> Interesting Reads & Links
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By Glennon Melton, partially republished from The Huffington Post
Reposted: February 8, 2012
ONE
The earth shakes when the doctor places your firstborn in your arms. Your love for him is colored by terror because you are positive that he is going to die with each passing minute. You bring him home understanding that the Universe has made a mistake, that someone more qualified, more motherly will show up to retrieve him soon. So while you wait, you play house for awhile. You hold him with trembling, clutching, sweaty hands. You still do. You do not trust that he will be able to navigate his world. You eye his doctors, his playmates, his teachers, even his grandparents with great suspicion. Will they be gentle enough with him? He is so sensitive.
What you really mean is: I am so sensitive. I'm like Lazarus, fresh from the tomb, eyes burning from the sun's brightness. I can't handle the ferocity and fragility of this new love. Please be careful with us.
You think if you just hold his hand tight enough, read the right books, choose the right foods, choose the right schools ... if you just hold your breath forever ... it'll be okay. You're not sure what that is anymore. Maybe okay means you'll succeed at keeping him and the world apart forever. Maybe it just means that you'll both survive this love, this love so intense it threatens to consume you both like a fire.
TWO
Holding your second, you become human again. You are elated and concerned. Your firstborn is replaced. You can't look at or listen to both of your babies at the same time. So you look at your baby while talking about your firstborn. You say, "hold on honey" far too many times . . . more
By Jennifer Ludden, partially republished from NPR
Reposted: February 7, 2012
So-called helicopter parents first made headlines on college campuses a few years ago, when they began trying to direct everything from their children's course schedules to which roommate they were assigned.
With millennial children now in their 20s, more helicopter parents are showing up in the workplace, sometimes even phoning human resources managers to advocate on their child's behalf.
Megan Huffnagle, a former human resources manager at a Denver theme park, recalls being shocked several years ago when she received a call from a young job applicant's mother.
"An employee was hired as an IT intern, and the parent called and proceeded to tell me how talented her son was, and how he deserved much more [compensation], and that he could make much more money outside of this position," Huffnagle says.
Despite the pressure, Huffnagle stood firm, and the young man ultimately accepted the job. But the new employee was embarrassed by his mother's phone call, Huffnagle says. "I think there was a little bit of the roll of the eyes and a bit of a blush," she recalls . . . more
By Pamela Druckerman, partially republished from The Wall Street Journal
Reposted: February 5, 2012
When my daughter was 18 months old, my husband and I decided to take her on a little summer holiday. We picked a coastal town that's a few hours by train from Paris, where we were living (I'm American, he's British), and booked a hotel room with a crib. Bean, as we call her, was our only child at this point, so forgive us for thinking: How hard could it be?
We ate breakfast at the hotel, but we had to eat lunch and dinner at the little seafood restaurants around the old port. We quickly discovered that having two restaurant meals a day with a toddler deserved to be its own circle of hell.
Bean would take a brief interest in the food, but within a few minutes she was spilling salt shakers and tearing apart sugar packets. Then she demanded to be sprung from her high chair so she could dash around the restaurant and bolt dangerously toward the docks.
Our strategy was to finish the meal quickly. We ordered while being seated, then begged the server to rush out some bread and bring us our appetizers and main courses at the same time. While my husband took a few bites of fish, I made sure that Bean didn't get kicked by a waiter or lost at sea. Then we switched. We left enormous, apologetic tips to compensate for the arc of torn napkins and calamari around our table.
After a few more harrowing restaurant visits, I started noticing that the French families around us didn't look like they were sharing our mealtime agony. Weirdly, they looked like they were on vacation. French toddlers were sitting contentedly in their high chairs, waiting for their food, or eating fish and even vegetables. There was no shrieking or whining. And there was no debris around their tables.
Though by that time I'd lived in France for a few years, I couldn't explain this. And once I started thinking about French parenting, I realized it wasn't just mealtime that was different. I suddenly had lots of questions. Why was it, for example, that in the hundreds of hours I'd clocked at French playgrounds, I'd never seen a child (except my own) throw a temper tantrum? Why didn't my French friends ever need to rush off the phone because their kids were demanding something? Why hadn't their living rooms been taken over by teepees and toy kitchens, the way ours had?
