Food battles no fun for parents

All kids go through a phase where, for some reason, they seem to hate food. Being me, I hit the Internet looking for answers.
The most logical was the theory that very young children control very little about their environment, but around age three to four, they realize they can control what they eat. Let the battles begin!
Our oldest went through a phase where it seemed like all he would eat was macaroni and cheese, hotdogs and cold cereal for the better part of a year. He would turn up his nose at anything else and the loss of desert wasn’t enough of an incentive to get him to try anything.
Ryan has turned into a very good eater who will try just about anything and likes just about everything. He’s absolutely skin and bones, but so was I as a kid. The child...

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Funny moms tell their stories in new book

By Heidi Stevens, Chicago Tribune

“See Mom Run” by Beth Feldman (Plain White Press, $12.95)

Motherhood could be a real downer if it weren’t so hilarious.

The sleepless nights, the potty disasters, the temptation to add soy formula to your coffee when you run out of milk — and the regret when you give in to said temptation.
Thankfully, a universe of mom bloggers captures the maternal experience in all its glory, proving that misery loves company — especially if the company makes you laugh.

Beth Feldman, founder of online events company rolemommy.com and a mom blogger herself, has collected 32 essays from her favorite mom bloggers on all stages of motherhood, from labor to empty nest....

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It’s time to help kids fight fat

By Jenee Osterheldt, McClatchy-Tribune

Every first lady has a cause — women’s rights, drug abuse prevention, children’s literacy. And often, what’s near and dear to her heart is a reflection of our country at that time.

So last week, when Michelle Obama unveiled her campaign against childhood obesity, it was no surprise. We’ve been noticing our nation’s growing waistline for some time now.

I think it started with value meals and the doubling of meat patties. Meals went from being scheduled to on-the-go, anytime, all day. From there, it seems our country just grew into its overindulgent ways. We want more of everything: food, TV, Internet and video games. And children take their cue from us.

Exercise? Mostly they sit...

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Pregnant moms no longer have to ditch their belly rings

By Aisha Sultan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

File this under what you won’t learn from “What to expect when you’re expecting.”

Women no longer have to stop wearing their belly button rings during their pregnancy because Pregnancy Piercings has come up with belly-button ring extenders to use while those bellies grow and grow. Pregnancy Piercings use long, plastic-like rods to keep the actual piercing from closing up.

According to the company’s press release, this funky line of belly bling is a huge hit for moms everyone who want to keep their bellies pierced during the whole pregnancy. They come in several designs and colors there’s even a special one for twins.

Available at pregnancypiercings.com $15.99 and up. Does...

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Child Sense: Dealing with frustrations by the senses

McClatchy-Tribune

I had nine people due to arrive for dinner in 20 minutes, and after carefully planning the meal, I had what I was convinced to be the perfect dish. The trouble was that I was not paying attention to the time and I had just burned the food — badly.

As I looked at the meal going down the food disposal, I felt like throwing a tantrum. And while I had learned at this point in my adulthood not to scream and stamp my feet, I still felt a great need to whine to my son. I’m auditory, so my frustration is released through verbal means, but my son is tactile so he generally needs to throw, push or run off his frustration.

He was not pleased that I’d asked him to clean his room, so he’d scooped up a pile of his clothes and was...

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Hot moms are in

By Aisha Sultan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Cheryl Levine’s first pole dancing recital coincided with her children’s bake sale and a Jewish holiday.

So, she spent Saturday night showing off her leg twists, back bends and spins in rather sexy undergarments, followed by dancing with a Torah (in much more modest attire) at the Simchat Torah celebration the next night.

In between, she made cookies and helped run the bake sale with her 5- and 7-year-old daughters.

Levine, 42, is an instructor at a new dedicated pole dancing studio in the area, the Michelle Mynx Academy of Pole Dance, and teaches a class marketed specifically for moms. It’s called Hot Moms.

“I think it’s really important that women understand that...

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Swimming toward a safer summer

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With water still dripping from his little frame, my 4-year-old son ran from one end of the pool at our local recreation center to the other Saturday afternoon and flung his wet body into my arms.

“Mommy,” he said half excited and half exhausted after his first swim lesson. “This was amazing. I’m like a million times happy and I’m going to swim everyday.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at my youngest child. Where in the world would he find the time to swim everyday in mid-February in...

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Lack of daytime naps causes meltdowns (for mommy)

Ten years ago, I graduated from Bowling Green State University with a degree in journalism. During my senior year, I was the editor of the collegiate newspaper, The BG News and I also wrote for the local newspaper, The Sentinel Tribune. Between the two jobs, I was also taking 18 credit hours, cramming for exams/writing papers and planning a wedding.

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Help! I can’t stay home every time my son has the sniffles

The Morning Call (Allentown, Pa.)

Q: I am a single mom with a son in kindergarten. Through the winter months my son gets colds often, but I can’t afford to take off work and keep him at home every time he has a cough or a runny nose. I know that sometimes the teachers get upset, but what can I do?

A: Working parents are in a tough position when kids are showing signs of a cold, the Help for Parents panel says.

“It’s a dilemma on both sides,” says panelist Julie Banner, a school nurse. “We don’t exclude kids for runny noses or cold symptoms. If we sent every kid home who had a runny nose, the school would be pretty empty.”

However most schools have policies about when children should stay home, and parents...

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A morning calm? Say it ain’t so!

If you’ve ever read any of my posts, you know I’ve lamented loud and often about trying to get clothing on my daughter in the morning.

It’s always been a challenge, and we’ve had some pretty good arguments to start our days trying to beat the clock and make it out of the door on time.

I’m almost afraid to say it for fear of jinxing it, but …. lately, there’s been some calm in our home.

That might have to do with the fact that my daughter now wears pants whereas before it was dresses only. The only hitch? The pants must be black, and they must be stretchy. No jeans. No colors. Nothing must be different.

So yes, she goes to school each day looking like she’s wearing what she wore the day before. But she’s...

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