Parenting Under the Stars

Sorry for the lack of posting the last few days. I really don’t have a great excuse but I was reading about Jamie Oliver and his work with kids today and wanted to share with those who may not have heard about it.

Fifteen Foundation is a registered charity and social program that helps train disadvantaged youth with the skills to become a chef. Fifteen restaurant started out in London 2002. Jamie Oliver (the famous “Naked Chef”) is one of the trustees and came up with the original idea. The concept caught on and has since expanded with restaurants in Amsterdam, Melbourne and Cornwall.

• That Jamie believed in these teenagers and saw a spark that others may not have is fantastic. Besides having a big heart, Jamie Oliver is a creative genius in the kitchen. He has commented a couple times about not being very bright in various interviews but he does not give himself enough credit.

I read some of the teenage graduate’s stories; one was a former car thief/drug dealer but now excels at a fulfilling job as a junior chef at Fifteen in London. Another was an unemployed single mother and another admits to simply sitting around smoking too much pot.

Fifteen Foundation’s Mission:

“Fifteen Foundation exists to inspire disadvantaged young people – homeless, unemployed, overcoming drug or alcohol problems - to believe that they can create for themselves great careers in the restaurant industry.”

Jamie as Activist for Kids Health

Jamie has his own kids and says that it has helped him see other children not as horrible little kids but someone else’s children. He has also been very active in promoting healthy school lunches and brought attention to the fact that the kids were eating junk at school and did not have enough funding for healthy food.

You can read more about the progress made at JamieOliver.com. There’s also a forum there and lots of free yummy recipes. He also has a podcast there and sells cookbooks, DVDs and lists all his television shows. Jamie makes you smile and shows how cooking can be fun. Gotta love him.

• Here’s a video of Jamie Oliver talking with Parkinson about what inspired him to invest his money on Fifteen and disadvantaged kids in Britain.

I am beginning to feel like some comical mascot. I have assisted with sewing little mermaid pillowcases, sang songs, danced, baked cookies and helped with homework. Yet I still hear, “Mom, I’m bored.” It makes me want to scream like the Gladiator, “Are you not entertained?!”

If you give kids a list of chores around the house for something to do, it’s amazing how fast they find other ways to amuse themselves. If you are truly bored, is it not another way of saying you’re boring?

I know little ones can only entertain themselves so much but my 11 year olds should be able to manage to figure something out without harming each other. Then again maybe not. I will expand my list and fasten it to the fridge but then I will boot them all out because it is a lovely sunny day and everyone could use the exercise.

My daughter received one of those inflatable toboggans for Xmas but the cat pierced a hole it. We do have one crazy carpet they could take turns with. Right now, there is a huge hill of snow that the plow put right beside the driveway. It’s been a major attraction for the neighborhood children but they will not be sliding down that.

Sundays our store offers movie rentals half price so that will do for the last couple hours before bed. They have already done the fort thing with the sheets and took over the living room but that got old.

I guess the bottom line is if I back off they will come up with something to do besides complaining about being bored although they’re still going outside. I keep biting on the bait but it won’t hurt them to use their own creativity especially since they don’t seem to like any of my ideas.

Allan from Coffee with Allan Cockerill has tagged me to answer 5 fun blog related questions. I will also be tagging 5 people to do the same. Allan has described himself as an Aussie Dad in a house full of Sheilas and he addresses all kinds of serious issues but has a wonderful sense of humor.

The Questions

• How long have you been blogging?
• What inspired you to start a blog and who are your mentors?
• Are You trying to make money online, or just doing it for fun?
• Tell me 3 things you LOVE about being online.
• Tell me 3 things you STRUGGLE with in the online world.

How long have you been blogging?

I think it’s been about nine months. I started out at Suite101 and eventually became a feature writer for poverty and then switched to environmentalism. I couldn’t keep up with either since I write for four blogs now and my family keeps me hopping. I enjoy making candles so figured I would apply as a candle making editor at Craft Gossip. Now I also write for 451Press here, Globally Green Living and Mental and Emotional Health.

What inspired you to blog and who are your mentors?

• Matt Keegan from the Article Writer inspires me since he is a successful writer and blogger. Although we usually write about different subjects I enjoy reading his stuff.

• Wendy from eMoms at Home is who gave me the idea that I could work from home writing. My husband was on disability and I was having trouble with my shoulders and given the questionable diagnosis of Fibromyalgia. Anyway writing was something I decided I could do decently and blogging looked like a fun way to help support my family. Since I had taken a web design program in college a couple years ago it made me less intimidated about diving in.

