Momathon Blog

Opting out of vaccines is a risky numbers game–just ask my son

Parents of school-age kids today probably never witnessed a whooping cough outbreak or the measles because they were lucky enough to have lived in a generation of vaccinated kids. But this luxury of good health could slip away all too quickly as more and more families opt out of routine vaccinations.

If you want to look at the hard facts, the good health of our kids depends on a numbers game. 

Preventing kids (and adults) from getting diseases depends on a statistic: As long as about 90-95% of us vaccinate our kids, our kids are relatively safe according to an Associated Press report. Even the un-vaccinated kids are protected because the vaccinated kids keep the disease numbers down. In simple terms, our kids are healthy due to herd immunity.

Room for Children: Stylish Spaces for Sleep and Play

 

 

Looking for decorating ideas for a nursery or a child's bedroom? Susanna Salk's visually exciting book Room for Children: Stylish Spaces for Sleep and Play is a stunning treasure trove of decorating ideas and a fun read. Kelly Wearstler, renowned interior designer and author of several books, writes the foreword.

Is it possible to design a room that pleases both the parents and their children? Salk has found a way. Page after page of lovely photography by some of the industry's top photographers–Pieter Estersohn, Paul Costello, William Abranowicz, Melanie Aveced, and others–makes me want redecorate a few rooms at my house. No matter your style–modern, formal to whimsical–you will find a room that fits your mood. The book showcases a variety of decorating styles for bedrooms, play spaces, and study areas created by a talented group of designers including Kelly Wearstler, Charlotte Moss, Alessandra Branca, Amanda Nisbet, and Thomas Jayne, among many others.  

Salk is a leading design maven with many publishing success stories. Here are just a few: author of Weekend Retreats, a contributing editor for Bon Appetit Magazine, 1STDIBS.COM, and iVillage.com, as well as a former special projects editor at House & Garden. In the book she features an assortment of rooms that will appeal to a variety of ages. Her book has a sophisticated take on decor for children according to the LAtimes.com: 

The book suggests that just because a room is designed for a kid, that's no reason the design can't be all grown up. There is nothing DIY about "Room for Children," and no sense of trying to do more with less. Two-dozen-plus rooms in the book differ in style, but few could be described as "cute."

 

Anne at her blog The City Sage says: 

In the world of interiors books, the subject of decorating for children has been sorely neglected. Until now! Renowned author and editor Susanna Salk has released Room for Children: Stylish Spaces for Sleep and Play, and I'm rolling on a serious sugar high from all the sweet, sweet eye candy!

Julie at her blog Remodelista calls the book required reading:

Salk rounds up spaces by designers such as Kelly Wearstler (who wrote the book’s foreward), Amanda Nisbet, Amy Lau, Sixx Design, as well as J. Crew Creative Director Jenna Lyons’ edgy charcoal-walled nursery. 

 

This room makes me want to plan
a trip with my family...

The beach can't be too far away here...

A cozy space for a girl or boy to call home...

A little bit of elegance and fantasy...

Comfy and creative space for parents and baby...

Photos above feature the stylish pages from the book Room for Children by Susanna Salk. 

Note to my readers: I did not receive compensation from the author or publisher for writing this book review

Kidding around with yoga–the new trend for busy kids

I almost hesitate to suggest that parents add one more thing to the schedules of already overbooked kids, but research says a regular yoga session might help kids cope with the demands of their busy lifestyle.

Finding a healthy outlet for stress and anxiety is especially beneficial for kids because higher stress levels lead to fatigue and lower concentration at school and at home. Yoga with its emphasis on breathing and centering techniques might be just the thing to help kids find a healthy balance in their hectic lives.

Is it even possible to encourage a group of squirmy kids to improve coordination and posture by balancing on one foot? The secret is turning the yoga exercises into a game and kids learn the new skills quickly. In other words, make yoga fun. Classes for older kids and teens include fewer games and focus on lowering stress while building self confidence.

