Time Cover Strikes a Nerve

May 16, 2012 at 4:16 pm , by Allison Berry

In case you missed it, Time magazine sparked controversy this past week after debuting the cover of their weekly news magazine, which featured 26-year-old Jamie Lynne Grumet breastfeeding her 3-year-old son, Aram, with the bold headline “Are You Mom Enough?”

The article accompanying the cover discusses attachment parenting–which includes three principles: breastfeeding, co-sleeping, and “baby wearing.” Discussion has been heavy over the controversial cover and the principles it attempts to discuss. Three of our Parents blogs weighed in on the topic:  High Chair Times, Parents News Now, and Love & Diapers. Check them out by clicking the link. Then, tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Image via Time magazine

Lullaby Music You and Baby Will Love

May 16, 2012 at 3:32 pm , by April Rueb

When I was in college, I spent my summers working as a teacher’s assistant in a child care center. I have many wonderful memories from those days — watching a baby take her first steps, hearing another say his first word — but there’s one thing I don’t miss: nap time.

Every day after lunch, the children were put on their cots to rest or nap. The lights were turned off, the shades were drawn, and music was turned on to block out noise from other classrooms. Our selection of music that calmed the children (without putting us to sleep) was so small that we often listened to the same CD, on repeat, for weeks. (Turns out there’s a limit to how many times you can hear the same princess love song before you start going crazy.)

My experience with bad children’s music must be why I instantly fell in love with Martha’s Trouble‘s new album of lullabies, “A Little Heart Like You.” A mix of traditional and original songs, the album is the 11th self-released record from the husband-and-wife duo. It’s the perfect lullaby album — soothing for Baby, not boring for Mom and Dad. If it had existed a few years ago, I wouldn’t have minded listening to it on repeat during nap time.

Martha’s Trouble was kind enough to give all of our Goody readers a free song from their new album. Simply click here for the download of “Goodnight Sweet Child” to begin. Enjoy!

Q&A with David and Leigh Koechner

May 16, 2012 at 2:03 pm , by Allison Berry

Actor David Koechner and his wife, Leigh, are the proud parents of 5 children, but how do they manage to balance a busy career with their family life? The pair talk to GoodyBlog about their best parenting moments and the importance of finding time for family.

You’ve had a great career in acting as a comedian. How does your sense of humor help during stressful parenting moments?
David: Parenting has many parallels to comedies. When I get into a situation of cross-purposes with a child and refuse to give in or try to hold onto a power position, it helps to smile and realize I am being a fool.

Looking back over the past couple of years, do you have any advice for busy parents like yourself?
Leigh: Make yourself a priority, and give your kids both boundaries and attention. It does wonders to give your kids some quality face time and remind them that they’re a priority in your life, too.
David: Get up early if you want to get something done for yourself, and try and turn your career world off after 5pm. Also, figure out what works best for your family; when everything jives together, being busy isn’t so hard.

What about your approach to disciplining your kids? Do you play good cop/bad cop?
Both: We’ve found that not reacting to bad behavior works the best. Stay calm, walk away, and then talk to them after the outburst passes. We also try to be a united front when disciplining so that the kids don’t see one of us as the bad guy. A more positive atmosphere that’s filled with appropriate praise keeps the outbursts manageable.

Tell us about your messiest parenting moment.
Leigh: Our oldest, Charlie, was 3 months old and we were at our friend’s house for Easter.  I had bought him a sear sucker suit that was just adorable.  About an hour into the party, he had an explosion that shot straight up the back of the diaper and soiled his darling new Easter suit.  I had forgotten to bring a back-up outfit, but thankfully I came prepared with Huggies wipes to clean up such a mess!

Sounds like mom to the rescue! David, what’s one parenting task that you’d say you’re better at?
David: I am way better at getting on all 4’s and giving my kids a horsey ride. There really is no competition.

What is something your kids have said lately that made you crack up?
Leigh: My 5-year old daughter Audrey said, “Oh mother I feel so bad for you. You’re turning into an old lady. Your skin is so dry. Hold on I need to get some lotion.” Then she rubbed lotion on my arm while we sat in her bed at bedtime.
David: I taught my kids to do an impression of the comic actor Paul Lynde. We will go around the dinner table and everyone takes a turn saying, “I’m Paaaaul Lynde!”

That sounds like quite a tradition! What other family moments do you enjoy together?
Leigh: Friday night family night, exercising and going to church.
David: I enjoy Friday night family night, which includes making a big mess at dinner and then spending time to clean it up together. We also love playing “frozen fish” in our pool, which is a combination of Marco Polo and freeze tag and somehow daddy is always ”it.”

