MW Live – Show #6 – The Best and Worst of 2013

As we come to the last few weeks of 2013, we thought we’d take a moment to reflect on our MOST and LEAST favorite things from this past year.  Some we’ll be taking into 2014, but many we plan on leaving behind!

Celebrity Births in 2013 - Glamour Magazine

Mommy Warriors List of Best Parenting Books of 2013

Most Interesting News Stories of 2013 (for parents)Mom Chooses Medical Marijuana Over Chemo As Treatment For 3-Year-Old Son’s Cancer

Most Irritating Parent Blog Post - “I Didn’t Want Twins”

Most Pathetic News Stories of 2013

Congress Fails to Pass Gun Law Legislation
Ethan Couch Sentenced to Probation, No Jail Time After DUI Crash Left Four Dead

Mommy Warriors Most Popular Viral Videos (See all videos here)

Girls - But we can’t show you because the Beastie Boys didn’t want their song being used.Dove Real Beauty Sketches – How Women See ThemselvesBaby&MeWhat Most Schools Don’t TeachDeb OR Flash MobJeff Gordon – Test Drive

Dumbest Headline – Infertility Less Likely in Women with Children (NY Times) – DUH!

Worst Tragedy and How You Can Help – Typhoon Haiyan Death Toll Now stands at over 6000
     And the survivors still need our help.  If you’d like to help the victims, here are some ways you can contribute:

This week’s menu is all about classic dishes and comfort food.

Sunday
Classic Roasted Chicken with Roasted Vegetables

Monday
Beef Stew and Cheddar Biscuits

Tuesday
Chicken Enchiladas with Red Sauce

Wednesday
Crab Cakes with Green Salad

Thursday
Wild Mushroom, Caramelized Onion and Truffle Lasagna

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Mommy Warriors Best and Worst Gifts Ever!

Between the two of us, Alyssa and I have given so many gifts to our collective 7 kids.  Over the years some have been huge hits, for various reasons, and some have been complete DUDS!  And nowadays, every retailer is trying to pitch you the “Hot Toys” of the year.  But who is deciding what your kids are going to like?  Often what they tell you is “hot” is really what they are deciding they want to push.  Here is what in our experience have been the best and the worst gifts we’ve given our kids:

Gaming console – These days technology is the new status symbol.  When kids return to school in January the first item they usually list when asked what they got for Christmas is some sort of electronic.  The benefit of the console is that it has layers of use because of the games you can buy.  This year, the Playstation 4 and the Xbox One are in high demand.  We suggest making it a “family gift” along with specific games geared toward each individual kid.  The challenge with this will be setting the limits on the amount of time the kids can play.  For a good non-violent strategy game, we recommend Portal.

Sports equipment – Basketball hoops, skateboards, bikes, etc.  Kids have energy AND they need to exercise.  Anything that encourages them to get outside and move their bodies is good for everyone.

Art supplies – Every house with kids needs a stock of art supplies, whether for enjoyment or for that last minute school project.  The holidays are a great time to stock up.  If you have a stock of poster boards, construction paper, pens, paint, stencils, crayons, stickers, etc., you’re set!  And no more 8pm announcement from your middle schooler that you have to take him to Michael’s for a project due the next day!

Board and card games – Not only can these be educational, but they’re a great way for the family to spend time together, which the kids love.  The key is to find the ones that kids really like.  The favorites in the Perry house are Life, Slamwich, Monopoly, Sorry, Checkers, Blockus, Twister, Uno, Guess Who, and Battleship, most of which have been around for a long time.  In the Banko household some of the favorites are Apples to Apples, Dicecapades, Pictionary, Phase 10, Rummikub and any type of card game. Some things are just timeless.

Arcade games – If you have the space, a great “family gift” is a table top arcade game like ping pong, air hockey or foosball.  Kids can play these for many years and the whole family can participate.

Build and create – Kids of all ages love to build and put things together. In my house, it was all about Legos, we had so many different Lego sets, I lost count but even today, they still pull them out and create. Erector sets, Mega Blocks, Lite Brite, etc.

Start a collection – My youngest loves coins, so one year we started him off with a coin collection set.  He not only loved going thru what he received, but it turned into an on-going activity that he still does.   It also has taught him how things can go up in value as they are collected and saved.

Anything Nerf – bows, guns, blasters, and balls. As long as Nerf is in the name any boy will be happy.  But just so you don’t think we’re encouraging stereotypes, my daughter loves them, too!  It’s fun to get each kid the same one and let them set up a battle.  It’s safe, engages kids of all ages and it can be played indoor or out, which is great during the winter months!

Science kits – Though these are often used up quickly, we have never bought a science / activity kit that didn’t get used.  From a butterfly kit, to growing sea monkeys, to volcano sets and a glow in the dark lab set, kids love hands on activities that allow them to manipulate, change, grown and create things.

Craft sets – The same can be said for craft sets as for science kits.  This year, the big craze are the Rainbow Bands sets for making bracelets out of rubber bands.  But weaving kits, paint-your-own-mug, jewelry making, etc., these are all popular, especially with the girls, and they get used.

Cardboard boxes – That’s right!  After all these years, my kids, even my 15 year old, will still ask if they can keep the box.  So this year, why not just give them one?  One great big giant box!  I’ll bet it is one of their favorite things they receive.

I loved it as a kid, so they will, too!  WRONG!  The times have changed.  Just because it was popular when you were 8 doesn’t mean your 8 year old will like it.  All of the “retro” wooden toys that I tried out on my kids failed miserably.  They’re too used to lights, bells, whistles, electronics.  I know it’s nostalgic, but get over it!  Your kids don’t care.

Overly educational – We as parents dream of our kids sitting for hours playing educational games, but I can tell you most of those I have bought over the years have done nothing but collected dust.  All of those word games I used to buy when my kids were in kindergarden?  Maybe they played them once, but they  never asked to play them again.  If you want to try one on for size, great, but you might start by seeing what educational games they like to play at school before investing your whole holiday budget in them.

Stuffed animals – Maybe I sound like a curmudgeon, but my daughter has a huge pile of stuffed animals that just sit in a pile in her room.  There is no value what-so-ever to them.  They don’t get her to get up and be active.  They don’t teach her anything.  They just sit there, in a pile, looking at me while I tidy her room.  Now I’m not suggesting you don’t get them, EVER.  But your kid doesn’t need 500 of them!  Here is all my daughter really needed…one main snuggly, one good teddybear, and one Pillow Pet.  That’s it!  And that Build-a-Bear we get every year when we go to Disneyland?  A complete waste of $100!  I haven’t had the nerve to go near an American Girl store.  Those places should be outlawed.

Clothes – First of all, my kids are picky when it comes to clothes.  Half the time I end up having to return what I buy them because it either doesn’t fit or they hate it.  It becomes the most time consuming of all items.  Better to let them go thru a catalogue and pick out what they like and then buy so that it is a little bit of a surprise.  I will admit, I buy clothes every year to put under the tree, but I do so knowing that I’ll be taking half of them back.  I’ve gotten better about what to buy, though.  This year, I got everyone a new pair of Vans.  I know those will be a hit, so long as I have their sizes right.

Books – Unless it is a book from a series that you know they love, you are always taking a risk with books.  I have found that my kids love the process of selecting the book more than actually reading it.  So if I’ve taken that part away from them, they are not engage or motivated to read the book at all.  The one exception is getting the next volume of Diary of a Whimpy Kid for my daughter who has read every one and loves them, or a bunch of the Naruto comic books, which my son is addicted to.

Action figures – How boring, they just stand there and do nothing. I can’t tell you how many I’ve bought over the years and my kids just threw them in the pile with all the other action figures until it was time for a garage sale.

It’s Hot This Year!  Guess who makes the list of what’s hot?  The retailers and toy companies!  I have one word, FURBY!  We bought one years ago for our daughter when they were first hot, and it just sat there.  Now they’re hot again.  Like they’re hoping all of us who bought them last time they were hot have forgotten what a complete waste of money it was!   I want their marketing team for our blog!

In demand – The toys that you just had to have because everyone else is getting it. No one really cared about what the darn things did but it was all about the the adventure of trying to find them. Let’s see which ones I can remember, there was Teddy Ruxpin, Cabbage Patch Dolls, Holiday Barbies, Zhu Zhu Pets and those damn Beanie Babies.

Here are some other items on our lists this year… Go-Pro Camera, in-line skates with helmet and pads, speakers for their mp3 players, headphones, puzzles, Rubik’s cubes (of all sorts), karaoke machine, locking personal journal, airsoft guns and supplies (for the older kids), underwater camera, NFL Jerseys, Oakley sunglasses, skateboards.

www.mommywarriors.com

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Happy, Happy, Happy Mom!

Hmm, happy, happy, happy, isn’t that what Phil Robertson, the Duck Dynasty matriarch, rolls off his tongue?  Well, I’m one HAPPY, HAPPY, HAPPY mama.

I am so proud of myself this year and my back is so nice and loose from me continually reaching and stretching my arms around to pat myself on the back. I started my holiday shopping early and then finished up on Cyber Monday.  All it took was a few hours at my computer and

     Hallelujah, this Mom is DONE and ready for Christmas!

All I need to do now is sit back and watch my packages get delivered to my front door one by one.  Oh, and let me add, I haven’t paid any shipping charges yet, ding, ding, ding!

