Parenting Sites 411

We’re closing out the month of August with some great posts from around the parenting blogosphere.  Some are funny, some are not.  Some will make you think, and some might make you mad.  But you’ll have to agree, these are all greats posts.

• “Of Buns in Ovens and Bloggers in Need” by Mom’s Daily Dose.   Amy profiled a great post from a great blogger about some of the disturbingly vivid dreams pregnant women tend to have.  She (and this poster) also touched on what makes blogging so great because without the community, blogging would be just words on a screen.
• “Statement; piglets” by Purple is a Fruit.  Linda discussed a subject that is near and dear to my heart:  c-sections.  More specifically, requesting that people not question her, berate her or try to change her mind about her own c-section.  Amen, girl.
• “Celebrity Deathmatch: Jerry Springer vs. Harper Lee” by Rockstar Mommy.  This is a great and hilarious post for anyone who is remotely familiar with the great American novel, “To Kill a Mockingbird”.  It’s also a frightening assessment of America’s collective “genius”.
• “Stuff” by Bethiclaus.   What I found interesting about this post was her impressions on her seminary-style class and the political leanings of her classmates and teacher.  Frankly, the ignorance startles and freaks me out.
• “How Old is Too Old” by Rockstar Mommy.  Yet again, RSM shows up on the list for starting a very interesting conversation about when a person is too old to wear miniskirts, long hair and other such fashions.  The discussion that follows in the comments is spirited and interesting to read.
• “Let sleeping babies lie, apparently” by Untangling Knots.  Karla shares a hilarious episode in which her baby shows he has a mind of his own.
• “What happens if every team in the NFL goes 8-8?” by Rancid Raves.  What caught my attention was not the football discussion but her views on gender and stereotypes.  She and I have very similar opinions on this and I get frustrated too when people expect my sons to be hell on wheels simply because they are boys.
• “Betrayed” by Izzymom.  Lastly, we have this gut-wrenching post from Izzy.  She’s going through a rough time and could use all the support she can get.

It’s the first question you’re asked when people find out your pregnant, “Is it a boy or a girl?”  Or maybe if you’re obviously just newly pregnant, they’ll ask you, “Do you want a boy or a girl?”.  Why is this such an important topic for everyone, even those who aren’t the parents-to-be?

ParentDish put up an interesting article yesterday by Jennifer Jordan on “Would you admit you wanted a girl (or boy)?” That in itself is an interesting question.  I wrote my own post on my personal site about preference and if I have one or not (I don’t).

Also, check out these articles over at Parents.com on the touchy subject of gender, including gender selection and stereotypes.  I guess that’s what the touchiest subject for me is, the stereotypes.  I don’t believe in them and I do think that that genes and family upbringing have a lot to do with how a child acts more than simply “Boys are wild and Girls are sweet.”

Where do you weigh in on the Great Gender Debate?

Do you recall last winter when Denver (and surrounding areas) were socked in by massive blizzards that kept the city covered in snow for 61 days?  I remember hearing about all the air traffic headaches, but apparently it was rough to live in the Mile High City as well.  People were virtually trapped in their homes without a whole lot to do.  A whole lot other than make babies, that is.  Doctors in the Denver area are preparing for as much as a 20% increase in births around the end of September and beginning of October.  That’s a lot of babies!  Stores that specialize in baby products are also having a hard time keeping goods on the shelves with blankets and diaper bags selling out like hotcakes.  Best of luck to anyone who is expecting in that particularly corner of the United States.  If any of you are reading this site, is your pregnancy due to the blizzard or just “luck”?

A lot of parents will say this news has been a long time coming and I’m afraid I may be one of them.  And, if only these ideas will spread to the rest of the states in our nation that could benefit by stricter child restraint regulations.  I know barely a day goes by that I don’t see a car go by with a child sitting in the front seat without a carseat or jumping around in the backseat entirely unrestrained.  It turns my stomach to see that, because I don’t think I would dare drive a block without my children properly restrained.  It’s just not worth the risk.

California is adopting a new, stricter carseat law that would require children to not only be six years old and sixty pounds to be free of the carseat, but 8 years old and 57 inches tall.  This is provided that Governor Schwartzenegger signs the bill on his desk.

I think this law is a fantastic idea, as statistics show that children ages 6 and 7 are more likely to die from a car accident than anything else.  With a proper carseat, these children would be 59% less likely to be injured.

Even better than your average booster is the new Britax Regent which is a booster style carseat with a 5pt harness that will accommodate a child up to 80lbs and 53inches.  That adds a lot of extra protection to set a parents’ mind at ease.  I think I, for one, will be purchasing one of these carseats when the time comes regardless of what my state’s laws are.