Soon it became clear to me that quietly and en masse, French parents were achieving outcomes that created a whole different atmosphere for family life. When American families visited our home, the parents usually spent much of the visit refereeing their kids' spats, helping their toddlers do laps around the kitchen island, or getting down on the floor to build Lego villages. When French friends visited, by contrast, the grownups had coffee and the children played happily by themselves . . . more
By Glennon Melton, partially rebuplished from the Huffington Post
Reposted: January 21, 2012
I recently heard a vicious radio debate between women who believe that mothers should stay home and others who believe that mothers should work outside the home. All the debaters were mothers themselves.
As I listened wearily while ducking and dodging the ladies' sucker punches like a cornered boxer, I thought... this is really getting old.
I've been both a "working" and a "stay-at-home" mom so I've experienced both sides of the internal and eternal debate moms endure all day, every day. When I worked outside my house, Mommy Guilt rode shotgun with me each morning . . . more
By Sandy Kreps
Reposted: January 2, 2012
As parents, we’re in charge of our family’s daily lives, everything from the schedule of events for the week to the environment where we work, play and rest. We build the structure and set the rhythm for the days, and a lack of routines, excessive toys and clutter, chaotic schedules, and an overload of information can bring even the closest family down. Children are happiest and flourish when they have the time and space to explore their world without the constraints of “too much.” “Too much” is overwhelming and stressful, whether it’s too much stuff, too much information, too many activities, too many choices, or too much speed – always hurrying from one task to the next, never a moment to relax or play. Having and doing too much can overwhelm a kid and lead to unnecessary stress at home and in the classroom.
Simplifying a child’s routine and cutting down on their information and activity overload, as well as excessive toy and clutter piles, could help overstimulated kids become less argumentative and disruptive. When you simplify a child’s world, you make space for positive growth, creativity and relaxation.
“Many of today’s behavioral issues come from children having too much stuff and living a life that is too fast,” says Kim John Payne, author of “Simplicity Parenting: Using the Extraordinary Power of Less to Raise Calmer, Happier and More Secure Kids.” Payne says that many American kids are experiencing sensory overload with “too many trinkets, too many choices and too much information.” By approaching parenting using simplicity as a framework, parents may be able to significantly reduce a child’s daily stress, which can lead to happier, more successful children . . . more
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By Sue Shellenbarger
Reposted: December 28, 2011
By Julie Ryan Evans, The Stir at Cafe Mom
Reposted: December 15, 2011
By Doug McPherson, Special to The Denver Post
Reposted: December 6, 2011
No surprise to posters here: Parents have big influence on student success
By Maureen Downey
Reposted: November 25, 2011
By Patty Onderko
Reposted: November 17, 2011
By ScienceDaily.com
Reposted: November 3, 2011
By Jody Johnston Pawel
Reposted: October 23, 2011
By MomFinds.com
Reposted: October 7, 2011
By Parenting On Track
Reposted: October 2, 2011
By MSN.com
Reposted: September 20, 2011
By Janice D’Arcy
Reposted: September 15, 2011
By Alina Tugend
Reposted: September 6, 2011
By Kristina Sauerwein
Reposted: August 28, 2011
By HealthDay News
Reposted: August 14, 2011
By Tom Jackman, Post Local
Reposted: August 9, 2011
By Shine on Yahoo.com
Reposted: August 6, 2011
By Shine on Yahoo.com
Reposted: July 31, 2011
By Piper Weiss
Reposted: July 28, 2011
By LZ Granderson, CNN Contributor
Reposted: July 24, 2011
By Lori Gottlieb for the Atlantic
Reposted: July 13, 2011
By Parenting.com
Reposted: June 23, 2011
By Amina Sharma
Reposted: June 13, 2011
By the American School Counselor Association
Reposted: June 8, 2011
By Anita Renfroe
By Katherine Dorsett, CNN
Reposted: May 23, 2011
By Ashley Werner
Reposted: May 16, 2011
Join us on the 3rd Friday of every month for Target $2 Family Fun Night! Enjoy a discount admission of $2 from 4pm - 7pm.
By Kelly Hagan, Sarah Kunin and Sabina Ghebremedhim
Reposted: May 12, 2011
By The American Academy of Child Adolescent Psychiatry.
