MommmiesToMommies Articles

What you need to know about eating out.

2008-07-22T00:15:49Z

There are a number of health concerns that run on mine and my husband's side. We do tend to eat out a little too much and yes we should just eat at home to not only save money but to also eat healthier. A few weekends ago we went up to Flagstaff and there are actually so many things that I can't eat as well as my husband so it makes it difficult to eat out. While at Chili's in Flag., he came across a "Guiltless Black Bean Burger" and from what the menu said, 650 calories and 12 grams of fat made it a little easier for him to eat it. You see, his family has a lot of heart problems and so the doctor said that he doesn't have a bad heart problem yet but just as a precaution he needs to decrease his fat intake because the trans fat, saturated and polyunsaturated and cholesterol does clog up your arteries. Remember, trans fat is a fat that is man made and is the worst fat that you can eat. Saturated fat is the kind that raises your blood pressure and is also a "bad fat". Monounsaturated fat is the kind of fat that can lower your blood pressure or a "good fat". Polyunsaturated fat that are a mix of both "good and bad" fats.

With having an Ileostomy, my diet has also changed because I'm on a low fat/low fiber diet since I no longer have a colon to help with digestion so I'm not allowed to eat quite a few things like whole nuts, seeds, lettuce of any kind, beans, etc. I still eat tomatoes even though they have seeds but that one of the few things I still do eat.

Getting back to the dining out thing. Ok so here's the gist of it. Nine times out of ten at a restaurant if the calories/fat are too good to be true, like it life, it probably is. I have done some research and have come to the conclusion that really to be healthy, you need to eat at home. Even though we don't keep track of the calories/fat, it's probably better than eating out.

Here a few examples from a Restaurant Comparison Chart to prove my point on the chart there are five restaurants with 25 different items that were tested. How many of you eat at Chili's? I'm going to pick on them a little longer, I already told you how bad the "Guiltless Black Bean Burger" is, now here's how bad the "Guiltless Chicken" is: Published calories/fat are 580/9. The actual calories/fat are 627/32.5. Imagine all of you on Weight Watchers, makes you wonder what they do to your food huh?

I have come across a lot of websites trying to figure things out and like I said, "It's best to eat at home." It's really a sad day when the restaurants have to lie to get business. Some people who eat out rely on certain nutrition facts because it can hurt them and if the restaurants aren't careful with their lies then they may have a very bad class action lawsuit on their hands.

Please look at these websites and make you next dining out hopefully a little healthier.

Eat Right.org-Nutrition Fact Sheet about the types of food you should/shouldn't eat. This has nothing to do with restaurants but rather a point of reference to eating at home.
About.com-Should restaurants cut back? Just something for you to read and decide for yourself.
Time-The restaurants are waiting until now to with the new mandate of publishing calorie information.
FitSugar-It's a comparison of veggie burgers, which I will be able to eat again in a few weeks.
Restaurant Comparison Chart-I wanted to add this again just so you'll look at it again.
SpinalHealth.net-This helps give you an idea and more information about "Good vs Bad Fats".
Healthy Dining Finder-If they are going on the calories by what the restaurants have given, take them with a grain of salt but it's just to give you an idea for what to order.
South Dakota DOE-It also helps give you information about how to order food and just to take certain things into account, no condiments, no extra cheese, etc. If you want the pretty pictures you can Google search South Dakota life in the fast lane and it should be the 3rd one down.

Please take this information seriously. If you are dieting and/or have health problems and need to limit intake of certain things you really have to think if eating out is really worth it AND is the nutritional information actually correct or fudged? Ask questions and feel the server out and if it's not what you want to hear or sounds rehearsed, then pay for your drinks and walk out. Soon they will get the picture that they cannot lie and put our health at risk just for a profit.

Potty Training

2008-07-10T20:53:17Z

I have gotten a few emails from people asking me how to potty train. I really don't have a lot of advice because luckily it happened at all and you need to be persistent and patient. With having a boy and a girl, don't believe it when you're told that the girl is easier. Big fat lie!!!! Both of my kids were a pain in the butt to potty train but I will tell you how I got them both trained and it took freaking about nine months to do each of them.

