Archive for July, 2010

I have heard and found it to be true myself that natural childbirth does equal a faster recovery time than when you have an epidural.

I had epidurals with both of my first two children.

I was 10 days late and was induced with my first one. I got the epidural right away with the first one because the labor was so intense. (The later you are, the more receptive you are to the Pitocin and it was painful!) The labor went very slowly because I couldn’t walk around or use gravity to get the baby out.

After Rose finally delivered, I didn’t want them to do a catheter because I heard you could get infections from it. Also the epidural was pretty well worn off and I was certain I was going to feel it. I asked them if I could try to walk to the bathroom. They left me sitting up too long and I got light headed so they were forced to do the catheterization.

With Walsh I was third in line to get the epidural and really needed it by the time I asked for it. They gave me some type of drug …

Continue reading Does natural childbirth equal faster recovery time? »

I am always exasperated with my own parents for not being able to work the TV at our house. They have the same Comcast cable with a slightly different remote and they act like they’re splitting atoms to turn our TV off and on. (Don’t even get me started with turning on our cordless phone.)

However, I will have to admit that this summer while staying at a vacation rental house I had to repeatedly call Rose to turn on the TV, work the Netflix and even adjust the volume on the TV.

In my defense, there were 8 remotes total in the house and only three had any real effect on anything. Plus the owner had the sound hooked up through giant speakers but I don’t think the speakers worked with the Netflix so you had to turn off the speaker and turn back on the TV sound. It was very confusing, and I often would just go the bedroom to watch because it only had one remote that I could comprehend.

Earlier this spring, the new comedy “Modern Family” had a whole story line about the dumb …

Continue reading Can Mom work all the electronics in the house? »

A features reporter, Katie Leslie, is working on a story about what do you do as a parent when you totally don’t approve of the choices your child/teen/young adult is making.

The story is off of the Bristol Palin/Levi Johnston getting engaged and Sarah Palin not approving. Here’s the background story.

So we can discuss the topic here but if you wanted to be interviewed for Katie’s story on the topic you can email her at Katie.Leslie@ajc.com.

Is there a decision or many decisions that you just completely disagree with your teen/young adult on? What were the issues involved? How did you handle it?

Do you decide it is their life, they can do it but it’s going to be a huge, huge mistake? Did you tell them it was a mistake? Did you keep your mouth shut and just hope for the best?

Did telling them you think it’s a crappy decision actually force them into making the choice?

What can you actually do to stop them from making a bad choice? I don’t mean teaching them. I mean like …

Continue reading What to do when you don’t approve of teen’s choices? »

We accompanied Michael on a business trip recently and were shocked to see two separate parties of very young children flying alone across country!! I am not talking about flying from Georgia to Florida. I am talking about 2,000 miles across country! (More on the trip later but for now let’s discuss this shocking parental decision.)

We watched as two different sets of grandparents kissed kids and sent them down the jet way. I literally had my hand over my mouth as I watched the grandparents kiss the kiddos goodbye. Even my kids noticed. “Are those kids flying alone?”

One set was two sisters and they were probably like 9 and 11. The other two were the cutest and tiniest little brother and sister. I talked to the sister while waiting at the bathroom, and she told me that she was 5!!!! And her brother was 7. She told me they were going to have to change planes!!!

They kids seemed to do well. I didn’t hear any screaming or any freakouts. The little pair did go to the bathroom …

Continue reading What age can kids fly alone? »

A mom told me that she is pulling her fourth-grader to homeschool him just for this year. She has several reasons but her main reason is she wants to spend special time with him while he still wants to spend time with her.

She does have a younger school-age child who will continue to go their normal school. She’s promised that child that in fourth grade she’ll let that child stay home too.

Her oldest child is very excited about working with his mom. They plan to create a blog for him to write to share about his studies and all the things they check out around the city.

The mom feels like doing the work at home will allow them to get it done faster and move on to the things they want to do. Also it will allow them to still do all his after-school sports with less time constraints.

I think he will still get to see his friends from school and will still be social but he won’t be at the school.

I don’t think even if it goes really well she’s open to the idea of homeschooling …

Continue reading Should you homeschool for special time with just one child? »

It’s 2 p.m. as I write this and I need a nap. I pretty much always feel like I need a nap. But alas with three children at home, you can’t sack out so I turn to my friend – caffeine! I literally say to my children “I need some caffeine.”

