Search Results for: blog the last ten years

Top Ten Baby Names of 2014

Is your baby’s name on the list of the top baby names of 2014? It might be exciting to find out. The most popular names in a given year tell us a lot about popular culture at that time. It also can “date” a name to a certain decade when it first became popular. Baby Center puts together a list of the most popular boy’s names, and a list of the most popular girl’s names, every year. Sometimes, a name makes the list because a lot of parents were influenced by something in pop culture. Or, a name might be … Continue reading →

Effects of Being Bullied Last Longer than you Might Expect

Posted on by

It is obvious that being the victim of a bully is unpleasant. What you may not realize is that the effects of being bullied last much longer than you may expect that they would. A study that was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry found that children who were bullied have their health, relationships, and even their economic status, affected into middle age. The researchers used data that was collected from the U.K.’s National Child Development Study. They focused on more than 18,000 people who were born during a specific week in 1958. The researchers asked the parents of … Continue reading →

Shortening Summer Vacation

Know how to shut down an unruly kid in record time? Tell him that his school is shortening summer vacation. I’ve never seen a mouthy child go silent as quickly as I did last week while watching the evening news at our neighbor’s house.  Education leaders recently began serious talks about lengthening the academic year here. Of course, all my neighbor’s rowdy kid heard was:  “Next year, public school kids across the state could be dealing with a much shorter summer vacation.” The news reporter’s last three words nearly triggered an aneurysm in my neighbor’s kid. My child attends parochial … Continue reading →

Mother Writes Lovely Blog About her Preemie

Every once in a while, it is nice to read a lovely blog that a mother has written about her child. There is a blog called Micro-Preemie to Miracle that mom Sarah Bollinger started about her son, Everett, who was born at 15 weeks premature. He’s come a long way! I always find stories about preemies to be very interesting. There is something fascinating about the story of a teeny, tiny, baby that struggles to grow and thrive. Often, their stories are uplifting and inspiring. It is nice to read something positive! Last December, I wrote about a preemie named … Continue reading →

Last-Minute Halloween Reminders

Halloween is still a few days away, but trick-or-treating has already started in my neck of the woods. In Wisconsin, individual municipalities are given the power to determine their own trick-or-treat times. In recent years, many communities have designated the weekend prior to October 31st as the official period where kids can “legally” go door-to-door collecting free candy. Safety is the main motivator behind the move. Law makers believe it’s safer for children to trick-or-treat on a weekend when the traffic is lighter. In addition, having kids hit the streets in costume on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon increases the … Continue reading →

What I Learned as a Parent Last Year

I have to be honest; it is with trepidation that I go into this new school year. Last year brought some very unpleasant surprises to our life. So I can’t help but wonder what is before us. I try to have an optimistic attitude. But at the same time, I know that I can’t be blind to the reality that sometimes things just don’t go the way you thought or planned. So let me share some things I learned last year as a parent. First, don’t get too confident in your parenting. While you may not say it out loud, … Continue reading →

Last-Minute Father’s Day Scrapbooking

Time is running out for all of you slow scrappers. If you are looking to craft a memory book to gift to your Dad this Father’s Day, you can’t afford to procrastinate any longer. By now you should have all of your materials together, including the album, paper, embellishments, photos and mementos. To further expedite the construction process, it’s a good idea to have some general notes or sketches detailing how you want your finished layouts to look and what order you plan to display your page designs. When it comes to piecing together layouts, I typically work off of … Continue reading →

Plastic vs Reusable

Posted on by

Los Angeles just became the largest city to vote ban the use of plastic bags. Los Angeles alone uses 2.3 billion plastic shopping bags a year and only about 5% are recycled. What does this mean to the rest of us? It means that the times, they are a changing and we need to adapt. I’ve long been a fan of reusable shopping bags. Mine are about two years old now and almost embarrassing to use. I need to make some new ones. I don’t like bringing home plastic bags so I try to always have one in my purse, … Continue reading →

Wise Beyond His Years

We just celebrated my son’s fourth birthday this last Saturday. It was a day filled with fun and laughter for everyone. This year he was lucky enough to get $30 for his birthday, talk about spoiled! For a kid who thinks he is rich when someone gives him a penny, he was feeling pretty darn good that day! Any normal child would rush to the store to spend this new birthday money, but not Logan. When I asked him what he wanted to get with his birthday money he looked at me and said, “Oh nothing. I just want to … Continue reading →

Preschool Picks: Ten Games in One

It is around the time when planning for the next preschool year begins. I love to choose items and curriculum for my preschooler. Perhaps it is because I am such a kid at heart. Preschool is a wonderful time of exploration and teaching through games. One of the questions I receive most is about products, curriculum, and games that I recommend for the preschool years. In this next series on Preschool Picks, I will share the best I have used and come across. The first item I want to share is My Very First Educational Play Zoo by HABA. Last … Continue reading →