by Jean Lockwood
Today is Panic Day. As a parent, it is sometimes necessary to withhold signs of panic, but today it is ok to let it go.
As strong as the march winds, so strong can the passion of parenting be. Let your kids know how you much you love them and are concerned for their future. After celebrating Panic Day, visit How to tell your kids you love them, for some common sense ideas to implement in your home.
Mom is Teaching has some great ideas for St. Particks Day fun.
For some fun ideas for play dough, visit Parenting Children. Play dough is one hting oyu can never get too old for, and the things you can make are endless.
If you are looking for ideason how to cook food that improves brain power, visit Parenting Under The Stars.
Cooking is fun to do with the kids too. For some fun and healthy ideas to cook up with them, read Kids Recipes at Family Fun.
Whatever you do with your kids, or for your kids, remember that the time spent with them is well worth every moment, and will be what they remember as the best timesof their lives.
by Jean Lockwood
With spring just around the corner, or at least we in the North East hope it is, it’s a great time to enjoy some indoor fun while we wait.
There is a new site that is called We Heart Cats, by April Gilford. It is especially for kids an parents who love cats and anything to do with cats. There are games, puzzles and interesting facts about our favorite feline friends. Check it out with the cat lovers in your life.
For the little girls who love to pretend princess and fairy, here is a great article by Summer M., Make Faeries Real. For indoor fun, the crafts she mentions are simple and fun, with results that will make your little girl feel beautiful.
For you lego fans, read about the Lego Gunship at our toybender site. Legos have been a favorite indoor fun toy for a long time, and there is no end to what you can build with them.
And finally, for you who can’t wait to get out, bring the outdoors in with some indoor gardering. Check out Garden and Earth.
by Jean Lockwood
Have you ever wanted to do something with your kids that will make memories that will last a lifetime? That is my desire, to give them good memories that will make them cherish their childhood and family life.
Family Fun is one site with a lot of good ideas on things to do with the whole family.
Another good site for ideas is Parents Talk Online. They offer advice from other parents of activities, crafts, and other things to do together.
For Outdoor Activities, visit here for some good ideas.
No matter what we do with our kids, they will have wonderful memories of being with us and having the best thing we can give them, our time and attention.
by Jean Lockwood
While thinking about this time of year, and experiencing the boredom of being house bound with my own kids, I thought it might be fun to suggest some mid winter activity ideas.
This site talks about throwing a theme party. I have done this with my kids in the winter, and it was a hit. throw a beach party, or a Hawaiian party in the living room.
Another fun thing I do, and the kids love it, is make them do physical activities that normally wouldn’t be allowed, in the house. I have them compete to see who can do the most, and they call it “the contest”. Here is a site for great exercises to have them compete with each other, or beat their own time.
Another fun thing to break the winter blues boredom, is crafts. Our favorite is scrapbooking. Here is a site to help with ideas for themes, and materials for kids.
Please feel free to share ideas you use with your own kids. Winter can be long and drawn out, especially with late winter snow, and sub-zero temps.
by Jean Lockwood
I know that not everyone who reads this blog homeschools, but all of you are looking for good ideas of things to do with your kids, or information regarding parenting.
Today will be mostly of interest to parents who are hands on with their kids, either with homeschooling, or just having fun.
Check out Mom is Teaching for homeschooling links, ideas and fun.
If you are looking for some good coloring pages, check out PapaJan.
Find some great lesson plans and ideas from First Preschool.
by Jean Lockwood
I thought I would pass along this site for Parental Rights. They are trying to pass legislation for less Government interference in family life.
by Jean Lockwood
I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like to have fun. I also don’t know anyone who knows all there is to know about having fun, especially when it comes to having fun with the kids.
At PBS Parents you find all sorts of ideas for games, coloring pages, history and science lessons, and tips for parents. If you search the site, you will see a section with a lot of interesting history trivia. All of the kids programs are represented with activities for parents and kids to do together. There are articles on things concerning parents and parenting.
There is a great site about American Presidents and other American History at PBSkids WayBack. Iti s full of interesting trivia and bitsof information that may not be important, but is fun to learn.