• Darren Rowse from ProBlogger continues to provide tons of information on pro blogging and I will probably never read it all but have learned a lot. He’s a personable down to earth guy who genuinely enjoys helping people and that comes across in his writing.

• Steve Pavlina (Personal Development for Smart People) also continues to inspire me and I love how he gets me thinking about things in new ways.

There are many others but I need to move on to the next question.

Are you trying to make money online, or just doing it for fun?

I’m definitely doing it for fun but am beginning to make money as well. I think I would do it anyway but wouldn’t spend so much time on it if I couldn’t make money.

Tell me 3 things you LOVE about being online.

• I love meeting new people from all over the world and although I have never been a social butterfly, the internet has provided a way for me to be more sociable. I’m not a big phone person and am home most of the time so the internet has allowed me to communicate more through writing.

• I find learning about different cultures, countries and people fascinating and wish there was more time to read about it all. Blogs help give a personalized slant to many issues and I enjoy that aspect because you get a different perspective from what’s fed to you on television.

Ok, lets call that three things.

Tell me 3 things you STRUGGLE with in the online world.

• Scheduling my time. I don’t necessarily want to have a rigid set in stone schedule but I find if I don’t designate certain times for working I get easily sidetracked. I always cook supper for our family but sometimes I fall behind. The kids get snarly about that.

• Although I enjoy social networking sites like StumbleUpon and Facebook I don’t understand how people keep up with so many of them. Twitter seems to be big too but I don’t want to join too many more or I will never get anything done.

• As Allan has mentioned, sometimes communication can be challenging online. Not everyone has the same sense of humor or even knows if you’re joking because they can’t see you smiling. Sometimes I don’t expand as much as I should either so that leaves people to read between the lines.

5 other tagged bloggers

Attract More Joy: Louise’s Blog

Karen Lotter’s Protocol Blog

Randi from Parenting Toddlers

Jean from Parenting and Religion

JM from Long Relationships

‘Crocodile Hunter’s’ Son ‘proud’ of Snakebite
9 year old Bindi was supposed to get all the attention since a Barbie type doll just came out that looks like her. 4 year old Robert Irwin took some of the spotlight this time. He was bitten by a baby boa constrictor snake and was quite proud of it but commented that he hoped it wasn’t venomous.

Both children seem to be following their father’s footsteps. Wildlife expert Steve Irwin, also known as the Crocodile Hunter died after a stingray pierced him in September 2006. He was well known for his conservation efforts and fought to save endangered species. Steve Irwin received criticism because of his hands on method with animals but it brought a lot of attention to endangered species.

Bindi now has her own series called Bindi the Jungle Girl, which was planned before Steve died. You can watch it on Saturdays at 5:00pm on Discovery Kids. She is an amazing performer and has a lot of magnetism like her father. She also sings, dances, and performs with her group the Crocmen at various events. As a mother, I know I would still be worried about them working with wild animals. It is still admirable that they are continuing with Steve’s efforts though.

I hope little Robert is not bitten by any more snakes but I imagine he will eventually because the whole family is into reptiles. Bindi received her first bite at 18 months! We have had lizards but I have never been particularly fond of snakes. I remember my youngest daughter picking up a small harmless snake when she was around 4 as well. She wouldn’t dream of it now but part of that is conditioning.

Family Day is the newest holiday here in Ontario, Canada but Alberta has been celebrating it since 1990.

The third Monday in February has also been designated as Family Day in the provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba.

Not everything is closed February 18, which has caused some confusion and prevented some from being able to celebrate it with their families.

On our list of activities is Karaoke since we have a Karaoke machine and it’s a lot of fun. My youngest children and my husband have this crazy rap contest. It cracks me up. They’re quite good at it too and although I can sing, I cannot rap. I don’t necessarily feel like I’m missing out because they also appreciate the silly lyrics that I make up to popular songs.

My dad used to make me laugh doing that and he kept us amused on long trips with his crazy creations. This is also a good time to take out the photo albums and reminisce about fun times together. My husband lost his mother and I lost my father both within a year of each other. It threw us both for quite the loop as anyone who has lost a parent knows.

Even if you don’t have a designated family day there’s nothing saying you cannot treasure your family by planning to do special things together. They like games so Monopoly will keep us busy for quite awhile and we all get a kick out of Trouble. I like Backgammon but nobody else here seems to. Maybe on Family Day someone will humor me.

