Archive for May, 2010
May
25
Posted by
Rona Proudfoot
By Lisa, Rocky Mountain Moms Blog
I used to lose my voice. A lot. Every few months I’d be unable to talk to my family in anything above a whisper, to yell at the dogs for chasing the cats, to conduct business. The hardest part was the conducting of business. I was an editor. At the newspaper. With several associates awaiting my direction … and protection from the publishing powers that be.
When I lost my voice I didn’t answer the phone — at work or at home. I had to recruit one of my staff to return my must-return calls and I’d e-mail those that could wait. I had to whisper to folks who would understand, remain silent around those who wouldn’t.
Then I was laid off. That was a year and a half ago, and I’ve not lost my...
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May
24
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
nameberry.com
It’s always interesting to take a look at which names are most popular where. You can usually count on some surprises and this year is no exception. For instance Anna ranking in the top five in both Alabama and Mississippi, when it’s down at 29 across the country, and Logan, which is No. 17 on the Social Security list, now the No. 1 boys’ name in three widespread states — Idaho, Minnesota and New Hampshire.
Repeating the pattern of last year, the majority of names that popped out from the crowd were in the boys’ column; for the girls’ names across the country there was a remarkable uniformity of choice — with Isabella, Emma, Olivia, Madison, or Ava heading the list in all but two states, while on the male side, there...
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May
24
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
By Leslie Postal, OrlandoSentinel.com/momsatwork
My daughter wants her ears pierced. She’s five. She’s been asking, on and off, for the past year or so.
She asked again last night. I responded, in that most-classic of parent ways, “Someday.”
To which she responded, “Saturday?”
Which is certainly someday. But a someday sooner than I’d like.
The truth is I don’t have an ear-piercing policy. I did not get my own pierced until I was 12, which seemed the norm in my suburban New York town way back when. I suppose I figured the same would hold true for any daughters of mine.
Of course, at some point, as a grownup, I realized that some parents view piercing infants ears as the norm and earrings...
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May
23
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
By Katie Powalski, OrlandoSentinel.com/momsatwork
I like social media. A lot. It’s helped me keep strong friendships and network in my career. I want my daughter to experience the fun and necessity of online interaction too when she is older. Like, a teenager, right?
The tween/teen years are too late, according to social networking creator Mandeep Singh Dhillon. He released Togetherville, a social networking site specifically designed for six to 10 year olds. The site provides complete parental oversight and other features like a drop-down menu of options when commenting on a friend’s page. Dhillon started working on the site after his four-year-old son wanted to post pictures online that he had...
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May
22
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
McClatchy-Tribune
It seemed like a good idea at the time give the toddler a juice box and crackers to encourage a quiet car ride. Now it will cost hundreds to remove the bright pink punch stain and omnipresent cracker crumbs.
Parents can prevent upholstery stains with seat savers that are designed to catch spills, block shoe scuffs, and limit depression damage caused by car seat weight.
The Two-Stage Seat Saver from Prince Lionheart is a seat protector that can be used with both infant and booster seats. The seat saver has two parts a bottom tray and back pad that can be used separately depending on the type of safety seat in use.
The bottom tray works with rear-facing infant seats to prevent the ridges and indents that come from depression damage....
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May
21
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
When it comes to kids today, it seems to be all about the screen — computer games, handheld games, websites, social media, cell phones, TV, and, of course, text messaging.
But what about reading? Many parents today are concerned because they know that being a good reader remains a crucial skill that kids need in order to be successful in school … and life.
If you’re one of those worried parents, here’s a bit of good news: There are simple things you can do to encourage, entice, and even excite your children about picking up a book. The first is to set aside some family time for reading. Next, try these seven tips to make the experience enjoyable — while developing your child’s skills.
- Start with an interesting topic, and read out loud together....
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May
21
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
By Ally Lang, Chicago Moms Blog
Asleep, we’d crawl to the center of the tent and huddle together while someone, usually Sarah, called out “adjective,” or “bodily fluid,” or “verb.”
Thinking we had really slipped another one by Mrs. Luck or Mrs. Covington or whoever else was fool enough take 30 12-year-old girls on a weekend camping trip, we would stay up for hours yelling out “booby” and “snot” and certainly words far too unsuitable to write here. Of course the most raucous laughter was reserved, not wasted on the words alone, for the retelling of the story we had just composed, a literary feast of adverbs, nouns, and yes, bodily fluids.
Having learned nothing in my previous 43 years with...
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May
20
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
By Sarah W. Caron, Hybrid Mom
In the past few months, articles in the New York Times and the Globe & Mail have generated a lot of discussion about why professional blogging moms aren’t treated with the same respect as other professionals. The truth is that professional blogging moms are creating dynamic, useful websites where they showcase their skills and earn a living.
For pro-mom bloggers, blogging isn’t just a hobby. It’s a career choice that’s garnering them loyal followers, ad revenue and leading to great opportunity beyond their corner of the web. Here’s how four moms are making it happen.
Dawn Viola
Wicked Good Dinner: Food writer and recipe developer Dawn Viola started her...
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May
20
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
nameberry.com
What will baby names 2010 (and 2011, 2012, and onward) look like? We can get a lot of clues from which names are moving up fastest on the Social Security most popular names list of 2009.
While we reported the major news from the list earlier this week Isabella climbing to number one for girls, with Ethan rising to number two for boys while longtime favorites Christopher and Matthew fell off the top 10 today we look deeper into the list to identify less obvious but perhaps more important trends in baby names 2010.
What we see:
The rise of the quirky classic girls’ name
We wouldn’t presume to claim sole responsibility, but the list does show that many of the nameberry-loved quirky classic girls’...
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May
19
Posted by
Melissa Linebrink
I have often wondered who coined the term “double trouble.” Was it really a parent of twins or just a parent who looked at another parent of twins thinking to themselves, “Wow, talk about double trouble!” as they walked away laughing.
Lately, if you were a fly on a wall in my house, you’d be laughing and thanking your lucky stars you do not have 22-month-old twins.
Let me take a moment to paint this picture.
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