I hate shopping at Abercrombie & Fitch. The heavy scent of cologne and teen angst makes me want to pass out.
I don't need much of an excuse to steer my tween to some other mall store that sells overpriced preppy clothes in a loud obnoxious environment that's too dark to see the price tag. And thankfully, the CEO of Abercrombie has handed me and many other mothers a reason to cross the aisle.
When I was in labour with my second, there wasn't too much for my doula to do -- so she picked up the camera and took photos. And they are amazing. There is a black and white photo of my doctor catching my son and she looks so happy.
I love them. But I don't show them to anyone (including my son). But they really do show the miracle, the teamwork and moment of his birth. (My doctor, however, has a framed copy on her wall.)
The fact that these beautiful black and white photos exist is a fluke. As much as I love them, would I hire a professional to take photos during the birth?
Did you know that if you got a serious sunburn before the age of 18, your chances of having a melanoma are doubled? Raise your hand if you got a serious sunburn before you were a teen. Because I sure did! My pale, freckly skin has burned to a crisp more than once. And that freaks me out.
Melanoma can be deadly. And it can be caused by sun exposure. (I admit it, before this post my knowledge of melanoma came from Izzie's experience on Grey's Anatomy.)
I want to make sure that my kids don't raise their hands when asked the same question about sunburn. So I buy sunscreen all year round and yet, I still find myself confused at the aisle, with 483 different lotions at the drugstore. Is SPF 80 double the strength of 40? Is 15 even worth it?
Luckily, I went to a lunch sponsored by Coppertone where dermatologist Dr. Sonya Cook explained the ins and outs of SPF and sunscreen.
Steve Nash, Canadian-born basketball hero and soccer aficionado, doesn't want to pay child support to his ex-wife and mother of his three kids.
The athlete already pays for many of the kids' expenses. He pays 90% of their school fees, extra-curriculars and medical fees, as well as 80% of the nanny's salary. According to this video, Alejandra signed a pre-nup where she waived her rights to child support and alimony.
Anne Frank's memoir holds up today because, even though she was in a surreal situation, she is a relateable teen girl. Anne's amazing diary has transported teens to that Secret Annex where she was cloistered with Peter's family, and of course, to her tragic end at the hands of the Nazis.
Her writing is so fresh and clear that she becomes your friend, your sister, your cousin. She learns to adapt to her harrowing experiences by being a teen girl -- embarrassments, outbursts, crushes and all.
But a mom in Michigan feels that Anne may have been a little too real, and says that a passage in the newest edition, The Diary of A Young Girl: The Definitive Guide is too "pornographic" for her daughter.
If there is a mother in the world who doesn't feel guilty, I would like to know her secret. If you ask enough questions to any mother -- no matter how old her kids are -- you will find the nugget of guilt somewhere.
The media, of course, doesn't help. We are supposed to feel guilty about helicoptering, and ignoring; disciplining too much, and not disciplining enough; the list goes on. But most of all, we are supposed to feel guilty about the time we spend away from our children.
And we do.
Even Victoria Beckham, "Posh" to us children of the '90s, admitted recently that she feels guilty being a working mom.
Share and share alike. It is one of the tenets of childhood. And yet, forced sharing is coming into question by some preschools and parents of little kids.
There are preschools in the US that have written down 'no sharing' policies. They do not force kids to share their toys, instead they have multiples of popular items, or they tell kids that they have to wait their turn. They say that forced sharing creates a feeling of entitlement in the kid who wants -- and gets -- the toy.
I happen to think that there are a lot of reasons to love President Obama and his family. It's not just his politics - there seems to be something really authentic about the way he is around his wife and daughters. If it is a sell job, I am buying.
Recently in a fairly ridiculous interview with Savannah Guthrie on the Today Show, he said that the way he and Michelle are dissuading the girls from getting tattoos is by threatening them:
“What we’ve said to the girls is, ‘If you guys ever decided you’re going to get a tattoo, then mommy and me will get the exact same tattoo in the same place. And we’ll go on YouTube and show it off as a family tattoo,” Obama said. “And our thinking is that might dissuade them from thinking that somehow that’s a good way to rebel.”
A study out of Britain is claiming that light drinking during pregnancy does not harm the baby. Up to two alcoholic "units" did not harm the fetus and had no affect on the behaviour of the children, says the study.
Emma WavermanEmma Waverman writes five days a week about the chaos of modern family life here at MSN.ca. She is the co-author of the family cookbook Whining and Dining: Mealtime Survival for Picky Eaters and Families Who Love Them and is hoping to one day to finish her certification as a parenting coach. She lives with her three kids, ranging from tween to grade schooler, and husband in Toronto. Emma has written for a variety of national parenting and lifestyle magazines and papers. When she’s is not making typos, telling you what she thinks, and thinking about dinner - you can find her on Twitter at @emmawaverman. You can contact Emma at embracingchaos@hotmail.ca
I'm not going to make my family live off of bread and water just to give birth to a second child. Deciding whether or not to have a second child is just the same as deciding whether or not to have a first child. It's so rare for the circumstances to be exactly perfect and sometimes you just need to go for it and find a way to make it work. But I would never want to put my family out or make them suffer. Quality of life is important, not quantity of lives living under one roof.
on If you need a specific day to remember to honor the people that are important to you
then you are doomed to begin with. Tell your kids on mother's day to make that card for a motherly figure in their life, could be grandma or the Lady next door, whoever. Same goes for father's day. Have them make a card for a father figure. Even if the closest to that is their bus driver. Doesn't matter. We don't have to rename everything every year just because our population changes. Christmas isn't about Jesus' birth anymore either, but no one wants to rename it "gift giving frenzy day", even though in some areas it seems like the use of the name is forbidden now. Does really everyday have to be analyzed to death? What about Sunday? Statistically it rains most often on Sunday. Shall we rename it " Almostmonday"? Just so not to disappoint the people expecting Sunday to be sunny? There are really more important things in life. Honor the important people on your life as often as possible. No matter what you call them. Peace.
