Recent Comments:
Halloween candy {ParentDish}
Oct 11th 2007 6:54PM Coffee Crisp is definitely delish... My Rachel really loves 'em. If they came in big bags around here, she'd be in the same boat as you.
In fact, I think those are one of the reasons she wants to go back to Vancouver!
Pixar's new film: Wall-E {ParentDish}
Oct 2nd 2007 1:12PM Whoa, wait... what? You mean these are actually meant for kids? 8^)
Witnessing abuse {ParentDish}
Aug 21st 2007 2:43PM For those who would argue that "I was spanked and I turned out okay," would you also agree that "in my parent's day, seatbelts were optional (what car seats?) and I survived," so we should let our kids bounce around in the back of our cars?
Military giving high school drop-outs a second chance {ParentDish}
Aug 13th 2007 7:44PM It seems to me you don't need a whole lot of calculus to catch a bullet. Or even to avoid doing so. My concern (other than that we need more recruits in the first place) is that recruiters may use this as a means to entice kids into dropping out and joining up. "You don't have to worry about finishing high school; Sign up now and we'll make sure you pass the GED!"
Eva Longoria wants trilingual kids {ParentDish}
Aug 13th 2007 7:23PM Jared went to preschool with two kids who were tri-lingual, one who spoke Chinese, Korean, and English (iirc) and one who spoke Japanese, Spanish, and English. The parents were each bilingual in the different languages. In fact, in his school, being monolingual was the exception. The more languages the better, if you ask me. Jared and Sara are learning Spanish as well as English, but they aren't (yet) fluent in it.
Does Baby Einstein hurt more than help? {ParentDish}
Aug 8th 2007 2:41PM For us, zero-TV was not an option because we simply could not afford for one of us to quit working and take care of them. We made the best of the situation we had, but it included some TV watching.
The mega-meltdown {ParentDish}
Jul 17th 2007 1:41AM SKL, I would consider "meltdown" a harsher, more direct term than "tantrum" -- which would disqualify it from being a euphemism.
And, as anyone will tell you, I am an extremely uptight, tense, and high-strung person without a mellow bone in my body. I think, however, that it comes from living in San Francisco, a town known for its uptight conservative lifestyle.
4-year-old calls 911 nearly 300 times in June {ParentDish}
Jul 6th 2007 6:35PM I want to know what model phone this was. I can't imagine the parent was charging it for her, so that's a pretty darn impressive battery life.
We let the kids play with our old ones a bit but, honestly, they like the colorful play ones better.
What does a G rating really mean? {ParentDish}
Jul 4th 2007 11:38AM "Anyone who has ever seen a "G" movie knows it is likely to have violence and other scary stuff in it."
And the point I was making is that a "G" movie is supposed to be acceptible for even the youngest children, so the ratings system doesn't really work. The problem is that it is far too imprecise. What you see as suitable for your kid may not be what I think is okay -- but how are we supposed to know? All we know is that a "G" rating means a group of parents somewhere thinks it's okay. We don't know why they think so or what they think is acceptable. Apparently, they think a woman emptying -- and reloading -- her shotgun at the movie's hero is okay for everyone. Whether or not you agree, you have to understand that for those who don't agree, they have no way of knowing that they'll find the movie unacceptable.
That's why a site like Kids-in-Mind is much more useful -- it provides the detail needed for parents to make their own decision, rather than leaving it up to some faceless panel owned by the movie industry. You can use that site to decide for yourself what movies are acceptable or you can abdicate that decision and just go with the MPAA's ratings.
I think a lot of parents thought that following the MPAA ratings was being a good parent, but it turns out that's not necessarily the case.
What does a G rating really mean? {ParentDish}
Jul 4th 2007 1:34AM Katheryn, that's the point of the post -- Stephanie *was* trying to do her job as a parent, but it turns out that relying on the "G" rating isn't adequate. That's the problem.
SKL -- kids simply do NOT understand that "gun violence is make-believe." Young children believe that Big Bird is real, that the Tooth Fairy really does need all those teeth, and that there is a monster living under their bed. These same kids are supposed to be able to tell the difference between real and make-believe violence? It doesn't work that way.