There’s another storm coming, which should not surprise me because the snowfall has been crazy the last couple of weeks. On the bright side, we can build a snow fort and a snowman, make snow angels and drink hot chocolate. We’ll throw a couple movie rentals and popcorn in for fun but it won’t be a strict schedule they have to adhere to.

Happy Family Day to those celebrating and to those who don’t, enjoy time with your family anyway.

It’s challenging keeping up with children’s changing tastes in food. It drives me crazy because I can’t seem to stock up on anything for long before they get sick of it.

Maybe my memory is hazy but I remember settling with peanut butter and jam, an apple and maybe a granola bar thrown in for school lunch.

There are certain things that I have stocked up and stored for lunch in their special lunch cupboard and some of it is hidden in the freezer.

The freezer is a great back up strategy because I can produce wonderful homemade muffins from when I was on a baking kick. They always go over well and so do bagels. The things that go in the fridge are what are vulnerable to getting ripped off so I don’t like to store much in there for lunches.

The other stuff they get sick of because I see it come back from school. So my new strategy is to make a rotating monthly menu similar to a daycare center’s plan. This way by the time the month has passed they won’t be sick of it anymore.

Here are some of the rotating lunch items I have come up with. Feel free to add input and suggestions because I need all the help I can get.

• Tortillas with salsa
• Bagels with cream cheese
• Apples
• Oranges
• Kiwis
• Bananas
• Pudding
• Granola bars
• Crackers and cheese
• Rice Crispy Squares
• Muffins
• Cookies
• Sandwiches
• Vegetables with dip
• Raisins
• Rice (Easy, but they want this so it’s a good thing and a great way to slip in more veggies)
• Fruit leather
• Popcorn
• Yogurt
• Applesauce
• Tortilla wrap sandwiches

Last Minute Stuff for Valentines Day

I’m going to make some cookies tonight to surprise them with for lunch tomorrow but other than that that’s the only Valentine food treat they’re getting from me.

If you’re still looking for last minute valentine cards, crafts and activities check out DLTK’s Valentine’s day section. There’s printable cards, crafts, puzzles, poems and recipes.

Erinn over at Parenting Children also has some fun ideas for celebrating Valentine’s Day with your family.

A poll conducted by Cookie magazine and AOL concluded that 94% of parents think American children are spoiled. 55% think their own kids contribute to the situation.

Because of the information provided, I’m assuming they’re defining spoiled to mean supplying their children with money without conditions.

It is possible to shower a child with money and still neglect them. I could not find anywhere it mentioned how much affection or time was actually spent with these supposedly spoiled children so it appears they’re only referring to money.

Chores equal money?

One in five parents responded that their children receive an allowance without having to do any specific chores for it. We don’t give money out for chores either but that doesn’t mean they don’t do chores. Interpreting the results depends on how the questions were asked.

We tried the money for chores thing when our older kids were little but gave up on it because didn’t like the attitude that came about as a result.

Children should help simply because they’re part of the family team and not because they’re being paid. Most family members help each other out without receiving money for it. If it works for other people that’s fine but we don’t generally pay for household chores.

• When I think of spoiled children I think of the types of children and behaviors that Supernanny Jo Frost deals with such as major temper tantrums, outright defiance/refusals, constant whining etc. Randi discusses this a little more on her “Do you go Super?” post at Parenting Toddlers.

Among the survey’s other findings:

Use Money as a Reward

• 40% of parents polled said they reward good grades with something other than praise (money or other tangible rewards).

Give Money as a Gift

• 81% of parents polled said it is suitable to give cash to a child.

• 11% of parents put all the money into a savings account.

Give an Allowance

• 13% of kids earn $15 a week or more.

Parents are somewhat split over the age they begin giving their children an allowance.

• 41% gave it between the ages of six and eight.

• 28% between the ages of nine and eleven

• 18% at age twelve or older.

• 13% between the ages of three and five.

• 64% earn their allowance by doing chores.

Money as a Negotiation Tactic

• 69% of parents dock their children’s allowance when they don’t do their chores, or when they misbehave.

A Child’s Own Money

• 85% said their children have a savings account that was given to them at birth (45%) or by the time they turned fifteen(39%)

• 11% of the parents have given their children ATM cards

• 59% do not plan on doing so until their children are sixteen. (New York, Dec. 12 /PRNewswire)

Kaboose is one of my favorite children’s sites and they have some wonderful Chinese New Year craft projects. The clay pot rat is simple and cute with a body made out of a clay pot and glued on googley eyes. Since this is the year of the rat it’s the perfect project to celebrate with.