"N" was difficult because while we were potty training him, we were not living at home but in California and I was beyond stressed. If you are in a stressful time in your life, don't waste you time because it will just frustrate everyone involved. But to get him started I bought him just a regular old soft seat potty/stepstool. I don't like the extra gadgets on it because to me it's distracting and taking away from the point. Let him play with the potty when he wants but always take him with you when you have to go so he can start to understand what's going on.

To me I also taught him the name of his body parts and didn't make up names. I told him matter of factly that you pee out of your penis and pointed to it and you poop out of your butt. I figured that if you used the real names that they feel like a big kid and would be more willing to go. "N" was difficult for me because I was in a bad place when I was training him. We just moved to Palm Desert, California, I just had our daughter "O" and I had no family or friends near me. Like I said, if you're stressed just wait a little while longer before trying.

Make sure to reward him after he goes so that way he will want to do it again. Another thing that I found that helped was taking him to daycare. If they see other kids going to the bathroom, they want to imitate and do what they do. If in doubt, try to start them at home and if they go to daycare, tell them what you're doing and that way he'll have consistency and "peer pressure". Sometimes it works.

With my daughter, things weren't all peaches and creme either. We started her on the stepstool/potty, just like "N". I took her with me whenever I had to go. I even bought her an Elmo potty training book to help. She was not going to have any part of it. It took quite sometime but finally one day it clicked. That's one thing with potty training, one day they just wake up and they are potty trained.

I was potty training her at home and daycare, the daycare didn't do much for her. We had her in pull-ups for a long time and after she came back from Michigan I just put her in underwear and that was that. She went poop and pee in the normal toilet. She even wears underwear to bed. I started her on that a few weeks ago and she has not yet had an accident at night. Make sure that if you're doing this, they go to the bathroom right before they go to bed. Sometimes just putting them in underwear is the only way to go just because then when they pee, they realize that there is nothing there to protect them anymore. There are consequences if you don't pee in the toilet.

Good luck and try not to stress too much!

March is National Colon Cancer Awareness Month

2008-03-11T20:32:01Z

I wanted to let you all know that this month is National Colon Cancer Awareness Month. My mom died of it, my brother has it I don't but I still went in for the colonoscopy because of the risk. I have done some research and found that if you have a history of colon cancer or think you may have it, you go in for your colonoscopy and if you have it and it's found early that you have a greater chance of surviving. Basically the earlier you find it the better chance you can treat it and live a long and healthy life.

Since I have actually had a colonoscopy I can tell you from the experience that it's not as scary as you think. The reason why most people don't go is because they're afraid and uncomfortable about the process. I was very nervous about getting mine done and especially after I was told that I have to take four Dulcolax tablets (which my doctor's office provided for me) by 9am and then I had to also drink 64oz of Gatorade mixed with MiraLAX and had to drink 8oz. every 15 minutes until it's gone. FYI when mixing, use a cleaned out gallon milk jug or else it's a mess and the mixture won't all fit in the bottle.

So after being on an all day liquid diet, water, jello (no purple or red color), chicken broth that it wasn't as bad as I thought. After I take the Miralax I really spent maybe a total of an hour in the bathroom. I still went throughout the night a little and I made sure that I used Vaseline do that way I would be as uncomfortable with going so often. I stayed up until midnight because that's when I had to quit drinking water for the procedure.

My procedure was scheduled for I think 9:30am and I was really starting to have an anxiety attack because I didn't know what to expect, how smooth it was going to go and I was the youngest person there.

The nurse I had was nice because she saw how nervous I was. I was given the IV and waited I think maybe a half hour to go back and I remember meeting the doctor and his nurse and a few minutes after she gave me the meds through the IV, I was out. With the medicine you are given, in there is also something that will give you amnesia. That's why you are not allowed to go anywhere alone, cook, basically just don't do anything because you may/may not forget what you were doing.

