Live.Learn.Parent

Ban the ice cream truck – my son is having a meltdown

2012-05-06T18:59:58Z

That iconic sound in the distance – the tune of the ice cream truck. How exciting that sound was as a kid. It meant we just may get one of those delicious ice cream treats. You know the ones that for some reason taste so much better when they come from a truck than from the house freezer.

Sometimes we were treated (and oh so happy we were) and sometimes a little disappointed (especially when it seemed the whole block was licking an ice cream bar except us).

But guess what – we got over it.

A community in New York is asking to ban the ice cream truck. Why? Because their kids tantrums are too much to handle.

I guess this means we should hide the ice cream in all stores and cover up store fronts that sell ice cream. Should probably shut down any toy stores and I may as well ask that they ban dogs on streets since my daughter wants one so bad. Really?

Read more about this community’s problem with the ice cream truck here.

Did you read this?

Keep an eye on your cinnamon

2012-05-04T22:01:09Z

Collapsed lung. Inability to breath. Infection. Ventilator. Death.

Cinnamon. Yes, all from eating cinnamon.

Stock Free Images & Dreamstime Stock Photos" class="broken_link">

The “Cinnamon Challenge“. If you have not yet heard, this is a popular game where the challenge is to swallow a spoon full of cinnamon without water in 60 seconds.

Sure, cinnamon may sound safe. But- not without water or something else to help it go down.

Doctors say the spice simply cannot be digested without liquid. The dust particles of the cinnamon are not friendly to the lungs.

Where do they come up with these things?

The game is not new. However now with social networking, it has gone viral. All over YouTube – thousands of videos of people attempting the challenge, gagging, and choking.

I mentioned the challenge to my son and his friends one day. They laughed. Of course they have seen the videos. All three teens thought the videos were hilarious.

How do we stress to our kids that something as simple as cinnamon can kill you?

Talk. Explain to them that what is thought of as ‘good fun’ can be a serious medical issue. Give examples. Show them proof.

If you find your kids rummaging through the spice cabinet or are suddenly missing that bottle of spice, be aware.

If your kid challenges himself either out of humor or stupidity regardless?

Experts say after the vomit (which is usually inevitable) rinse the mouth, hydrate, and watch for trouble breathing.

If there are signs of respiratory distress, get to the emergency room right away.

So, along with any prescription drugs, alcohol, Sudafed, and Robitussin – keep an eye on that cinnamon.

Did you read this?

At what age are kids too old to trick-or-treat?

2012-05-04T22:01:39Z

Halloween…you know how it goes…you get the cute little trick-or-treaters ringing your doorbell all decked out as witches or pumpkins, parents standing not far behind reminding them to say ‘thank you’.

A couple of hours go by. Some down time. Then the bell starts again. This time they look a little different. Much bigger kids, with maybe some black makeup on their faces and a plastic bag. Most don’t even say ‘trick or treat’ – they just stand there. Still kids, but are they too old to be trick-or-treating?

My older two kids are looking the part these days. One towering over me, the second not far behind. In the past couple of years they have set up haunted garages and had small parties on Halloween – but still, the longing for trick-or-treating is there.

Some towns actually have laws about how old a person can be to trick-or-treat on Halloween. I can’t imagine however anyone asking for ID when someone looks too old at their door. I always thought turning off your light meant, We are closed for business. But in some places it means, Egg me.

The tradition of trick-or-treating is so nostalgic. I guess it just would not even truly feel like Halloween without it. But, doesn’t it seem like something that could open up the doors for trouble? How about the creepers who come out? Would we even know if they were for real or in costume? How about the law that sex offenders are suppose to post a sign on their door to stay away. Really? How many do you really think are going to do this? And, who is to say they are not out there with the rest of the crowd?

I realize we can’t worry about everything – but doesn’t it make you think for a moment?

I hope Halloween is here to stay, but in this day and age it wouldn’t surprise me if they start ticketing trick-or-treaters soon.

How old do you think is too old for kids to be ringing doorbells on Halloween?

Did you read this?

HPV vaccine – confused by choice?

2012-05-04T22:02:05Z

Sometimes I think having a choice makes things that much more difficult.

I have written before about my hesitation and confusion about the HPV vaccine. Here we are a year later. I have no more knowledge – but the rumors continue to spread.

Some feel the vaccine should be mandatory. Some think that thought is flat out wrong.

I don’t know what I think.

