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February 16, 2012

Battling Monster Fears 101

We have had a nightly visitor this week. She crawl into our bed, settle between us and says sleepily: "I"ve had a bad dream."

I can live with that part (in fact, I enjoy it). The problem is when I put her to bed, she says that as soon as she closes her eyes she can see the monster of her dreams waiting to come get her.

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February 6, 2012

Modern Family Doesn't Have the Only F-Bomb Dropping Preschooler

A preschooler swearing on TV? Oh, my heavens!

But it happened last week and the world did not end. Toddlers did not walk around dropping F-bombs from the top of the slide, preschoolers did not turn to their mothers with a forked tongue. Society just kept creakily moving along.

Last Wednesday, Modern Family aired an episode called "Little Bo Bleep!" in which three-year-old Lily starts sprinkling some F-bombs around, even during her starring role as a flower girl.

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January 29, 2012

Things That I Care About, But You May Not: Greg Wiggle Is Back!

The news that Greg Wiggle is re-joining The Wiggles after a five year absence has made me ridiculously happy.

I'm not sure why I care, since it has been at least a year since a note of Hot Potato was wafting through the house. And Greg was never my favourite Wiggle anyways. He always had a dour, priggish way about him. And his magic tricks were awful. Anthony is the one with all the charisma (sorry Murray and Jeff).

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January 16, 2012

My Secrets to Getting Your Kids to Sleep (Or at Least Surviving When They Don't)

Sleep. It's the most elusive, fleeting, annoying, talked-about, and aggravating part of (early) parenthood.

With your first, no matter how much preparation you have had, there is absolutely no way that you are ready for the relentless attack on your sleep patterns. You will cry tears of exhaustion and bitterness. You will reach out to friends, strangers and professionals for answers.

But there are no answers on how to get your baby/toddler/preschooler to sleep. Nothing you will buy, read or pray to will prove to be the magic thing that does it. But looking back, there are a few things that helped me get through those sleepless nights and get my kids to sleep:

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January 13, 2012

Anderson Cooper Heats Up the So-Called Mommy Wars

Did you hear that shot through the momosphere? That was Anderson Cooper firing up a new round of mommy wars using the term "lazy" as his weapon.

*Disclaimer: I hate the term mommy wars. I think it has been created by the media to place women's choices into boxes that need public approval, but not reflective of women's lives or their relationships.

On a promo for an upcoming show, Cooper had a group of stay-at-home moms and working moms arguing over who was happier. On the Anderson Cooper website the episode was called: "Are Stay-at-Home Moms Lazy? Plus, Kathie-Lee and Hoda" (Kathie-Lee and Hoda and their giant glasses of wine are just a bonus.)

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January 6, 2012

Break Out the Glitz: Toddlers and Tiaras Comes to Canada

Some people discount extremists like the Human Barbie mom who gave her daughter a credit for liposuction for Christmas. But I am more apt to see those people as a sign of our cultural times.

I don't think it is normal to give a child a credit for a future plastic surgery, but the fact that the story is dominating our news cycle is a clue to what we hold dear in our society. It's gross, and yet we want to hear more.

It's the same with Toddlers and Tiaras. We love to hate it.

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December 13, 2011

Supermom vs. June Cleaver: Who Is Happier? (Hint: she doesn't wear an apron)

Working mothers are happier than stay-at-home mothers. At least that is what the latest study is telling us.

Working mothers, both part-time and full-time, suffer less depression than moms who are at home full-time. The study seemed to say that moms who work part-time have the best of both worlds since they have time for volunteering in school and time out in the world talking to other adults.

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December 8, 2011

This Just In: People Hate Flying With Kids

Welcome to another edition of Flying With Your Kids. Today we will be tackling the topics of: nine hours without screens; drugs -- good or bad?; letting strangers manage your child; and the classic -- who cares what people think?

As a mom who flies abroad with three kids I am so happy that each seat has it's own TV screen complete with movies and TV shows. Remember flying in the old days? When there was only one TV screen for the cabin and if you were shorter than the chair in front of you, you couldn't see the screen. I am so glad those planes have ended up in storage. So, imagine my surprise when we walked on the plane for our flight to Barcelona last summer: a nine-hour flight to Barcelona? One of the old planes, no personal entertainment, and worse, no plugs to charge dead entertainment units.

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November 27, 2011

Kids Destroy House With Bag of Flour and Get Their 15 Minutes

Have you seen the video of the two boys spreading flour all over their house? It has over 2 million hits on YouTube and keeps growing.

Seems that mom wasn't feeling well and headed to the bathroom for a longer than normal visit and forgot to lock the safety latch on the cupboard. Her boys drag the bag of flour out and make their own mosh pit. Her reaction as she finds the mess? She repeats "Oh my Gosh!" about 100 times, grabs her video camera and puts it on YouTube, ostensibly for her relatives.

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November 22, 2011

Click Here For New and Improved Method of Taming Tantrums!

Are constant tantrums a part of your everyday life? Is the yelling and screaming getting you down? Are your old methods of time-outs, the naughty chair and yelling back not working anymore? There is a new method available, and it is free, thanks to the Yale Parenting Center.

(I actually don't want to make fun of the Yale Center, which is one of the few places out there that is doling out parenting advice based on actual research.)

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Emma WavermanEmma Waverman

Emma 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

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