When I came to, I talked to "The Hubby" and just kept giving everyone a laugh because I kept asking for my glasses but that story isn't important but you can read it.

I can tell you from experience that the procedure is not that scary. Yeah you are getting something shoved where it's not supposed to be but that's why they knock you out. You won't remember it anyway.

If you have a family history of colon cancer you need to be checked I think I was told 10 years before the age your family was diagnosed. I was told to go in before I turned 28, I went in while I was still 28. If you have something serious like this, you need to take it seriously and get it checked out. If you have a good doctor like I do, take his advice and question or tell if you have any concerns or think you should go in earlier.

Better to hear that you're fine, than find out after waiting so many years because you're scared and then you're told, you have full blown cancer and then you're world is just turned upside down.

Remember that prevention in the best medicine. Doctors say go in when you're 50 years old, I think you should go in way before that whether or not you have a history just because you never know. You go in and if you don't have anything then you will probably wait 5 years for your next round but hey, you get peace of mind. After getting my colonoscopy I have never felt such freedom and now I can really enjoy life and not to be dumb but I'm really looking forward to the next one because I slept great and I was allowed to be lazy and didn't feel bad in the least.

I'm not trying to joke because this is very serious, this is your life that we are talking about. You need to protect it so you can be the best parent, friend, spouse for as long as you are taking care of yourself. Start now! Change your eating habits! Increase your fiber intake, it's not that hard just add Activa to your cereal or add Fibersure to your food. When buying groceries look for stuff that has the highest fiber. Just remember that when taking Fibersure that children under the age or 12 SHOULD NOT TAKE IT. You can change their eating habits now, you'll be golden.

Go out and exercise. I don't mean just go to the gym, ride your bike, clean your house, go gardening. Anything that gets your heart pumping is good. It's not hard to change your habits, you just have to want to change. This cancer is not preventable but is treatable.

Here are some good sites that you can look at:

You can just Google Search colon cancer or whatever you feel you need to do to help yourself understand that you need to take control and not be afraid. I swear that going in for the colonoscopy after it's all done you'll say, "Why was I really afraid? It wasn't that bad." If you have a good, positive support system and you find out bad news, at least you now know and you can begin to to deal with it and make the right decision with the rest of your life.

Remember that the internet does not replace doctors and if you have any questions concerning your health, you need to talk to them.

If you have a story that you would like to share about colon cancer or a colonoscopy whether it's good or bad, please email it to me and that way people can get different accounts from different people. When you do email me and I post your story, unless you tell me to use your name, you will be posted as Anonymous. Please share your stories because people need to hear about you because someone else could be to afraid to talk and when you send it and it's posted, you will be doing a good thing.

An Interview With Catherine Schwartz

2007-12-18T04:45:39Z

I had the pleasure of being able to interview eBay Gadget and Toy Director and HiTechMommy's Cat Schwartz and get her ideas for gift giving for little ones. There is some good information and just have fun with it.

What do you think are good toys for children ages 6 months to 5 years old this year?

Below, please find eBay Toy and Gadget Director Catherine Schwartz’s top-ten toy picks for children six months to five years of age:

Jakks Pacific Eye Clops Bionic Eye – $49.99

Magnetix ICoaster – $84.99

Khet: The Laser Game – $44.95

The Game Of LIFE Twists and Turns Edition – $34.99

WowWee Dragon Fly – $49.99

SBI Maverick & Master Pogo Sticks – starting at $29.95

Find It Deluxe Edition – $32.50

Baby Einstein Rocket DVD – $17.99

Wii Play - $49.99

GarageBand Jam Pack - $99.00

Out of all the things you’ve purchased since having your son, what can’t you and/or he live without?

I've been thinking a lot about this one and when I came to my conclusion I cracked myself up! Out of all the gadgets and toys I have, the one thing Baby Jack and I both love is this silly bug light I bought on an impulse buy from Ikea. The light cost me $20.00, but has paid for itself time and time again in the amount it has comforted my son. It is always giving off a nice, warm green glow that has been a constant in Jack's room since I sleep-trained him. You can unplug the bug and place it anywhere. Now that he's a little older he uses the bug when he builds forts or hides from me in the closet.

