Parenting advice for the misinformed

By Marla Jo Fisher, The Orange County Register

Oscar Wilde said that the only thing to do with good advice is to pass it on, because it’s never of any use to oneself.

And it always amazes me how many people want to give me parenting advice, especially those who never have raised any children themselves.

In fact, have you noticed that people with no kids often seem to know more about child-rearing than you do?

Please don’t take this the wrong way, but if no one has ever spit up on your silk shirt just as you were walking out the door, required you to change the bed sheets at 2 a.m. or embarrassed you in a grocery store, I’m not going to give your advice much credence.

Also, if your offspring is serving time in a federal...

Read more

Son gets his driver’s license — finally!

By Traci Arbios, herdingsquirrels.com

Last Thursday my almost 18-year-old son finally took his driver’s test. He’d been working on the book training while driving at his leisure for the last year. And through all that time, I have been dreaming of the day when I wouldn’t have to drive him to play rehearsals and back again. How wonderful it would be to just say, “Here are the keys; see you when you get home.”

To those who say, “What’s the big deal? It’s just taking him to his school, right?” I say, “My point exactly.” His school is in northwest Fresno. We live in east Clovis. It’s just over a 7-mile drive which, given the time of day, can take anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes, each way. And when...

Read more

Mom gear: Child carrier helps save mom’s back

By Emilie Lucchesi, McClatchy-Tribune

For some new moms, back pain does not end after labor. Carrying newborns can stress the back as new moms lift a seven to 10 pound baby as many as 50 times a day.

As the child grows heavier, the American Academy of Orthopedic surgeons advises new moms not to carry their child on their hip because it can stress back muscles.

New moms are advised to wear child carriers in the front. When hiking or enjoying outdoor activities, moms may want to opt for a back carrier so baby is protected during a front fall.

The Kelty TC 2.0 is a dual child carrier and knapsack. The carrier has an adjustable harness, padded should straps and a waist belt to help distribute weight evenly. It also has a padded back panel for comfort...

Read more

Book review: ‘The Water Wars’

“The Water Wars” by Cameron Stracher
c.2010, Sourcebooks
$16.99 / $19.99 Canada
256 pages

By Terri Schlichenmeyer, Philadelphia Tribune contributor

You would never even consider it.

Going to school without a shower or a bath? No way. There’s a time and place in school to be sweaty and it’s called “practice” — as in, football, basketball, the gym. But walking around without being clean? Nope, that’s a quick way to friendlessness.

So what if showers, baths, swimming pools, car washes were all illegal? What would you do for a glass of water? Find out in the new novel “The Water Wars” by Cameron Stracher. …

Read more

12 best names inspired by creative types

nameberry.com

Creative baby names can be more than names you invent: The category can include names from literature, the arts, and even photography. You could consider a related word name — the late tennis champion Arthur Ashe and his photographer wife named their daughter Camera — and we’ve also heard of at least one little girl called Leica, after the iconic brand.

It’s much better, though, to turn to the names of the greats in the field for artistic inspiration. Here are the Nameberry picks of the 12 best — meaning of course, the most creative, baby names inspired by artists and writers.

Andreas Feininger, Andreas Gursky

A name commonly heard in many parts of Europe (it’s currently in Norway’s Top...

Read more

Diabetes in pregnancy a risk for mom years later

By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON — A type of diabetes that strikes during pregnancy may disappear at birth, but it remains a big red flag for moms’ future health — one that too many seem to be missing.

Roughly half of women who’ve had gestational diabetes — the pregnancy kind — go on to develop full-fledged Type 2 diabetes in the months to years after their child’s birth.

Yet new research shows fewer than one in five of those women returns for a crucial diabetes test within six months of delivery. That’s the first of the checkups they’re supposed to have every few years to guard against diabetes’ return, but no one knows how many do.

The research, by testing-lab giant Quest Diagnostics, is sobering...

Read more

Billboard parents and their children available for rent

By Aisha Sultan, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

Less than two hours after she was born, Alex Martin was swaddled in a pink blanket bearing the logo of a diaper rash cream. The nurse advised her parents to wait at least half an hour before changing the newborn into the corporate onesie and hat.

Alex was branded moments after exiting the womb, her birth brought to you by a company hoping to cash in on the Martin family marketing plan.

Her newborn photos and hospital videos show her, her parents, her 5-year-old brother and 4-year-old sister all advertising the company that paid $730 to sponsor her birth. The details were blasted on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook, promoted on the family’s blog and posted on YouTube.

This is how her parents...

Read more

Freckle-faced names Polly, Peggy, Penny and more

nameberry.com

There’s a certain species of girls’ names that we’ve referred to in our books as freckle-faced, pigtailed and button-nosed: They’re the kind of character names inhabited by Shirley Temple as a curly-haired moppet, and Judy Garland as a wide-eyed, innocent teen, as well as starring in dozens of old popular songs. Basically nickname names that have long stood on their own, none can be found any longer in the current Top 1,000 — though one of them ranked as high as No. 31 in the 1930s.

They’ve been gone a long time, but they still project a lot of spunk, and so, with the revival of nickname names in general we’re wondering if any of these could get their youthful mojo back.

We’re talking...

Read more

Five tips to curb your child’s cheating ways

By Dr. Michael Hartnett, Hybrid Mom

As technology has evolved to provide a vast wealth of information at anytime, anywhere, cheating has never been easier. From classmates receiving completed homework via a mass email to answers popping up on iPhones during a test, cheating has become as simple as text messaging. Here are five ways to prevent your teenagers from falling to such temptation, assuring that they are attending school to learn rather than to learn how to cheat.

1. Check your child’s homework every night. This advice may sound a little intense and age inappropriate by the time your child is in high school, but how else can parents truly know what their teenager are doing at school and what he/she is actually learning? A good sign that a teenager...

   Read more

   Posted in school

   ADD COMMENTS

Children can mean extra tax deductions and credits

By CAROLE FELDMAN, Associated Press

WASHINGTON — As any parent knows, the pitter patter of little feet — and bigger ones too — can be a drain on the wallet.

But when it comes to taxes, your children can mean extra deductions and credits.

First, for each dependent child, you can take a $3,650 personal exemption. The more children, the more exemptions you can take. Each personal exemption serves to reduce your income.

Children under age 19 can be claimed as dependents; those under 24 if they are full-time students. Children 24 or older who are full-time students can be claimed provided their income is less than $3,650. Age limits do not apply to disabled children.

If parents are divorced, only one may claim the child as a dependent. Child...

Read more