I do know that since day one – the day my children were born – I didn’t think much of it. I thought, ‘yes of course give them those immunizations. The sooner the better. I want them to stay healthy.’

Now I am faced with a choice? A choice that could possibly keep my children from a devastating disease or perhaps give them another disease?

How do we make such decisions?

I am a big believer in choice – but sometimes I think we are not knowledgeable enough to make some types of decisions. And, the bulk of information we can get our hands on could possibly be rumor. How do we know? Who do we trust?

I do understand the reasoning behind the vaccine being optional, however do you think if the vaccine were just mandatory like all the other shots, we wouldn’t be thinking so much about it?

Did you read this?

Alcohol, drugs? Not my kid.

2012-05-04T22:02:26Z

“My son is an honor student.”

“My daughter hangs with the right crowd.”

“My son is on the football team.”

“My daughter is in the Advanced Biology class.”

“He would never do drugs, he is too smart for that.”

“She is not the type to drink alcohol”.

A recent poll conducted by the University of Michigan found that only a small amount of parents believed their teens were using alcohol and drugs (however did question their kid’s friend use of both).

When asking the kids the same questions, researchers found the number of kids using both of these substances to be five times as high as parents suspected.

Basically the message is – Wake up! It very well could be your kid. Be aware.

I like to think I would catch the signs and I like to think that “my kids wouldn’t do that”, but really – I do all I can to teach them and hope for the best – but you never know. My kid is not exempt and neither is yours.

What do you think? Denial? Are you aware as you should be?

Did you read this?

Keeping up with it all – do you?

2012-05-04T22:02:47Z

The papers have started piling up. You know, those back to school papers of which class does what, the expectations for each class, forms to be filled out, newsletters, you name it. The pile has begun. Last year’s pile still remains (however tucked away in some drawer or closet). Come to think of it the previous year’s pile is still somewhere to be found.

Each year I have a plan to be organized. One year I bought a basket for the counter. My plan was to keep all papers there so I would know exactly where they were and keep on top of them regularly. The next was a divider with three sections (one for each kid). They both lasted for about two weeks.

This time of year we are blasted with tips and tricks on starting the school year off right, being organized, making the perfect lunches, and all that ‘perfect world’ stuff. It all sounds fine and dandy – until you actually do it – and try to keep up with it.

You have to wonder if those houses where everything seems so in place and organized – truly are. I will admit each September I make an attempt. Calendar all scheduled, kids at each practice on-time, never forgetting a permission slip, the balanced lunch, homework done early, dinner on the table every night, cell phone rules being followed to a T, and still work my full-time job.

Do these moms really have it all so together or are they just saying that?

There was a recent study put out about the so-called Supermom. It links Supermoms and depression. The theory is that these moms are trying so hard to do it all that in turn, they are disappointing themselves and becoming depressed.

So why is it that people feel the need to be Supermom? Okay, so I do make an attempt each year however, I am the first to admit my house is not always clean, we dig through cabinets some nights to find dinner, I have sent my kid’s to school with a bagel with butter for lunch and a bag of chips, and we have been late to more than a handful of practices each year.

I stopped trying to have the “June Cleaver” life a long time ago. For me it was probably about the time I went back to work full-time and had my third child. It just wasn’t possible to do it all and I am not going to pretend like it is.

For all those out there who do it all – more power to you!

What do you think? Are you able to keep up on it all?

Did you read this?

Do these commercials go too far?

2011-08-09T01:24:19Z

Each day around 1 o’clock as I sit here at my desk I hear a terrifying noise coming from the TV in a nearby room. It is the sound of a baby coughing – a very young baby. If you have ever seen the commercial for the pertussis vaccine, you know what I am talking about.

It is horrifying and gives me chills, but definitely gets my attention – exactly what it is intended to do.

What was even more horrifying to me was the reaction I saw all over the internet. Moms and the like out there complaining about the blunt nature of this commercial and how it should not be aired – too harsh.

Really? Pertussis is real. It is not a disease from the past. Babies are dying. It is here again and very real.

If this commercial is what it takes to get the word out – it is not too harsh – but very necessary.

It is not only the pertussis commercial. The anti-smoking commercial got a bad rap years ago when the mom of a child in the train station disappeared. Again, real. How about the newest one where the guy with emphysema is trying to breath. Makes me sick each time I hear it, but it is real.

These may not stop a long-time smoker from smoking but if it has any influence on my kids – so be it. And, I can tell you it has.

What do you think of these gut-wrenching commercials? Too much or exactly what we need?