Imagine you have to go grocery shopping and you have six young children at home. You have to take them with you and the resulting trip is about what you would imagine it would be. You survive the trip, however, and pay the enormous shopping bill only to get home and realize the kids had snuck a purchase into your card that you were unaware of. What would you do? Most parents would confiscate the offending purchase, throw it away, give it away, or sell it at a garage sale. Well, in this day and age, eBay is basically just a giant garage sale so that is what what one desperate mom did.

It sounds like your normal “kids will be kids” sort of story, but the best part is her description of the shopping trip.  This woman can write and her account of exactly why she missed these cards going into her cart is what makes this auction so fun and so worthy of the scads of attention it has received over the last week.

She made $142.51 on the auction, but admits that it was her friend under an anonymous username that placed the winning bid.  Her friend wanted to help her out, apparently and invest in someone who she thought would be a successful writer one day.   According to the woman who placed the auction in the first place, she will not cash the check her friend sent her because she doesn’t want to take her friend’s money.  Very kind, I’m sure, but with six kids I’d think that money would come in VERY handy!

This gal has a blog too, of course.  If you’d like to check it out, you can find it at mom2my6pack.blogspot.com.  There she talks more about her family and recently, more about the auction that has launched her into super-blog-stardom.  She really is worth a read so go check her out!

And once again, here are my weekly collection of parenting blog posts that I think were special, funny or otherwise worthy of attention.  Do me a favor, visit the blog and tell me if you don’t completely agree.

• “The post I’ve wanted to write forever, but I felt like I might be judged too harshly” by hola, isabel.   This post was at the same time funny, honest and insightful.  And seriously made me wonder if I shouldn’t start keeping rabbits.
• “What the J? - Circle of Life” by Hollow Squirrel.   She’s had some rough times lately which is why it’s SO FREAKING COOL to see her have some great news in her life.
• “the things we don’t speak about” by house of h.  This post was about a little bit of everything and I found myself totally identifying with just about everything.  Amen, sister.
• “Consignment” by sweet | salty.  Another beautifully bittersweet post from Kate.  I identify so strongly with each of her posts and she was a beautiful way of looking back and moving forward at the same time.
• “Defining ‘Green’ in the Zoot household” by misszoot.  Zoot talks about the little ways her family is trying to make less of an impact on the environment and makes some really good points about the “politics” of it all.
• “You love me” by Running Stitch.  Brit talks about whether or not her toddler says he loves her and realizes that hearing that isn’t as important as feeling it.
• “You Try To Tell Yourself The Things You Try To Tell Yourself To Make Yourself Forget” by Dad Gone Mad.  I think he captures perfectly just how it feels to have the rug of safety yanked out from underneath you.
• “Potty Talk” from Purple is a Fruit.  A pretty funny post talking about bodily functions during labor and asking how to begin potty training a toddler.

Enjoy these posts, I know I did.

I don’t think it matters if you are alone in a strange city where you have no acquaintences or if you are surrounded by friends and family. There is something about motherhood that inherently lonely. This is especially true if you are a stay at home mother and spend your days at home surrounded by children (some of who might not even be able to form sentences yet). There was a great article at ParentDish recently by Kristin Darguzas that talked about this very subject. She highlighted another great post from Girls Gone Child that included some great insights on the loneliness of motherhood. For instance, there was this great nugget:

And no matter how much I love my life and the people who are in it, I usually feel completely alone. And sometimes it’s too much to bear without telling somebody or something other than paper.

It’s sad we have to feel this way.  It’s sad that motherhood has to be such an isolating experience.  I will admit that I feel extremely alone most days.  It’s as if life is passing me by and I’m helpless to do much more than just watch.  I love my children, I love them desperately.  But sometimes I am left wondering if there is more to life than this.

My dear friend cagey recommended this site to me and I’m so glad she did! It’s called “She Doesn’t Get It” and the tagline says it all: “Two sisters. Two opinions. Both right.”  Together they tackle the issues, mostly relating to having children (or not) and give their own unique perspectives on it.  What results is a very interesting conversation that you can’t help but throw you own two cents into.  According to their blog, the sisters are:

Sister Big claims the helm at Surrender, Dorothy, where she writes as Dorothy. There, she writes about her beautiful redheaded daughter (Little Angel), parenting, financial bobbles, fixing up Chateau Travolta, and many other exciting topics (like destroying umbrellas when you’re upset). Good times.