If you visit the Family Education site, you will find ideas to do with each age group, as well as articles for parents. There are valentine ideas, among other fun things to do. There are also parenting message boards, printables, and games.
If you look for parenting ideas on a search engine, there are many valuable resourses available.
Have fun with your kids. Learn new and interesting facts with them. Teach them things that may confuse others (such as what the president’s dog’s name is), and enjoy learning together.
by Jean Lockwood
My name is Jean, and I am the new writer for ParentingSites 411. I hope to bring a lot of valuable information, ideas to refresh you, and encouragement along the way.
If there is anything you would like to see with this blog, please throw your ideas my way. I will always answer your comments.
I also write Parenting and Religion, and Marital Talk. Check them out for family and relationship information and ideas.
by Marilyn Porter
It’s time for another YNTR installment! Like last week, I’ve got some great posts for you this week. People have had some great stories to tell, news to share (and some not so great), and the level of sharing is just wonderful. There are times that I love this parenting blog community. We stick together, we give each other support. We help each other through the sticky times. And lets face it, times aren’t often more sticky than they are when we have little ones at home. It’s just wonderful. Anyhow. Enough schmoopyness, on with the reading!
- “What is it about Black Friday?” from Rancid Raves. Cagey thinks that Christmas doesn’t have to be all about the present and the spending, but that it can be about the memories and togetherness. I’m so glad she said it because I totally, 100% agree. How much would we all enjoy Christmas if we were able to remove the stress of buying so many gifts at the holidays?
- “when i am queen” from house of h. Honestly, who doesn’t have these thoughts?? And, can I just say, I think her suggestions are fabulous and if she’s queen someday I’ll totally back them up.
- “Goodbye 1st trimester, hello due date” from misszoot. Can I just tell you how glad I was to see this post? I’ve had fingers and toes crossed for Zoot with this pregnancy. She’s suffered so many losses and heartbreaks that I really feel this is owed to her.
- “It’s Much Harder To Be Good” from Oh, The Joys. Another awesome discussion and afternoon with her kids and an ingenious way to get a child to nap. Will have to remember this when my little one gets older and more stubborn about such things.
- “Day 53” from Lag Liv. I absolutely cannot believe she and her family are still going through this nightmare. And although the nightmare isn’t as scary as it once was and everything will probably turn out okay, I can’t imagine what torture this is for her. Let’s hope she gets resolution (and a good resolution at that) and soon.
- “Something” from a little pregnant. Oh my God! Julie’s pregnant! This was off her first cycle with a donor egg and I have everything crossed for her that this pregnancy is a sticky one for her. I know she’s going through a rough time with her grandfather here and that has a lot of her attention, so my prayers are with her as well.
- “Everything I’ve learned in Life, I’ve Learned From Watching The Nuge” from Rockstar Mommy. I can totally sympathize with her predicament here and I would have been hard pressed to have behaved any differently. This is exactly the sort of thing that gets my blood boiling.
- “A lonely isle of estrogen floating in a sea of testosterone” from Loralee’s Looney Tunes. Boy, can I relate to her here. I too have three boys at home (one of them being a husband) and often feel like the only female representation (as our dogs hardly count, I think). It would be awesome to have a little girl to buy dresses for, no? As wonderful as boys are (and they ARE), there are times when a woman wants a daughter.
- “Little Black Clouds: An Exercise in Self-Pity” from IzzyMom. Yet another post I can relate to. There have been times in recent years where it seems like everything is against us. Nothing goes our way. We are faced with nothing but troubles, tribulations, stress and depression. Luckily, these phases come and go. But it doesn’t make them any harder to live through.
- “Unruffled by frump and solitude” from sweet | salty. After her frustrations last week from feeling trapped and stifled, this week Kate reflects on what is good about just bundling yourself in with your children and enjoying the warm, quiet moments together. Very poignant.
