Archive for June, 2011

Rep. Anthony Weiner got into trouble for Tweeting risqué photos to women that are not his wife. It makes me wonder though if married couples are using technology to flirt, stay connected and spice up their marriage or is that only for people you are not married to?

I will be traveling this summer and Michael will stay behind to work. We’ve been half-joking, half-serious about sexting and sexy Skyping while I am away. I’m glad that we’re still interested at least and think that the video chatting will be a good way to stay connected while we are apart.

So I don’t embarrass my poor husband who is such a good sport, I won’t write anymore. But since you guys are anonymous you can spill.

Are you sexting, Skyping or Tweeting sexy thoughts or photos with your husband? If not, does this give you any bright ideas? Would he love it? Would you be worried about others seeing it? Do you think couples in general are using technology to spice up their marriages?

Continue reading Are married couples sexting, Skyping, Tweeting sexy photos? »

The recent drowning death of 9-year-old Anna Van Horn while tubing the Chattahoochee River has brought a lot of publicity to how quickly the river can rise and how fast it can move when water is released upstream. Tubing down the Chattahoochee is absolutely an Atlanta tradition, but I am wondering if parents are reconsidering letting their kids and teens on the river?

From the AJC:

“Anna’s drowning death was the first this year that occurred in rising waters during a dam discharge. Last year, two people drowned during the releases. Seventeen have drowned on the river since 2000, but federal officials didn’t know how many of those deaths came during dam discharges.”

“ ‘When those gates open, you don’t stand a chance if you’re out there,” said angler Bob Dejardin, fly-fishing just downstream from the dam one day last week. “It’s really dangerous.” Federal officials said the company that rented Anna and her friends tubes followed rules established by the …

Continue reading Are you rethinking kids/teens tubing the Chattahoochee? »

One of our regulars sent me a link to a People.com story she was reading about Alexis Stewart (Martha Stewart’s daughter who hosts “Whatever Radio” on Sirius.) After five years of extremely expensive IVF, Alexis has finally had a baby through a gestational surrogate.  She talks in the article about her struggle and how much she spent and the comments got nasty fast. Here’s the gist of the article.

From People.com:

“Getting Jude was lucky,” she tells PEOPLE. “I’m happy, but this has been rough.”

“And how: since deciding she was ready for a baby in her late 30s, Stewart, 45, has seen several doctors and at one point was spending up to $27,000 each month for IVF procedures and an additional $6,000 for medications…”

“ ‘This is my other job that I don’t talk about,’ says the host of the Sirius radio show Whatever with Alexis & Jennifer. ‘But if you’re lucky enough to be able to afford it and you have time, what’s the downside?’ ”

As we know …

Continue reading Alexis Stewart IVF discussion gets ugly: Can you spend too much for a baby? »

Kiddie salons are not a new concept, but a salon in Britain serving only the under 13 crowd is being criticized for “sexualizing” young girls. The beauty parlor offers makeovers and facials for girls as young as one.

From the Daily Mail (Check out the photos from the salon on the web site. It does offer more insight):

“The salon, which caters only for the under-13s, has opened its doors at a time of intense concern over the growing sexualisation of children. This week, a report backed by the Government called for measures to protect children’s innocence, including controlling their access to inappropriate clothing, and raunchy pop videos.

“Shy Keenan, a child protection consultant, said: ‘This is outrageous – it is giving children a complex about the way they look from the age of one.’

“But while critics warned that pampering youngsters in adult ways could take away their childhood, Trendy Monkeys owner Michelle Devine, defended her business….”

Miss Devine, 28, …

Continue reading Spray tans, facials for 1-year-olds? British salon criticized for sexualizing kids »

Parents we have a reporter who needs your help. Katie Leslie is looking for parents that will go on the record to talk about the effectiveness of teen curfew ordinances. She wants to know: Do you think they actually do any good? Do they actually cut down on crime? Is it wise to keep kids inside? Is there some way to make it more effective? Is there another approach that would be more effective?

Katie is on deadline and needs parents ASAP. You can call her at 404-526-5969 or email her at katie.leslie@ajc.com.

In other news: I am always happy to take your blog ideas. (I just remembered one I forgot to use – hooray!) Please email me your ideas at ajcmomania@gmail.com. Put in the headline Reader Blog Idea! Tell me what you’ve got going on this summer and things you’re dealing with!