Reposted: May 2, 2011
Weather Wiz Kids is a fun and safe website that teaches kids about the fascinating world of weather. This site is designed especially for kids to allow them to learn more about the fascinating world of weather. It’s also a wonderful educational website for teachers and parents to give them the right tools to explain the different types of weather to children.
Posted: April 28, 2011
By Stacy Morrison
Reposted: April 16, 2011
By Sharon Silver
Reposted: April 14, 2011
By Jackie Plant
Reposted: April 13, 2011
By Lisa Belkin
Reposted: April 8, 2011
By David Lowry, Ph. D.
Reposted: April 7, 2011
By Caitlin Cherry
Reposted: April 4, 2011
By Heather Turgeon
Reposted: April 4, 2011
By Laurel May, Mamapedia.com
Reposted: April 2, 2011
by Marilyn Wedge, Author of "Suffer The Children"
Reposted March 30, 2011
By Nancy Rones, Parents.com
Reposted March 29, 2011
By Celeste Holder Kling, Colorado State University Extension
Reposted March 28, 2011
By Marsha Goetting, Extension Family Economics
Reposted March 28, 2011
By Karen CiceroReposted March 22, 2011By Amanda May, Parenting.com
Reposted March 20, 2011
By The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
Reposted March 18, 2011
By Kate at Parenting.com
Reposted March 16, 2011
By Kid's Doctor, WFAA.com
Reposted March 15, 2011
By Disney Family Fun
Reposted March 12, 2011
By Michelle Slatalla, RealSimple.com
Reposted March 10, 2011
By Erica Jong, WSJ.com
Reposted March 6, 2011
By Sue Shellenbarger, WSJ.com
Reposted March 3, 2011
By Babble.com
Reposted March 3, 2011
By Stephanie Karpinske, Parents.com
Reposted March 1, 2011
By Parent.net
Reposted February 26, 2011
By David Crary, Associated Press
Reposted February 25, 2011
By Emily Main, Rodale.com
Reposted February 24, 2011
By PBS Kids
Reposted February 23, 2011
By Diane Ravitch, Special to CNN
Reposted February 22, 2011
By Naomi de la Torre for SheKnows.com
Reposted February 19, 201
By GALTime.com,
Reposted February 19, 2011
By Jennifer Soong, Web MD
Reposted February 18, 2011
By Redbook
Reposted February 16, 2011
By Lori Gottlieb, Parents Magazine
Reposted February 14, 2011
By Lesli Foster, WUSA9.com
Reposted February 11, 2011
By Robyn Des Roches, Washington Parent Magazine
Reposted February 10, 2011
By Raising Resilient Children.com
Reposted February 9, 2011
By Isadora Fox, Parents Magazine
Reposted February 4, 2011
By David N. Britt, Potomac Local
Reposted February 2, 2011
Reposted February 1, 2011
By Mike Conway, Ashburn Patch.com
Reposted January 27, 2011
By Meloday, Empowering Parents
Reposted January 27, 2011
By Malika Warner, Yahoo! Contributor Network
Reposted January 26, 2011
By Charlotte Latvala, American Baby Magazine
January 24, 2011
By Michael Schulder, CNN Living
January 21, 2011
Interesting Links
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The Association of Children's Museums (ACM) Reciprocal Program provides free admission for a minimum of four (4) visitors from the same household to more than 165 ACM museums that participate in the ACM Reciprocal Program Network. A sample of local museums include (subject to change, always check Web site):
Virginia
Amazement Square, the Rightmire Children's Museum (Lynchburg)
Children's Museum of Richmond
Children's Museum of Virginia (Portsmouth)
Explore More, Harrisonburg Children's Museum
Shenandoah Valley Discovery Museum (Winchester)
Virginia Discovery Museum (Charlottesville)
Maryland
Chesapeake Children's Museum (Annapolis)
Port Discovery Children's Museum (Baltimore)
District of Columbia
Living Classrooms of the National Capital Region (sites in Washington, DC; Glen Echo, MD; Vienna, VA)
Dulles Moms
Your resource to children's and family-friendly events and
activities in the Greater Dulles area!
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