- “Wanna see some baby pictures?” from mother goose mouse. As she stares down the barrel of her third child, MGM contemplates on what it’ll be like to have three more years of diapers, among other things. On the other hand, she tells herself to not worry about what the future holds and instead enjoy the moment. Hard to do, I know it!
- “No Matter What” from Her Bad Mother. HBM got some potentially very bad news about her pregnancy earlier in the week. It’s a situation no mother wants to find herself in, and as she says in this post, she knows it won’t be easy. But that they’re ready to take things as they come and embrace their child, whether it has issues after birth or not. I cannot imagine how difficult this must be, she could use all our support.
- “‘Her’” from Loralee’s Looney Tunes. Another one from Loralee this week, but it’s because yet again she spoke to me with her post. She talks about the woman who was buried next to her son who passed away at three months old. She used to feel resentment for that woman, but now she has found peace with the situation. She also talks how difficult it is to embrace the fact that her child’s body is underground and that I can definitely relate to.
I hope that gives you plenty of reading to enjoy this weekend, in between trips to the mall for Christmas shopping. Enjoy, everyone!
by Marilyn Porter
Welcome to another installment of You Need to Read. This week’s post is a little late because I foolishly ventured forth into the world of retail this morning, trying to procure myself a pair of boots from Kohl’s. Unfortunately, they were out of my size by the time I got there (since I was unwilling to show up at 4am) so the whole trip was pretty moot. Boo! However, that’s as far as the bad news goes today because I have some great posts for you to read. So put down your leftover turkey sandwiches and take a peek at these gems:
- “Is it December yet?” from Rancid Raves. What I liked about this post (besides the customary plea for NaBloPoMo to be over already) is how she spoke about her marriage. It made me think a lot about how I feel about my own marriage.
- “The results are in” from All & Sundry. Linda had a hilarious follow-up post to her earlier question complete with a pie chart. The whole post made me laugh. Which, considering the growing holiday panic and stress, was very welcome!
- “The one about the overdose” from moosh in indy. Casey deviates from her usual humor to post on a very serious subject. I admire her courage in posting this and I think her story is an important one for us all to read. Instead of judging her, I found myself marveling at her strength to come back from something like that. She humanized depression in that post and that in itself is very worthy of being featured here.
- “Teenager commits suicide over MySpace” from Parent Dish. You may have also seen this story highlighted on the Today show this week. It’s a horribly tragic story that really made me repulsed at how some adults behave. Not only did this mother destroy a family, but she taught her daughter and her friends some really horrible lessons.
- “What about MY rights?” from IzzyMom. Yet another brave and important post! What a banner week it was. She talks about discovering she was adopted as an adult and how she was able to find (after much red tape and headache) her birth parents. And she raises an important question: Don’t adopted children and adults have rights to learn about their heritage?
- “The wildlife version of Rocky” from dooce. Oh my heavens. When I first watched this little video clip, I thought Heather had it in for me and wanted my overly hormonal, pregnant self to be a mess of tears and snot. But then? It ended fantastically. You’ve gotta watch this, trust me. And it warmed my heart to think that parents, be they animal, human or water buffalo, are all essentially the same.
- “Unwanted exemption” from sweet| salty. What’s with the brave, soul-bearing posts this week? Kate shares how she doesn’t feel she can long for more from her life than raising children simply because one of her children has died. Having been in similar circumstance myself, I understand where she’s coming from. You feel that if you’ve lost a child, you should always be extra grateful and never complain. And that’s not good for any mother to have to act that way.
Whew! Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekends!
by Marilyn Porter
Again, I’m sorry for my absence this week. When it rains, it pours. First, my little one came down with croup (and isn’t THAT a fun one to have!). Then, I became afflicted with The Sick and being pregnant, can’t take anything for it. So I am miserable. And tired. And miserable. It’s been a week. And I’ve been lucky to keep my head above water with it all so unfortunately, posting falls by the wayside. We’ll see how the next week goes, when this cold finally vacates my body and how it all is with the holiday. Regardless, I have some great posts here for you and they will surely keep you entertained and interested for at least the weekend, if not the next week. Hang in there, guys!
