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Strollerderby
Wikipedia has blacked out its search results today to protest the SOPA bill.
Major internet websites may be going dark today to protest SOPA, an anti-piracy bill in Congress, but since the job of parenting never stops most parenting websites have remained open for business.
Websites like Babycenter, Parenting, Parents and, of course, Babble, are keeping the light on today. So are many other websites with large female audiences like BlogHer, iVillage and Yahoo Shine. Continue reading »
Apple has given a controversial app the boot from its iTunes roster
Apple can fly its rainbow colors with pride once again.
After an app went on sale in iTunes by a religious group that claimed it could “heal” homosexuality, Apple has pulled it from their virtual shelves, saying it violated their policy by “being offensive to large groups of people.”
Nearly 150,000 people signed a petition in protest of the app, which was created by Exodus International. The religious group claims they “help” gay people through teachings in the Bible. However, Apple’s guidelines say inappropriate hate speech are in violation of their practices.
Will a "gay cure" app in iTunes spoil Apple for you?
I’m the first to admit that I’m a hypocrite. I don’t let my daughter have a piece of chocolate after dinner if I feel like she hasn’t had enough fruits and vegetables throughout the day, while I might have had nothing leafy or green in a week and eat a sleeve of Girl Scout cookies for lunch.
But she’s only 2 and I know that most of what I say and do along those lines only has a mild affect on her now, particularly because she’s all about her and doesn’t notice if I say one thing and do another. When she gets a little older, wiser and more aware of anyone but herself, I have no doubt I’ll work harder at setting a better example.
A company like Apple, on the other hand, can hardly get away with being two-faced because its audience is very tuned in to what it’s doing — literally. Which is why I find it rather shocking that they would allow a “gay cure” app to be sold on iTunes.
A broken ankle teaches Lisa Belkin a new appreciation for technology
Last weekend, a lot of us celebrated the National Day of Unplugging, a time-out from technology intended to help us reconnect with the people and passions that really matter in our lives.
Lisa Belkin of Motherlode thought she’d be one of them. Minutes after she posted her intentions on her blog, however, she fell outside her home, breaking both ankles.
Her cell phone didn’t rescue her. Her sons did. She screamed where she fell, and they ran out to help her. It was a cell phone that made the 911 call to get her an ambulance though, and a cell phone that redirected her husband from their planned dinner out to the emergency room she was taken to.
A safer way to ride the bus?
Putting your kids on a school bus can be a nerve wracking experience. Unless you happen to have a personal relationship with the bus driver, you are essentially putting your child’s life in the hands of a stranger each and every day. And even if you have complete confidence in the driver’s ability to safely navigate the route between the bus stop and the school, there’s always one more thing to worry about: What if my kid gets off at the wrong stop?
It happens, of course. The news if full of stories of young children who were allowed to get off the school bus miles from home. These kids almost always turn up safe and sound, but it’s a frightening experience that no child or parent should have to go through. Continue reading »
If you don't stop leaving your skate board around, young man, no iPod for a week!
By the time the average American kid is 12 years old, they’ve got an iPod, a smartphone and a Facebook profile. So it makes sense that many parents are turning to “digital grounding” when their kids misbehave. But according to Dr. Jennifer Hartstein, contributor to the CBS Early Show and child and adolescent psychologist, “the punishment has to fit the crime.”
For example, she says, don’t threaten to delete your child’s Facebook page, which may make them feel as if “the world is ending.” (Please, I think if my Facebook page got deleted I’d cry for a day, too.) Instead, you should change their password so they can’t access their social network for a specified amount of time. Hartstein also suggests “friending” your kids on Facebook so you’re able to monitor their activity.
Most parents have no problem banning TV or video games in order to reprimand their children but would be much more hesitant to keep tweens and teens from their phones, since cell phone use makes life easier for the whole family. But Regina Lewis, a consumer advisor at AOL, says there are ways to customize your child’s cell phone plan that will allow them only to receive calls from and make calls to family members, blocking calls from friends. If your child’s been really bad, you can also turn off their ability to text message, which Lewis says might cost $5/month. For the service, that is. And $50/month in co-pays for therapy.
So would you do it? And how hard is digital grounding to enforce? Continue reading »
I’m posting from Buenos Aires today, where I’ll be spending a month with my family visiting my husband’s parents. It took me three days after arriving to get my various electronic devices up and running so I could surf the web, post to my blogs and charge my camera batteries.
Last time we were here, I just left all that behind. But even on vacation, I’m not willing to walk away from my precious Internet connection these days. That makes me pretty typical, the Washington Post says. Teens are the biggest culprits when it comes to staying plugged in on vacation, but parents are guilty too.
A lot of parents think taking technology on vacation is wrecking an old tradition, but for others, it’s just a sign of the times. Obviously, I’m in the latter camp.
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