For the last week, I’ve gotten so excited every time the UPS or Fedex truck comes down the street because, chances are, he’s stoppin’ at my house!  And let me tell ya, it’s driving my kids nuts to watch these boxes come in the front door and up to my closet without them having the chance to rip them open.  Once upstairs, I unpack them, hide the packing slips (yes, because my kids have been spotted looking through the trash to see if they can find any kind of evidence as to what’s been arriving), throw the gifts in a holiday box or bag, slap a tag on them and up on my closet shelf they go.

Thank goodness my closet is the only one that has a lock on it, one that can’t be opened with the skeleton key, sorry kids!  In years past, I haven’t done a great job of hiding the closet key but this year, I’ve been a bit more creative.  The bottom of a tampon box, in my pillow case, and in the empty motrin bottle in my bathroom cabinet have all proved to be great choices by mom.

So, can you tell that I’m really proud of myself this year?  OK, maybe I’m gloating a bit but I am having a ball, I’m not stressed out and I’m just loving the fact that my teenagers think they are so much smarter than me but I’m one, no, maybe two or three, steps ahead of them this year!  Eat your heart out kids, I got ya beat!  I think I deserve a spa day:)

MommyWarriors.com

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Mom, Keep the Kitchen Clean Please

There was one day last week where I was really having a bad day, I was exhausted, had a migraine and just really felt like crap. Since I get the migraines often, my kids quickly pick up on the fact that mom is hurting and they usually just let me be and do their best to not fight with each other (that typically doesn’t happen but I know they do try).

I had left the house to go grocery shopping and they were sitting on the couch watching one of the ridiculous shows they like, Finding Bigfoot! I just shook my head and went out the door.

About an hour later I called the house to ask them something and when my son answered he was out of breath. When I asked what he was doing he just said, “we’re cleaning.” Wow, that’s something that is rarely said in my house so I didn’t want to jinx it and just left it at that.

When I arrived home a little while later, I walked in the house to find furniture rearranged, floors vacuumed and my kitchen, unrecognizable. They had cleaned up everything on the counters and found a place to put away each and every little thing. Needless to say, I think I went into shock!

They quickly took the bags of groceries and put everything away. They then pointed to the counters and said, “Mom, you see how clean the counters are? Now YOU best keep them that way!”

I thought to myself, I’ve never seen my kitchen so clean, it’s usually all their crap that is spread out all over the counters, and they have the nerve to yell at me! I smiled and gave them all a hug.

The counters stayed clean for about 2 whole days and then once again there were chemistry and algebra books, pencils, homework and old lunchbags back on them. It was great while it lasted!

MommyWarriors.com

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Raising Goal Oriented Kids

With this year about to end and a new year almost here, many of us are thinking about our life goals.  Did we accomplish all we set out to do this year?  And what do we want for next year?  As mothers we also have goals in mind for our kids.  But it is really our kids’ responsibility to set their goals and to work toward them. It doesn’t come naturally to them, though.  They don’t instinctively know how to go about doing this.   Luckily there are many things we as parents can do to help our kids learn effective ways of setting and attaining goals.  The following is our list of the most important tips in teaching your kids to be goal oriented:

1.   Define Goals.  The first thing is make sure your child understands what goals are and what it means to “attain” them.  You can give various age relevant examples.  They could be ones that take just a few minutes, such as putting away all of their toys.  Or it could be a long term one, such as learning to ride a bike.  Regardless, make sure as a starting point the your child understands what goals are.

2.   Make a list.  With your child, help them make a list of their goals.  Listen to them while you do it.  Let them be the guide, not you.  If the list is a set of  your goals for your child, he or she won’t be as committed.  Remember, the goal is to teach them how to do this, so what you think of the goals is not as important as them being motivated to attain them.

3.  Start off small.  You want your child to learn to the process of setting, working toward, and attaining goals, so start them off small with easy victories.  Get them used to the process and let them have some easy successes, working up to bigger challenges.  They will be thrilled with their success and will develop optimism in their ability to achieve their goals.

4.  Be specific.  One of the key steps in setting goals is to make them well defined so that success is clear.  If a goal is to “do better” at something or “work  harder” at something, when do you know you’ve been successful?  You don’t, because it hasn’t been defined.  You need to explain this to your children.  Often they will make a general goal, “I want to do better in school.”  But once you explain that you don’t know what that means, it forces them to be specific.  Ask them, “Can you define what that means?  Do you want to get all As?  Do you want to move to the higher math group?”  If their goals are well defined, so is their path toward success.

5.  Clear out those that are unrealistic.  If your kid has never played baseball a day in his life, and he sets a goal to be the starting pitcher for his school’s baseball team, he may be setting a goal that is unattainable.  However, you don’t want to be discouraging.  So if the goal is too big, encourage him or her to scale it back, not to ditch it completely, but to set realistic baby-steps to move in the right direction.  This will eliminate the likelihood of a failed goal and it will give them the opportunity to learn how to develop realistic steps toward big goals.  So instead of being the starting pitcher, maybe the first goal should be to learn to throw the ball 4 out of 5 times into the strike square on a pitching net from 20 yards away.

6.  Let the kids pick the reward.  If your children succeed at attaining  goals, a reward is definitely warranted, but what that reward is should be up to them, not you.  Of course you can have some say, but when the goals are set, let them know you’d like to reward them when they attain it and ask what they think a good reward would be.  This will vest them all the more in the outcome.  And remember, it is not “if” they attain their goal, it is “when”.

7.  Keep it visual.  Kids are visual, so create something that they will see regularly as a reminder of their goals.  Maybe it’s a chart where they mark off how much they’ve practiced throwing the ball or their latest grades.  Whatever it is, make it visible to everyone.  There is something about your progress being displayed that is also a little more motivating.

8.  Keep track.  Check in regularly with your child on his/her progress.  Perhaps once a week during dinner ask the kids to give a status report on their current goals.  It is a good way for you to stay up to speed on your kids’ progress and it will help the kids stay on track.

9.  Set a schedule.  Encourage your children to set a schedule on how much time every day or week is devoted to working toward their goals.  It could be something as simple as 15 minutes of pitching every day.  But get the kids to define it and let them low that sticking to the schedule is also a series of mini goals.

10.  Be a role model.  Make your kids aware of your own goal setting and progress in attaining them.  Our kids learn by example, so be the kind of person you want them to be.  Because if you try to fool them into doing what you say and not what you do, they will eventually see through that.  Trust us.  We have teenagers!

11.  Think big and small.  Lastly, it is good to have a variety of time frames for goals.  Have some that you can accomplish by the end of the week, but some that may take until the end of the year, or within 5 years.  This will encourage your children to think about their lives in both the here and now as well as the tomorrow.  Children can be shortsighted and live purely in the moment, so encouraging them to think about 5 years from now helps them develop a skill for planning and thinking about the big picture.

We are all capable of amazing things, but sometimes we just need a little coaching to help us get there.  With these steps you’ll be preparing your kids to be strong, focused, goal oriented people.

www.mommywarriors.com

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New Cups That Can Detect Date Rape Drugs?

If you have a daughter in high school or college, you've almost certainly warned her a hundred or so times to NEVER put down her drink or leave it unattended.

That's because the problem with date rape drugs like GHB and ketamine is that they're odorless, colorless and tasteless. So if something gets slipped into a drink, the victim probably wouldn't realize until it's too late.

Enter DrinkSavvy - a new startup that hopes to fight sexual assault by alerting people to what might be in their cup.

With the help of a U.S. chemistry professor, the company's founder Mike Abramson says he has created a line of cups, straws and stirrers made with a material that changes color if a drink has been spiked.

The products are still in the development stage but DrinkSavvy says they could be available to the public as soon as 2014.

Abramson said he came up with the idea after he himself was victimized.

"Within the past three years, three of my close friends, and myself have been the unwitting victims of consuming an odorless, colorless, and tasteless drug slipped into our drink... And I want to prevent it from happening to anyone else," he said in a video on Indiegogo.

Ultimately, the company hopes to implement their technology in a wide range of drink containers such as glasses, cans and bottles.

The current models react to the three most common date rape drugs - GHB, ketamine and rohypnol - but Abramson says updates will be made for new drugs in the future.

DrinkSavvy's products could be a powerful tool against a very real threat. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, some 200,000 women were raped in the US in 2007 with the aid of a date rape drug - and because so many cases go unreported, the actual number is believed to be 80 to 100 percent higher.

Do you know anyone who has been a victim of date rape drugs?

ModernMom Resources:

The Terrible Truth About Date Rape - Get the facts about date rape and what your rights as a woman are

What Is Date Rape? - GirlsHealth.gov provides information for women on how to protect themselves, as well as what to do if a woman has been a victim of a sexual assault.

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The Sneeze List

As Dorothy once said, "there's no place like home"... but if you suffer from seasonal allergies and you live in Wichita, Kansas, home might not be so wonderful for the next few months.

Wichita has been named the worst city in the United States for fall allergies, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America (AAFA).

"This fall could be a perfect storm for allergy sufferers, as global weather conditions boost ragweed levels, and fall storms and tornadoes disperse allergens and outdoor mold," the AAFA said on allergycapitals.com.

Here are the top ten cities on the sneeze list:

1. Wichita, Kansas
2. Jackson, Mississippi
3. Knoxville, Tennessee
4. Louisville, Kentucky
5. Memphis, Tennessee
6. McAllen, Texas
7. Baton Rouge, Louisiana
8. Dayton, Ohio
9. Chattanooga, Tennessee
10. Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

(You can check out the full list here.) 

Do you suffer from seasonal allergies? If so, is your city one of the 100 worst places for allergy-sufferers to live this fall?

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Are Older Children Smarter?

Last month, researchers at Duke University and Washington University in St. Louis released a study suggesting that oldest children are smarter than their younger siblings.