Which of your children would be most likely to be president of the United States?
Both: Audrey. She is fierce, funny, smart and truly wise, and she’s only five!

If your kids had superpowers, what would they be and why?
Charlie, who is 12, would be able to hurl people who cause heartache into another galaxy.
Margot, who is 10, would sing like an angel on a cloud with Adele.
Sargent, who is 5, would be the incredible hulk in a Lego world.
Audrey, who is also 5, would dominate all with her power of personality.
Eve, who is 15 months, would be a super-napper and have the power to sleep through the racket of barking dogs.

Those sound like some awesome super heros! Are there any of qualities in your children that you most admire?
David: I can already tell that they will be there for each other long after we are gone.  Like any kids, they do fight, but they really take care of each other and truly understand the importance of family.
Leigh: I am most impressed with how they are each so unique and different from the other. They have a certain way of looking at life and are honing who they are way sooner than I.  I also love how each one of them has a compassionate heart.

 

Parents Daily News Roundup

May 16, 2012 at 11:06 am , by April Rueb

The Facebook-Free Baby
Are you a mom or dad who’s guilty of ‘oversharenting’? The cure may be to not share at all.

Child Care Cost Hikes Derailing Women’s Careers
At a time when women’s issues have become a political football in the national arena, many states have been chipping away at funds aimed at supporting working mothers and families, even as federal subsidies are drying up and the cost of child care is climbing.

Baby Names: The Latest Partisan Divide?
Styles of baby names, it seems, are nearly as different in various parts of the country as voting habits. More progressive communities, Laura Wattenberg says, tend to favor more old-fashioned names. Parents in more conservative areas come up with names that are more creative or androgynous.

Crib Products May Be Deadly, Experts Say
There’s a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention saying more and more babies are suffocating while sleeping, and they’re warning parents to keep cribs empty.

High School Teens Make “No Tanning” Pledge Before Prom
Students at Maynard High School in Massachusetts made good on a “no tanning before prom” pledge at the event last Friday.

Parents Beware: If Your Teens Party, You Could Pay the Price
States have different “social host laws” and under some of them, a parent can face criminal charges and hefty fines if an accident occurs as a result of any underage drinking at your home. Even if, say, you’re away on vacation and have no idea that anything is going down in the first place.

Parents Daily News Roundup

May 15, 2012 at 5:49 pm , by April Rueb

In Choosing a Sperm Donor, a Roll of the Genetic Dice
In households across the country, children conceived with donated sperm are struggling with serious genetic conditions inherited from men they have never met.

Birth-Defect Risk Seen in Assisted Conception
An Australian survey of about 300,000 pregnancies, with more than 6,000 resulting from fertility treatments, found that treatment was associated with a 28 percent greater risk for birth defects.

Watching TV Linked to Poor Diet in Students
A national survey of more than 12,000 students in grades 5 to 10 has found that television viewing is associated not only with unhealthy snacking while watching, but also with unhealthy eating at all times.

Play Baseball Against a Girl? Arizona School Forfeits Game Instead
A Phoenix Catholic school, Our Lady of Sorrows, decided it would rather lose a baseball championship than play against a team with a girl.

First Lady Has Plan to Get Kids Involved in Sports
The first lady is partnering with the U.S. Olympic Committee, the Partnership for a Healthier America, U.S. Paralympics and numerous national governing bodies that have pledged their time and resources toward introducing young people to their sports over the course of the summer.

Yahoo! News Remakes America

May 15, 2012 at 4:43 pm , by Sarah Rammos

As part of the coverage of the 2012 Presidential election, Yahoo! News has debuted “Remake America,” a webseries profiling six families as they try to reclaim the American dream. Each week, another five-minute episode puts a personal spin on issues like unemployment, foreclosure, and the mounting healthcare costs that are so common in today’s economy. But they’re not going it alone—each family gets help from career gurus, personal-finance experts and medical professionals as they fight to make ends meet. Viewers can connect by sharing their own experiences on dedicated comment threads or voting for which step each family should take next. Check it out below.

Do you think these videos paint an accurate picture of America today? How are these issues affecting your family?

Related Links: 

• The Changing American Family
• Your Most Pressing Work Questions Answered
• Family Budget Blunders

Here Comes the Sun

May 14, 2012 at 12:43 pm , by Kara Corridan

Now that it feels like spring is really here (today’s yucky weather in NYC aside), it’s time to start talking about sun safety. In our June issue, we have a whole feature where we answer your most common sunscreen questions.

