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Strollerderby
My daughters were desperate to take ballet class. But, after a few lessons, when it was time to go to class, they suddenly didn’t feel so well. They seemed to have fun when they were there, but they insisted they didn’t want to keep going. What to do?
Do I force them to attend a class they don’t want to take? Or do I let them quit something they’ve started? Neither alternative was very appealing.
Ultimately, we came to an agreement. They would continue going to classes until the semester ended, but I wouldn’t sign them up for another class unless they were sure they were ready to commit. Luckily, they were good sports about it.
I realize I had it relatively easy. They enjoyed the class and it wasn’t a hardship for them to finish the semester. But what happens when a class or activity is making a kid miserable? Continue reading »
Hello, summer! Memorial Day weekend is here. In the Northeast at least we’re getting a sweet taste of summer weather, with sunshine, breezes and a looooong weekend.
Ready to have fun with your kids? Here’s what the cool kids are up to this weekend.
This maybe should be filed under “duh”: A husband-and-wife team of economists have reviewed data from 42 years of studies and drawn the conclusion that college-educated mothers spend a lot more time ferrying kids around to activities than they used to, and that they do this in order to secure them a spot in a good college and eventually a high-paying job.
Garey and Valerie Ramey, who both are economists at the University of California — San Diego, noticed a trend they found troubling when they moved to a neighborhood in San Diego with their family. Children’s schedules were packed with activities, and soon both of them — but especially Valerie — found themselves caught up in what they dubbed “the rugrat race.”
The decided to look at what might be driving this phenomenon, so they reviewed data from 12 U.S. surveys taken between 1965 and 2007, describing how people spend their time. Continue reading »
As parents, it is up to us to set boundaries for what our children are allowed to do as they progress on their way to maturity. We don’t let them cross the street by themselves before a certain age, we don’t let them play with matches, and we give them ineffective plastic knives to use on the food we’ve already cut up for them. Of course, every parent has a different view of what children should be allowed to do at each stage of their life. Some parents let their kids climb trees, some parents let their kids build ramps for their bikes and skateboards, and then there’s Gever Tulley.
I have to admit I’m not a house parent. If we can get out of the door for five minutes, I’ll do it, preferring to go wreck the park instead of the living room. (Honestly, do you have any idea how many times I can do the dishes in one day? A lot, that’s how many. It drives me mad.)
So when this whopper of a rain storm smacked the West Coast on a long three-day weekend, I knew immediately we were doomed. But then I remembered my friend Charlene went on a TV show to tout rainy day activities and after trying one of them, I was hooked.
On the cheap.
It is so worth it. Continue reading »
Ahhh kids, so handy. There they are: plowing the fields, working seven paper routes to pay for your new HD TV and always at the ready to take a face full of pepper spray for dear old dad.
This is usually how hide and seek goes in my house, as my kid likes to hide in the same place (in the bed) everytime. Actually, it’s not really Hide and Seek at all but me pretending to seek, then pretending to get tired and taking a nap on the bed (aka my daughter) while the bed giggles and I continually tell the bed to hush up.
Anywho, these kids have mastered speed Hide and Seek. The Key? No furniture.
The “amazing” video after the jump.
Joslyn Gray 
Amber Doty 
Julianna Miner 
Monica Bielanko 
Sierra Black 
Meredith Carroll 
Carolyn Castiglia 
Sunny Chanel 
Madeline Holler 
Wendy Michaels 
Rebecca Odes 
Danielle Smith 
Danielle Sullivan 
Katherine Stone 
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