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Strollerderby
Katy Perry and Elmo on Sesame Street
If you want to see Katy Perry’s appearance on Sesame Street, you’ll have to watch it on You Tube. After receiving complaints from parents about her cleavage-baring dress, a PBS spokesman confirms that the episode has been pulled.
"It is imperative to be organized when you have 3 children."
Have you ever introduced yourself to another mom at the park and felt helpless as the encounter turned into total disaster? Then you’ll love this brand-new xtranormal.com web-series, Mompetition.
Despite the millions of funny kid videos online, the subject of parenting itself has been largely overlooked by the makers of viral content. I’m sort of surprised it’s taken this long for someone to realize what a treasure trove of material mommy competition provides. Like all xtranormal videos, this film is digitally animated and voiced by a type recognition system. (Xtranormal’s slogan is, “If you can type, you can make movies.”) There’s something inherently hilarious about hearing a script read by a robotic voice, but add in the Stepford Wives quality of two mothers sizing each other up, and you’ve got yourself a laugh-out-loud delight. Take a look: Continue reading »
What Should Parents Actually Worry About?
In The New York Times on Saturday, Lisa Belkin put us in our place a little, pointing out just how bad parents are at measuring risk, keeping kids safe from real dangers, and letting go of unrealistic fears.
The top concerns that parents have about their kids’ safety — the things that keep them awake at night – are kidnapping, school snipers, terrorists, dangerous strangers, and drugs, according to the Mayo Clinic. But when you look at the probabilities, none of these make the cut for dangers truly likely to befall our kids.
It’s because we’re not really good at sizing up risks and looking at things rationally. As humans we’re pretty emotional decision makers, programmed to react to things that push our innate fear buttons. So a news story about a child being kidnapped trips an emotional wire with us. But is it really likely to happen to our kid? No. As Belkin mentions in her story, statistically speaking, you would have to leave your child alone outside for 750,000 hours to make it likely for a him to be snatched.
What are the things we should actually worry about? Continue reading »
The new pyramid makes baby the king.
On Friday, Lisa Belkin at Motherlode finally gave her opinion about the recent re-design of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs that puts parenting at the apex of a pyramid explaining how humans can live life to the fullest. As you can imagine, those without children are not only appalled but actually laughing about it, and those of us with children are left scratching our heads. Parenting is the new self-actualization? I don’t think so. I’d like to think part of being self-actualized means not being covered in spit-up. Continue reading »
We talked last week about whether or not automakers should install forgotten kid alarms in cars as a result of the high number of overheating deaths already this year. While many parents see no harm in adding the safety technology to vehicles, Pennsylvania lawmakers want to go one step further. They plan to introduce a bill that would charge parents who leave their children in unattended vehicles with a third-degree felony.
Sen. Robert Tomlinson, R-Bucks County, and Rep. Gene DiGirolamo, R-Bensalem, are sponsoring the legislation and will present it to their respective chambers, according to the Daily American. Supervising adults caught abandoning children in a car currently face misdemeanor charges; a third-degree felony conviction can result in 3 1/2 to 7 years in prison and a fine of up to $15,000.
But wait! Here’s the really unbelievable part: This proposed change in the law comes in response to a slew of hasty parents who’ve left their children locked in the parking lot of the Parx Casino in Bensalem in order to go gamble. You know, with something other than their children’s lives. Continue reading »
Labor Day is one of America’s oldest holidays, having been celebrated longer than Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, according to The New York Times. Those of you who enjoyed the day off today should thank the American Federation of Labor, who in 1884 claimed the first Monday in September as a day to honor those “who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold.” That lovely quote comes from Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and co-founder of the AFL.
As the Times editorial notes, “There is not so much delving and carving these days, and nature doesn’t seem quite as rude as it once did. Labor Day has expanded well beyond the realms of organized labor, and what was once a “workingmen’s” holiday is now a respite for nearly everyone with a Monday job.” Parents, of course, often have two jobs – one outside the home, and what can seem like a million unending tasks inside the home. And while Mother’s Day and Father’s Day can be nice, promising Mom breakfast in bed prepared by the kids or a day out on the golf course for Dad, Labor Day is “a holiday that needs no preparation, which is a true holiday indeed.”
Labor Day marks the unofficial end of summer, and many families enjoy their last outdoor adventures over the long weekend, or attend their State Fair. I took my daughter to The Great New York State Fair yesterday and had the time of my life. We watched an amazing high-dive show and explored historical train cars. We picked our favorites at the horse show and I helped her make her very own tie-dyed scarf. Watching her try to drive the bumper cars had me imagining her as a driver in 12 years (if only 16-year-olds came with carnies who could help them steer) and seeing her ear-to-ear grin on the kiddie coaster made my face beam, too. But my favorite part of the day came as a surprise at the very end, when we strolled through the children’s games.
“Ooooh! A dolphin!,” my daughter squealed. I had no idea she was into dolphins, but then again, things don’t have to be very exciting for my kid to get jazzed over them. She likes to collect rocks and leaves and gets upset when she has to throw away the bits of wrapper that have been ripped off her crayons, so that giant blow-up Flipper must have blown her mind.
We’d had a busy day already, and I’d just spent my last ten bucks buying ride tickets. But when I saw how excited she was at the prospect of winning such a big prize, I thought to myself, “Take some money out. It’ll only cost you five bucks, and you’ll be a hero for the rest of her life.” I went to the nearest ATM and withdrew funds I knew I didn’t really have to spend, but I figured I’d work it out somehow. We ran over to the pleasant and plump woman in charge of the Pick-a-Duck pool, who greeted us with a hearty, “Hi, Mom!”
“We’ve got a special running,” she bellowed. “Five dollars gets you any prize you want.” I thought to myself, “Way to be discreet, lady. Why even make the kid pick-a-duck then?” But I handed her a 20 dollar bill, she gave me my change, and my kid reached down and grabbed an armful of ducks. Laughing, I said, “Let’s see what you won!” and turned the ducks over. They all said the same thing on the bottom, just a giant S for “SUCKER!” Continue reading »
USA Today reports that at least 41 children have died so far this year in hot cars. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is considering petitioning automakers to include safety belt reminder chimes for all seating positions. Kids and Cars President Janette Fennell thinks that “these same chimes that sense if people aren’t buckled in should also warn if children are still buckled in cars after they’re locked.” The Consumer Federation of America and Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety agree.
While a chime might help in the case of distracted parents accidentally forgetting their child is in the back seat, what about parents who innocently leave their children in the car on purpose while they run into a store? It turns out, only 18% of hot car deaths from 1998-2009 were caused by parents who intentionally left their children in the car. 30% were the result of children playing in unattended vehicles (in which case the chime would be ineffective in preventing death) and 51% of the deaths involved children forgotten in cars. Continue reading »
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