Sister Little runs the show over at Tales from Clark Street, where she writes as Blondie. No, she’s clearly not blonde. Ignore this. Sister Little’s tales include life as a single in the Jungle City of Chicago, what happens when your cat has IBS, and the joys of books, mental breakdowns, and orchids. Again, good times.

Check out their discussion about the revised food pyramids and the hot button issue of co-sleeping.  Readers can submit questions for the sisters to discuss and debate giving the site a wonderful interactive feel.  You need to check this site out, you’ll lose half a day, I swear!

Have you ever been induced?  Or have you always gone into labor naturally?  Or do you skip that all together and go for the c-section?  I can say I’ve done all three!  I saw this post on Parent Dish last week and it struck a chord with me.  I’ve only ever been induced once and that was the most bone shatteringly awful labor I’ve ever endured.  My next pregnancy, I went into labor naturally and I was so surprised by how “mild” the contractions were that I didn’t even believe I was truly in labor for half a day.  So obviously, from my experience, induction means horribly painful and constant contractions and natural labor means something much more tolerable.  Anyhow, this post asked the question, “Are induced labors always more painful?”  I honestly think it has a lot to do with the individual person.  Some people might not react to the pitocin as violently as I did.  Once that stuff took hold in my IV, I had strong and constant contractions with virtually no resting in between.  Five hours later, I was trying to push out a baby that was in some serious fetal distress.  I ended up needing an emergency c-section under general anesthesia.  So do I have warm happy feelings for induction?  Probably not.  But I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who have had completely normal labor and deliveries under pitocin.  If you’re one of those people, post and let us know.

Regardless of whether you can actually get to a movie theater with your children to see movies or if you do most of your film viewing at home with DVDs, chances are at one time or another you’ve wondered if the movie you’ve selected is indeed appropriate for younger viewers.  Hopefully you aren’t left wondering this AFTER you’ve already purchased movie tickets or rented the DVD and are already seated and watching the movie in question.

The good news is there are a BUNCH of great websites out there that specialize in family-centered movie reviews and give you a specialized idea of what you can expect once the movie begins.

• The Movie Mom - sponsored by Yahoo! Movies,  gives each movie and dvd a ‘grade’ based on how appropriate it is for children.  Plus she’ll tell you exactly what gave each movie the rating it has.
• The Parents Council Television Reviews - Don’t be fooled by the name, this website also reviews DVDs and films and holds each program/movie to very stringent guidelines.  You can expect no fooling around from this site.
• Parent Previews - Like Movie Mom, they give each film a “grade” and then break the movie down and grade it on sexual content, alcohol and drug inclusion, violence, and language.
• Kids in Mind - Reviews each movie and gives it a three digit number.  Each number refers to a rating from 1-10 on sex/nudity, violence/gore and profanity.  Plus they go further and site each incident where one of those three areas appears in the film so you actually know EXACTLY what to expect.
• Plugged In Online - Goes beyond just movies to review television and music as well.
• Family Style - Also reviews each film based on the “big sins” as well as displaying other critics reviews of the film but includes no in-depth review.

So the next time you want to take your family to the drive-in or check out that big blockbuster at rental store, check these sites first and see if the movie you want is REALLY the movie you want.

Welcome back to my weekly You Need to Read feature here at Parenting Sites 411!  These are the blog posts that caught my attention for one reason or another this last week.  For that reason, I think you need to read these posts and I hope you’ll agree with me.

• “Why kids should always get cookies whenever they ask for them” by moosh in indy.   Yep, yet another hilariously embarrassing post from poor Casey.
• “Fishy conundrum” from Purple is a Fruit.  What do you do in this situation?  Has anyone been here before?
• “Autopilot” from Untangling Knots.  Unfortunately, this here is subject matter that I know all too well and I think she does a wonderfully sensitive job of covering it here.
• “That’s Hott” from amalah.  She details a variety of subjects, the state of construction in her home, her hotel getaway with her husband (where sleep wasn’t so much on the menu) (and not for the reason you’re thinking, you dirty mind!) and some AWESOME progress from her son.
• “The chia and the tyrant” from sweet | salty.  I love her comparisons of her active and energetic (and opinionated) toddler with her sleeping, docile and angelic infant.  How true it is!
• “ladies and germs” from house of h.  Yep, this one is all about ME!  Well, me and her website.  She recently made the move to a self-hosted blog and let me help her with the design.  Yay!
• “I’ll race ya” from Oops!  Did I say that out loud?.  How do you talk to a toddler about race and racism?  Do you even need to?  This is a very interesting discussion.
• “To ‘No Follow’ or not to ‘No Follow’” by miss zoot.  Full of web-geekery and discussion about Frosty Floats, this raises an interesting discussion about crediting your commenters.  Well, interesting if you’re ME at least.
• “Rounding the Bases” by Mom’s Daily Dose.  I love this post about wanting to get pregnant with a second child and being unable (or just having a really hard time) getting pregnant and being jealous of those other people who ARE getting pregnant… pretty much everything she says I’ve felt and thought.
• “Albany” by a little pregnant.  We end with this absolutely heartbreaking post from Julie.  She makes it so real, that my heart aches at the thought.