The conclusions found that first-born children have higher IQs, perform better in school and are all-around more accomplished than their little brothers and sisters.

But why?

Well, in a paper titled Strategic Parenting, Birth Order and School Performance, economists Joseph Hotz and Juan Pantano theorized that it's because parents are more demanding with their oldest than they are with those who were born later.

They are more involved in schoolwork, more likely to punish the child for bad grades and more likely to establish a set of strict rules that must be followed.

I can tell you from personal experience as an oldest child - my parents were WAY more lax with my younger siblings.

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Does Everyone Lie About Sex?

Have you ever stretched the truth about what goes on in your bedroom? If so, you're not alone.

A new study from Ohio State University at Mansfield found that most people of both  genders lied about their sexual history - although in different ways.

In a paper published Tuesday in the journal Sex Roles, Professor of Psychology Terri Fisher shared the results of a survey of a group of 293 heterosexual male and female college students on their sexual history, as well as on other nonsexual activities relating to gender roles.

Men reported having sex at an earlier age and with more people than was actually true. Women, on the other hand, wanted to be seen as having less sexual experience than they actually had, to match what is expected of women.

However, the same participants were willing to admit to everyday activities typically associated with the opposite sex - such as changing a car tire.

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Addicted Candy Crush Mom

Oct 8, 2013 by Alyssa

I was a little over a year ago when I kept asking my daughter what she was doing on her phone as she sat on the couch quietly staring at and moving her fingers around her phone screen.  The answer was always, “Mom, I’m playing a game.”  After months of continually getting the same answer, I finally asked her what the heck it was that she was playing.

 The answer…CANDY CRUSH, it’s just so addicting!

Now, really, how can a stupid little game app be so addicting?  I had to find out what it is was that had captivated my daughter to the point where she would throw her phone down and yell, “I HATE this game.”

So, like any inquisitive mom would do, I downloaded Candy Crush Saga and my life has NEVER been the same!

At first, I had no idea what I was doing and my daughter just laughed at me.  The only advice she offered me was that I would eventually figure it out.  After a few attempts, I got the gist of it.  I moved up a few levels and then all of a sudden I had no lives left and I was locked out of the game.  Are you kidding me, I have to wait 18 minutes until I can play again?  I bought this damn game, who are they to tell me I have to wait? And that’s where my addiction began.

It’s been months since I started playing and I have learned to love my striped candies and absolutely adore my color bombs!  The chocolate, my nemesis, well that’s another story.  After 15 great years of working at the candy company that makes M&Ms Chocolate Candies, I never thought I could hate chocolate this much!

Now, the two of us sit on the couch and bitch about Candy Crush, but we continue to play.  There are times when we are both stuck on different levels for days at a time and we even switch phones just to try and beat the levels for each.

The men in our house think we’re crazy.  I tell them it’s not so different than them sitting in front of the xBox for hours playing Call of Duty or Grand Theft Auto, they don’t agree.  In there eyes, their games involve some “strategy and you have to think.”  Give me a break, my argument to that is that we have to strategize too in an attempt to make special candy combinations to clear the board and beat the level. They roll their eyes and tell me to grow up!

Yes, Candy Crush is addicting but it’s fun and I know I can count on it to give 10 minutes of down time from my crazy days whenever I load it up on my phone.  So, when you see me sitting in my car waiting for the kids’ practices to end, you can bet that I’m sitting there trying to beat the next Candy Crush level.  The scary part is that I think I’m only on level 90, or somewhere close to that, and there are over 400 levels and even more to come.

I thought I would share a few facts about Candy Crush that I recently read in USA Today.

50 million people play it daily, inclding Jimmy Fallon and Ellen DeGeneresMore than 20% of iPhone users play itgenerates a few million dollars a daythe hardest level is 65 (not sure if I agree but it does have licorice, jellies and my dreaded chocoalte!)

MommyWarriors.com

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Oh No, Mom’s Not Ready For High Heels!

Oct 4, 2013 by Alyssa

As a follow up to our Guest Post by Leslie Mitchell No School Dances For My Daughter, I thought I would write about my 15 year old daughter’s fun-filled Saturday night and the events leading up to it.

My daughter was invited to a friend’s Sweet 16 Party and the invitation specifically stated that the attire was “dressy.”  Hmm, this was going to be interesting I thought.

When I asked her what she was going to wear her reply was, “I have no idea.”  Downplaying it a bit, I left it at, “well, if you want to go shopping, just let me know.”

A few weeks went by and I asked again her what she was going to wear.  At this point she started rummaging through her closet  and came out empty handed.  Being the cool mom that I am (or at least I think I am), I offered up the idea of grabbing a friend or two and heading to the mall rather than have mom take her dress shopping, because, in her mind, what the heck does my mom know about fashion! For once, she thought I had a great idea.  My only conditions were that she send me a picture before she actually bought anything and that she had a $50 limit.

A few days later she’s at the mall with her friends and I start getting pictures of different dresses.  Certainly not the type of dresses that I had expected to see.  Initially I thought she was yanking my chain, but I quickly realized she was serious.  I was sooo not ready for the tight little black dress on, what used to be, my little tomboy.  I didn’t respond with “no freakin way,” or “are you serious,” rather, I just hinted that maybe one showed a little too much skin and another was just a bit too much for a 15 year old.

She finally sent me a picture of one that she really liked and with a big sigh, I responded back with, “if you like it, then get it.”  Would I have preferred a longer, looser dress?  Absolutely, but I had to accept the fact that she is growing up and I can’t send her to a fun little party looking like one of the daughters on Little House on the Prairie.

Now that the dress was purchased, she needed shoes.  She asked me if she could buy a pair of high heels.  Again, I had to take a deep breath and say, “if you can prove to me that you can walk in them without hurting yourself, I’ll consider it.”  Being that she’s a volleyball player and just starting league play in high school, if she ended up with a broken or twisted ankle, I think her coach would want to kill not her, but me, for allowing her to wear the darn shoes.

So, shoe shopping we went.  It took less than 10 minutes for her to find what she was looking for.  I made her walk around the store in them for another 10 minutes and I was pleasantly surprised how well she did.  I remember I didn’t do so well in my first pair of heels, in fact, it was quite disastrous!

Fast forward to the day of the party and she comes downstairs looking so not like 15.  My husband looked at her and then looked at me and rather than him giving me the evil eye, he complimented her on how nice she looked.  I leaned over to her and said, “be sure you’re careful when you sit down and keep your legs together.”  My little tomboy replied, “don’t worry mom, I have my volleyball shorts on underneath, I got it covered!”

The next day I learned that she kept the heels on for about 5 minutes after she walked in and then all the girls took them off for the rest of the night to dance.  Her brothers questioned why she would take them off and she told them, “you try dancing in those things!”  Well one of them did, this is so wrong but I had to post this picture!

MommyWarriors.com

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97% of Kid's Meals Flunk Nutrition Test

Not many people expect chain restaurants to be super healthy - but would it surprise you to learn that a whopping 97% of meals on the kid menu fail to meet nutritional standards?

A new study by the Center for Science in the Public Interest found that the overwhelmingly majority of children's meal options at chain restaurants in the US do not meet the recommended standards for nutrition developed by health experts. 

In fact, 91% of the meals served at places like McDonald's, Chipotle, Applebee's and Ruby Tuesday's do not even meet the nutrition standards voluntarily set by the restaurant industry's Kids LiveWell program.

"The meals flunked across the board," said Margot Wootan, the organization’s Director of Nutrition Policy in a press release. "Most were too high in calories, too high in saturated fat and sodium, whole grains were very rare."

[Read "5 Kid's Menu Options That Are Worse Than a Whopper"]

The study found only one chain restaurant (out of the top 50 in the country) that made the grade when it comes to healthy choices: Subway restaurants' Fresh Fit For Kids meal combinations, which consist of apple slices served with kid-sized sub sandwiches and low-fat milk or bottled water instead of soda.

“It’s as if chain restaurants haven’t heard that there’s a childhood obesity epidemic," Wootan continued. "[They] seem stuck in a time warp, serving up the same old meals based on chicken nuggets, burgers, macaroni and cheese, fries, and soda."

In the meantime, childhood obesity has more than doubled in children and tripled in adolescents over the past 30 years.

Wondering what to avoid? Here are some of the most unhealthy and least kid-friendly options commonly found on kid's menus:

1. Applebee's Grilled Cheese on Sourdough with French Fries and 2% Chocolate Milk has 1,210 calories with 62 grams of total fat, 21 grams of saturated fat and 2,340 milligrams of sodium.

2. Chili's Pizza with French Fries and Chocolate Milk has 1,120 calories, 43.5 grams of total fat, 19.5 grams of saturated fat and 2,025 milligrams of sodium.

3. Denny's Jr. Cheeseburger and French Fries has 980 calories, 55 grams of total fat, 20 grams of saturated fat and 1,110 mg of sodium. Denny's does not include beverages with kids' meals.

4. Ruby Tuesday's Mac & Cheese, Cheddar Mashed Potatoes, and Fruit Punch has 865 calories, 46 grams of total fat and 1,752 mg of sodium. Ruby Tuesday's does not disclose saturated or trans-fat content on its menus or website.

5. Dairy Queen's Chicken Strips, Kid's Fries, Sauce, Arctic Rush (a frozen drink) and Dilly Bar has 1,027 calories, 45 grams of total fat, 15 grams of saturated fat and 1,733 mg of sodium.

View the original article here

Top 5 Food Choking Hazards for Kids

Has your little one ever choked on a piece of sandwich or a grape? A new study explored just how common food-related choking injuries are in children - and the results may surprise you.

