Vagina is Not a Bad Word

Apr 29, 2013 by Sarah Bourne Perillo

My four and almost three-year old are obsessed with body parts. They are inquisitive about bodily functions, they want to understand how and why people are different shapes and sizes; we have had lengthy conversations about why Mom pees sitting down and Dad pees standing up. My daughters can properly identify their body parts.

The other day the two of them were playing on the porch. My four-year old has a strict policy at her school about using potty words inappropriately, and she has been working on refraining from using these words inappropriately at home and around her younger sisters. In the middle of playing my oldest daughter said something about changing her baby doll and having to wipe the baby’s vagina. My almost three-year old used this as a chance to tattle and came running inside, accusing her sister of using a “bad word.” This, of course, resulted in the classic argument: “did not,” “did too,” “did not.” I intervened and helped to guide the argument into a productive conversation about why vagina is not a bad word.  Read more...

Start Small, Stay Small? Solopreneur Moms and the Benefits of a Home Law Office

Apr 26, 2013 by Melanie

So I’m about two months into the solo law practice, work-at-home mom gig.  I have some billable work as well as a couple upcoming seminars (one of which is tomorrow – eek!), and things are actually happening for me, which is really great.  And at the same time, a bit challenging.

Everything is sort of feast or famine when you’re a solo lawpreneur (I know I am seriously annoying someone out there with all these trendy terms, but I love it).  You can’t exactly refuse or decline work, at least not if it’s a chance to bring in some much-needed cash and it wouldn’t be impractical or unethical to take the client.  Marketing is equally important right now – I need to keep blogging (on my law firm website) and networking, looking for more places to give seminars, etc.  It all takes up a lot of time, but it needs to be done.  Read more...

Need to Know: Planning for Kindergarten with a Food Allergy

Apr 5, 2013 by Melanie

Earlier this week, Jen blogged about her apprehension toward her son starting kindergarten—a whole eighteen months from now—due to his severe allergy to peanuts, which can trigger a life-threatening condition known as anaphylaxis.  For the uninitiated, an anaphylactic reaction is a true emergency that requires immediate action to save a child’s life, due to its interference with breathing, circulatory and other functions.  Avoiding contact with the allergen in the first place is obviously the best way to manage a life-threatening allergy, but in the case of small children with food allergies, it’s not that simple.  You not only need to restrict certain foods at home and monitor what your child eats closely, but you must also be mindful of the total environment in which your child spends his day.  For the most sensitive of allergies, even a trace amount of the allergen will be enough to set off a reaction.  My cousin went into anaphylaxis on a childhood vacation, where the plain cheesecake served to him had been sliced with the same knife that was used for the raspberry walnut cheesecake.  It’s that serious.

Needless to say, it’s understandable that anxiety can set in at the thought of sending your child off to school for the first time with a life-threatening food allergy.  As Jen described, a large part of what makes this so scary is that everything is new.  Since I deal with the public schools all the time and I have some experience with kids with food allergies in this context, I thought I would offer an outline of how to prepare for starting school with a food allergy.  Read more...

Do it Yourself: Chalkboard

May 12, 2012 by carlycorrigan

 

My daughter loves to play with sidewalk chalk and I have wanted to buy a chalkboard for her to play with indoors as well. Then the greatest thing happened! My sister-in-law (who is a fabulous artist) offered to lend me some of her chalkboard paint that she had used in a piece of her artwork that she had in a recent art show! So at first I was going to just use a piece of plain wood and paint it with the chalkboard paint to create a basic chalkboard… but then I had a much more creative idea (or so I think anyway) during the middle of the night while nursing my week old newborn (this is how most mommy’s brains work)! So instead of a simple piece of wood, I pulled out an old clipboard that I held on to from my teaching days and decided I could make a clipboard with that which would not only be fun to use, but could also be an educational tool as well!  Read more...

Wisdom Wednesday

Mar 21, 2012 by bernhardsonbunch

Where are our children headed? 

As Sir Ken Robinson, author and renowned speaker about educational reform and the place of creativity in schools and society, puts it:

“How do we educate our children to take their place in the economies of the 21st century?”

His answer, and his explanation of where we need to be headed when thinking about how to prepare our children for the future, delivers an important message to parents, caregivers, teachers, and anyone who has an active role in the education and raising of our children. If you have 11 minutes and 41 seconds to spare (I know! Seriously not always easy!) I highly recommend watching this entertaining and informative RSA Animate. If you haven’t seen an “RSA Animate” movie before…they are pretty cool. Worth it for the drawing feature alone, in my opinion. Check it out…and share any thoughts you have after seeing it!  Read more...