best—SUVs, umbrellas, portables or even twin-seater "street sweepers" (as my husband calls them)? Now that spring is officially here, it's more inevitable than water in the basement that sidewalks, bike paths, trails and zoos that will soon be swarming with strollers. But how much stroller do you really need and which stroller is the best? With literally five strollers currently littering my home, I do have a few answers. 'SUVs' The popular travel systems with bucket car seat and underbelly storage seem to be ubiquitous with having a baby these days, but despite the fact that everyone seems to have one (or, in our case, two), in many ways they are one of the least useful strollers you can have. If you plan to travel on …
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
A work-at-home mom does two jobs simultaneously—and neither includes a lunch break.
The happiest day of 2010 for me was the day that our new son was born. The happiest day of 2011? The day he finally slept all night without somebody having to hold him. It never occurred to me that the littlest things, like actually sleeping in the same bed at the same time for the first time in more than six weeks, would become such huge victories. But life has completely changed after having our second child, and in ways we never really expected. No one tells you that two kids isn't really twice the work, that it somehow magnifies by a power of 10 or 20. That naps are never going to mesh correctly, and one child is almost always awake at any given moment. There is no hand-off or quiet moment. One kid will always be screaming, just as …
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Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Here's a chance to lend your parenting expertise and local knowledge to others.
You're invited to join Fridley Patch in an exciting project that we're launching for parents in our community. We are recruiting a Moms Council of three to five knowledgeable mothers (fathers welcome, too) who would help us answer questions posted by parents, lead discussions of key parenting topics in the area, and reach out to online and offline moms’ groups in the community. As a council member, you'll help us improve our coverage of families by suggesting stories to write, and you'll also help us recognize outstanding kids in Fridley. While we can’t pay you for your efforts, we hope you’ll be rewarded in other ways—this is a tremendous opportunity to share the knowledge you have and become known as a community expert. It's open to moms…
Corey
11:13 am on Thursday, June 2, 2011
My daughter has a late November birthday and had an incredible vocabulary (at her 2-year-old check up, she asked the doctor, "Is that your stethoscope?" with perfect pronunciation), was an early reader, etc. We thought hard about sending her to K early but everyone we talked to advised us to wait -- and I'm glad we did. We gave K the gift of another year of childhood. Today, she's a 3rd grader … more ›