Every day, an average of 34 children in the United States are treated in the emergency for a non-fatal choking involving food (12,435 per year).  More than 60% of those cases are children under the age of four.

What's the most dangerous food? Hard candy.

In the course of the study, which was published in the August issue of Pediatrics, researchers identified the top five causes of non-fatal food choking.

Hard Candy - 15.5%

Other Candy - 12.8%

Meat Other Than Hot Dogs - 12.2%

Bone - 12%

Fruits and Vegetables - 9.7%

While only 2.6% of incidents involved hot dogs, researchers noted that they are in a different (and more dangerous) category. Because hot dogs are a type of high-risk food which can completely block the airway of a small child, they are more likely to be involved in choking cases that result in death.

So what should parents do to keep their children safe? The American Academy of Pediatrics offers extensive guidelines on foods to avoid and other choking prevention strategies here.

View the original article here

Breast Cancer Gene: Should You be Tested?

In the fight against breast cancer, there's a new tool that can help with early detection: genetic testing. 

Along with annual mammograms and monthly breast self-exams, women who are at high risk for breast cancer may be advised by their physician to consider genetic testing for the two breast cancer genes, BRCA1 or BRCA2. 

Here are some red flags that could indicate you should consider getting tested:

- Two first-degree relatives with breast cancer, one of whom was diagnosed when they were 50 or younger

- A first degree relative with cancer in both breasts

- A family history of ovarian cancer

- A male relative with breast cancer

- Women with Ashkenzai (Eastern European) Jewish heritage.

Mutations in breast and ovarian cancer genes are accountable for 5 to 10% of all breast cancer developments, and one in seven ovarian cancer cases.

After testing positive for the mutations, some women go so far as to have preventative mastectomies, hysterectomies, and taking anti-cancer drugs to prevent ever developing cancer.

For more information, talk with your healthcare provider about the BRCA gene test. 

View the original article here

Couples Who Run Have More Sex

Does working up a sweat with your partner make things hotter in the bedroom? A new study suggests that couples should strap on "his and her" sneakers!

Couples who run together apparently have more sex, at least according  to a Brooks Running survey of 1,000 adults ages 18 or older who run at least once a week.

Of those surveyed,  66 percent believed they have more sex when they run with their other halves. Men (71 percent) were slightly more likely than women (62 percent) to make the connection.

Why? There are several possible explanations, including the increased intimacy that comes from spending time together and the bonding effects of shared exercise.

[Read "Workouts with Friends: The Benefits of Small Group Training"]

Some other fun facts that the survey uncovered:

Men enjoy chatting on the run more than their female counterparts. Favorite topics: sports and cool new gadgets. Women, on the other hand, prefer to talk about the current state of their relationships on group runs.

Top celebrity running partners: 27 percent would pick Jimmy Fallon; 22 percent would pick Chelsea Handler or Jimmy Kimmel.

30% of participants find runners who spit while on the road that most hateable kind to encounter. Um duh, that's because hocking loogies is just rude.

Do you ever go running with your significant other?

View the original article here

No School Dances For My Daughter

Sep 30, 2013 by Alyssa

Guest post by Leslie Mitchell

Leslie is my good friend on the east coast whom I spent endless hours on the phone with when I worked for the good ole candy company M&M/Mars.  I owe many thanks to Leslie for keeping our trademarks in check and the company out of court!  Nowadays, Leslie is mom to a 10 year old adorable and inquisitive little girl.  Her fun has only just begun!

In the last year, my 10 year old daughter developed a huge crush on Ross Lynch of Disney’s Austin & Ally, Teen Beach Movie and band R5.  He seems likable enough, family band, cute in that blond, puppy dog way (the fact that she looks like his little sister makes me wonder how much narcissism is involved but that’s for another day.)  Recently while on our long car trips from her fencing lessons, I’ve fielded a number of questions about boys.  Nothing too deep, what do boys do when they like you, what do girls do, but I know this is just the beginning.  My daughter is definitely on the naive side, no older siblings to help her navigate these unchartered waters.  I’m glad she’s asking me these questions, I recall relying on my friends for these answers and didn’t talk to my mother much about boys, dating, and sex because her replies were always “don’t do it!”

A number of my high school friends are on Facebook and that brings back lots of memories of our high school years.  We had a great class, yes everyone says that but I honestly think in our case, it’s true.  We were the first freshman class entering a new high school (prior to us the high school was grades 10-12) and as I recall, the other classes weren’t that welcoming because I think they thought we were so young.  Homecoming was a big deal in our town in Connecticut, a parade down Main Street of the floats that each class spent weeks designing, building and decorating with paper flowers.  Think of the Rose Bowl Parade but with a black and orange Tiger theme.  Our freshman year our class really came together when our float, a train with real smoke, caught on fire during the parade.  Of course the girls cried, we came in second place and a bond was formed that made us a very close class.  So “talking” to these people on Facebook brings back a lot of fun memories.

It’s those same memories that are making me dread when my daughter is old enough for her first dance, first “boyfriend,” first kiss and all that entails because no matter what my mother said to me, I really didn’t listen.  Don’t hitchhike, we did.  Don’t smoke, we tried cigarettes in Ballard Park.  Don’t drink, we did (it was easier when the drinking age was still 18) and so on. I remember the house parties when someone’s parents were out of town, kegs in the kitchen or outside, plenty of woods to sneak off to, you get the picture.  We didn’t do anything terrible but looking back we could’ve gotten into so many bad situations.  They say there is a Guardian Angel watching over teenagers, I hope that’s true.  I also hope that my daughter will continue to talk to me, I dread thinking the nice boys in her class will one day be potential “boyfriends” and I’m scared to death that someone will hand her a beer and say “chug this.”  I’m even more scared someone will slip something in a drink or she’ll be exposed to drugs.

I’m really thinking that the Tower in Tangled wasn’t such a bad idea……then again she did ride off with Flynn!

MommyWarriors.com

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Are Kids Getting Enough Sleep?

Is your little one getting enough shut-eye? According the sleep experts, the answer is probably no.

After reviewing 100+ years of studies about children and sleep -- more than 300 of them -- University of South Australian researchers determined that sleep experts have consistently found that children got less sleep than recommended, Time Magazine reported.

“Over the 112 years the study covered, children lost about 75 minutes of shut-eye,” Time’s Bonnie Rochman wrote of the new study inPediatrics, “in 1897, experts were recommending that kids sleep 1 hr. 15 min. more than was advised in 2009.”

“Another constant,” Rochman added, “societal hand-wringing over children’s lack of sleep and a tendency to blame the hectic pace of modern life.” One of the study’s authors said, “People are always recommending kids sleep more than they do.”

So what's the current recommended amount of sleep time for children?

It varies based on age, but according to the National Sleep Foundation babies between the ages of 3 to 11 months need a total of 14 to 15 hours, while toddlers between 1 to 3 years old should get 12 to 14 hours. Preschoolers need 11 to 13 hours, and elementary schoolers should sleep between 10 to 11 hours. Older children and teens need a minimum of 8½ hours.

How many hours of sleep do your kids normally get?

View the original article here

Dangerous Food Dyes in Mac and Cheese?

Could the artificial dyes in Kraft Mac and Cheese be bad for you?

Two moms from North Carolina are petitioning Kraft Foods to remove the artificial colors from the cheese mix in its popular macaroni and cheese product.

Vani Hari, of the blog Food Babe, and Lisa Leake from 100 days of Real Food, have taken to Change.org in an effort to convince Kraft's management to stop using Yellow No. 5 and Yellow No. 6.

In the online petition, they maintain that 30 Kraft macaroni and cheese products contain the artificial dyes and that it is "unfair to the children lured by these products (several packages showcase cartoon characters), unfair to the less fortunate who buy these products because they are cheaper, and unfair to the uneducated consumer that is unaware of these harmful ingredients."

Noting that the dyes are not included in Kraft's Mac & Cheese products sold in the United Kingdom, the moms recorded a YouTube video taste test of U.S. and U.K. versions of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese (called Cheesey Pasta across the pond) and found "virtually no difference in color or taste."

While the additives are both legal and approved by the Food and Drug Administration, Leake and Hari point to research conducted by the Center for Science in the Public Interest that says the two food dyes have been associated with hyperactivity in children, allergies, migraine and, because yellow dyes are petroleum-based, perhaps cancer.

To date, their petition has garnered more than 160,000 signatures. 

View the original article here

Sugary Drinks Linked to 180,000 Deaths Worldwide

Forget fries... would you like a side of death with that soda?

A new study suggests that the consumption of soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages may contribute to hundreds of thousands of obesity-related deaths around the world.

The results, which are being presented at  an American Heart Association conference this week, link sugar-sweetened beverage consumption to 180,000 deaths annually, including 25,000 deaths a year in the United States.

"This means about one in every 100 deaths from obesity-related diseases is caused by drinking sugary beverages," says study author Gitanjali Singh, a postdoctoral research fellow at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Of the 15 most populated countries, Mexico had the highest rate of death linked to the beverages at 318 yearly deaths per million adults, and Japan had the lowest at 10 yearly deaths per million adults.

Earlier studies have already shown that drinking sugar-sweetened beverages increases the risk of chronic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer. The latest research highlights the dire extent of this problem.

Did you know that the American Heart Association recommends adults consume no more than 450 calories per week from sugar-sweetened beverages? (Based on a 2,000 calorie per day diet.)

To put that in perspective - a single can of Coca Cola contains 240 calories and a 32 oz fountain Pepsi has 350 calories.

