Culture
Posted 1 week 5 days ago by Sonja Stewart
Culture
Here we are at the close of one of the most exciting political races in my lifetime, and I cannot get enough of the vice presidential race. Why am I so fascinated by Sarah Palin? Where does she find the time to parent her five children? And how can I get her fabulous up-do?
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Posted 2 weeks 4 days ago by Margaret Garcia-Couoh
Social Skills, Etiquette, Conflict Resolution, Culture, Relationships
I know it's taboo in America to bring up various differences of social class but when junior says: Mom, can we invite Johnny over? Do you say yes right away or do you redirect and say, what about playing with Timmy instead?
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Posted 3 weeks 4 days ago by Linsey Knerl
Home Life, Social Skills, Entertainment, Culture
I was prepared to hate this remake of my favorite teen drama growing up. After all, it had gotten the Parent’s Television Council to call for a boycott after only the first show. Not being one to let anyone make decisions for my family, I decided to screen the show myself. My findings were shocking -- but not in the way you would think.
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Posted 10 weeks 1 day ago by Corina Fiore
Safety, Home Life, Social Skills, Relocation, Entertainment, Learning Tools, Culture, Relationships
I miss the olden days. You know, the olden days like 20 years ago. Life seemed different then. You belonged to a community, a neighborhood. The people in your neighborhood were part of your extended family. At some point in the last 20 years, the neighborhood has succumbed to death.
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Posted 11 weeks 5 days ago by Margaret Garcia-Couoh
Etiquette, Conflict Resolution, Culture
This summer was my first venture into traveling alone with the children since the husband had to work. (Hats off to all the single moms out there who do this on a regular basis).
I found that keeping a zen like calm goes a long way into making the unexpected and the disaster a little more adventure like and way more fun for the kiddies.
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Posted 12 weeks 2 days ago by Paul Michael
Social Skills, Culture, Relationships, K-8, High School, Higher Education
Once upon a time, it was Pig-Latin. These days, the Internet has created several ways for both children and adults to communicate with each other. In part one of this series, I'll give you a list of the most common acronyms or "initialisms" that your children are using daily, via the web and phone. Some of these you will be familiar with already; some may shock you.
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Posted 13 weeks 2 days ago by Katherine Turner
Entertainment, Learning Tools, Culture, Pre School
I’ve spent the past month watching every show PBS Sprout dishes up and man am I pasty. Crib my notes for what to let the kiddies watch and keep your summer glow!
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Posted 13 weeks 6 days ago by Margaret Garcia-Couoh
Culture, Relationships
The time had come to break it to the kids that the grandmas are getting married at the end of July. I was bracing for very literal preschooler observations of only boys and girls can marry---not unlike my preschoolers observations about who can tuck her in and who can play with Barbie...her response was not expected...
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Posted 14 weeks 1 day ago by Rosemerry Wahtola Trommer
Discipline, New Parents, Culture, Diseases & Disorders
If your baby cries unceasingly, you need help as much as your child does. Though it may take months, your child will eventually stop. You, on the other hand, will carry the scars of the difficult time for years unless you learn ways to move forward. Here are some ideas.
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Posted 16 weeks 21 hours ago by Margaret Garcia-Couoh
Culture
As a mostly vegetarian, hippie genX-er--a non-TV watching, non-consumer driven parent-- I have purposely failed my children miserably by hiding from them vital cultural icons of American life. But all that is about to change with two Happy Meals...
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Posted 16 weeks 5 days ago by Margaret Garcia-Couoh
Culture, Sex Ed, Relationships
Wow. It really is happening. All across California gays and lesbians are getting married. Their children, we children will all be legitimized in a way we haven't been before. I spent the weekend talking to a gay dad raising sons (being Father's Day weekend) here's what's been tripping around my conversations. I talked to a few women on the verge of marriage. Here's what I heard and remembered.
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Posted 16 weeks 6 days ago by Margaret Garcia-Couoh
Social Skills, Etiquette, Conflict Resolution, Culture
School is winding down and so is Little League season (June is national Little League month). You are almost finished carting junior around from school yard to baseball diamond to pizza parlor to game again. So it begs the question. Which kind of Little League parent are YOU?
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Posted 17 weeks 1 hour ago by Corina Fiore
Safety, Discipline, Home Life, Education, Pregnancy, Social Skills, Birth, No Children Zone, Etiquette, New Parents, Conflict Resolution, Work Balance, Culture, Relationships
The picture represents how I feel about unsolicited or absolute advice: angry and annoyed. I often ignore advice, shake my head in agreement, and move on my way. I wasn't always that way, and I was reminded of the havoc unsolicited advice can reap on a family when reading a message board this week.
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Posted 18 weeks 1 day ago by Katherine Turner
Entertainment, Learning Tools, Culture, Pre School
Like any form of art or entertainment, TV runs the gamut from the horrendous to the sublime, and with only a little initial channel-surfing in the name of research, you can learn to enjoy the medium guilt-free and eventually advance to using your former nemesis for the betterment of your children.
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Posted 19 weeks 13 hours ago by Linsey Knerl
Education, Culture, Home School
Wow! What a question. As a mother who homeschools, this was quite an odd question to see in the middle of my most recent issue of Parade magazine. I had to take a closer look.
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Posted 19 weeks 2 days ago by Linsey Knerl
Social Skills, Culture
When I hear the word “spiritual”, it makes me a bit squeamish. To me, spirituality is such a personal and usually specific aspect of one’s life that I find general tips on teaching “spirituality” to your children to be misguided. Read on to see how this lone parenting manual really stood out from the others.
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Posted 20 weeks 1 day ago by Linsey Knerl
Education, Culture, Home School
I receive a lot of activist-type emails, especially those which call for action to be taken in matters of educational discrimination in the homeschool arena. While I usually take much of it with a grain of salt, this latest news regarding a Subway promotion rubbed me a little wrong.
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Posted 21 weeks 3 days ago by Margaret Garcia-Couoh
Culture, Sex Ed, Relationships
With Friday’s State Supreme Court ruling in California the possibility of my mothers being able to marry legally in our state has come up once again. Yay! We are all very excited and hope that wedding bells will ring for our lesbian mothers after twenty years (longer than most of the hetero marriages we know have lasted. So, the only question that remains is what do we tell the children and when? And does it even matter?
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Posted 22 weeks 20 hours ago by Katherine Turner
Discipline, Shopping, Entertainment, Etiquette, Learning Tools, New Parents, Conflict Resolution, Culture, Pre School
Want a novel tack to take the next time your kid flings himself face-down in front of a Tonka Truck display or blows a gasket because her “very pink” underpants are in the wash? Try making them laugh at what makes them cry!
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Posted 22 weeks 3 days ago by Margaret Garcia-Couoh
Social Skills, Etiquette, Conflict Resolution, Culture, Relationships
What's it mean to be a mommy to you? This is my take on the day and the experience...
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