Preventing Back-to-School Blues

My kids are young enough that they’re actually excited about going back to school  What they aren’t excited about is their bedtime, which has been scaled back from “whenever” to 8 p.m.  “It’s still light out!” they complain.

According to a piece at MSNBC, I should explain to them that they don’t “have” to go to bed, they “get” to go to bed.  I’ll let you know how that works out for me.

But, really, the advice is on the right track.  Helping kids reset their body clocks now might not make them bounce out of bed the first time you nudge them awake at 6:30 a.m.  But there might be less crying and gnashing of teeth — on their part and yours.

Here are some more tips from MSNBC for getting your kids ready for summer’s end and their new school routine:

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  Tags: back to school, back-to-school anxiety, bedtime, family activities, kids, school, sleep, sleep needs, summer, teens

Americans and Their Family Vacation Issues

Kim Brooks recently wrote an essay — published right here on Babble.com — arguing that Europeans know how to take family vacations, while Americans still don’t have a clue. Her piece focused on the fact that in most European countries, employers automatically give their employees four — sometimes as much as five — weeks of vacation, which explains why so many people in the U.K., France, Hungary and other non-U.S. countries take off the entire month of August to revel in the pleasures of ambling summer days spent with family.

I think Kim is absolutely right. The fact that many companies here in the U.S. view vacation time as a luxury — often parceling out a mere week’s worth of days off until an employee has years of seniority under his or her belt — is wrong. But I think that’s only one part of what makes it so hard for many people in this country to enjoy family vacation time. It’s not just that we don’t get the time. It’s that we don’t know how to spend it.

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The Babble List: Summer in the City

Today on Babble:

“ The Babble List: Summer in the City”

By Lindsay Armstrong, Emily Frost and Andrea Zimmerman

25 tips for beating heat (and toddler!) exhaustion.

Read it here.

Cop Cites Lemonade Stand Kids For Sales Without a Permit

What would summer be without a couple of kids with a lemonade stand? And a cranky neighbor getting them in trouble?

A couple of kids in the Philadelphia are were doing what enterprising kids do in the summer - serving up cold drinks for a little cash when a neighbor called the cops. But instead of telling the neighbor to get over it, the cop cited the children for sales without a permit. Continue reading »

Tyler Perry Sending Snubbed Swim Club Kids to Disney World

I may have to be a Madea fan after reading this one: Tyler Perry has taken time off from his endless old-lady impersonations to speak up against the swim club that banned a group of black children based on the color of their skin.

And to make it up to them, he’s sending them all to Disney World on his dime. Continue reading »

Kid’s Letter From Camp Found

Many of our kids are off at camp for the summer. Some have even taken the plunge and gone to sleepaway camp.

Found Magazine shows off stuff that they, you know, find. Hence the title. Someone found a letter that a camper wrote to her parents. It’s quite something. Continue reading »

Mom Claims Hotel Pool Impregnated Her Daughter

When in Egypt, most would make a trek to check out ‘da Nile. But one visiting mom made a full blown trip to the land of ‘denial’ instead. Magdalena Kwiatkowska, the mother of a thirteen-year-old girl claims that Continue reading »

Would You Send Kids to Money Camp?

When I first heard kids were going to “money camp,” I was ready to be indignant about the pressure for earnings put on the young, the importance put on the trappings of materialism, yadda, yadda.

Oh thank goodness I just read the story. Because “money camp” for kids is really about business. Continue reading »

Mickey Mouse Takes to the Skies

Next time you take your kids outside at night, you can help them find Mickey. A Scottish schoolgirl participating in a contest in honor of the International Year of Astronomy has named a new constellation.

As it’s not officially Disney-ized, the mouse’s common name is “Wee Sleekit Beast” (remember, it was Scotland). Continue reading »

Kitchenista: Perfect Summer Cooler

Are you looking for something cold, refreshing and caffeine-free to serve your family around the patio table on grill night?  I have a candidate for you: ginger mint coolers.  Here’s the secret: Continue reading »