Yoga classes are a new trend in schools, hospitals, and yoga studios according to an article by Emily Glazer on WSJ.com by helping kids "relax and focus, and improve their flexibility." The WSJ.com video below explains how yoga classes for kids help:

According to Sheknows.com, yoga can provide kids with the tools to deal with stressful situations:

Yoga can provide much-needed centering techniques for kids with busy lives, experts say. "The benefits are many and basically it’s not only settling the foundation for a life of health and well being but it gives them the tools to deal with stressful life (events)," says Laurie Jordan, who manages children's programs for The Kaia Yoga Complete Wellness Centers. 

Regular yoga sessions can improve concentration and overall health, but does yoga really lead to higher test scores and improve fitness in schools? Researchers at California State University in LA in 2003 studied the relationship between yoga and academics. According to msnbc.com, researchers studied a charter school where students practiced yoga almost everyday:

Researchers found a correlation between yoga and better behavior and grades, and they said young yogis were more fit than the district average from the California Physical Fitness Test.

Tumbling and gymnastics classes for young kids have been popular for decades. Now more parents are signing young kids up for yoga classes because yoga stretching and body alignment improves overall health with the added benefit of possibly helping improve other athletic pursuits. According to an article on Chicagotribune.com (via Detroit Free Press): 

A preliminary study of pediatric health benefits of yoga, published in 2008, finds motor skills and concentration improvements, on top of better posture and breathing.

Apparently yoga is for all ages--even the diaper set. A selection of yoga classes and yoga DVD sets designed for young children and their families are reviewed by Shivani Vora in the Cranky Consumer blog on WSJ.com. A DVD mentioned in the blog is the Yoga Kids series for kids ages 3 to 6.

You can even connect with other parents interested in yoga for kids at the Yoga Benefits Kids Facebook page.

(The wonderful yoga photo above is by Carl Lender.)

 

Why are coed birthday slumber parties for teens now "OK" ?

I admit, I'm the uncool mom. And it's not because I shop for jeans at the wrong stores. According to my daughter, recently I officially earned the title of the "World's Worst Mom" because I put my foot down and said NO to a party invite. 

I almost avoided the issue altogether and that part kind of scares me. When the party invite came for my daughter, it appeared to be your average slumber party at a local gymnastic center. And everything was fine, until one of the other kids told my daughter that boys were going to attend too. After making a few phone calls, I found out the party was for 60-plus kids--boys and girls--and would be chaperoned by two parents. I immediately began wondering about the sanity of the moms who would agree to this task.

So I told my daughter, "No."

My daughter then told me I ruined her life. We decided to compromise, she could stay at the party until 10:30. Now she thinks I am only the second worst mom in the world.

Fortunately, I'm not alone in this party curfew decision. In the hours before the party, a few of us moms were busy texting each other about what to do. We decided to pick up our kids early. The fact the girls of the "uncool moms" could leave together as a group made it easier for them to save face.

My decision may not be the popular one, but I'm guessing a few parents put the kabosh on going to the party altogether. Besides, this mom is not concerned with winning popularity contests among teens. I've got other things like safety and good, old common sense on my mind.

Call me old-fashioned, but two adult chaperones in charge of a gang of hormonal teens sleeping on trampolines together in one large gymnasium sounds like trouble to me.

I went to coed summer camps and looking back I see the value of separate girls and boys cabins as well as good counselors who will keep track of the campers. It's their job and they aren't interested in winning a teen popularity contest either.

Will the adult chaperones at this rec center birthday party manage to stay awake all night with flashlights ready if they hear kids moving around in the darkened room? And is anyone checking backpacks for beer, or worse?

Yep, I'm going to make a large plaque that proudly declares my new title. I'll hang it in the kitchen above the dishwasher. And maybe I'll get a matching magnet for the fridge. Next time anyone has a complaint about my rules, I'll point to the sign.

A few days have passed since the party and now my daughter has decided it was ok to leave the party early. In teen-speak I guess that means I haven't entirely ruined her life.

