With winter upon us, the two most dreaded words for parents are SNOW DAY. We know that means coming up with crafts, meals, activities, games, and more just to keep our kids entertained. That’s what we have to do, right? We have to come up with ways to keep our kids stimulated, energized, learning, and happy. Only…we don’t.

The wonderfully insightful Lenore Skenazy (of Free Range Kids) argues that we’re overdoing it. Our kids don’t need us to jump through hoops to keep them entertained. Let THEM do it themselves.

You must play with your kids is so ingrained that we feel terrible when we’re bored sick by the idea of pouring another imaginary cup of tea. But maybe, like most pain, that boredom is trying to tell us something: Kiddie games are for KIDS. They really don’t need us!

No one is saying to neglect your kids. There are times for museums, classes, swim lessons, and games of Chutes and Ladders with Dad. However, it’s also important to let children do their own thing without an adult giving direction. Sometimes we forget that.

So, thanks to Lenore for the reminder!

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The National Academy of Sciences has a great online interactive tool called “I Was Wondering…“, which highlights the contributions of women in science. The site includes features on cool female scientists, a timeline of their discoveries, and games. Also, there’s a section called “Ask It!” where readers can submit their own questions.

The site, based on this series of books, is targeted toward tween girls:

What would it be like to build the first robot that could interact with people? Or to study human remains in search of criminal evidence? In Women’s Adventures in Science, readers will learn about the trailblazing women who are leaders in a variety of scientific fields, from robotics to forensics.

The site looks like a lot of fun and I hope that it inspires more young girls to embrace science.

[Via Science-Based Parenting]

A recent Dutch study has concluded that nearly 1 in 10 children aged seven to eight hear voices, but most aren’t bothered by them. About 3,800 children were surveyed and asked whether they heard one or more voices that only they themselves could hear.

Nine percent of the children answered yes. Only 15 percent of these children said the voices caused them serious suffering, and 19 percent said the voices interfered with their thinking. Boys and girls were equally likely to report hearing voices, but girls were more likely to report suffering and anxiety due to the voices.

I don’t quite know what to make of this information. This seems like a lot of kids. I’m a bit skeptical that there weren’t some children answering in the affirmative just for attention, or perhaps seeking approval. After all, we’ve seen many examples of the power of suggestion over people.

However, even if the numbers are reliable, experts say not to panic if your child hears voices. They conclude that most children suffering from auditory vocal hallucinations will not have any long-term effects from the condition. One of the study’s authors, Agna A. Bartels-Velthuis of University Medical Center Groningen in The Netherlands, said, “In most cases the voices will just disappear. I would advise them to reassure their child and to watch him or her closely.”

Perhaps these hallucinations account for some of the children who are attributed with “special gifts” such as psychic abilities? Many kids claim to have imaginary friends; but, perhaps, to some children, these friends are not really imaginary. Rather, they are voices inside their heads. It’s interesting research.

The team plans on following up in a few years to study how the auditory hallucinations evolve and what effect, if any, they have on the child’s behavior.

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The 3rd annual “Doodle 4 Google” contest begins today. Kids in grades K-12 can design their very own Google logo and the winner will have it displayed on Google.com for a day. They win other cool stuff, too:

In addition to the winner’s art appearing on Google.com on May 27, 2010, they’ll also receive a $15,000 college scholarship, a laptop computer and a $25,000 technology grant for their school.

Not too shabby.

The theme this year is “If I Could Do Anything, I Would…” and doodles must be submitted by March 31, 2010. It’s great that Google celebrates creativity in kids. If you’ve got a young designer or doodler at home, this could be a fun project.

Recently, while out to dinner with my kids, a little girl with glasses on came up to say hi to my four-eyed child. This little girl had recently been diagnosed with similar eye issues to my daughter, and was just test driving her new specs. She kept trying to take them off and her father was doing a good job of getting them back on.

Wearing glasses is a big adjustment for kids. Also, many children require patching and eye drops (as mine did), which can be hard for everyone. (Try getting a two-year old to not rip a patch off his or her eye…it’s not easy!) We did a lot of bribing with gummies and lollipops when our daughter adjusted to patches, drops, and specs. I’m not saying it was right, but it worked.

Back to dinner. The father of the little girl asked me a lot of questions about the experience we went/are going through. I told him about this amazing site I recently discovered for parents of children with glasses: LittleFourEyes. It is a great resource for parents, both for those just discovering eye issues or those with experience. There are articles about all types of eye issues, photo galleries to show off your child’s bespectacled face, books for kids, and links to games and print-outs related to glasses. My favorite is this Backyardigans “Glasses are Great” printable sticker set.