Seeing as how this week’s list is easily twice the size of last week’s list, this is more than enough to keep you busy while you’re trying not to work today or give you a good reading list for the lazy weekend afternoons.  As if we have those anymore now that we have children.  Ha!  That’s a good one…

Remember back in the “good old days” when free samples came all the time in the mail?  I remember I used to always grab whatever I could for myself and unless it was something like laundry detergent, my mom generally would let me have it.  As an adult, I love free samples even more.  Because not only is it free and I love anything that doesn’t cost me a nickle, but it’s a chance to give a product (often a new, nifty product) a try without having to invest any cash in the process.  Win-win situation for everyone involved, don’t you think?

We don’t get as many free samples in the mail anymore, for some reason.  But they’re still out there!  You can request a bunch of fabulous (and constantly rotating) free samples from Walmart.com.  Yes, Walmart!   I’ve already gone through and requested a sample for everything they’ve got because that’s the way I roll.  If you’re a free sample addict like myself, you might want to go check it out.  You can thank me later.

I’m sure I can’t be alone in this.  But every time I’ve been pregnant, one of the first things I do is start cruising the baby departments (on and offline) and start mentally planning my registry lists.  Even if I’m not planning on having a baby shower or before I’m anywhere near that magic third month marker.  I’m just a sucker for baby gear and being a “planner” by nature, I really get off on “thinking ahead”.

So if you’re anything like me, maybe you’d like to know where you can geek out on baby goodies from the comfort (and anonymity!) of your own home and even set up “what if” registry lists.  Oh yes!  You can do the whole thing ONLINE.  It’s just awesome is what it is.

• Babies R Us.  The alpha and the omega of baby stores.
• Target.  A staple of Americana and they have some darned cute things.
• Walmart.  Who can forget the retail giant?
• BabyCenter.com.  Currently revamping their registry, it looks like, so check back.
• Amazon.com.  They have their own baby store and registry now.  Did you know that?
• Babystyle.com.  For the super-stylish babies among us.

I could probably go on and on with this, but this is more than enough to get you into trouble, I think.  If you’re expecting and you have an afternoon that you don’t mind going into the toilet, check these sites out.

I found Waymarking.com through Parent Hacks, and I immediately perked up at the thought of finding playgrounds near any travel routes our family might take this summer. (Of course, with gas prices so high, we may be limiting our car travel a bit more.)

According to the Waymarking FAQs:

Waymarking is a way to mark unique locations on the planet and give them a voice. While GPS technology allows us to pinpoint any location on the planet, mark the location, and share it with others, Waymarking is the toolset for categorizing and adding unique information for that location…. A waymark is a physical location on the planet marked by coordinates (latitude/longitude) and contains unique information defined within its waymark category. An outdoor maze waymark category, for example, could contain information like price of admission and days of operation, while a blogger waymark category may contain an option for the type of blog.

The Parent Hack suggests using Waymarking to find public playgrounds along the travel route by following these steps that Mike offered up:

To find playgrounds near an area:

1. Go to Public Playgrounds.
2. Enter a zip code under “Address Search” (upper right) to find some nearby playgrounds
3. When you click on an item, it gives you the GPS coordinates so you can map it in Google Maps, or you can drive directly to it if you have a GPS device!

Voila!  Good idea, no?

I saw this one on Parent Hacks the other day and (not for the first time) found myself saying out loud, “Of course!  Why didn’t I think of that??”  And as parents, we’ve all been down this particular sticky road before.  The baby has a particularly nasty and explosive “diaper incident” and you have to pull that be-fouled onesie off the baby, spreading the mess since everyone on the planet pretty much takes those off by pulling them back over the head.  Right?  Well this handy tipster suggested, oh I don’t know, taking the onesie off by pulling it down instead.  GENIUS.  It makes sense, given that the onesie has the extra-wide neck on purpose so that it could be pulled easily over large noggins and so it could easily accommodate going back down over the hips.  Voila.  Problem solved, no?