Thursday, January 24, 2013
A Patch blogger's post about not helping her children on the slide is being debated across the country.
A Patch blog from Alameda, Calif., called “Please Don’t Help My Kids” has struck a nerve with readers across the country. Posted in September, the blog has taken off over the past few weeks as it has found a second life through social media sharing. The blog has 124,000 Facebook recommendations and 833 people have tweeted the blog. The blog is an open letter to other parents at the playground. The blogger Kate Bassford Baker’s basic request is for parents to not help her daughters on the slide. She wrote that she wants her daughters to do things and learn things on their own. Learning to walk up the slide’s ladder is the first step to learning new things and overcoming obstacles, she wrote. “Because, as they grow up, the ladders will …
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Former Newton resident Megan McGrory Massaro and fellow mom Miriam Katz have authored "The Other Baby Book."
By the time Anabella Massaro was eight months old, she was in underwear. By nine months, she was sampling lobster, chicken drumsticks and caviar. Although some parents may find Anabella's developments surprising, her mother, Megan McGrory Massaro, sees a natural progression for her baby. "There are a lot of misconceptions and plain bad advice that is not based on science but instead on cultural legacy," Massaro says. Massaro, a former Newton resident, has co-authored a new "guide to simple motherhood" titled The Other Baby Book: A Natural Approach to Baby's First Year. Now a West Roxbury resident, Massaro wrote the book alongside fellow West Roxbury mom Miriam Katz. The book hit the (virtual) shelves of Amazon.com on Sunday, April 1 …
Monday, March 5, 2012
Or at least it used to be.
This column originally appeared on Brookline Patch in March 21, 2011. It has been updated and is running again in response to a recent push by local educators to get parents involved in math initiatives. I used to do well in math. I have an (unfortunately) very distant memory of getting A's in elementary school math. But that was a long time ago, before two plus two stopped equaling four. It starts out innocently enough. I’ll be making dinner, screeching James Taylor into the spatula, minding my own off-tuned business, when I hear IT. The eight words that bring instant alarm and dread to my gut. “Mom, I need help with my math homework.” How hard can sixth grade math be? I was eleven when I graduated that particular grade. I can do this. I…
Monday, February 27, 2012
Moms Talk looks at what a mother does.
Last week I wrote about how a mother does. She does a lot. Some of my favorite Moms Talkers immediately wrote in adding some of the very special things they do, contributing to a list long enough to wrap itself around the world in a hug. Here are their voices: Kristi G. Reads the same book over, and over, and over... Trying to do it with enthusiasm each time no matter how tired she is of that “Sam I Am,” hoping it will encourage her child's budding love of reading. Rosemarie Harper erin o Stands in line for 7 hours in the wee hours of the morning with her son to get him the latest Harry Potter book. JP I remember staying up at night with my daughter after she had night terrors ... just holding her and singing to her and telling her stories…
Monday, February 20, 2012
A mother is as a mother does ...
While web surfing the other day I came across a poll that asked, “What is a mother?” As the writer of a column entitled Moms Talk, I’d like to think I could answer that question lickety-split. Then the poll continued, “What encompasses the parameters of a mother?” Huh? First of all, I don’t think a mother has any parameters. No boundaries, no limits, nothing to confine her, or her love. Second of all, I’m not sure the most accurate way to phrase the initial question is to ask what a mother is. I think the truer question would be to ask what a mother does. That I can answer … A mother, If you're a mother, then you can continue this list for miles. Tell me what you do in the comment section below. I’ll post your responses in next week’s …
Monday, February 6, 2012
What do you do when you have a child who’s just like you?
There is a beautiful wild turkey that hangs out in a tall tree (yes, tree) in our back yard. He’s wandered the streets and yards of our neighborhood for almost two years now, somehow eluding the jaws of the Corey Hill Coyotes. He’s become so familiar with us he no longer puffs up at the bursts of loud sound forever emitting from our house. This turkey has a routine that brings him pecking at our back door several times a week. We love this. It’s so funny to see the turkey right there on our doorstep, politely knocking to gain entry. Of course the boys want to open the door, and even I considered it for a crazy moment, before I remembered… turkeys can be mean. Then we realized he didn’t want to visit with us at all, he was merely pecking …
Monday, January 30, 2012
Who knew?
Did you know you are supposed to clean the legs of your wooden chairs? You can be honest, no one’s judging you here. Well I didn’t know, until the day I came home from work to find our housekeeper squirting lemon-fresh Pledge on the curvy-carved veneers of my wannabe French Country chairs. Is this something people do? Sure, if a glob of spaghetti sauce dropped on the chair, I’d give it a swipe, but otherwise it’s safe to say I’ve never given the those chair legs a thought. Seriously, do they even get dirty? I did what I always do when I’m stumped. I called my mother, and sure enough, yes, you should occasionally give attention to the chairs legs. It appears dirt and dust can accumulate there just like anywhere else. Go figure. This is why …
Monday, January 16, 2012
How are you in a crisis?
One morning when the boys were two years old, I went to check on them in their cribs. Both boys were standing up, arms stretched out to me, so darn adorable with their matching feet pajamas and big gap-toothed smiles, keen and eager to start the day. But wait, something wasn’t right. I did a double take. For a minute I thought I was trapped in a warped and nightmarish version of Sesame Street’s "One of These Things is Not Like the Other." It appeared one of my twins had grown an extra head. Overnight, he had developed a baseball-sized lump over his eye that was so large it squooshed his eye into a barely perceptible slit. It was terrifying to look at. The son in question was blissfully unaware. He just wanted to be sprung from his cage so …
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Share your thoughts, ideas and experiences in our comments section below!
- OPINION
-
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Each week, we offer a new topic for parents to discuss in our Moms Talk Q&A. Our Newton Moms Council experts will share their insight and we want you to do the same in the comments section below! This week's question: How do you handle discipline? It can be a touchy subject or some, especially new parents. What is effective when saying "no"?
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Share your thoughts and ideas with us in the comments section below!
Each week, we offer a new topic for parents to discuss in our Moms Talk Q&A. Our Newton Moms Council experts will share their insight and we want you to do the same in the comments section below! This week's question: How do you plan for a successful and relaxing vacation? A happy vacation generally means happy babies and kids, which is tough to pull off with changing locations, routines, food and faces.
Michael Fleming
9:43 am on Saturday, January 26, 2013
Agree. "Play" is actually an activity children use to learn many lessons, test limits, explore their world and learn its rules. When you protect your child from every little micro trauma, he or she learns no lessons, explores no boundaries, finds no knowledge of limits. They wind up living on the basement couch, afraid or unable to deal with a world that offers no such coddling. The author of … more ›