How many times a day do you drink a soda or other sugary beverage?

View the original article here

A “No Gift” Policy Might Be the Best Policy

Oct 18, 2013 by Nicole

This year at my kids’ school we got a new Head of School.  He’s amazing and brilliant and all the other things you would want from a Head of School.  And like any new leader, he has been putting his own stamp on things.  One of the first changes he made was to instill a “No Gift” policy at school.  That went over well with some but not so well with others.  So I thought it’d be a good idea to explore this new trend as we enter the holiday season.

Let me start by explaining the gift giving at our school.  My kids go to a private K-12 school in Los Angeles.  There are a number of families at the school that some would describe as having “large pocketbooks”.  So come holiday season, the gifts can get rather extravagant.  We usually give $50 gift certificates to each our kids’ main teachers, so that’s $150 for three gifts, which may sound like a lot to some, reasonable to others, and cheap to a few.  But to put it in context, one family at our kids’ school reportedly bought all of their children’s teachers brand new Ipads.  Last I checked, those will set you back about $500 at the minimum, and close to $1,000 if you get the ones with cellular data.  And it doesn’t stop there.  Gifts have even included tickets to special sold out events and all expense paid trips.

So if a teacher receives $50 bucks from one family and a gift worth $500 bucks from another, does that mean one kid is only getting 1/10th of the attention from the teacher as the other?  Personally, I don’t think so.  I never expected my gift to be something that “buys” the teacher’s attention.  It’s just my way of saying “thank you” for all of the extra time and energy I know teachers give their students.  I also know that teachers work very hard for modest money.  So my hope is that my gift helps make their holiday less hard on their “smaller pocketbooks”.

And do I think that the family that buys a $500 Ipad for a teacher is thinking that their kid will get extra special attention?  I certainly hope not.  At our school it’s possible that the $500 gift just means the same to those people’s pocketbook as the $50 does to mine.

However, where does this leave the teacher?  What if the teacher is feeling that the gift is inappropriately large?  After all, they have a job to do which requires them to stay objective.  Do they feel conflicted?

Clearly the difference between a $50 gift and a $500 gift is dramatic, but consider this scenario.  Supposed we’re talking about kids in 12th grade.  Suppose in addition to it being the holiday season it is also college application season.  Suppose that same teacher who is receiving an Ipad or even just a $50 gift certificate is also being asked to write a letter of recommendation for a someone’s college application.  Could this change their objectivity?

I get the desire to do something nice for your 2nd graders homeroom teacher.  They develop such special bonds with our kids.  But in some way the Middle School teachers really deserve the biggest gift of everyone because, after all,  they have to teach 13 year olds.  But when it comes to high school teachers, these ones have direct effects on where our kids head out into their adult lives.  So gifts really do put them in an odd spot.

Many organizations organize group gifts, where every family in a class is asked to donate $5 to a group gift certificate.  The problem with this is not the pressure it puts on teachers, but pressure it puts on the parents if they don’t want to participate, or can’t.  It’s usually made optional, but it’s not always presented that way.  And someone is still in charge of keeping track of who is paying what, so the pressure is there regardless.  And the person organizing it often becomes resentful of the fact that some don’t participate.  Oh, but I’m sure that mom would NEVER say anything about it to any other mom in the class, right?  Because moms never gossip!

A number of schools around the country already have gift limits.  In Massachusetts, for example, no public employee (that includes teachers) may receive a gift of more than $50 from any one individual.  If parents want to give a larger gift to a class, however, they can do that, provided it is actually used for the class.  Within the Los Angeles school district, the limit is $100 from any one person within a 12 month period.   This would include holiday gifts, end of the year gifts, birthday presents, teacher appreciation, etc. But many parents and teachers don’t abide by this rule.

When the announcement of our school’s new policy was made at our last Parents’ Association meeting, one of the parents stood up and suggested that in lieu of candles, mugs, gift certificates or Ipads, we should ask our kids to write letters to their teachers.  This idea was also mentioned in a great blog post on RantsfromMommyland.com.  They conducted a survey and found that even the teachers would overwhelmingly prefer these over boxes of chocolates or bottles of scented lotion.

Lastly, consider the message it sends our kids if we ask them to write a letter from the heart to show the holiday spirit instead of grabbing one more of those meaningless gift basket.  In the end, that will have much more influence on our kids’ future than any expensive gift we buy for their teacher.  And if that’s not reason enough for you, think of how much more meaningful that teacher’s letter of recommendation will be if they’ve gotten a glimpse inside your child’s heart.

www.mommywarriors.com 

View the original article here

Would You Wear Breastmilk Jewelry?

We've heard of pregnant women making molds of their bellies or saving parts of their placentas... but would you ever wear jewelry made from breastmilk?

Apparently, this is a thing.

Basically, new moms can send away a sample of their breastmilk in order to have it turned into a priceless memento.

"This will be a keepsake to remind you of the breastfeeding bond between you and your child for a lifetime," writes Allicia Mogavero on her Mommy Milk Creations Etsy site.

"A handmade pendant or keepsake made from your own milk to last forever."

Mogavero uses a special process to preserve a heart or star shaped drop of “plasticized” milk in a bead, which can then be worn on a chain as a necklace.

Worried about mailing your baby juice? You can also make your own, with the DIY kit we found on Etsy.

"The kit comes complete with ingredients for preservation, detailed instructions, and a locket with a chain (as shown) so your finished piece will be ready to wear."

Interesting concept.

We wanted to see what the moms in our office thought of these unique fashion accessories, so we took a quick straw poll.

"Why would you put that in there? That's not jewelry - that's goo!" said one co-worker. "I don't know, I think it's kind of nice," said another.

What do you think? 

View the original article here

Why are More Teens Abusing ADHD Drugs?

According to the New York Times, pressure over grades and college admission has escalated to the point that many students are using prescription stimulants like Adderall and Ritalin to help them study.

Around 40 students, school officials and parents agreed to be interviewed for an article about the abuse of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder medications to help them concentrate and fare better on tests and gain entrance to top colleges.

[Read "Stress Doesn't Mean Success: Are Kids Overloading On AP Classes?"]

The medicine - which has been described as " a staple in some college and graduate school circles" - is now apparently "routine in many academically competitive high schools, where teenagers say they get them from friends, buy them from student dealers or fake symptoms to their parents and doctors to get prescriptions."

But the stimulants can be addictive and can have harmful side effects ranging from depression, mood swings, heart irregularities and acute exhaustion to psychosis during withdrawal.

[Read "The Truth About Medications for ADHD Children"]

A Manhattan therapist warned: “Children have prefrontal cortexes that are not fully developed, and we’re changing the chemistry of the brain . . . It’s one thing if you have a real deficiency - the medicine is really important to those people - but not if your deficiency is not getting into Brown."

Do you know any teenagers who have taken prescription drugs to concentrate?

View the original article here

School bans most balls during recess: Smart move or going too far?

Oct 9, 2013 by Alyssa

I saw this on the news this morning and I already saw the video posted by a friend on Facebook.  It’s a topic that I wrote about a few years ago in my post, Recess Is So Boring Anymore:(

My feeling on this is that kids need to be kids, yes, they will get hurt sometimes, it’s inevitable, but for the love of the guy above, banning all sport balls???

Watch the video below that aired on CNN this morning and see what you think.

Do I think this is going to far?  YES

Do I think it’s ridiculous?  YES

Have my kids gotten hurt at recess?  YES

Did I sue the school and the family down the street because my kid was pushed by his friend and twisted his ankle?  NO

Do I protect my kids from every little thing that MIGHT happen?  NO

My goodness, schools around the country are following suit with their recess rules and it’s driving me bananas.  They are ruining the one thing that the kids actually look forward to everyday.

I used to run out of school after lunch to be the first one on the monkey bars.  Today, the kids have to walk slowly to the texting table to have a little fun.

This mom refuses to raise her kids in a bubble and have them grow up to be a bunch of pansies.  For goodness sake, have families sign waivers that states, “what happens at recess, stays at recess” to cover your a**.

Instead of banning balls, these schools need to grow some!

I am one irritated MommyWarrior today, can you tell?

MommyWarriors.com

View the original article here

Our Almost Shared Birthday

Oct 2, 2013 by Nicole

For those of you who don’t know, my longtime blogging partner, Alyssa’s, birthday was yesterday, October 1, and mine is tomorrow, October 3, so I always like to think of October 2nd as our almost shared birthday.  If her mom hadn’t been on her feet all day and if my mom hadn’t had her feet up all day we just might have ended up with the same birthday.  But, alas, we didn’t.  So instead we can just celebrate our almost same birthday.

So in honor of our Almost Shared Birthday, I thought I’d put together a “Guess the Celebrity Baby” slide show. Enjoy.

Happy Birthday, Blog Partner!

www.mommywarriors.com

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How to Tell if Your Kid is Lying

Sep 30, 2013 by Nicole

Last night my family and I watched Brain Games on the National Geographic Channel.  It’s one of our favorite shows.  In it they walk the viewers through all kinds of mental experiments demonstrating the odd ways in which our brains function and process.  Last night’s episode was all about lying.

At first we worried about allowing our kids to watch a show that seemed to glorify lying.  They gave statistics on how many adults lie, and it is even greater than children.  WHAT?  Kids, don’t listen to that!  It’s not true.  We adults always tell the truth. But then they started showing how easy it is to tell if someone IS lying.  First and most importantly, lack of eye contact is not a giveaway, as much as we all think it is.  However, some sort of unintentional physical movement can give you away.  The piercing of the lips, the extra use of hands, the nodding of the head can all be involuntary reflexes when you’re lying.

