Family Room August 13 2012

BonBon Break

0 Shares

FACEBOOK & TEENS: FRIEND OR FOE? :::: Perspective Parenting

Remember when you got your boobs growing up? Or maybe you remember when you weren’t getting them and everyone else seemed to be. (And um, yes, I’m assuming I’m speaking to the female population.)

It was such a big deal when “the girls” started making their way out into the world. Do you remember the attention they were given, the new outfits that showed their existence or tried to accentuate their form? They were given a whole new addition to our wardrobe in the form of bras and our friends either envied them or felt sorry for them. The beauty of budding adolescence….

But our developing bodies and the sex talks and the tight clothes to show our changing bodies- they were everywhere! The attention to our new selves was both gratifying and horrifying- depending on what that attention was.

Fast forward to our current generation of youth. Same budding adolescence, same preoccupation with their bodies and tight clothes and looking thin. Same paranoia and curiosity, different year. Today’s teenage girls have the same concerns we did at their age, yet many of us feel that the times and pressures are different. The biggest difference is not their body image or when their development is making its arrival into their lives, but the way our children have grown up expressing themselves. Not in clothing or hairstyle, but the way they communicate with each other.

~~::Continue Reading::~~

About Lynn: She is a mother of 2 young children and a professional school counselor to adolescents. She shares her perspectives regularly on everyday parenting concerns based on professional counseling experience fused with personal parenting experiences, using a blend of humor and reality. You can follow Lynn on Facebook and Twitter.

L is for Lizzy :::: My Dishwasher’s Possessed

I’ve never been comfortable using words that soften things. When my kids ask me a question, I give them the most honest answer that I think they’re able to handle.

My parents did the same for my sisters and me, and I found it less frightening, not more.

I love words. I’m a writer who’s married to a writer. We’ve been teaching our children that words can empower, inspire, and educate. They can also anger, sadden, and hurt people.

Choose your words carefully was a phrase I heard often growing up, and I use it myself with my three children.

So why does the R word bother me so much? The word is used to medically define developmentally delayed people with below-average IQs.

It’s just a word. Right?

Or is it?

::Continue Reading::

Kathy Radigan is the creator of the family life blog, My Dishwasher’s Possessed! Her first love was acting and singing which she pursued until the desire to pay her rent became stronger. She left her job as an assistant in a Venture Capital firm when she and her husband had their first child in 1998 and has been enjoying and immersed in the raising of their three children ever since.

When Kathy and Joe’s youngest child started kindergarten in the fall of 2010 their children’s schools went paperless. Kathy begrudgingly got her first email address and became a full fledged mom blogger a few months later. Her site, My Dishwasher’s Possessed, posts a weekly essay that explores the funny, messy and hectic life of a family that includes two boys with learning issues, a daughter with significant special needs and a crazed appliance.

You can find Kathy on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

ICE CREAM…THE OLD-FASHIONED WAY :::: My Small Potatoes

I love a good scoop of ice cream in the summer. I also love the sound of an ice cream truck. The problem is, most of those trucks are filled with sugary, processed popsicles that cost a pretty penny. But not Peppermint Andy’s. Oh, it’s ice cream the old fashioned way…scooped out of a bucket and put on a cone. How can you resist? And the best part about this minty green retro truck, is that she’s parked somewhere different everyday. So… this means an adventure for me and the smalls AND a delicious, creamy ice cream cone at the end of our hunt! A summer day just doesn’t get much better than that.

So here is a photo story of our hunt for ice cream on a warm, early day of summer…

~~::Continue Reading::~~

About Arlee: Arlee is an Early Childhood Educator, earning her degree at BYU Idaho. She runs a government accredited care center in her home in Red Deer, AB. She studied with the New York Institute of Photography and she owns her own photography studio. Arlee is a mother of 6, an aspiring yogi, a lover of books, travel, good food and wine. She’s a blogger in her “spare time” and she will never say no to chocolate.Follow Arlee on Facebook and Twitter.

PARENTING STRATEGIES WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN – TALKING TO PRESCHOOLERS ABOUT TRAGEDIES::: Baby Shrink with Dr. Heather

Mom, what happened?

The Colorado shooting has come and gone, but we’re left trying to explain things to The Littles. One well-meaning mom criticized me on Twitter for even suggesting we talk to young children about violence. “Why even bring it up?” she wondered.

Her life is much more insular than many of ours — I have a 2 year old. But I also have a 6 year old. And a 9 year old. And an 11 year old. And those kids have completely different levels of awareness and understanding of these situations — and they talk. In front of The Littles. So parents like us need talking points for those tricky situations.

So here are my thoughts about how to navigate these unavoidable conversations. Let’s be ready, because unfortunately, it won’t be the last time.

~~::Continue Reading::~~

About Heather: I’m a licensed psychologist with a PsyD degree. My specialty is in the development of babies, toddlers, preschoolers — and parents. My husband and I have four young children. I’m interested in using social media to help the public understand the complex — but important — world of child development. Live television and video are my favorite ways to connect with parents. I’m the sole writer and producer here at BabyShrink. My company, BabyShrink LLC, also consults with universities and corporations to reach families with young children via social and traditional media.