We made some fun noise makers with a couple paper plates glued together, a few beans inside and streamers glued in between.

• At FamilyCrafts.about.com they have simple project instructions on how to make a fancy paper lantern. I have always loved making these and several made of different colors will brighten up our home.

You can find a lot more Chinese New Year crafts at Activity Village. There’s lots to keep us busy which is a good thing since it’s a 15 day celebration.

I’m punched today and seemed to have gotten up too early and went to bed too late.

We have another storm so might not even have to run around like a mad woman in the morning because it looks like another snow day. Everyone is sleeping so there’s no reason I can’t do the same.

It’s important that parents take care of themselves and admit when they need some down time. I probably need more than the average person does but I’m going for a head dive anyway.

• Since I’m not too spunky, check out Mom is Teaching. Summer has an interesting discussion/debate going on about educating boys verses girls.

I certainly understand her decision to homeschool and her desire to encourage her children’s individual learning styles. Traditional school can’t be fun for children who like to move all the time regardless of gender.

Depending on the age of your child, trying to teach empathy might not yet be an option. Until children grow past the “me” stage you probably won’t have much luck.

Babies think the world revolves around them and by two it’s still a challenge to convince them to share anything even if they’re not using it.

What I’m wondering though is what we as adults do to discourage this from going on any longer than it should because there are still adults that don’t consider others. Also is part of it genetic?

I have two children here for example that are like night and day but one has always been more sensitive to others feelings. It’s not necessarily anything I did or didn’t teach them. One was born more empathetic.

Model Behavior

We can teach manners and kind and appropriate behaviors which will in theory improve our children’s behavior and chance for future success. Modeling the behavior still does not guarantee the feelings will come. There’s still a much better chance they will be empathetic if you don’t model mean and selfish behaviors.

I was interested in what other people had to say about it and found a wonderful article by Norma Schmidt called “5 Easy Ways to Teach Your Kids Empathy“. Besides modeling behavior she suggests trying to get children to describe their feelings. It makes sense because you can hardly know how someone else is feeling if you’re not aware of your own feelings.

I think that if a parent shows an interest in what a child thinks or feels, it shows that they love them. This increases the chances of them being able to love someone else. So the best way to teach empathy is to show them love. What are ways you show love and/or teach empathy?

After reading Consumer Reports about shopping carts being the leading cause of head injuries in infants, I came across this Weego Twin Carrier. It’s a good idea in theory but have you ever tried carrying two babies for any length of time?

I have twins but depended on my stroller for outings when they were infants. I remember complaining in the grocery store a couple times because all their carts at the time only had one infant seat.

This twin carrier might work for the first month anyway. My twins weren’t exactly light weights and using this any longer would have broke my back. It’s good that it’s now an option anyway because I have never seen one before.

• We were knocked offline for a couple days so I wasn’t able to get back on until now.

School was canceled because of a snow storm today and I thought my daughter had a dentist appointment. I dragged her all the way there only to find out this was my appointment and hers was next week.

We did end up spending some quality time together and I bought her a couple little crafts at the dollar store. It’s good that I didn’t drag her out of school for my appointment though.

Choosing Healthy Food for Teeth

We also hit the grocery store and grabbed some lasagna and cheese for supper and snacks because I’m not doing the big run until the storm subsides. With all the confusing dentist appointments lately it got me thinking about nutrition and food that is good for your teeth.

I have a horrible sweet tooth so try not to bring too many sweets into our home. I do like to bake however but don’t think the odd muffin is going to hurt. They do sneak a lot of sugar into things though and you have to pay attention to labels.

Those cans of juice drive me crazy that say 10% real juice. Guess what the other 90% is? Sugar, artificial flavor and water. It’s also hard to go down the cereal aisle without being bombarded with sugar coated cereal.

• Those energy drinks drive me crazy too because they’re advertised as being so healthy. Check out Energy Fiend for more details on their ingredients but the bottom line is they’re usually loaded with caffeine and sugar. Sometimes they throw in a few vitamins for good measure.

If you’re very active or you’re dehydrated and want to help replace electrolytes, here’s a simple recipe originally from WHO.

• 1 quart water
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 teaspoon table salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 4 tablespoons sugar

Yes, there’s sugar but you wouldn’t be drinking it on a regular basis and it’s not as much as some of those energy drinks.

Most fruit and vegetables are safe snacks that are healthy for teeth. Unsweetened cereal, whole wheat bread or crackers are also good choices. For more information see foods that are good for your teeth.