So now I want to figure out what physical reaction, or “tell” as they call it on the show, my kids have when they lie.  The way to do it?  Ask your kids to intentionally answer a few questions wrong.  They can be anything, the color of their shirt, their favorite game, their name.  You don’t have to tell them you’re trying to see if they’re lying.  It can just be a game.  Now, watch to see if they do some sort of repetitive physical thing each time.  If you can hone in on something, you may have your secret weapon.

My youngest can’t help but raise his shoulders and smirk slightly when he lies.  My other two, however, are a little harder to read.  They two of them work very hard NOT to look like they’re lying.  That sort of makes them look as if their gestures are forced thereby giving them away.

But try the lying experiment at home and see if you can figure out your child’s “tell”.  We apparently all have them because of the way our brain works.  When we have to tell a lie our brain kicks into overdrive because we have to not only avoid saying the truth, we also have to think of a lie.  This more complex thinking causes us to alter our physical reflexes.

The scary thing is that my kids ARE really good liars.  Either that, or I’m too gullible. Regardless, Brain Games did give me some solace.  They claim that children who lie a lot are actually showing signs of a type of cognitive development.  They are learning how to manipulate the world around them to attain a desired effect.  This is not necessarily a bad thing.  They said the children who lie a lot don’t necessarily turn into dishonest people.  Phew!  We can all exhale now.  It also said the best person to lie to sometimes is yourself because it often means we have an inflated view of ourselves and hence have a greater expectation for outcome.  So kids, lie to yourself all you want.  Just don’t lie to MOM!

You know I love feedback, so try it at home and let me know if you figure out your kids’ “tells”.

www.mommywarriors.com

View the original article here

Less Stressful Doctor Visits?

Any parent who has held their screaming child down to get a shot or during a check-up knows how nerve-wracking a visit to the doctor can be.

It's agonizing to watch your baby feel pain - even when it's for their own good.  But what if there was a simple way to ease that pain?

Medical researchers at the University of Alberta have found that listening to music effectively reduces the amount of pain children perceive when they're in the emergency room.

The team analyzed clinical trials with 42 children between the ages of three and 11 who came to the pediatric emergency department at the Stollery Children’s Hospital and needed IVs.

Some listened to music while receiving the IV and others did not. Researchers then noted the amount of stress each child expressed, their perceived level of pain, and their heart rate.

"We did find a difference in the children’s reported pain - the children in the music group had less pain immediately after the procedure,” said lead researcher Dr. Lisa Hartling.

“The finding is clinically important and it’s a simple intervention that can make a big difference. Playing music for kids during painful medical procedures would be an inexpensive and easy-to-use intervention in clinical settings.”

The conclusions make sense. We know that music affects mood, which is why many pregnant women make special soothing playlists for labor and delivery.

What do you think? Would you bring your iPod and speakers to your child's next doctor appointment?

View the original article here

Speed Cubing: The Next Olympic Sport?

Oct 17, 2013 by Nicole

About 5 years ago, when my oldest son was 10, he received his first Rubik’s Cube.  It was a stocking stuffer and fit perfectly into the toe of the giant red felt sock that hung above the fireplace.  He fiddled with it for about 2 years, until he finally learned to solve it.  Then this past February, inspired by a YouTube video of the world’s fastest solve and the complete set of cubes at his school library, my son took up the sport of Speed Cubing.  Why do I call it a sport?  Because it requires the same muscle memory, agility, and focus of most Olympic sports.  Okay, so unlike most sports, you can do this sitting down, but all I have to say is “LUGE”!

For the past 9 months my son has practiced and practiced and practiced.  An hour doesn’t go by without a cube in his hand.  And he has all different types and sizes.  He has the standard 3×3, of course, in all different colors and brands. Apparently Rubik’s patent expired so now anyone can manufacture them.  But he also has the 2×2, the 4×4, the 5×5, the 7×7 and the freakiest looking of all, the 11×11.  But on top of this, he also has the Pyraminx, which looks like a Rubix Cube only it’s in the shape of a pyramid.  And he has the Megaminx, an alien looking 12 sided puzzle that makes you dizzy just looking at it.  My son, however, can solve them all.  It’s a feat that amazes my husband and me to the point that we’re considering having a DNA test done.  How is it possible that our two brains combined were able to make a brain that could do that?  The math doesn’t add up.

This past Saturday our son finally decided to enter his first Speed Cubing competition.  It was a regional competition held in the lovely town of Palmdale, California, a sub-suburb of Los Angeles.  Palmdale, it should be noted, gained national notoriety because of the severity of damage the recession did to it’s then booming housing business.  Nowadays, it is a bit of a ghost town with empty shops and foreclosed homes everywhere. However, it did draw quite a large group of mathematically inclined teenage boys.  From 8am until 5pm this past Saturday the town was over run with Speed Cubing brainiacs from as far as China and Mexico.

As I walked into the event I turned to my son and said, “Oh my God!  It’s a room full of YOU!”  All around me were kids with their heads bent down spinning their various types of cubes at blurring speeds.  It was a little surreal, I must admit, but it was also a little reassuring.   My son is not the only kid obsessed with his algorithms and learning his PLL and OLL, whatever those are.  (If you have a Speed Cubing kid you know exactly what I’m talking about.)

I did my usual play-by-play posts on Facebook throughout the day.  I was sure my friends back in town were on pins and needles waiting for the latest updates.  What was his 5×5 solve time?  Did his cube pop?  Was he going to compete in the “feet” category? (By the way, that’s where they solve it with their feet. No joke!)  in the end he placed in about in the middle of the pack.  His 3×3 solve was a fraction of a second over 20 seconds.  He was thrilled with his time, however he needed a 14 second solve to get into the finals.

If you’ve never seen a Speed Cuber solve the puzzle, then enjoy some of the videos we’ve included.  It really is amazing to watch.  The fastest time we saw at the event was 7.89 seconds to solve the 3×3.  But the most amazing category is the 3×3 blindfolded solve.  The competitors study the cube for about a minute, memorizing the location of every piece, before covering their eyes and solving the cube.   You have to see it to believe it.

The Current World Record Holder for the 3×3 – Mats Valk

The Current World Record Holder for the 3×3 Blindfolded – Marcin Zalewski

We overheard one of the kids at the competition say to his mom, “Finally, a place where I don’t have to be athletic to win.”  These kids are not the star athletes, they are not the fastest or the strongest.  But they are no less amazing.  It’s too bad we don’t celebrate these types of gifts the way we celebrate  athleticism.  After all, it’s definitely our brain power not our speed that will lead us more quickly into the future.

For more information on Speed Cubing, visit the World Cube Association or Cubing USA.

www.mommywarriors.com

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Yuck! Would You Let Your Kids Eat This?

Oct 18, 2013 by Nicole

The following video, courtesy of BuzzFeed, might change what you feed your kids!

Still hungry?

http://www.mommywarriors.com/

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Down Gender Lines, Despite My Best Efforts

By Risa Green on May 22, 2013

When my kids were born, I had this great fantasy that I would raise them in a gender-neutral household, in which girls could play with Legos and boys could play with dolls, and that we would be the ultimate, nurture over nature family.

I’ll never forget the day when my son was playing with a Barbie that someone had given my daughter…and he looked up and spotted the Barbie dream car that I’d stashed on the top shelf of her closet. He couldn’t even talk yet, but he was pointing at it and making grunty noises and threw a huge fit until I pulled it out and handed it to him. At which point my fantasy was shattered, as it was all cars and trucks, all the time, from that day forward. (Except for the blue, twirly dress that he wore until he was three. But that’s a different post.)

And yet…I still tried to maintain the idea that my children didn’t have to be put into stereotypical gender boxes. I bought my son fake brooms and vacuums, and encouraged him to push his Hot Wheels around the pretend kitchen. I bought my daughter a tee-ball set and taught her how to take a cut. On the weekends, my husband and I would take them to various places around town; the Natural History Museum, where we looked at disgusting bugs and at pretty rocks; the Peterson Automotive Museum; a local production of Cinderella.

But as my kids got older, our weekends were gradually overtaken with games, practices, religious school, birthday parties and playdates, and my kids became more vocal about where they did and didn’t want to go. Suddenly, it was hard to find things to do with both a boy and a girl; if we wanted to spend time together as a family, our only options were gender-neutral places like the beach, the zoo and the park.

Now that my kids are even older, however, it’s really becoming a problem. We’ve outgrown the zoo, and the park, and so it seems like all of our activities are broken straight down traditional gender lines. My husband and my son go to the batting cage, or to a Kings game, or they go watch a baseball game at UCLA, or they go to the baseball card store. My daughter and I, meanwhile, go shopping, or get manicures, or bake, or catch up on episodes of Project Runway.

It’s upsetting, really, because it’s not the kind of thing I’ve ever wanted to model for my kids, but somehow, it’s just happened. My son doesn’t want to go to the batting cage with me because I can’t give him tips on his swing the way my husband can. And I need to get manicures, but my son has no interest in coming with me to do that, unless I bring a video game for him to play while he waits. My daughter, meanwhile, would rather walk across hot coals than go to a hockey game, and she doesn’t want my husband to take her shopping because he doesn’t know what looks good.

I suppose I could educate myself on the finer points of baseball swings, and my husband could spend some time looking through fashion magazines, but a) when are we doing this, and b) I think my kids would quickly figure out that it’s a forced effort. The bottom line is, my daughter and I prefer to do things that are “girly,” and my husband and son prefer the guy stuff. The only common ground we have anymore is going to the movies. Thank goodness my daughter likes action films. So, yeah, that’s it. We’re that family, the kind I never wanted to be. Congratulations, nature. You win.