Your readers can purchase one for themselves by clicking here:

eBay-IKEA Light-(Edited for formatting)

What is the absolute worst thing/toy you have bought that you’ve later regretted buying?

Of course it's a very loud toy. I bought this mock keyboard type toy when Jack was a little baby because I though it'd be cute for him to "make music." Well, the thing is WAY too loud and has no volume controls on it. Not only does it make piano sounds, but duck, cat, dog, and goat sounds as well. He loves this toy and I hate it, but I know it makes him happy so I endure "Marry Had A Little Lamb" in a barking dog tone day after day.

With Christmas fast approaching, what advice would you give to a single parent who wants their child to have a great Christmas but doesn’t have much extra money?

Look on eBay for all the hottest toys this season. Even better than saving money is the fact that it saves time. If you purchase items using Buy It Now on the site, you can be done you’re shopping easily and quickly and spend more time with the kids!

You can also use eBay to find toys that were popular before the holiday frenzy began. Looking for older models of hot toys also means you’ll be able to score some great deals.

With all of the recalls in the news, safety is a big concern. How do I know if what I buy for my kids is really safe for them to play with?

Always look at the consumer reports site for the latest recall info and also check out http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/category/toy.html, the CPSC site.

We travel a lot with our kids and my son brings his Leapster and my daughter doesn’t like to watch TV. What do you suggest to families with younger kids traveling this holiday season to help entertain them?

Disney makes some great gadgets for travel. They have the MixMax Multimedia player that lets kids watch videos on pre-loaded SD cards! I love this concept because you don't need to download a thing, just pop in the card. Disney also makes a really cool dual screen DVD player that easily connects onto any seat's headrest. Meaning that while you’re on the road, your kids will no longer have to share a screen.

We have a Nintendo Wii and our son turns 5 in a few months. We don’t own any age appropriate games for him to play but he does play educational computer and Leapster games. What do you suggest for him to play that’s just a fun, non-thinking game?

Check out the Petz games! So much fun. You take care of virtual pets and watch them thrive in the world you've created for them. They have dogs, cats, horses, and a whole new “Wild Animal” series coming out.

Our son watches TV occasionally and every time a commercial comes on he always says, “I want that”. We won’t give him everything he wants. What do you do as part of your holiday celebrations to help minimize the materialistic aspect of the Christmas season with your son?

I simply don't get him everything he wants. But, it’s a little easier for me since Baby Jack is only 18 months old and can't talk!

Do you have anything else you’d like to add or share with the readers on my site?

Moms, you are wonderful and you're doing a great job. Keep it up!

Necessities For Baby

2007-03-10T13:39:54Z

You always hear what you should buy or have when the baby comes home. Well I'll tell you from experience.

First off, have the crib together and waiting so that way it's already done. Buy the car seat, whether it's a convertible or a carrier, and make sure it's in properly before the birth.

As for clothes. While you guys are in the hospital, the clothes they give you to wear are fine for there. When getting clothes, you really only need about 10 onsies (they are easy and you can put them with either shorts or pants), some bottoms. Probably 4-5 pairs of pajamas. They sleep a lot for the first few weeks and they just may live in pajamas, it's not the end of the world because they won't/shouldn't be leaving the house anyway.

When you do buy clothes or have a shower, have the guests buy clothes that are bigger than you need. Babies grow fast and you think they will wear the clothes for a long time, wrong. At the newborn stage you are lucky if you can get a month out of the clothes (at least I didn't get that much). With the baby shower too, also put on your registry the different kinds of diapers (all in the newborn size, but in small packages) so you can see what fits your baby best.

Try to have some formula on hand just in case you have a little problem with breast feeding if you choose to do so. As for bottles, I would buy probably 9 total and you will need to buy Stage 1 nipples because most times they come with Stage 2. Have a bottle brush to clean them with and it's up to you if you want a bottle drying rack.