- “The Mommy War Meme” from Mommy Tracks. This is a satirical, but eye-opening look at the way women fight each other as mothers. And shows how no one can really “win” at these wars.
- “When pigs fly” from hola, isabel. She always writes the most interesting posts. This one was about a pig her brother raised for FFA years ago and how her brother got rather attached to his pig. Naturally, he was devastated when the pig was sold and he learned the pig would be slaughtered without delay. A very touching story.
- “Boundaries” from Oh, The Joys. I’m sure a lot of us have had this happen to us; we’re minding our own business when someone we have never seen before corners us and starts to push their beliefs onto us when all we’d like to do is escape. It’s insulting and inconsiderate. And that was her experience too. Definitely a thought provoker.
- “Boomerang” from a little pregnant. There were several Veteran’s Day themed posts this year that honored soldiers of present or past, but Julie’s love letter to her ailing grandfather was the one that touched my heart the most.
- “Skipping the Baby Registry: Yay or Nay?” from Advice Smackdown. Amy generally sticks to advice about beauty but every once in a while she breaks the mold. This is stuff that’s good to know, as there are people out there who would rather not fill out a baby registry or have a shower. Amy tells us, “It’s okay!”
- “Maybe should limit her MTV” from dooce. Rarely is it that Heather does not make me laugh or think. This entry is a great snippet about an uncommon event in an otherwise normal day. And also yet another posts that rails against the evil, evil time change.
- “No” from Plain Jane Mom Blog. This is a big hot-button topic to mothers of school aged children. How much of yourself do you give to the school? Erika says, “Not a bit” because right now she’s focusing on her family. And I think that’s more than okay.
- “Miraculous” from All & Sundry. Linda details the woes of a third trimester pregnancy in her usual funny way and in the midst of her griping, she can still take time to step back and bask in the miracle of it all too.
- “Her Bad Birthday: A Love Song” from Her Bad Mother. HBM does a take-off on the standard (and sometimes over-used) birthday letter and is able to do so in a funny and touching way. Happy Birthday, Wonderbaby!
- “My Best Friend, they name is Kim” from moosh in indy. While away from home and her husband and dealing with a wild and wooly toddler, Casey finds solace in the company of her best friend. And makes me wish I had someone like that in my life too.
by Marilyn Porter
Welcome to another installment of the best posts from the parenting blog world that I found this week. Again, it was a quiet week around here and I do apologize for that. If you do have any ideas of great posts for me, do let me know. I feel as though NaBloPoMo has sapped my creativity. Speaking of which, NaBloPoMo has made this a great week for reading blogs. Not only has there been just a lot of posts to read but people have really been pulling out all the stops and posting some great stuff. I love November! It’s hard to come up with something to post every single day but the payoff is worth it. Everyone likes lots of blog posts to read, after all!
- “That satisfying crunch” from sweet | salty. A lot of times posts where moms talk about how they’re going more organic make me uncomfortable because I feel like I’m letting everyone down. But as usual, Kate has such a way about her that the post is entertaining and informative and actually INTERESTING. And most importantly, it made me think.
- “Three strikes and you get a second date” from moosh in indy. Casey has been posting the story of how she and Corey met, fell in love, got married and how the Moosh came to be. A lot of people do these stories but hers is especially interesting and funny and I find myself hanging on her every word. This is installment three in the story and about when I started realizing that this series rocked my socks.
- “I remember when weekends were relaxing” from Purple is a Fruit. Linda seems to have cemented her place on my YNTR column but this post was just funny and so dang true. Plus, it’s an interesting look at what it’s like to be a working mom to an energetic toddler. I imagine this is a lot how my husband feels at the end of the weekend.
- “Dear…” from Loralee’s Looney Tunes. I love posts like this, where the author writes little notes to different people in their life (even if it is the checkout girl from the grocery store). It reminds me that I want to do a post like this sometime.
- “Money Changes Everything” from Rockstar Mommy. YES. I’ve had this very same post (nearly) running through my head for weeks now and eventually I’m going to post it. In the meantime, go read RSM’s post about how aggravating it is to have a materialistic friend and why that lifestyle is just not for her.
