Thursday, May 17, 2012
Apparently there is an "evil" clown that is hired to scare a child in the days leading up to his or her birthday. What?
A couple weeks ago, our Parents Talk discussion was on creepy kids toys. Many agreed that a clown, anything having to do with a clown or anything resembling a clown was straight up creepy. Well, an actor in the Swiss city of Lucerne has set himself up as the "evil" birthday clown. According to the Huffington Post and the Austrian Times, for a fee, parents can hire this psychotic clown—played by actor Dominic Deville—to leave menacing, booby-trapped letters for their children. He will also tease through text messages and phone calls. Deville warns the children they are being watched and that they will soon be the victim of an attack. At the end of the terror-filled week, the birthday boy or girl catches a cake in the face. According to the …
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Petition follows charges that Fridley parents shaved 12-year-old girl's head and made her wear a diaper.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Moms, here's your chance to think big.
The gifts range from breakfast in bed to nothing—with flowers, manicures and greeting cards in between. Moms, perhaps your families have been thinking about your big day for the past month or maybe Sunday will be the first they hear of it. Regardless of your family's style of celebration, Sunday is Mother's Day. And with more than $16.3 billion expected to be spent on the day this year, it is a highly consumer-driven holiday as well. Now's your chance to tell us what you really want. Would you like a clean house? Expensive jewelry? Maybe the day away from all of them? Or maybe, you'd like to buck the tradition and have a donation made in your name, from an organization like World Vision. For $75, your kids could buy a goat for a familiy in…
Thursday, April 19, 2012
Do 'temps' get more than an inkling of what it's like for real single parents?
Can parents in a two-parent family ever know what life is like for a single parent? When your partner in child-rearing isn't available to help out—whether for a day, a week, a month, or even an afternoon—does that offer a glimpse into single parents' struggles? At any given moment during those times when a spouse or partner is temporarily out of the picture, the challenges may be similar to what real single parent might face: A real single parent could probably come up with a better list, but those are the kinds of things that came to my mind—such as it is. My spouse is traveling a lot for work this month, and the things falling through the cracks are getting bigger by the day, as are the cracks. Actually, I've always thought it would …
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Overnight, we have an 'adult child' and 3 grownups at home.
There are many milestones of parenthood—but for me, today, three stand out: Number 1 took place 18 years ago this week. So Number 3 is very fresh. I couldn't put a finger on my feelings the day our oldest son turned 18. Was it a sense of accomplishment, love, pride, relief, maybe the mysteriousness of life? All I knew was I felt shaky and it wasn't from too much (or too little) caffeine. The night before, over a very late dinner (don't ask), I heard myself say, "Well, you have two and a half hours of childhood left." That was weird. In the morning, the other two kids and I were sitting in the kitchen. Down the hall we heard a door open and a groggy voice grunt, "I'm an adult." Now what? We now have something in the house called an "…
Thursday, February 2, 2012
How do you stop your infant from needing attention all the time?
Eight months ago I was blessed with a beautiful, healthy nephew. Grant is the first child for my sister and her husband and is also the first grandchild for my parents. As a result, we all dote on him constantly without batting an eye. (He’s so happy, sweet and snuggly it’s hard not to!) A few weeks ago, Grant’s daycare provider suggested my sister not give him so much attention at home as he was becoming very needy and demanding of attention at times. “As if I’m not going to give my son attention,” my sister told me as she scoffed at the idea. Now, I’m sure this isn’t a new problem. A new baby—especially the first-born—are generally showered with attention and become attention hungry as a result. And with daycare providers having other …
Thursday, January 12, 2012
Does an uncommon baby name, like the name celebrity parents Beyonce and Jay-Z gave their new daughter—Blue Ivy—have lasting influence in adulthood?
When the celebrity couple of Beyonce and Jay-Z recently had their new baby and named it Blue Ivy Carter, speculation as to the source of the unique name was across the board, Huff Post Parents reported. The couple, like thousands of parents nationwide, probably went through a phase during pregnancy of deciding on their baby’s name. But, does the uniqueness of a baby's name have an impact on the child later in life? According to an article on LiveScience website, parents are picking more unusual names for their children than they were decades ago. And, the shift in baby names could influence kids into adulthood. "If you're choosing between a relatively likeable, common name and one that is really odd, that definitely could have an impact…
Thursday, January 5, 2012
Does depriving your kids of video games build character? Or does it simply cost them friends?
We were having The Talk. Our boys were telling us something that to them had long been obvious, but to which we’d been oblivious. Their friends weren’t coming over anymore because there was nothing to do at our house. And by that, of course, they meant we didn’t have a video game system. The discussion wasn't an epic battle on the order of Mortal Kombat: Parental Deprivation. That might have been easier to deal with, in a way. Instead, our young teen boys' message had a quiet, measured tone, as they were clearly resigned to the idea that our household was never going to be blessed with a game system. Years of hearing our dismissive (if ignorant) remarks about video games had led them to that silent conclusion. They were simply cluing us in…
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Is emphasizing stranger danger a good thing?
“Momma always told me not to talk to strangers,” to quote young Forrest Gump. I, like Forrest and probably every other child, was also told not to talk to strangers as a kid. After having the phrase “stranger danger” burned into my mind, it was easy to follow my parents’ wishes. And it just made sense. However, the concept of stranger danger has been criticized for ignoring the fact that most child abductions and harm are not due to strangers, but rather someone the child is familiar with or even related to. In addition, critics have said the constant warnings exaggerate the potential threat and unnecessarily spread mistrust. In a 2008 episode of Penn & Teller’s Showtime show, Erin Runnion—founder of The Joyful Child Foundation and mother …
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Is there a point where you have to tell your children Santa isn't a guy who squeezes down the chimney bearing gifts and looking for cookies?
I was devastated, betrayed, mad, sad, and—most of all—robbed of something to look forward to. Some kid on the bus had just told me Santa Claus wasn't real. Not something a 7-year-old wants to hear and I didn't want to believe it. I marched home and planned to confront my mother. As I burst through the door, the tears started streaming. Mom didn't know what the heck happened. Through my tears and sniffs, I explained to her that the cat was out of the bag: Santa wasn't real. I demanded she tell me the truth. "You really want to know?" she asked me. "Yes," I sniffed. "He's not real, honey," She said compassionately. As I began to wail, she panicked. Trying to soothe me, she quickly said: "But the Tooth Fairy is!" Regardless, Mom still played …
Michael Rose
9:01 am on Friday, May 18, 2012
This does seem a bit cruel and unusual. However, I might be inclined to hire someone to mess with my 18+ child (I don't have one...this is hypothetical). That actually could be kind of funny..."Punking" your college freshman son/daughter could be cool. For instance, maybe you could hire an impostor dorm roommate, who would be the biggest jerk of all time. Then, a few days in, you could reveal the… more ›