If you plan on breast feeding, I would consider either renting a pump or buying your own. Either way, you should buy a couple extra breast shields so that way since you'll be so tired you can just rinse them and still have an set to use. Also spend the money on good nursing bras, and don't forget the nursing pads. I prefer the disposable kind.

Wash the newborn clothes beforehand so you're not worrying about it after you're home. Use either All Free (which is cheaper than Dreft), Dreft, or any non-fragrant soap.

You don't need a bath tub for them right away since you just give them sponge baths until their umbilical cord falls off (around two weeks). Have a few sets of towels and washcloths. And you should buy burp cloths. Whether you breastfeed or formula feed, they will spit up.

So to recap:

4-5 pairs of pajamas.
Maybe 10 onsies.
Bottoms to go with the onsies.
2-3 sets of towels.
4-5 wash cloths.
10 pairs of socks.
3 blankets to swaddle the baby.
3 crib sheets.
Diapers.
Around 9 bottles w/ Stage 1 nipples.
Car seat w/ or w/out stroller your choice.
Formula (or wait till you give birth and get some free).
Bottle brush.
Good nursing bras.
Nursing pads.
Lots of burp cloths.
Crib put together.
Changing table (your choice).
Baby wipes.
A good nursing chair!!!
Night light.
Breast pump if nursing.

I think that's about it. Things you shouldn't waste your money:

Wipe warmer.
Bottle warmer.

That could be it but I don't remember right now. You should have some sensory toys for them and I also think you should either get an infant rocker seat or a bouncy seat. See how your baby is before buying a swing, both my kids hated the swing.

Enjoy having the new baby home and if I forgot some important things, email me so I can update this. Thanks!!

Depression

2007-02-26T21:57:12Z

I am one the the 9.5% (18.8 million American adults) that suffer from depression. I know that my depression is not from a chemical imbalance but just from life. Everyone sometime in their life will be affected by depression, after the birth of a child, death of someone you know, etc.

My depression started in mid 1997. I was 17 (1996) when my mom, who was also my best friend, passed away. I don't think I really ever dealt with it and so it just kept growing and consuming me. When I was 18 I was put on Prozac, which I found that if you're not chemically imbalanced it makes you even worse, and I just went even worse into a depression. I didn't leave my house, kept my curtains closed, and I wouldn't eat. After I got off the medication I felt better (for a little while).

I have been to a few therapists and been on two different antidepressant medications (Prozac and Paxil) and I haven't felt much of a change. Like I said I have battled it for so long I have been able to manage until lately. I am not able to focus, I can't deal with much and I have been very short with my temper. I joined a gym to try and help but I don't like the gym I'm going to.

I know that it will go away soon but until then It's not much fun. When I get this way, I noticed that it gets worse every time. I will not ever do any antidepressant medications again because of the side effects I had trying to get off of Paxil. Antidepressants work for some people but just was not the case for me.

There are many causes for depression:

Trauma-death of someone you know, or injuries to yourself.
Childhood abuse-physical, emotional, or sexual.
Genetics.
Instabilities at home.
Birth of a child.

But I have been doing some research and I have also found a very scary number here. Pre-schoolers are the fastest growing market for antidepressants. Now that's a bit crazy, that seems to me like parents who say their kid suffers from ADD when really they just need more attention.

If you are depressed, I think you should find a therapist BEFORE you go on medication. Sometimes just talking to someone you don't know is they key. I have yet to find a therapist that I mesh well with. You should also talk to you primary care physician for a referral. But please try the therapist before anything else. I AM NOT A DOCTOR AND CANNOT GIVE MEDICAL ADVICE!

Here are some web sites that you may find helpful:

There are many more sites to choose from. If you or someone you know suffers from depression, talk to them and if needed do an intervention.

Picky Eaters

2007-02-16T13:42:23Z

I have been reading a lot of other blogs and I have found that people complain about their kids being "picky eaters" and I know a number of parents with "picky eaters". I am really tired of parents saying that, I will give you some pointers on how to not have a picky eater.

