Search Results for: blog please understand

Respond Please

I don’t get. What is so hard about saying “yes” or “no” to a party invitation? Especially if the bash is for a child. A young child who doesn’t understand why some of his friends didn’t show up for his safari-themed shindig. Or worse, why some said they’d be there, and then bailed at the last minute. Fortunately, young children are resilient, void of pettiness, unresentful… and easily distracted by cake, ice cream, balloons, streamers and presents. Especially presents. It’s the parents hosting the party who could stand to channel more of that forgiving nature. Of course, I certainly don’t … Continue reading →

Reality Bites – Make Sure You Understand Your Tax Obligations

There is an old saying that goes “There are only two things that are certain in life, and those are death and taxes.” I wonder if there is actually such a thing as death by taxes. Last night, I was working on my tax return and nearly had a heart attack. It seems as though I have misunderstood a very important principle regarding income taxes and self employment tax. They are not the same thing, you know. While I do know a lot about owning and operating a home – based business, I will be the first to admit that … Continue reading →

Unplug, Please

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This is a plea to parents. We express concern at the way our children sink easily into the television. I know that my four-year-old does. We get worried about their interest in video or computer games and try to limit their exposure to violence in the digital media. Many of us try very hard to control our children’s media focus, but we neglect to do one thing. We forget to turn it off ourselves. The latest trend? We text during the times when we could be hanging out with our children, focused instead on scrolling down a tiny screen. Either … Continue reading →

No Brown Foods, Please!

My father recently had some dental work done that left him very sore in the mouth. The pain was bad enough that he was on a diet of mostly mush for a few days! Luckily, he’s a fan of certain mushy foods; for as long as I can remember, my dad has loved Cream of Wheat hot cereal. (I like it with accessories like dried fruit or maple syrup, personally!) So he ate a lot of Cream of Wheat while his mouth was recovering. But when my mom served up the first bowl, it prompted this comment from my father: … Continue reading →

An Alternative (Please!) to the Adoption of the Month Club

In my last blog, referring to various obituaries written about Patrick Swayze, I talked about how calling attention to a person’s adoption without reason can seem to make a false distinction between permanently adopted family members and other permanent family members. Respect for the concept of permanence is also why I was a bit sad to receive a catalog in the mail yesterday. The National Wildlife Foundation suggests giving your child an “adoption kit” for Christmas. This will include a stuffed animal (size dependent on the price level you choose). In a more “deluxe adoption”, you will receive a book … Continue reading →

Buy My Daughter—PLEASE!

I’ve met dads who squander their blessings on a regular basis, but the father of “Slumdog Millionaire” child star Rubina Ali, takes the cake. When it comes to epitomizing bad parenting, 36-year-old Rafiq Qureshi is in a league of his own. Parents around the planet have been buzzing about the recent report detailed in Britain’s News of the World, which maintains that the poverty-stricken father planned to place his 9-year-old movie star daughter up for adoption for $300,000-400,000, so he could escape the squalor of Mumbai and find happiness elsewhere. For the record Qureshi claims that the entire story is … Continue reading →

Six-Month-Old Infants Can Understand Math

One plus one is two is a concept that even infants can understand, according to the latest research performed by a team of scientist in the US and Israel. The researchers determined that these young babies can detect mathematical errors in computation. The issue of whether or not humans are born with the ability to understand mathematical concepts or whether they learn them later has been debated for many years. The most common thinking previously had been that this kind of understanding did not develop in a young child until at least the age of two-and-a-half. In other words, there … Continue reading →

Baby Blog Month in Review: July 2008

Two of my three children are summer babies. That is, they were born in the summer and had their first months surrounded by sunshine streaming in the windows, the sound of birds chirping, and days spent wearing nothing but a diaper and a “onsie.” I made sure that they had Fourth of July outfits ready, even though one of them arrived a week after the holiday. I guess he just wasn’t interested in the parade. Do you have a summer baby, too? We had a lot of new information to share this past month, such as recall notices and new … Continue reading →

Introducing Technique Tuesday – a New Column on the Scrapbooking Blog

Scrapbooking has grown so much in the past five years, let alone the past ten years. As new products are introduced daily, and scrapbooker’s find new ways to use products and do different techniques, there is no end is sight to the endless possibilities available to the creative person. With the vast amount of scrapbooking information available in all sorts of locations, it can get overwhelming and difficult to learn. The problem is, it is scattered all over and it would be much easier to find it if it was all in one place. The Scrapbooking Blog here at families.com … Continue reading →

Ask a Baby Blogger: C-Sections and Bonding After Birth

Question: Do mothers who have c-sections not bond as well with their babies? This is not a question someone e-mailed me, but rather something that was being discussed in the forums. It’s a very sensitive issue and frankly, I think there has been made much ado about nothing. Bonding is NOT a one time event. It is not this little narrow window of opportunity that once is lost, is gone forever. It is a process and to be honest, I think a lot of people don’t understand what exactly is meant by bonding when they talk about it. What is … Continue reading →