- “How many Storches does it take to screw in a light bulb” from Amalah. Any of you who have been reading Amy for any length of time probably remember The Tire. In this installment, Amy gives us a resolution to The Tire Story and introduces a new peeve of hers. And, as always, is hilarious.
- “Drama. Not really.” from Oops! Did I say that out loud? This was a great post from Lizarita about dealing with her ex-husband and his new wife and how they all actually *gasp* get along. It’s refreshing and truly gives me hope for the world. There doesn’t have to be drama everywhere, after all.
- “Trying my best to stand by my man” from Hollow Squirrel. I’m sure at some time, all of us women have complained about our husband’s work hours (generally, this only applies to stay at home moms), but I think Mrs. Squirrel takes the cake here. The other night her husband worked until 7 am! I would have collapsed into a pile of frustrated goo by now, so she gets points for keeping herself together!
- “I May Have Ruined Her Life” by Petroville. Wow, this was an amazingly insightful post about how she wished she’d urged a cashier to go to college instead of to drama school. Trust me, it’s a good read and a thought provoking one too. Are you encouraging your children to go to college? I think, as parents, it’s one of the most important things we can do.
That’s all for this week. Whew! My browser is smokin’. I hope everyone has a great weekend, see ya next week!
by Marilyn Porter
I’m sorry for my absence from the site this week. It’s been a crazy week in parenting land over here and to top it off, I had a little baby with a bad fever for a couple days. Any of you who’ve also had this know that little babies with bad fevers don’t like to be put down. And it’s rather hard to post with a baby sweating on your chest. He seems to be on the mend now, antibiotics to the rescue! Now maybe I can get caught up…
There are a few great sites to visit this week. And since NaBloPoMo started yesterday, I figure next week we’ll have a virtual bounty of great posts to read. I hope you like what I’ve picked out for you!
- “CBACBAVB” from misszoot. This is a topic near and dear to my heart, which you’ve probably noticed since I’ve linked to similar posts like it before. But I like the perspective she gave it. If you can’t tell from the title, it’s about having a repeat c-section versus a VBAC (or vaginal birth after c-section). It’s controversial, but I do believe the decision is ultimately a personal one.
- “The pumpkin, the pumpkin, the pumpkin’s on fire” from All & Sundry. Linda always has a way to make me laugh. Though she spends a portion of the post bashing Internet Explorer (another topic near and dear to my heart), the majority of the post is spent on pumpkins and pumpkin carving. You should see what she and her husband put together. Wow!
- “Halloweenie” from Hollow Squirrel. Mrs. Squirrel came up with a brilliant meme that’s a take-off from the standard literary meme but involves horror movies instead. What I love is show she explained each movie and why she’s seen it, why she saw only part of it or why she hasn’t seen it at all. Definitely a post that helped me get in the mood for the spooky holiday but is enjoyable all year round.
- “Keep Your Sun Up In The Rain” from Oh, The Joys. She shares with us a story she read her children, a true children’s book about a man who walked a tightrope between the two towers. And by towers, I mean the World Trade Center in NYC. The somber ending to the story prompted a frank discussion about redemption, one of those truly awesome parenting moments that each of us cling to through the difficult days.
- “Frema and the Three Winter Coats” from What’re You Looking At? Frema goes through a distressing situation that nearly every woman who is pregnant during the winter months has to suffer through: Which coat to wear? We see a hilarious sequence of photos where she tries various coats on with varying degrees of success before finally going out and shelling out the dough for a maternity coat (which looks fabulous by the way).
- “Tube-Tied” from Purple is a Fruit. Another post from Linda (but from a different blog so it’s okay), and another topic that’s near and dear to my heart. Or maybe, just something that’s also weighing on my mind right now. Like Linda, my doctor wants me to consider getting my tubes tied during my c-section. It’s a rough decision, even if you know you’re done having children. Almost as good as the post is the discussion that takes place in the comments section.
I hope everyone has a great weekend and hopefully you’ll be seeing me sooner than a week from now!
