mcmama's commentsComments On: EverythingArticles Blogs Journals Photos created by: Everyonemcmama Why I Don't Believe in Early Childhood Education - Blog Entry11 Sep 2006 09:26 AM You make some really good points - not to disparage preschools, but I found that when kids from my family child care went to "real school" they had learned so much from our play based method to the madness structured kid friendly informality - and what preschool or center based care prepared them for was adapting to formal school environments. Good preschools support parents in raising children, keeping their curriculum age and developmentally appropriate, and enable parents and children to be part of a community. Sometimes, preschools are part of a larger private school, and admission to the preschool give your child a better advantage for admission later on. That's why the competition for this is insane in NYC! How do you search the Coupon Database? - Blog Entry07 Sep 2006 07:00 AM Jody, again, thank you for this. It is becoming easier to search the database as we enter new items, and the techies have done a great job of clearing out some of the glitches. Searching for what you are looking for has never been easier, and the new information we will be entering is just going to make everyones life so much easier - and more frugal! How do you add coupons to the Coupon Database? - Blog Entry07 Sep 2006 05:40 AM Jody, this is excellent, and clearly written. With September being national Coupon month, I am sure we can get pretty excited about all the promotions that members can put in our database to share! Our Birth Story - Blog Entry10 Aug 2006 07:40 PM Congratulations! You are going to enjoy this boy! All of you are. Oprah Says She Is Not Gay - Blog Entry18 Jul 2006 05:23 PM This never occurred to me. A lot of women have lifetime best friends. NEA May Launch Weblog - Blog Entry04 Jul 2006 07:02 PM Thanks Mac, I agree. What they have onsite is very spammed and hacked. They need to get control over it for everone. TV Star Gives Birth To A WHOPPING Baby Boy - Blog Entry30 Jun 2006 04:38 PM Yes I had a 10 pounder too - very difficult experience. C section after 40 hour labor - for some reason the doc had underestimated the baby's size. He was 10 lb 2 oz and 23 inches long. Today I don't know what he weighs, but he has a 30 inch waist, is 6'4" and his feet are size 14. Birth is only the beginning of the adventure, feeding and clothing comes next! Don't Be a Breast Milk Bully - Blog Entry21 Jun 2006 10:40 AM I agree with Valerie. It is far too easy to opt out of breastfeeding. There are some good reasons to not breastfeed, health of either mother or child among them, or a necessity for mom to be away for several days at a time. I personally know of one person who was recovering from a serious illness when she gave birth - the medications, the fatigue, and the depression really meant for her that the effort required to learn breastfeeding would have been counterproductive. She needed intensive medical care, and her mom took care of the baby - total attachment, but with the bottle. The baby got what she needed, and the mom got what she needed. Even if the medications were on the "ok list" this would not have been good for either. But this is pretty extreme. All too often, moms "try" to breastfeed and are set up to fail by hospitals, ignorant medical staff, and family members. Daycare staff also plays a part in this. It is very possible to work and breastfeed, but since the cultural "norm" is to bottlefeed, the expectation of failure or practices leading to failure are also the "norm". Breastfeeding is not instinctive. It is learned. Research has shown this. It is very difficult to have success breastfeeding when the people who are supposed to be educating and supporting new moms are ignorant themselves. It also takes work, particularly in the first month or two. You have to commit to it, and it is not the state of bliss initally that the marketing geniuses want you to buy into. With work situations, and with daycare staff, communication is the key. The primary thing is to be responsive to the baby, and to your body. Sometimes that flexibility is hard to learn, especially in a country that treats childbirth as nothing more than minor surgery and grudgingly doles out six week maternity leaves. Bullying is not desireable, but sometimes for medical professionals it is necessary. After my first child was born by a c section, if I had not been "bullied" into getting out of bed, I think I would have felt worse in the long run. The important thing to do with breastfeeding is to provide proper support - and recognize that as a culture we are still pathetically hostile towards it - leading women like me who STRUGGLED TO BE ALLOWED to breastfeed 15 years ago to be a bit overboard in our encouragement. I think women still face that struggle, and it is dismissed as not necessary, since we advocates are just bullies. Part of the backlash against the female. Just my radical 2 cents. The epidemic of online child sexual crimes - Blog Entry10 Jun 2006 05:58 PM This is an excellent article. With the summer months here, we have had a number of children and teens joining us and looking in on our discussions. I have cautioned a few to please be careful about giving any personal information about themselves in our forums or with private messages. We are a safe community of caring people, mostly parents, but we are also a public forum. I strongly encourage parents to keep an eyeview on what their children and teens are doing online, and advise young people to not share your e mail or other personal information in posts. You really never know who is watching - and predators lurk on forums and public sites looking for people to exploit. We're not immune. Let's be careful, please. |
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