Kids follow by example. If you (the parent) only eats Ho-Ho's then that's all they are going to know or want to eat. If you eat with your kids and you all eat the same thing then it will help persuade them to eat. If you want your kids to eat healthy, you have to eat healthy yourself.

Pediatricians sometimes get on my nerves. I read this article from About.com (it can take forever for the page to load but be patient). It upsets me because they are so scared of being sued that they can't just come out and tell you that you need to just be the adult to the kids and make them eat. It's a good article too because it tells you good serving sizes for little ones. But other than that it upsets me because it just reinforces the whole "picky eating" thing.

When I was little I had to try something once and if I didn't like it I didn't have to eat it again. I use it today with my kids. My kids love to try new foods, "N" LOVES salmon. If I could feed it to him everyday he would need a shovel to get it in as quick as he could. There's one thing that I don't like to feed "O" yet and that's lettuce. I gave her some a few weeks ago but she just doesn't have enough teeth to chew it yet.

I have noticed though, when I sit down and eat what the kids are eating, they will eat it whether they like it or not. I have pretty much cut out the pizza, chicken fingers and fish sticks. Those are for when we have a sitter because it's easy for them to cook.

To have better eaters you just need to have patience and get over the fact that your will scream and say they don't like you. They will kick and scream about it but eventually they won't. Many people I know have told their kids it's time to eat and they won't eat it. The parents then tell them fine you have to stay at the table until everyone else is done and you can go hungry. They then give it to them for breakfast, lunch, dinner until they eat it.

Stop feeding kids kid food all the time. I really hate to eat Macaroni and Cheese because of my kids. I will only eat that if there is absolutely nothing else. When you take your kids out to eat fried foods or greasy pizza places, that's not giving them good eating habits and just reinforces eating junk foods.

Try this instead. Try to have the whole family sit down to one meal a day. Make the kids sit down until everyone else is done even if they don't eat, they have to just sit there. If they don't eat, depending on what it was, put it back in the fridge and keep it until the next meal (remember that you should only reheat no more then once because of bacteria, hopefully you have some left overs to reheat for them too). Eventually the kids will break down and if they have to go a day or two with no food, it won't kill them. They will appreciate the food even more.

Whatever you do, DO NOT GIVE IN. That will teach them that it's ok to be "picky" and that's not what we want, we want kids who will eat healthy, well rounded meals. Just remember, you are the adult and they are not.

Decreasing Risk For The Cold And Flu

2007-02-14T22:14:25Z

I know that everyone says the same thing about how to stop getting the flu or cold. I found a few extra things that may help too.

Wash your hands and your kids hands a lot. As soon as you walk in the door, wash them. Before you eat, wash them. When you go to a restaurant wash them but the right way to do it is to take a paper towel before you wash your hands to turn the water on and also use it to put soap on (those two places are two of the five worst places for germs to grow) and scrub for about 10 seconds, 26 seconds for kids. After you dry your hands, use that same paper towel to open the door. Unfortunately some people aren't as health conscious as you are and your hands can become re-infected just by touching the door handle, you could even become more sick after touching it. Or you can just use the wet ones if the bathroom is too scary.

I have found that if I use a nasal non medicated spray a few times a day in our noses that we get less sick. If we do get sick it doesn't last as long. If you are at a park (and I hate this when this happens) a mom says, "Yeah, sorry about the dripping snot but little Joey has the cold." Thanks a lot for bringing your sick kid out to get me and my family sick. I have had this happen so much that as soon as she opens her mouth I get the kids ready to leave and I wipe their hands down.

If you start the kids on a cleaning regimen at a young age, they will most likely keep to it for the most part whether you're with them or not.

I'm not a clean freak or afraid of germs but if I can minimize them and not make my kids nearly as sick as they could be, then so be it. I just take a little extra precautions during the cold and flu season.

There was an article released today by the New England Journal of Medicine that it's now been proven that the nasal spray FluMist was found to better at preventing the flu better than the shot. FluMist HAS NOT BEEN FDA APPROVED YET!!! But are seeking approval in time for the flu season this year. In the study, it was proven that the children who used FluMist were less likely to suffer from ear infections. You still have to take the kids into the doctor to have them administer it like the shot BUT there won't be anymore screaming since there maybe one less needle in their future.