Continue reading Reporter needs your help: Are the teen curfews working? »

(Please consult with your physician if your child has diarrhea. It can be very dangerous if they get dehydrated. This is just a general discussion. Do not treat your child based on this discussion.)

I have had a very sick child in my house for the last 24 hours with a fever and very upset stomach so I have diarrhea and how to treat it on the brain. (We had to cancel our swimming lessons for the week. No showing up at the pool with diarrhea!)

Over the course of three children the recommendations of how to treat diarrhea have changed. It used to be that it was deemed OK to give the kids some children’s Imodium or Kaopectate to help bind up their stomachs when they had a stomach virus.

However, somewhere around my second child, the nurses on the hotline for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta started advising to absolutely NOT give any type of medication to stop diarrhea in children.

Now I understand and agree that if it is food poisoning that you have to get that stuff out of …

Continue reading When diarrhea hits: Stop it or let it run? »

I have avoided discussing New York Rep. Anthony Weiner explicit photo and message scandal but there is a new twist to the story that caught my eye. The New York Times and other media companies are reporting that Rep. Weiner’s wife, who works for the state department, is pregnant.

From Yahoo News:

“Huma Abedin, 35, an aide to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who married the congressman a year ago, is in the early stages of pregnancy with the couple’s first child, the New York Times reported, citing three unnamed people with knowledge of the situation.”

From AP:

“Weiner, 46, has admitted sending explicit photos and messages via the Internet to about a half-dozen women over the past three years. He vowed at a news conference on Monday to remain in office, and one lawmaker who spoke to him on Wednesday said Weiner indicated he still hopes to ride out the furor and remain in Congress. That lawmaker spoke on condition of anonymity, saying it was a private …

Continue reading Does reportedly pregnant wife make Weiner’s photo worse? »

A recent article on Shine looked at the benefits of roughhousing. Here’s what it said:

” ‘Play looks a lot different than it did 30 years ago,’ says Dr. Anthony DeBenedet, who co-wrote “The Art of Roughhousing: Good, Old-Fashioned Horseplay and Why Every Kid Needs It” with Lawrence J. Cohen, PhD. ‘I think it’s time for us to kind of cut the strings a little bit. Let kids go—and play with them….’ ”

“Roughhousing does more than keep kids physically active. “There are clear signs showing that it helps kids’ academic success, it’s associated with being more flexible behaviorally, being better able to deal with unpredictability,” DeBenedet says. “Play—especially active physical play, like roughhousing—makes kids smart, emotionally intelligent, lovable and likable, ethical, physically fit, and joyful,” they write in their book.”

“So what is roughhousing, exactly? ‘You kind of know it when you see it,’ explains DeBenedet, the father of 5, 2, and …

Continue reading Do you roughhouse with your kids? Why you should! »

The Forest Park city council voted Monday night to amend the public indecency ordinance that banned public breast-feeding of children over the age of 2, Channel 2 Action News reports. The new ordinance drops the age limit.

From the AJC:

“City leaders told Channel 2 that the ordinance was changed as a result of the public’s reaction.”

“More than 300 breast-feeding women and their supporters participated in a “nurse-in” May 23 in front of the Forest Park City Hall to protest the new law.”

“Protest organizers, some calling themselves “lactivists,” said the law interfered with letting the child determine when he or she will stop nursing.”

“City attorney Robert Mack Jr. previously said the ordinance was aimed at public nudity and not breast-feeding.”

Three questions to talk about here: 1. Is there really nudity when nursing? 2. Can a child be too old to nurse? 3.Whose business is breastfeeding?

The city attorney’s quote doesn’t make any sense to me at all. How …

Continue reading Georgia towns need to butt out of breastfeeding! »

New to me but apparently not new to Disney: Disney is offering princess makeovers in the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. (The last time we were there they were offering pirate makeovers.)

According to the web site the services started in 2009. (I think we went that year but must have missed hearing about it.)

Here’s the write up from the Disney Web site:

“Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique is a beauty salon where little girls are magically transformed into little princesses at 2 locations: World of Disney Store in Downtown Disney Area and Cinderella Castle at Magic Kingdom theme park.”

“It’s hard not to feel as happy as a princess in this charming little boutique, owned by Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother and operated by Fairy Godmothers-in-training. The boutique offers multiple hair styles, nail color, make-up and a total package including Disney Princess costume and photographs.”

“Girls 3 years old and above can choose from 3 hair styles — Fairytale Princess, Disney Diva and Pop …

Continue reading Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique offers princess makeovers at Disney »