There have been a couple of articles lately that strike fear in the hearts of mothers of fall and winter babies everywhere.

First there was a widely-reported on study that the youngest kids in class are more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD, a startling 60 percent more likely in fact.

In response to the study, both the Globe and Mail and the New York Times ran articles about the wisdom of holding younger kids back a year so that instead of being the youngest in the class they are the oldest.

My daughter is a Christmas baby. She is not only the youngest in the family, last year she was the youngest student in the entire school.

I found my daughter going through the hall closet throwing all the summer hats on to the floor. Where is my ski thingy? You know the one that covers my head so only my eyes are showing? My balalava?”

Your  balaclava? It’s in the basement for when it snows.“ I’m about to ask why but then I take one look at her long sleeves, her long pants and her bike helmet and I realize that she is searching out protective gear for practicing her new skill of riding a two-wheeler.

I asked Blake Eligh, blogger for the Food Network and freelance writer to step in for me today as I am enjoying the sometimes soggy end of summer. I'll be back on Monday.

Hi, I’m Blake and I’m filling in for Emma as she reclines on a dock somewhere in cottage country, drinking wine and flipping through a magazine. Actually, she’s probably cooking something amazing, snickering about her daughter’s potty mouth, or plotting another wickedly witty post. That’s why I like her. {and same goes for you Blake.}

I write, mostly about food and kids. You can find my new weekly Cooking with Kids column over at the Food Network Canada site, where I chronicle my messy adventures in the kitchen with my wee daughters. But with school coming up my thoughts turned to starting off as a new kid in a very old school.

The New Kid

My four-year-old daughter Alice heads to junior kindergarten in September and I am readying myself for a new phase in her life, and mine.

School is nothing new for her—Alice’s old daycare was in the same primary school where her dad teaches Grade 5. Despite this, and our low-key talking up of kindergarten, Alice has declared that she’s not going. And also, that she’s no longer friends with anyone who has “brown hair.” I should point out that Alice, who is blond, is an anomaly in our brunette family and her circle of friends. I’ve let both matters drop for now because she’s 4, and fickle, and will likely change her mind by lunchtime tomorrow.

But her comments got me thinking about kids and school and friendship.

When I was in Grade 3, my parents moved from the ‘burbs to a country house outside a rural town. I went from a 400-kid primary school, to an 87-kid country school on the edge of a cornfield. The other kids already had times tables down cold. Our teacher read Bible stories after announcements. And it was the middle of the school year, which everyone knows is the perfect time for making friends.

My four-year old daughter and I are playing Go Fish (or as she says, “goldfish”). I can see her peeking over at my cards and then she asks me for the Queen I just picked up.  It’s close to her last card and now she will win the game, by cheating. But if I call her on it we will have hysterics, if I don’t she has won by questionable means.

Playing with young kids always leads parents down a morally questionable road. Do you let them win? Or not? There are arguments on both sides.

If I gave you a recipe for super easy cake that would use up the bruised fruit that is starting to get a bit stinky you would use it, right? You would bake it up in a few minutes instead of buying a frozen dessert at the local supermarket to take to friend’s, wouldn’t you?

Because having to throw out old peaches and berries is too sad to bear and you would rather whip them up into something delicious and impressive, right? And since the recipe calls for stuff you have in the kitchen, is totally foolproof and you don’t even need a mixer for it, it would be a no-brainer.

Everywhere  I go I see Back-to-School shopping promos. The must-haves, the lists, the anxiety, the panic!

Oh wait, I’m not panicked.

Do my kids have clothes? Check.

Shoes? Check.

Backpacks? Check (last year’s seem to work still).

School supplies? Check (well, enough to get them through the first week when there isn’t any homework).

Everyone should have a third child, even if they have only one or two. Third children are incredible (or at least mine is). They are independent and confident and funny.

And I have my excellent parenting to thank. Or at least my lack of parenting. Third children just don’t get as much intense attention as the first and they aren’t locked in a psychic battle for supremacy like the second-born. So here are some hints on how to parent any child like a third child.

Outraged Moms, Trashy Daughters, screams the headline from Maclean’s magazine. The article then goes on to pose the question: How did those steeped in the women’s lib movement produce girls who think being a sex object is powerful?

I wonder that too. I read about Rainbow Parties and see the girls walking down the street in their best hooker garb. The girls gone wild mentality has made trashiness an approved form of dress but also a respected way of engaging with the opposite sex. We went from dividing up good girls and bad girls to bad girls being good. As if owning one’s own sexuality was the most important goal of the feminist movement.

I’ve been thinking a lot about girlfriends for the last week: the need for them and how the cast of characters change as you and your kids get older.

Mommy friends are a key part of being a successful parent. If I hadn’t had someone to call and bore daily with the minute-to-minute account of my child’s sleep patterns or even poo routine I might have stewed in my own neurosis.

As my kids get older, I meet and connect with new people; some of them are parents of my kids’ friends and others are people I chat with on the ball hockey scene or the playground. The magic of finding someone new is as exciting now as it was when I was 8, but it doesn’t happen that often.

So imagine my surprise to be surrounded by like-minded women at the BlogHer conference in New York. These were women writers who were smart, funny and opinionated. And everyone I met swore they were nerds as kids. They were my people! I was thrilled to connect and exchange ideas with them and days later I feel like I am going through estrogen withdrawal.

But wait! Before I run off into the sunset with all my Bloggy friends...

I love convenience. I will do anything to make my life easier. Anything but one. I don’t use a lot of premade frozen foods. I have the time and the ability to make most of our family’s snacks. But I understand that many families are not in the same position.

I’ve already made my position clear on pre-packaged Rice Krispie Squares and and my one pot brownies.I understand that baking isn’t everyone’s thing. But do you make your kids’ sandwiches or would you rather buy them frozen?