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My Mommy Mantra: What Were You Thinking?

By Blythe Newsome on April 8, 2013

Lately I feel as if not a single day goes by that I don’t say to at least one of my children, “What were you thinking?” I swear it feels as if it is my mantra - in a one week period I found myself saying it at least once to each of my children.

Example 1: Thirty minutes before bedtime, just as I am starting to relax and pat myself on the back for another day when everyone got where they needed to be, Finn remembers something.

“Mom, I have to do a diorama and take it to school tomorrow. I need a shoe box and we have to show how black bears hibernate.”

My response to him as I dug into closets and drawers looking for an empty shoe box and some sort of are supplies that aren’t dried out, I found myself saying, “Finn, what were you thinking, waiting until the last minute to do this?”

Example 2: While riding in the passenger seat with my 16-year-old daughter who is learning to drive, I noticed that the rearview mirror was turned at an angle so she could look at her face. When I asked her why it was turned that way, she said, “So I can see myself and make sure I look okay.”

My response to my soon-to-be driver was, “Seriously? It is called a rearview mirror so you can see objects behind you. It is NOT for looking at you. What were you thinking, turning it so you could look at yourself?”

Example 3: My oldest daughter is getting ready for her senior prom. While I am so excited for her and am treasuring every moment of her senior year, I think she got carried away with how much I was enjoying it. She was doing some prom shopping and found the perfect dress. I said, “Great! Let me see it on you and then let’s go ahead and buy it.” It was beautiful and elegant but it was $378.00.

My response when I saw the price tag was, “$378 for a dress you are going to wear for one night, you must be joking. What on earth are you thinking, looking at a dress that cost that much?”

Example 4: My son is a basketball player and plays in a summer travel league. The night before his big tournament and just moments after he returned home from spending some time with his dad, he tells me he needs new basketball shoes by tomorrow because his are too small.

I quickly became a frustrated mom and said, “You have been practicing with the team for three weeks and you just now realize they don’t fit? Why couldn’t you have thought of this while you were with your dad and had him get you a pair? Seriously baby, what were you thinking?”

Example 5: My daughter is studying different countries and cultures in school. Each child was assigned a country and asked to bring a dish from that country. My daughter’s country was Greece. Unfortunately she didn’t remember to tell me until 5:30 in the morning on the day of the “potluck." Luckily I did some quick thinking and heated up some turkey meatball that I had in the freezer, mixed up some sour cream with a little bit of fresh dill and sent it to told her it was a Greek dish of “Lamb meat balls with a Greek dipping sauce."

But I couldn’t let it go without saying at least once, “What were you thinking, waiting this long to tell me?”

Example 6: I pull up from work to see the children outside playing together. It warmed my heart and made me smile to see them having so much fun together. That was until I noticed that one of my girls was riding her bike over a very rough and bumpy part of the yard with one arm on the handle bars and the other tucked into her shirt. If she fell, there would be no way she could catch herself.

I got out of the car and said, “Mo, what one earth are you doing? You are going to get hurt doing that. I don’t understand what you are thinking?”

Being my child who really puts thought into everything she does, she said, “Mom, I am learning to ride a bike with one arm so if a shark bites off my arm, I will still be able to do all the things I enjoy.”

Okay, I am glad that I have a child that wants to be prepared for the unexpected. But a shark? This is my child who hates the ocean and never goes into it above her knees. Unless there is such a thing as a “Landshark”, I think it is safe for her to focus on keeping both hands on the handlebars.

After a week of repeating my new mantra of “What were you thinking” every single day, I was frustrated. “Will they ever learn?” I thought as I drove home from work the next evening. I kicked off my high heels as I made the long drive home and tried to take some deep breaths and think positive thoughts that perhaps tonight I would not have to say those words to anyone.

I hopped out of my car as soon as I pulled into the driveway, noting that I had exactly 10 minutes to load everyone up and get to Finn’s first baseball game. I raced in the door shouting orders to everyone. In no time we were all out the door with cleats, gloves and hats in hand. At the last minute we decided to take a different car so we loaded up, I counted heads, told Finn to start putting his shoes on so he could hop out of the car as soon as we got there and smiled thinking I had done all of that in less than 9 minutes.

As soon as we got to the game, the kids piled out of the car. I took a moment to take a deep breath before I got out of the car to head to say hello to all of the parents who were there for the game. After 13 years of having children play baseball, these games are like a social hour to catch up with half of Tallahassee.

I looked in the mirror (yes, the rearview mirror, but I was parked and the minute I was done I put it right back in the correct position.) and reapplied and little lipstick and was ready to step out of the car. That was when I realized that I had forgotten my shoes. I was stunned. How could I forget my shoes? I really am losing it. I tiptoed out of the car and thought if I could just get to the bleachers without anyone noticing I could tuck my feet under the bench and keep them hidden. It took all of two seconds before Moira asked me where were my shoes were and happily shared the news with all of her siblings. I didn’t see the humor that they saw in the moment. Suddenly I got a brilliant idea. I could borrow my daughter’s shoes because we are the same size. Certainly she won’t mind going barefoot.

I looked at Moira and asked her if I could please borrow her shoes.

She thought for a moment and said, “Mom, you tell us all the time before we walk out to the door to grab our shoes. I do not know what you were thinking.”

I heard giggling that sounds in stereo because I had kids on all sides of me.

The words I had found myself using on every single one of my children were now coming back to haunt me. I decided to offer her $1 if I could wear her shoes. Being a smart business woman, she upped the ante to $5. I got her down to $2. Finally, I was able to stand amongst the parents at the first baseball game of the year wearing a pair of shoes and acting like a mother who had it all together.

I have yet to say “What were you thinking?" to any of the children since that moment. I realize that they are young and those childlike impulses are still going to override the rational thoughts I want them to have to show me they are responsible. But who am I kidding? Even as an adult I am going to have those moments when the craziness of life will override my own basic rational thoughts leaving me asking myself “What was I thinking?”

In the blink of an eye I went from the suburban mom who had it all to a single mom of six facing divorce, death, and moving. So what do you do when life throws you so many curves? You pick yourself up and find out you are stronger than you ever imagined.

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The 3 Most Common Fights You Have With Your Teenager

The 3 Most Common Fights You Have With Your Teenager By Vanessa Van Petten on July 31, 2013 Print this article

When I was a teenager, it felt like my parents and I got in the same fights over and over again. After working with thousands of teens and parents I have realized that there are three common fights parents have with their teens.

Below, I have described these three fights and offered some solutions for stopping the argument cycle.

1. The “It’s Not Fair” Fight

Examples:

Older brother gets to stay out late with his friends. Teen finds this grossly unfair.

Parent gets to have soda, child does not. Teen finds this grossly unfair.

Teenager cannot buy new outfit for dance because it is too expensive. Teen finds this grossly unfair.

Emotional Intent: When you hear a teen talk about how unfair something is, what they are often feeling is, “I am not important or special enough.” If you feel like your teenager is constantly arguing about justice or fairness, they are most likely feeling like they are not being heard or cared about enough to get what they want. Of course, this is usually not the case. In the examples above parents would be worried about safety, health and money, while teens feel like they are not as important as their sibling, that their parents do not understand how important the dance is, and so on.

Solutions: The best way to stop the “It’s Not Fair” fight is to address the emotional intent. The best way to do this is for parents to push into the “it’s not fair” feeling from their children instead of pushing against it. For instance, in the new outfit example, a parent might say to their teen, “I hear you think this is unfair, will you tell me why?” A teen will most likely respond, “You buy stuff for yourself all the time,” or “But I deserve this dress.” These answers are important because it will show the parent the emotional intent behind the upset and feelings of injustice. If a parent addresses these by saying something like, “I could see how you feel like us not buying this for you is about you not feeling worthy. But the truth is we are trying to save for the big vacation we are taking this summer - which is for all of us. I know how important this dance is for you. Maybe we can get you a new pair of shoes or…” then the fight is stopped.

2. The “Treat Me Like A Grown-Up” Fight

Examples:

Teen wants to be able to stay out late with friends. Parents say no. Teen thinks they are being treated like a child.

Teen wants to go away for Spring Break, parents say no. Teen thinks they are being treated like a child.

Emotional Intent: Most fights during the teen years are actually based in this ‘treat me like a grown-up’ motivation. The earlier you can catch and address it the better it will be. It derives from the fundamental pulling away that comes with a teen trying to assert their independence.

Solutions: It is very important for parents to discuss reasons for decisions that are making a teenager angry. This way teens are sure to understand the real reasons for a parent’s choice. Another great way to help teenagers get less upset in fights surrounding their maturity is for parents to help teens feel mature in other ways. For example, perhaps parents do not want their teen to go away for the whole Spring Break because they want to have family time. A great way to address this with teens is to say clearly, “We really want to have family time with you, but we know you are getting older, so how about you do a weekend camping trip with your friends for one of the weekends.” This teaches teens you trust them, but it is all about balancing needs.

3. The “We Are a Different Person” Fight

Examples:

Parent wants their teen to join the marching band/soccer team/student council, teen doesn’t want to.

Parent expects higher grades and when teen doesn’t do well, a huge fight ensues.

Teen does not keep room tidy, parent gets upset when guests come over.

Emotional Intent: Often times teenagers tell me that they will purposefully keep their room dirty or choose unapproved hobbies just so they can be different from their parents. Parents frequently misinterpret room cleaning or bad grades for laziness, when something deeper might be going on. Teenagers often will ‘misbehave’ or fight with parents simply to show them that they are their own person - even if it gets them into trouble.