It’s important to remember that another smart way to protect our skin is to seek shade. Mona Gohara, M.D., a dermatologist, mom of two, and member of the Women’s Dermatologic Society, participated in a cool program last week called Play Safe in the Sun. She and her fellow WDS members “sunproofed” the Grace Church School in New York City by creating a safe, sun-shielded, shaded area in the playground, by integrating sun safety into the school’s curriculum, and by doing free skin checks on school families. (That’s Dr. Gohara in yellow, at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the shade structure at the school, with all the hat-wearing students who’d be benefiting from it!) She shares these tips to help keep your family safe in the sun:

1. Go Green  Plant little trees with your family to add more shade in your backyard, this will help Mother Earth and your skin all in one shot! For those living in a city, choose a different tree to play under with each visit to a park, then go home and learn about it- a great way to promote environmental awareness!  Remember, children who play in the sun between 10 am and 4 pm are at a higher risk for skin cancer later in life.

2. Special Thoughts for Special Spots Use a SPF stick for your child’s eyelids (to avoid product running into the eyes) and lips. In general, remember to reapply a broad spectrum SPF 30 or higher every 2 hours when outdoors or after excessive swimming/sweating.

3. Don’t Slip During That Trip Ultraviolet light easily shines through car windows (and home windows, for that matter!) so make sure to place UV-blocking shields on windows your children are exposed to. This will help them avoid passive, intense sun exposure that can lead to skin cancer later in life.

4. Channel Your Inner Politician: After teaching your older kids about the dangers of indoor tanning, think about ways to contact local politicians, or sign petitions to restrict tanning bed use. As of January 2012, kids under the age of 18 have been banned from indoor tanning in California, and New York State is requiring in-person signed parental consent for would-be tanners between the ages of 14 and 18. Raise public awareness together and save lives.

And here are more important tips from her fellow WDS members:

“Grandmothers can set a good example by providing cute sun protective hats and making a ritual of applying sunscreen before going out.”  —Janet Hickman, M.D., WDS President, retired Virginia dermatologist, mother of three sons and two young granddaughters

“Chemical-free sunscreens are great to use on children’s faces to prevent burning eyes that often occur with more traditional chemical sunscreens.”  —Lauren C. Hughey, M.D., associate professor of dermatology, University of Alabama at Birmingham and mother of three young children

“When protecting your family, be sure to protect with sunscreen these frequently missed spots: ears, behind the neck, tops of hands, wrists, feet and toes.”  —Latanya Benjamin, M.D., F.A.A.D., F.A.A.P., clinical assistant professor of dermatology and pediatrics, interim director and service chief, pediatric dermatology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital

“Once a month go on an outing and buy a different type of SPF…when you have that family outdoors activity you can share your favorite picks. SPF comes in liquid, spray, solid stick, lip balm and makeup so there is something for every member of the family.”—Wendy E. Roberts, M.D., F.A.A.D., Rancho Mirage, California, generational and cosmetic dermatologist

WDS holds free skin cancer screenings all over the country; click here to see if there’s one near you.

Parents Daily News Roundup

May 14, 2012 at 10:49 am , by April Rueb

Bottles, Binkies and Sippy Cups Can Hurt Kids, Study Finds
The seemingly innocuous ba-bas and binkies caused cuts, bruises and other injuries serious enough to send 45,398 children under age 3 to the nation’s emergency rooms between 1991 and 2010, according to the first large-scale analysis of the problem.

Can You Call a 9-Year-Old a Psychopath?
Psychologists now believe fledgling psychopaths can be identified as early as kindergarten. The hope is to teach these children empathy before it’s too late.

More Batteries to Blame for Kids’ ER Visits
The number of kids treated in emergency rooms after swallowing batteries — or lodging them in their noses and ears — has almost doubled over the past 20 years, a new study suggests.

So Eager for Grandchildren, They’re Paying the Egg-Freezing Clinic
The practice of freezing eggs to enable a pregnancy later on is growing, doctors say, with parents lending emotional and financial support to adult daughters.

The List Is Out! Top Baby Names for 2011 Are…
The Social Security Administration released its top 1,000 baby name list for 2011 on Monday morning.

FDA Delays New Rules for Sunscreen
Sunscreen confusion won’t be over before summer after all. The government is bowing to industry requests for more time to make clear how much protection their brands really offer against skin cancer.