Here is a great video from the CDC addressing a lot of the current vaccination concerns. The pediatrician from the CDC covers hot topics like vaccines and autism, the number of shots given, and the delayed vaccination schedule theory.
Get the Picture: Child Immunizations
Also, there are some funny bloopers at the end. Anyone who has had to do something with little ones around can relate!
Underground Moms are not different from other moms in most ways: just trying to raise our kids and live our lives. What’s different is that we try to examine the parenting culture we are swimming in, a culture that has brought us baby knee pads, professional babyproofers and prime time specials on child abductions. Not to mention Baby Einstein. (Do you know what the real Einstein played with as a child? He built card houses. So much for “educational DVDs”.) » Continue reading “Right on.”
So as you can see, the boy has had a freakishly long nap today, which means I’ve gotten tons of writing done. Here I am on my third post. I have no idea why he’s so tired, but I have to admit that I am loving it.
Just added Free Range Kids to our blogroll. I’m pretty interested in reading the book as well, which is all about bringing up kids without hovering over them every second. My husband and I actually talk about this subject quite a bit, as we both remember roaming around without parents through our neighborhoods, riding our bikes, or flying kites at the school yard on our own. But we live in LA, and we both agree that this kind of thing would be just impossible here. Busy streets, crazy people everywhere, and–well…really I lived in a city with plenty of busy streets when I was a kid, too. So…is it just that things are different now? It just seems like kids don’t wander around on their own anymore. And maybe they should get to.
Okay, next I need to review a book I actually have read, and get ready, ’cause it’s a scary one.
So we’re all moms (or pregnant, at least) on here, which means we are trying to blog and be all sciency and skeptical, but let’s face it, I’m writing during my son’s nap, and if he wakes up, this article becomes a draft and not a post. For a while now, I’ve been mentally planning an article about my own personal theories on just why so many smart parents I know cannot let go of the so completely debunked connection between vaccines and autism. I just haven’t gotten around to writing said post. But the great thing about these here Internets is that if you just wait long enough, someone else will write your post for you. » Continue reading “Why do anti-vaccine myths persist?”
As the weather is getting warmer, I started thinking about freezing some of our bottled water to put in my daughter’s school lunch. If it’s a block of ice in the morning, it can sit in the hot sun for 4 hours and end up nice, slushy, ice-cold water by noon. But I remembered a couple of moms last summer saying that freezing bottled water was unsafe: something about the plastic breaking down and leaking chemical “dioxins” into the water. Their concern, I believe, was set off by e-mail warnings about plastics. » Continue reading “Freezing Bottled Water this Summer”
Update 5/24: My statement that “there is no other camp like [Camp Inquiry] in the world” was unnecessary hyperbole. Anyone considering sending their kids to Camp Inquiry should also look into opportunities at Camp Quest!
If you are interested in science or skepticism, and if you have kids, have I got a summer camp for you! Camp Inquiry is a week-long summer camp for children aged 7-16, which runs from July 6-12, and is hosted by CFI, near Buffalo, NY. It has all the regular camp stuff, like hiking in the woods, outdoor sports, and sleeping in bunkbeds. But, oh man, it has so much more!
Camp Inquiry has a three-part focus, teaching children about the arts and sciences, skepticism, and ethics. Every day at camp is different, but every day the campers will work on science projects, develop critical thinking skills, and work with professional scientists, skeptics, artists, musicians, and magicians. I’m afraid to name names, because contracts may not be finalized, but the kids who come to Camp Inquiry this summer will: » Continue reading “Fun, Educational Summer Camp for a Skeptical Kid or any Kid!”
I’m sure we’ve all seen this study or at least have heard about it by now. It seems to me that all moms are talking about this in some form, and it’s scaring several moms I know.
A recent study showed that children who spend more time in daycare than their non-daycare-attending counterparts tended to act out more by the time they reached kindergarten. (The newscast below says, “went to school,” so I’m assuming that’s kindergarten, but I suppose it could be pre-school.) And apparently, researchers found that the quality of the facility and those who supervise doesn’t matter—it’s the length of time kids spend in daycare that may affect behavior.
What do you think, readers? Have you seen any difference in children you know? Would you attribute the length of time these children spend in a daycare facility or at home to be the primary reason for any major behavioral differences?
By the way, if you can find the text of the study itself, let me know. I did a quick search and came up empty-handed.
Happy Mother’s Day to rational moms everywhere!
WE know we have it hard. Well, the research is now catching up to prove it. LiveScience.com posted 5 Scientific Reasons Mom Deserves Mother’s Day. Included here are some insightful findings based on recent scientific data. For example, moms today get less help and are expected to do more. Moms feel more pain. And, researchers have discovered that, although our genes come 50% from dad and 50% from mom, for some unknown reason mom’s genes have a more significant effect on the person you become.
One stark example: While you were in the uterus, if your mother had a very stressful experience, you’ll be at greater risk for anxiety disorders. And a new study on rats, out last month, indicates that your mother’s diet during pregnancy affected your genes.
More surprising, studies are showing that what your mother ate when she was a child, the toxins she was exposed to, and other experiences before and during pregnancy affect how the genes she passes on to you actually get expressed in your body.
Another study, reported this year in the journal Child Development, shows a profound impact of nurturing by mothers in the early years, too. A child who has a strong relationship with Mom during preschool years tends to form closer friendships in grade school, the research revealed.
So give yourself a pat on the back today, moms. You deserve it!
This is a cool site where you can donate vaccines for every definition you get correct! It’s free and fun.