I have given up Coke-products for the most part (other than the occasional Diet Dr. Pepper at Chick-Fil-A) because they make me feel and look so bloated from the carbonation. This summer I have been drinking the Lipton Energize to Go ice tea mix – green tea with B vitamins, ginseng and Guarana. I have no idea what Guarana is but it does wake me up. The tea packages have 50 mg of caffeine per 8 fluid oz. (I often mix the little package with more water than that.)

(The best part about tea is my kids hate it so no more asking for a sip like they do with sodas.)

I went out a few weeks ago with some friends. I called my friend as I was almost to her house and told her I was just dragging. She said I’ll have something ready for you. It was a tasty …

Continue reading How much caffeine are you drinking daily? »

Wonder how Lady GaGa’s “Telephone” or Katy Perry’s “California Gurls” could be appropriate for kids?  Well a contributor for a New York City culture web site, The AWL, took the time to write down the real version and the Kidz Bop version of 13 lyric changes on Kidz Bop 18. It’s interesting to see what references were cut and how they were replaced.

You can see all 13 swapped out song lyrics on The AWL, but here a few samples of the editors at Kiz Bop work.

“9. “Wrap it up / Can’t stop ’cause it feels like it’s really close” (Wrap it up / Can’t stop ’cause it feels like a overdose,” from Cascada’s “Evacuate The Dancefloor”)”

“7. ‘Out in the club and I’m eating that grub / And you’re not gonna reach my telephone’ (’Out in the club and I’m sippin that bubb / And you’re not gonna reach my telephone,’ from Lady Gaga and Beyoncé’s ‘Telephone’)”

“6. ‘Don’t want to miss / Don’t want too much / Just walk away from me and hush’ (’Don’t wanna kiss / Don’t wanna touch / Just smoke my …

Continue reading How does Kidz Bop 18 sanitize pop songs for tweens? »

One of my husband’s greatest pet peeves is wasting food, and he feels that we do it a lot.

The honest truth is we do waste some, but I have been trying to do better.

I’m not a big fan of leftovers so I procrastinate about using them and then they get too old and you really can’t use them. Also I like to have different meals each night so then the leftovers don’t get used up quickly. I did try a method during last school year, where I cooked Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and then we had leftovers on Thursday (church night) and Friday night (mom’s just tired.) I thought that method worked pretty well.

One of my foodie friends from high school posted this list from Slate.com on tips to not waste food.

Here’s the full list from Slate.com with an explanation of how each tip works.

Here’s my boiled down version for discussion. I have divided Slate’s list into three categories:

Things I already do, Things I should do, and Things I don’t think will actually work:

Things I already do …

Continue reading 10 tips to stop your family from wasting food! »

We have a great topic from one of our regulars. MotherJane Goose wants us to think about the life skills we are imparting on our kids. Here’s her question:

“@T…what are the things children will need to know to be successfully independent in life?”

“If the goal is for children to be independent ( which it is for me and my children) would parents not want a road map of what needs to be done? What skills should all children have by the time they head out to college? When do you start these skills? I think this also lends into what Mrs. K is trying to say, some parents do not see the need for lifelong skills.”

Continue reading Reader question: What skills to teach kids for successful independence? »

The pendulum is swinging back yet again and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has recommended that most women who have had C-sections, and even those who have two, should be allowed to try labor with their next baby!

We discussed in March on this blog the possibility of this guideline reversal and you guys felt very strongly about it. We had more than 240 comments on the story.

Here’s what the Associated Press reports about the new guidelines:

“Fifteen years ago, nearly 3 in 10 women who’d had a prior C-section gave birth vaginally the next time. Today, fewer than 1 in 10 do.”

“Last spring, a National Institutes of Health panel strongly urged steps to reverse that trend, saying a third of hospitals and half of doctors ban women from attempting what’s called VBAC, for ‘vaginal birth after cesarean.’”

“The new guidelines declare VBAC a safe and appropriate option for most women — now including those carrying twins or who’ve had two C-sections — and urge …

Continue reading College of OBGYN: Stop forcing women to have C-sections! »