Solutions: First, it’s important to make sure that you do want your child to be their own person. Be careful not to push expectations or your own goals onto your kids. Second, make sure teenagers know that some of the requirements you have for them (good grades a tidy room for guests) are not to make them feel less like an individual, but for them to have more choices in their future and to present a nice home to guests. I recommend parents being very direct with teenagers about their need to be ‘their own person’ you might be surprised what common fights are actually based in this emotional intent.

BehaviorParenting Log in to add favorite   Share About the Author Vanessa Van Petten is one of the nation's youngest experts, or 'youthologists' on parenting and adolescents.She now runs her popular parenting website, RadicalParenting.com, which she writes with 120 other teenagewriters to answer questions from parents and adults. Her approach has been featured by CNN, Fox News,and Wall Street Journal. She was also on the Real Housewives of Orange County helping the housewives withtroubled teens. Her next book, "Do I Get My Allowance Before or After I'm Grounded?" is being released inSeptember 2011 with Plume Books of Penguin USA.

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Teaching Your Child to Stand Up to Bullies

By Princess Ivana Pignat... on May 19, 2013

“Remember always that you not only have the right to be an individual, you have an obligation to be one.” - Eleanor Roosevelt

My son, Alessio, was showing signs of trouble - acting out at home, not wanting to go to pre-school, and being extra sensitive. When he asked for a new pair of shoes so he wouldn’t “trip” on the playground, I pressed him on what was wrong. He burst into tears. Boys kept pushing him down at playtime. He was afraid to go to school.

Alessio isn’t even four yet. I never expected that children that small would have the same kind of issues as many older kids.

Bullying is starting younger these days. By the time a child is five, they have seen thousands of violent or aggressive images. But they are too young to understand and sort out the confusing messages, and will often imitate what they have seen. It’s our job as parents to actively monitor input, and also guide our children into becoming the kind of people we want them to be. Much of a child’s personality is formed by age five. The earlier we start teaching empathy, kindness and courage, the more these habits will become part of our children’s every day way of being.

About 17% of kids are bullies, but bullying incidents happen to over 50% of children. A bully is usually a scared person with underdeveloped verbal and social skills. Okay, tiger moms, it’s easy to get mad at a bully, but keep in mind these kids need help too. By teaching your child to stand up to bullies, you are also teaching the bully that mean behavior won’t be tolerated. Hopefully the bully will think twice next time he or she is tempted to go rogue.

Bullies tend to target those who are vulnerable, so the first thing to teach your children is to be assertive in the face of a bully. Most children who tolerate bullies will find themselves the target of that bully over and over again. Yet 57% of bullying incidents stop within 10 seconds of being called out.

Teaching self-assertion and impulse control to younger children can be a challenge. If your child is having bullying problems at school or on the playground, try a few practice sessions together in a safe environment (where you play the bully, and your child the hero), using the following Bully Stand Down techniques:

1. Look the bully in the eye, say his or her name, and use strong simple statements like: “Stop it” or “I don’t like that.”

2. Stay calm. Crying or whining encourages the bully to continue. Teach your little one to take deep breaths, acknowledge and move through the fear, and calmly walk away.

3. Stand up for yourself and for others, too. If you see a bully hurting someone else, say something or report it to an adult. Here’s where being a tattletale is an act of courage. Bullies want their targets to stay isolated and afraid to take any action. By telling on a bully, you are showing that kindness matters and empathy is important.

Tip for Parents

Pay attention to the signals your child is sending. He or she may be too embarrassed or confused to tell you what is happening. Create a safe emotional space by listening and helping them understand their feelings.

Talk to your child’s teacher or the playground supervisor, especially if there are ongoing incidents. Ask what you can do to help the situation. A friendly chat with the other parent about the issues your children are having together can be helpful to both sides. When children see their parents getting along, it sets a good behavior model for the children to try to work things out.

Talk to your child about the qualities to look for in good friends, and how to be a good friend to someone else. Younger children also need help in recognizing when friends are not acting like friends, but more like frenemies.

Teach your child to communicate, set healthy boundaries and stand strong for what is right are crucial to success in life. The earlier these habits begin, the deeper they will be ingrained. Everything takes practice. Even courage and kindness. Set the standards early.

By providing a supportive environment at home where your children can talk to you about anything, you will empower them to be comfortable with themselves in any situation. Having a strong core foundation is the best defense against any kind of bullying.

Happy parenting! For more on bullying, check out Signe Whitson at www.signewhitson.com. Special thanks to Tivoli Skye. We are rooting for you!

Ciao,

Princess Ivana
www.princessivana.com

Ivana is a modern princess married to a real Italian prince! Follow the Modern Princess on Facebook and Twitter 2PrincessIvana. She has a Masters of Education and has worked with children for 20 years in a variety of capacities, from designing educational toys for preschoolers to tutoring homeless children.

Ivana is a modern Cinderella married to an Italian prince. She came from modest means and met her Prince Charming while on scholarship at Pepperdine University. Their 2 fabulous kids (ages 2 and 3 years) are the latest additions to a 1000-year lineage that includes kings of Sicily and Spain, and Catherine of Aragon, a pope and a saint. She has a Masters of Education and has worked with kids for over 20 years - from designing learning toys to tutoring homeless children. For Ivana, life is more about attitude than money. She’s wild about kids and motherhood. The Super Mom juggling act between life, love, kids and career inspired her new book, A Simple Guide to Pregnancy & Baby's First Year, co-written with her mom, Magdalene Smith, and sister, Marisa Smith. Their blog is a blend of humor, practical advice and lifestyle tips on the essentials--how to live well on any budget. Consider Ivana "Dear Abby" with a tiara and baby sling.

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OMG, They Do Exist!

Jul 16, 2013 by Alyssa

I just sat and watched the last 15 minutes of the show Mountain Monsters on Destination America with my gullible kids.  This particular episode had the locals trying to catch the mysterious “Wolfman”.  About 5 minutes in I started laughing and said, “I can’t believe you guys are sitting here watching this!”  All 4 of them got very irritated with me and paused the show while they tried to argue that the Wolfman, along with the Wampus Beast, the Devil Dog and the Grassman were all for real.

OMG, this reality TV is driving me crazy!  It has convinced my kids that there are all these mysterious monsters living across America and they are extremely aggravated that I don’t believe it.  My son said to me, “mom, do you really think a coyote can drag a dead cow a mile into the woods?  It has to be some kind of monster!”  For goodness sake, my kids are teenagers and they believe this stuff!

I had to walk away because they were getting so mad at me that I was making fun of them.  To add fuel to the fire, when I walked out of the room I asked them, “hey next summer, instead of taking a vacation, we should go Bigfoot hunting.”  They launched a pillow at the back of my head!

So, I went into the office and jumped on my computer and looked up this ridiculous show.  I took the quiz, “What Kind of Monster Hunter Are You?”  The quiz will allow me to discover my monster hunting persona.  After answering 5 questions, I discovered the following…

Much like Trapper on Mountain Monsters, you are a leader when it comes to monster hunting. The team looks to you for guidance and help formulating the plan of attack on those terrifying mountain beasts. But don’t let the responsibility go to your head. No one likes an arrogant crew leader…especially the Kentucky Wolfman.

I yelled over to my kids, who were glued to the TV watching the next episode, what kind of Monster Hunter I was, I heard one of them say, “mom can be such a jerk some times!”

Hey, I think I can fit right in with these fellas!

I think both Nicole and I should join the Mountain Monster hunt, our pink and green camo would look great!

mommywarriors.com

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Can I Get on Retainer, Please?

Aug 8, 2013 by Alyssa

We have a local walk-in Doctor’s Office a few miles away that, thank goodness, is open 7 days a week and until 8 pm.  Sometimes there’s a bit of a wait but usually we can get out of there within 30-40 minutes.  Having 4 crazy kids, I do frequent the place a lot, but not usually as often as I did the last 10 days.  It’s pretty bad when the staff knows you by name and the x-ray technician asks, “weren’t you just here last night?”

It all started with my daughter needing a sports physical, then a strep throat visit, 2 more sports physicals, a hip injury, another sports physical, a sprained wrist  and then lastly, another broken bone.

Football practice hadn’t even been going on for a week when my son comes home and asks, “should my thumb be this purple?”  This was the same kid that I told to suck it up and get back in the baseball game after he had just gotten nailed with a line drive and broken his hand (I really thought he was fine).  Rather than get another mother of the year award for blowing off an injury, it was evident from the looks of his thumb, it was broken.  Although he insisted he was fine, I took him for an x-ray based on my gut.

the broken thumb

Sure enough, his thumb was broken at the growth plate, need to see an orthopedic.

I don’t know about you all, but all this “growth plate” stuff is a bit questionable in my mind.  Of the last 5 broken bones my kids have had, 4 of them required an additional visit to the orthopedic due to growth plate concerns.  And in the end, there was NO growth plate issue at all.  Heck, me and my friends broke a ton of bones when we grew up and there was never a growth plate issue. We just went off to the hospital, got a quick cast and then followed up 4 weeks later to get the cast cut off.  I hate to say this, but I really think it’s all a crock, just an opportunity for another office visit which equates to more $$$$$.

Anyway, sorry I went off on a little tangent but as I left the office, one of the staff said, “See ya Mrs. B, hopefully we won’t see you again tomorrow. Oh and don’t worry, we’ll just add this visit to the bill!  Never a dull moment in my household.

MommyWarriors.com

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