Archive for December, 2008
Dec
31
Posted by
besttech
At my house, we are living a very unwired life. Not to say that I haven’t tried to drag my family into the new millennium. Sure, my 7-year-old looks stuff up online for school. The kids love to play on Webkinz. Even my 4-year-old has been known to play at Nick Jr. online. And I think it is just the cutest thing when my 2-year-old tries to copy his sisters and say “dot com.” Sadly for me, the one who loves all things shiny and gadgety, this is about where we draw the line. My husband shuns the very notion that you need a laptop so that you can get online from anywhere. Not only are we a house with a mere single Internet connecting entity, but we have no Wii, no webcam, no DS, nothing of the kind. The only thing my 2-year-old would do with an iPod Touch is try to...
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Dec
30
Posted by
besttech
Moms Forum spotlights useful discussion taking place on the parenting forums of newspapers around the country.
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QUESTION: I have a ton of friends who either are trying, pregnant or just gave birth, so I’m wondering what’s the greatest thing (maybe something unexpected) you got as a gift? Also, what items did you register for that you have never used? What did you register for that you love?
— Posted by Mercedes at mom2momdfw.com.
RESPONSES:
“My favorite baby gifts were, by far, books. They last forever! My son is now 5, and we still read many of the books he was given as a newborn. Something I wouldn’t waste money on: The...
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Dec
30
Posted by
besttech
A weekly glimpse of what moms (and dads) are saying on the Web.
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“When my wife and I were first discussing the possibility of having a second child, one of the questions that kept coming up was… ‘Do you think we’ll love it as much as we love our first?’ Hmmmm. Good question. Totally impossible to answer without sounding cold and heartless but a very good question. I honestly didn’t know the answer. But I always heard from my parents and grandparents that you love each child differently. Not more, just differently. Yeah right. What happens when one kid is smarter than the other? What happens when one kid is prettier? You always hear siblings say, ‘I’m the good one.’ It’s inevitable....
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Dec
30
Posted by
besttech
Over the past month it’s become increasingly apparent that I no longer hold reign over my 3-year-old’s heart.
Daddy is now officially the end all, be all for our son and I’m having to learn to content myself with whatever scraps of affection he throws my way. And I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m feeling a little heart-bruised about it.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for my husband and he totally deserves the extra loving. Sure, I carried our baby around inside my body for nine months (not to mention threw up four to five times a day during the first trimester), pushed him out (with no drugs), nursed him for 21 months despite six months of chronic plugged ducts and mastitis and stayed home to care for him these past years, but all along my...
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Dec
30
Posted by
besttech
My daughters’ field trip seasons are in high gear. Every week it seems we are trekking to another zoo, aquarium, wetland refuge or theater. In my stay-at-home mom guilt-daze I feel compelled to go on each and every one of them.
Since I have twins this means that I am often piling into a school bus with my bag lunch in hand at least once a week. And my daughters seem to appreciate it. They like the comfort of having me there, know that they can hit up a vending machine since I’m there with spare change, and they get to pick a partner instead of waiting to be chosen themselves.
But last week one of my daughters upped the ante. While I was getting dressed to go on a Lincoln Center field trip she came into my room eyed me...
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Dec
29
Posted by
Alicia Castelli
The Christmas madness is over and my husband and I could not be happier. The kids got a lot of what they wanted and we managed to visit the whole family.
Every year we insist “next year we are not going to travel this much” and then, of course, we do just as much traveling as the year before.
We had hoped that moving to Cleveland would eliminate a large part of the traveling because my whole family is here. My husband’s family is in Pittsburgh, but they... Read more
Dec
29
Posted by
besttech
Holidays mean sweets — there’s no getting around it. But with a little extra attention, you can help your kids keep their teeth clean and healthy, even after they’ve gorged on sweet treats. Here are some tips from the American Dental Association and Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt, author of “You Think It’s Easy Being the Tooth Fairy?” (Chronicle Books).
— Experts recommend giving your child a glass of water or milk, or offering crisp fruits and vegetables, after indulging in sweet treats to help rinse sugar away from the teeth.
— More fluid, easily dissolvable candies such as chocolate are better for children’s teeth than gummy and hard candies.
— There is no substitute...
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Dec
28
Posted by
besttech
Six of Lacey Fairgood’s eight adopted kids are already home for the afternoon. They sit on stools along the breakfast bar, doing their homework while she supervises. Here, in this cozy, five-bedroom home, a Norman Rockwell painting is colliding with a 21st-century version of “Eight Is Enough.” An apple pie even bakes in the oven.
Sonja, who’s 17, helped Fairgood roll out the dough and sprinkle the apples with cinnamon. She loves to cook.
“Especially for a lot of people,” says Sonja.
Good thing.
At 42, Fairgood is a single mother by deliberate and repeated choice. Since 2001, she’s adopted eight kids in the categories that social workers label “hard to...
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Dec
26
Posted by
besttech
Not so long ago, during my school days, I remember taking my report card home for my mother to see. Sometimes I was proud to show it off and other times, well, I could have done a wee bit better. The fact is that doing well and trying my hardest was something that was expected of me. It was a “you must” not a “well if you feel like trying” issue. Cut and dry, black and white … “do your best” was the only option.
When we did well the most we could expect was a pat on the back or a verbal “job well done.” Never did we receive rewards, especially monetary rewards, for doing something that was just plain expected of us. Things seemed to have changed quite a bit since I was a kid, that’s for sure.
On the...
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Dec
25
Posted by
besttech
From all of us here at Lorain County Moms to all of you,
Thank you for making our debut year a great one, and we are planning to make 2009 an even better one with a lot more information to appear here. We want to make Lorain County Moms the place to go for questions about your family and a place to share stories — silly, serious, sad and everything else, too.
Keep reading, write more (we want to hear from you, too) and have a great holiday!...
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