It is being treated like the flu shot, children under 6 months are not allowed to have anything like that. Medimmune, the manufacturer of FluMist, is seeking FDA approval for ages 6 months and older and without a history of asthma or wheezing.

Here are some other helpful sites about FluMist:

Center For Disease Control (CDC)

Food And Drug Administration (FDA)

The New York Times

MedImmune

Life Without TV

2007-02-13T10:30:44Z

It has been about a month and a half since we have gotten rid of the TV and cable. Here are the pros and cons I have found.

Pros:

We eat less.
We don't go out as much.
Spend less money.
House is cleaner and organized.
Save a lot from not having cable.
More quality time with each other.
We eat healthier.
When "N" is offered to watch a movie, he can't sit through it.
It's heathier for the kids, less likely to be obese, etc.

Cons:

Kids seem to fight a little more.
I would still like to watch some shows.
The kids need to be around me all the time, it's nice but after a while I just need a break.

There are more pros than cons. You don't have to go to the same extreme we did. It can be as simple as just telling everyone that they are only allowed to watch it on the weekends. You have to lead by example too. It's always a good idea to watch the shows with your kids so you know what they are watching.

The TV should be used as a treat and not abused. It's also a good idea to sit down with the family and set up a viewing schedule. It's different for everyone but you should try a different TV schedule for a month before deciding what the best plan of action is for your family.

Here are some helpful web sites:

U of M

KidsHealth

American Academy of Pediatrics

To Homeschool Or To Not Homeschool

2007-02-04T13:38:24Z

I have been considering homeschooling my kids for the past two years. I have yet to act on it, but was thinking about it. There are a lot of good and bad points to me on it.

The good points are:

You can teach your kids at their pace.

Student/teacher ratio is just you and your kids.
Homeschooled kids score well above public, private, and parochial schools on standardized tests in states that require homeschooled children to take them.
You don't have to have them start learning at a specific time, all day can be class.
Great way to bond with your kids.
No worrying about violence.
Quite a few support groups, depending on where you live.
Don't have to worry about absences since they can learn whether on vacation or if they are sick.

The bad points (to me):

Trying to come up with the curriculum and filing however often it's needed.
Having the kids see you as a Teacher and not MOM.
It can become emotionally and financially draining on the family.
Anyone can be a homeschool teacher. I don't mean this in a bad way, I feel that to be a homeschool teacher you should have some sort of educational background.
It can cause socialization issues if kids are not exposed to other children (homeschool support groups, play dates with neighbor kids).

I have weighed my options and have done my research and for us, I would love to be able to homeschool but I lack the patience to teach my kids all the time. I'm not saying that I'm using the school as a babysitter by any stretch of the imagination. I know my kids need to have that constant interaction of learning with other people. I feel that it will really help them if they decide to go off to college. I will probably put my kids in a private school and see how they do. If they aren't enjoying what they are doing and are not being challenged enough, then I will revisit homeschooling at that time.

One of the main reasons why I was going to homeschool my kids was because of the school shootings I kept hearing about. But I did look back and I went to six different schools in two states from elementary-high school, and I never had anything like that happen in any school I went to. My high school would have threats against it, but what high school didn't and unfortunately with how it is today you have to take every threat seriously. It's a chance you take everyday when you decide to leave your house.

If you decide to let your kids go to public, private, or parochial school, you should talk to their teachers to see how your child is doing, seeing if there's anything you need to work on with them. It's up to you to help your children learn and you should be as involved as you can either way you decide to educate your child. The more involved you are with your child's education, the more your child will want to learn.

Here are some helpful sites that will help with your decision:

The National Home Education Network (NHEN)

The National Home Education Legal Defense (NHELD)

The Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA)

A to Z Home's Cool

Remember to also check with your state to see how they view homeschooling. It is legal in all 50 states but each state has different requirements for homeschooling.