Do 8th graders and Hooters mix?

2012-05-06T18:58:48Z

My kids tend to fill me in on the topics that outrage them at school each day. It is usually about how a teacher handled a situation or a kid who was irate in class. Yesterday’s news was that a teacher told a kid (these are 8th graders) to leave her classroom and not come back until he changed his shirt. He was wearing a Hooters shirt. My first gut reaction was there are kids going to school with much more inappropriate clothing and what happens…nothing. Sure there are rules in place about how long the shorts need to be and how high the shirts need to be but are they enforced? Hardly. However, a t-shirt with the word Hooters written on it got this boy kicked out of class.

This brings me to the 8th grade class who recently took a field trip to Baltimore and had lunch at the local Hooters restaurant. Apparently the group had to split up and a group of 15-20 students and their chaperones ended up having lunch at Hooters.

Would you as a parent have a problem with this?

I admit, my kids have been to Hooters. Yes it is a restaurant where the focus is basically on the waitresses more than the food (however the wings are actually really good), but my thought is this is not something they don’t see everywhere. Seriously, you see more in the mall than at a Hooters restaurant. That being said, I am not sure as a chaperone I would bring the group there.

As far as the shirt, um…well my son has one, however he is not allowed to wear it to school.

So, what are your thoughts?

Did you read this?

Give your kid WiFi – he is safer

2012-05-06T19:00:30Z

Remember that feeling when you were a kid of winter finally being over? Time to play outside…and not come in until dinnertime only to go back out once again until you were dragged in by your mom. I remember playing games like Spud and Capture the Flag with the neighbors ALL day. I remember running through sprinklers. I remember using our imaginations to no end. Making haunted houses in the woods, doing pretend picnics in the yard, going on nature hunts. And, we never got bored.

“I just don’t want him playing in the woods“, is the one request I got from the mom of my son’s friend the other day when he was here. Keep in mind he is 13. What? The woods?

No, he wasn’t sick. No recent sitings of bears or major infestations of ticks in our yard. We live in a suburban neighborhood – our woods are hardly woods. But, no woods she said. He came over with his phone and laptop.

Recently the New York State Health Department wanted to ban games like freeze tag, red rover, and kickball from summer camps saying they are too risky for kids. A joke? No.

A homeowners association in Florida is trying to ban kids from playing outside. They actually want to fine these families $100 for playing outside in the common area of the subdivision.

What is going on? Are we supposed to just keep our kids tied up inside in some virtual world?

Did you read this?

When did school sports become out-of-school sports?

2011-05-07T20:25:27Z

It is that time of year again. Spring sports. Last night I was at the lacrosse field. Today I spent the morning at the soccer field and then back to the lacrosse field only to wake up tomorrow morning and do it all over again. I think I spend more time at those fields than my own house. We had about a two week break in between seasons. A small break where we had nowhere to go after dinner during the week and our weekends were free.

Okay, so I wasn’t much of a sports fanatic when I was a kid but I really do not remember it this way. I remember after school sports and some weekend games but it is way more than that now. It is a constant regular part of our lives today. Not an extracurricular activity.

I was reading an article just yesterday about how school coaches are almost ‘requiring’ kids to play off season. Parents feel the pressure to keep their kids playing the whole year in order to ‘make the team’ or better themselves in the sport. This is no joke. I know this first hand.

My son plays lacrosse, not just in the spring season, but all year long. We spend many hours in arenas and on fields. He loves it. We do it because he loves it, he gets his school work done and does very well. But, even so…we don’t do it all. There are so many private leagues and off-season camps out there to be a part of – if we did it all, let’s just say we wouldn’t be able to buy groceries. It is expensive. And, the coaches do make you feel as if this is something that is really almost required.

We have two schools in our area that are known as really good lacrosse teams. They are also known as schools with a large amount of wealthy people. Coincidence?

Parents and the kids at our school are told by coaches, “Programs like this $900 summer program are why these schools do as well as they do“. Sure, they are taught great skills at these camps which can help out tremendously, but how many people really can afford to send their kids to programs like this, year after year…and to feel that it is a necessary thing?

When did this happen? When did school sports go beyond the school? Isn’t the reason for school sports supposed to be that it is something available to all students? Why should only the kids who can afford the ‘extra stuff’ make the teams? Something seems wrong here.

In the article I read two parents had just recieved the registration for the $850 summer travel league and stated…

Father: ”Are we going to do this again?”

Mother: ”I don’t think we have a choice.”

Is that right?