So, if you have a child with eye issues, I can’t recommend this site enough. It’s a wonderful online community for parents that reassures, informs, empathizes, and celebrates being the parent of a child who wears glasses.

As I’m sure most parents have now heard, Southwest Airlines flight attendants kicked a cranky two-year old child off their plane last week. Mother and son were flying together from Amarillo, Texas to San Jose, California, and the toddler started shouting and crying before the plane took off.

Pamela Root’s 2-year-old son was screaming for the Southwest Airlines plane to “Go! Plane! Go!”

“I want Daddy!” Adam shouted. Over and over again.

Despite her embarrassment, the stay-at-home San Jose mom remained confident that once the plane took off and she fed him, Adam would calm down and take a nap–just as he had on the half-dozen other plane rides with Mom.

The flight crew wasn’t willing to find out.

Many parents have expressed outrage over this. But, I’m a little surprised at this mother. She couldn’t give the kid a few small snacks to keep him quiet before takeoff? He’s hungry, in a strange space, and screaming, and she decides not to give him anything. Huh? I’m assuming they were not the only two passengers on the plane. Did the mother not care at all about anyone else around them? I’m not saying the airline should have kicked them off the flight, but come on, lady. When it was obvious her son wasn’t calming down, her common sense should have kicked in. Giving him something small may have distracted him and prevented the whole episode. Instead, she was asked to de-plane and then had to spend additional funds for an unexpected night in Texas.

Traveling with kids is exhausting and challenging. I have taken many flights with my two small girls and most have gone well. However, I’ve had others that were a bit rough. On every single flight, though, I have done absolutely everything in my power to keep my kids entertained and quiet. That included snacks and treats I wouldn’t normally let them have, more videos than they normally watch in one day, schlepping books and toys, and breaking out my own entertainment repertoire that involved everything short of standing on my head. It’s not always perfect, but I gave it my all.

Yes, it is our right as parents to bring our children with us on trips. But, it’s also our responsibility to minimize any disruption to the other passengers. It seems pretty rude to expect everyone else on board to wait it out while the parent does nothing.

Let’s hear what you think. How do you keep your kids happy during travels?

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Our daughter started wearing glasses when she was a year and a half. We’ve had a long road of patching, drops, surgery, and eye examinations to treat her amblyopia. There was a steep learning curve for my husband and myself about her condition and eye health in general. Mommy Mythbuster has a great article on the myths and facts of children’s eye health.

Some of the myths discussed include sitting too close to the television, eating carrots, and contact lenses. My favorite nugget of information:

“If a child is sitting too close to the TV or computer screen, it is probably because he needs glasses to see well. Sitting very close to the screen will not cause them to need glasses,” said Dr. Borchert.

To make your child’s computer station more comfortable, make sure the screen is at eye level. Reduce screen glare by using a desk lamp with a dimmer so there isn’t a big contrast between the brightness of the screen and the room. Make sure your child can’t see her own reflection on the screen.

I thought this study was interesting, and the way the article reports the study is pretty fair:

Whether or not spanking equates with dumber kids is not known, and may never be known. That’s because the only way to truly show cause and effect would be to follow over time two groups of kids, one randomly assigned to get spanked and another who would not get spanked.

Obviously, that sort of study would not be palatable for anyone involved.  So the author of this article did a good job of making it clear that correlation doesn’t necessarily equal causation.  Way to be.  That said, here’s what the study did find: » Continue reading “Study Links Spanking to Lower IQ”

duncan @ five minutes

By Dean Cameron

This past August 1, 2009 at 10:45am, my son, Duncan Huxley Cameron was born.

Not only is he quite a bit bigger now than he is in that photo, his ability to melt me with a look, has increased.

We are raising him as rationally as possible. Obviously, he’ll make his own decisions about how to interact with his world, but we’ll tell the truth as we see it and let it go. There’s plenty of woo out there for him to encounter and deal with on his own, so we don’t need to burden him with more at home. It’s going to be intersting as, even before he was born, people I consider rational were saying really weird and irrational things.

» Continue reading “Guest Dad Post – HAVIN’ MY BABAY”

So many parents worry about what their kids eat (rightfully) and whether they are getting the right balance of nutrients and vitamins vs junk. How far should you go when preparing food for your family, picky or not?

When my children were growing up, I didn’t cook separate meals for the kids, but I also didn’t cook anything I knew they would actually despise. Kids are fickle. One day chicken is fine; the next it isn’t. Who can keep up? If they are hungry enough, they’ll eat enough of what’s on their plate, and over the course of a week, they’ll get the vitamins, etc., they need. No need to be crazed or to force them to eat carrot ice cream.

Here’s a down to earth article by a foodie father that makes sense:

http://tinyurl.com/lbkpog