Momfidence!

I Need a Hero

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:29:24 -0400

For a magazine feature, I'm looking for a few good moms...who have had those bursts of bravery that sometimes befall us in the line of duty (and maybe also surprise the pants off us).

Sooo....

Have you ever lifted a bus off your child?
Jumped in and saved him from sharks?
Faced down a monster with no thought to your own peril?

Okay, those are extreme examples, but I'd love to hear your stories of coming to your child's rescue in big or small heroic ways. Hit "Contact Paula" tab above and shoot me an email. I'll follow up.

Thanks much!

No Birthday Presents for the Little Obamas?!

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:09:35 -0400

Am I the only one who found it a wee bit startling that Mr and Mrs Barack Obama don't give their children birthday presents OR Christmas presents?

Apparently so says tomorrow's People magazine.

I dunno...sounds kind of Grinchy and joyless to me. The girls are 7 and 10! I never met a mom who could resist buying a birthday present for a seven-year-old. Surely there are better ways to "teach limits" (their given reason). Like, you could limit it to two or three presents. Or set yourself a dollar limit. Or leave limits to discipline and let celebrations be...fun.

I read somewhere else the 10-year-old does five different activities (piano, dance, etc) and the younger, four. More fun.

NOBODY Has Attention Anymore

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:36:16 -0400

Today's diseased-children headline: More cases of ADHD are being diagnosed in kids over 11...four percent more each year!

Hmmm, previously cases were identified before this age, so we had the tot-ADHD "epidemic." And then it was the teen epidemic. And let's not forget the growing number of adults with ADHD.

"It may reflect a growing understanding that a child-- especially an older kid --can have ADHD without being disruptively impulsive or hyperactive," says one doc.

In which case the problem is...??

Face it. Nobody can concentrate these days! I sure can't, with my email box dinging and Drudge Report beckoning and the phones...But to take a drug for it seems a bit overboard. Unless you're peddling Ritalin.

There are enough docs out there pooh-poohing the ADHD diagnosis and offering alternative behavioral approaches to make me very wary of this particular disease fad.

Just Be Glad They're Dressing Themselves

Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:50:10 -0400

Apparently clothing manufacturers have caught onto the idea that kids randomly pair stripes with polka dots and clashing colors. Now you can buy "coordinated mismatched looks":

"Think a purple, two-tone dot turtleneck with a multicoloured zigzag poncho and purple-and-aqua plaid skirt for girls, or red-white-and-blue plaid flannel shirt over a blue-and-white striped rugby shirt for boys."

No word on what's to keep the child matching up the proper mismatched coordinates, as opposed to, say, wearing that purple two-tone dot turtleneck with a tutu and green striped socks [as seen more than once in my house, I think.]

The editor of Cookie urges parents to "let kids express themselves"...but then she can't help adding, "but at the same time you want them to look put together and not be embarrassed."

THEY won't be embarrassed! Why should you?

Warning: On Hot Days, Playground Equipment Can Get, Um, Hot

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:09:26 -0400

Don't know how we all survived monkey bars over concrete surfaces. Let alone, to use a timely example, sizzlin' metal slides on hot summer days.

If only we'd had SIGNS warning about hot surfaces like this NYC mom wants because her child was playing barefooted on a rubber mat on a hot day. (His caregiver had removed the shoes he was wearing in a sprinkler to "rinse them off.")

I'll Leave the Botulism in the Food, Thanks

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 21:28:26 -0400

Momfidence is...
Realizing that OMG in yesterday's vacation foto, you have lingering little lines between your eyebrows usually made when you are frowning at a wayward child, eyeing a price tag, or working... but you are doing none of those things, you are relaxing and happy, and so in a flash you see this is what people use Botox for...

and STILL thinking they're crazy, it's poison, and you can't fight Time forever so you may as well gradually get used to it.

And maybe grow longer bangs.

The Latest $60 Paranoia-Preying Scam

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:52:41 -0400

I remember being flummoxed by a wipes warmer at a baby shower. I wrote in my book Momfidence about "Thudguard," the protection helmet for wobbly toddlers. And I've snickered here over GPS systems sewn into kids' jackets, etc.

And today comes word of a real breakthrough in the have-they-no-shame-about-ripping-off-parents department: A sensor pad that will sound if you leave your child in the car seat and walk away.

Okay, tragic accidents have happened (16 kids this year...out of how many million car trips?). But does that justify making parents think a pricey gizmo can replace common sense?

Besides, I used to let my napping older baby/toddler keep sleeping strapped in the car seat after I pulled into the (cool, ventilated) garage. Yes this is against some expert recommendations. No this is not at all like the Portugal case of leaving your child many rooms away and having dinner with friends. I could see 'em from the kitchen 10 feet away, checked often, could hear a holler -- but was not willing to blow the blessed naptime. Alarm? No thank you.

They Kept the Beanie!

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 18:29:58 -0400

Girl Scouts have new clothing offerings (camoflage Girls Rock tee for Juniors, anyone?). Luckily they preserved the basic color schemes so you can continue handing down the Brownie brown pants from daughter to daughter.

And best of all, they didn't bow too low to the Fashion gods...they kept the Brownie beanie.

Is Some of the Autism Epidemic Not Real?

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:36:39 -0400

Interesting possible light on the epidemic autism numbers I hadn't seen pointed out before, by Thomas Sowell. Not to belittle the actual cases whatsoever. But are late talkers, antisocial tykes, and others who turn out to be, in fact, normal, being counted among the swelling autism stats ?

He also points out the growing number of parents urged to say/believe their child has autism even if he probably doesn't in order to receive special treatment services (which he may in fact need, or may not).

Nothing momfidenceish about it, just interesting.

This Week's Lighten-Up-and-Eat-a-Cookie Award

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:59:54 -0400

A big chocolate Lighten-Up-and-Eat-a-Cookie Award to the mad mums at a public park in England who tried to stop a dad from photographing his own (adorable redheaded) sons because they believed him to be a "pervert" who wanted to put the pix on the Internet.

(Yes, they called him that.) (The boys were sliding down a slide. Yes, fully clothed.)

The policeman the shocked fellow consulted confirmed he was doing nothing wrong (taking pix of his own kids) and said "that's just the way society is these days."