New Girl Scout study says teen girls act mean & play dumb online

A new nationwide survey by Girl Scouts of America finds "a disconnect between how teen girls portray themselves online and in person." The survey findings are a perfect starting point for discussing social media with your own kids. Perhaps the best news from the survey is the fact a vast majority of respondents prefer face-to-face communication.

The survey included more than 1,000 girls ages 14-17 sheds new light on how the effects of increased use of social media and teens.

Here are some of the study findings according to the GS of the USA press release:

-- nearly 74% believe other girls their age use social networking sites to make themselves “cooler than they really are,”

-- girls downplay several positive characteristics of themselves online, most prominently their intelligence, kindness, and efforts to be a positive influence.

-- in person, girls say they come across as smart (82%), kind (76%), and a good influence (59%)

-- girls online consider themselves fun (54%), funny (52%), and social (48%).

-- girls with low self-esteem are more likely to admit their social networking image doesn’t match their in-person image (33% vs. 18% of girls with high self- esteem)

-- girls with low self-esteem are also more likely to claim that the image they portray online is sexy (22% vs. 14%) and crazy (35% vs. 28%).

-- a majority of girls understand their emotional safety and reputations are at risk online, yet 50% admit to not always being as careful as they should be online.

-- 68% have had a negative experience on a social networking site, such as having someone gossip about them or being bullied.

-- 92% would give up all of their social networking friends if it meant keeping their best friend.

-- 56% of girls agree that social networking helps them feel closer to their friends, and 36% think that social networks have increased the quality of their relationships.

--52% of girls have gotten involved in a cause they care about through a social network.

New study says media is the leading sex educator for kids

  

Finding out what your kids watch on TV or on the internet could be as important to your kids' health and wellness as making sure they wear bike helmets. 

According to an article published in the September issue of the Journal of Pediatrics, teens and younger children are learning about sex from the media and the message can be dangerous.

Parents might feel hesitant to talk to their kids about sex. However, when parents shy away from talking to their kids, by default then the parents are encouraging their kids to learn about sex from  less reliable sources such as the internet, TV, and movies.  

The content in the videos, shows, or music content is not the only place where kids hear sexually explicit messages. Major advertising campaigns for products including erectile dysfunction drugs constantly play during daytime and primetime TV.

Here are some of main findings of the study according to healthfinder.gov:

• 70% of teen shows contain sexual content 
• Less than 10% of the sexual content in these shows talk about the consequences of sex such as contracting an STD 
• U.S leads the western world in teen pregnancy rates
• One in four American teens have an STD.
• U.S. children spend seven hours and more a day watching or listening to media that may include sexually explicit content-- music, movies, television shows, magazines and the Internet.

Photo of laptop by bigpresh

More on lost childhood: "Girls, Uninterrupted" article in NYT

Earlier today I wrote a post about bikini waxes for 8-yr-olds and the scary trend of making children grow up way too fast. A friend of mine sent me the link to a NYTimes article by Jan Hoffman, Girls, Uninterrupted. It's a fascinating story about a camp where middle school girls learn to be more self confident and develop the survival tactics for "Girlworld."

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 (Photo: Shana Sureck for The New York Times)

Game time for Molly Kaissar and friends at
 the Girls Leadership Institute camp. 

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At the Girls Leadership Institute in the Berkshires, teens learn skills to survive in the "Girlworld." Sounds fun, but it also begs the question, what is happening to childhood? Why is it rushing by so fast?

I loved camp--the boating, archery, crafts--and just about everything at camp, except the food. Even though I'm decades past my camp years, I'm sure I still could learn some amazing stuff about self confidence and more. 

In an article about the camp,Girl's Interrupted, a NYT article by Jan Hoffman:

"BY the time a girl turns 14, she knows the rules of Girlworld by heart: If you can’t do the pose — hand on hip, eye roll, hair toss — have enough self-respect to go hide in a corner. Let your hair fall over your face, cover your mouth when you speak, and always end declarative sentences like this?"

Read more here: www.nytimes.com