Archive for November, 2010
Nov
24
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
By Jenny Schafer, McClatchy-Tribune
Self-titled as “America’s Personal Trainer,” Tony Little is one of the most recognizable faces in the nation, averaging over 5,000 hours a year on TV. Tony encourages people to get into shape, but when it comes to his being a dad, he says, “Believe it or not, I’m absolutely not a hyper, pushy person to my children.”
Tony has not only motivated people to move their bodies, his infomercials have generated more than $4 billion in sales globally. He pulled from his positive mindset when his twin sons Cody and Chase were born 3 months premature to him and his wife, fitness model Melissa Hall. Tony — who is also dad to daughter Tara, 23, and son Trent, 22 — opened up to Celebrity Baby Scoop...
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Nov
23
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
About 2,300 folding camp rockers sold at L.L. Bean of Freeport, Maine, have been recalled.
The plastic anchors attaching the fabric seat back to the steel frame can break, posing a fall hazard to consumers.
The company has received six reports of the plastic anchors breaking, resulting in four reports of falls. No injuries have been reported.
Details: By phone at 800-555-9717 or on the web at www.cpsc.gov....
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Nov
23
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
About 6,700 Meijer Touch Point oscillating ceramic heaters have been recalled.
The oscillating mechanism in the heaters can short out, posing a fire hazard to consumers.
Meijer has received two reports of incidents involving fires that resulted in property damage. No injuries have been reported.
The heaters were sold at Meijer stores in Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan and Ohio from October 2009 through October 2010.
Details: On the web at www.cpsc.gov....
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Nov
22
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
By Priscilla J. Dunstan, McClatchy-Tribune
Thanksgiving is almost here! If you are like many families, you are looking forward to a large dinner with lots of relatives, with all their quirks and quarrels. Help the dinner be a success by using your child’s dominant sense to bring out the best in them and the day.
Your tactile child will love to help. Have a long list of jobs you can give them to do, as it will help them feel special. Even a small child can stir the stuffing for the turkey, put the napkins in the holders, or wash or mash! — the potatoes. Expect the jobs to be done in a messy way, and choose already-messy jobs. During the dinner, seat them away from your more formal guests the tactile child is the one who grab a turkey leg and start banging...
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Nov
22
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
By Traci Arbios, herdingsquirrels.com
“Excuse me?” I stammered, distracted, as I simultaneously unwrapped my daughter’s straw and wiped up a small spill on the formica table.
“You won!” the voice on the other end of the line repeated. I could tell the speaker was smiling, the way her voice lifted with the word “won.”
My 11-year-old stared at me. “What’s wrong?” she asked at my confused expression. The 7-year-old was too busy tucking into her orange chicken to care.
“Excuse me I’ll be right back,” I said to the girls as I slipped outside the restaurant’s patio door. Into the phone, I asked loudly, “Are you...
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Nov
21
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
By Michelle Chan, McClatchy-Tribune
Beginning on Black Friday and sometimes (shamefully) up until midnight on Christmas Eve, we’re buying gifts, eating, catching up with old friends… it’s all a flurry of good times. But in our obvious wealth and blessings from being able to enjoy the season, there are a number of opportunities for us to give back and remember those who are less fortunate:
Every year, the American Lung Association holds the Christmas Seal campaign during which it sells Christmas Seals during the holiday season. This year, the association also plans to let readers buy their favorite gift wrapping paper, gift tags, collectible ornaments, holiday gift cards and cookie paraphernalia, including cookie cutters, machine-washable aprons...
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Nov
20
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
By Aisha Sultan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
It was nearly 3 a.m. when Amanda Ozersky woke up her husband, Philip, and insisted they drive to the nearest Walgreens.
“Really?” he said. “Can’t this wait until the morning?”
The 37-year-old mother of two had a gut feeling they needed a pregnancy test even though Philip had gotten a vasectomy a month earlier.
They went to the store, and Amanda bought two tests. She had been feeling run-down, exhausted and nauseous, but she had pushed the possibility of a third baby out of her head.
It’s just not possible, she reasoned. She had been trying to persuade Philip for months to take what she considered a permanent step in birth control. When he agreed, she called the doctor...
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Nov
19
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
By Cait Clarke and Neil Shister, Hybrid Mom
‘Tis the most unkindest of times for many a mother (and father, too) — parenting through the teen-age years. Nothing you say is right, nothing they do is wrong!
A good way to calm the waters is by negotiating with your adolescent. In many ways, it is the ultimate test of your negotiating skills.
The usual areas of discord are pretty clear: money, grades, going out at night, clothing and dress, chores around the house.
Stretch the limits of your creativity to look at those situations with fresh eyes. Avoid ritual patterns of blame and rebuttal by seeking to observe what’s happening as would a more neutral observer. Better yet, empathize with your teenager by taking on her...
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Nov
19
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
nameberry.com
So you’re interested in classic girls’ names for your daughter, and at first what constitutes a classic seems pretty clear: Katherine qualifies, for instance, and so does Elizabeth.
But very quickly, as Linda and I discovered classifying names for our books, what’s classic and what’s not becomes really murky. Anne, sure, but Anna? Annie? If Annie’s in, does that mean that Laurie also gets to accompany Laura?
Then recently, we hit upon a quantitative formula for choosing the classic girls’ names: We’d define that as every name that had been in the U.S. Top 1000 every single year since 1880.
We came up with 114 names, but many on the list will surprise you as much as they surprised us. Elizabeth...
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Nov
18
Posted by
Lorain County Moms
By Gwenn Schurgin O’Keeffe, McClatchy-Tribune
This is an excerpt from the book “CyberSafe: Protecting and Empowering Kids in the Digital World of Texting, Gaming, and Social Media,” by Gwenn Schurgin O’Keeffe, MD (American Academy of Pediatrics, $14.95).
If the online world were a fairy tale, would the Internet be the big bad wolf?
That’s what many parents still worry about, but the reality is that the Internet is more akin to Goldilocks being ultra-curious about which bed to sleep in and porridge to eat.
In truth, we fear what we don’t know, which is why when it comes to allowing our kids to go online, we tend to pull the plug quickly one moment and blame it for everything at another. If we took the time to learn...
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