Normally, I would not share this type of information, but with the general lack of child-specific medical research out there, I thought you might be interested. The National Institutes of Health announced the first research centers for The National Children’s Study, which will look at environmental effects on the health and well-being of children from before birth to age 21 - yes, among other things, they are looking for the effects of all that stuff pregnant women are exposed to these days just by breathing. We may all want to go find a nice bubble to live in when the results are reported. Personally, I see signs around city buildings and parking lots indicating that the air in these spaces could cause birth defects, and when I was pregnant, I always wondered if that meant my child would have three ears. It will be fascinating to see what this study finds. Check out the website for the latest and greatest news, or join the listserve.
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For those of us who would like to take the advice from the last post and start having more family dinners, but don’t really know how it works, here is a guide. It is both encouraging and sad that this type of article exists - Do we really need pointers on how to talk to kids during a meal? Can’t we just review our day with each other? Maybe kids today wouldn’t warm up to the idea of dinner communications like the Cleavers did it, but hopefully some of these techniques will help families break the ice and get out of Gameboy mode.
I was peeved about this several years ago when I heard an announcement on the radio advocating the same idea: If we parents would just get our heads out of our a**es and have dinner with our kids more, they would be so much better off. It is wonderful that we have people making such terrific suggestions, because otherwise, we wouldn’t know that spending time with our kids is a good thing. We are a pretty dense lot after all. Nevermind the fact that employers these days fully expect all employees to stick around until 6-7 at night, and then possibly drive for over an hour to get home. We’ll just tell them that we’re “...going to the effort and making it a priority...” as this article points out we should, and leave at 4 every day. And while we’re making it a priority, we’ll sell our house and move into an underperforming school district, because that way we’ll have dinner with our kids every night. But wait, then we have to buy the food....
So, now the experts are telling us that our children can learn valuable lessons that will serve them in the workplace by playing hours of Doom at home. Imagine my surprise seeing this article in an airline magazine. The concept seemed so odd that I just had to share it. There is some merit to the idea, at least theoretically. “Gamers” as they are called learn how to bring new people into a game, train them and assign people different roles, which is exactly what management roles require. The games also teach the players how to compete using trial and error, so Gamers tend to be less reliant on protocol, and more focused on finding what works. Apparently, these Gamers are not just one trick ponies either: they have lots of other outside activities such as sports. Here’s my question: Are these the same kids who can’t make it through a family dinner without pulling out the Gameboy, or is that a different crowd?
USA Weekend was thinking of us when they included this article in their Sunday insert. Sometimes corporate product planners need to let moms tell them what products we really need. A few moms have taken ideas they invented out of necessity and turned them into a business. There is a whole website devoted to showcasing these products - if you want something both useful and unique, be sure to check it out.
Europe may soon have a product for kids that looks like beer, and is bottled just like beer, but does not have alcohol. It will be marketed to kids, and it is called Kidsbeer, surprisingly enough. Of course, underage drinking groups here in the U.S. are fighting to keep the product out, citing that our kids do not need any more encouragement to drink. From the statistics I’ve shared in other posts, I’m not sure the kids are really waiting for our encouragement, and likewise, I’m not convinced that having a kid’s version of beer is all that harmful. Kids inherently want to do what we do, and many parents I know drink alcohol. So, why not give the kids their own version? It’s just a thought.
Since my last post was related to sexual practices among our children that might concern us, I figured I would just keep with the trend. Are you sitting down? Good. Here goes: Half of U.S. 15-19 year olds have had oral sex. And for 18-19 year olds, the figure is 70%. This report in Medical News Today also includes lots of data on adults that may be interesting to some, but fairly irrelevant when looking at our children (maybe not?).
Many parents send their kids off to college wondering if and when they will have sex, and how much alcohol they will consume. Here’s a new one for for you: bisexuality. Yes, it is a growing trend among college girls, and for some reason they feel compelled to experiment with it. Usually, I would have a comment or two on something like this, but frankly, I don’t even know what to say. I think each parent has to do their own soul searching and figure out for themselves what is ok. In the endgame, we all want the same thing, I believe: well-balanced, children who are happy. Using this as a guide is probably the best start.
This one isn’t directly kid-related, but I wanted to share it with you anyway, since it applies to many of us moms. We are so busy trying to make sure we don’t end up with two different color socks on our children (or ourselves), that our own health screenings may fall by the wayside a bit. Also, related to breast cancer specifically, many of us are still too young for traditional mammography. There is a new digital mammography that I experienced recently, and it is really fabulous. The information health providers can receive from this technology is amazing, and it works very well on younger women.
For those of you who are fed up with our education system, there is another reason to be concerned. Our children’s attire. Even the fashion designers are chiming in about clothes for girls meant to look like underwear. Check this article out, and you’ll see what I’m referring to. Now, this was published in Utah, a state not known for it’s openmindedness, however, it still made the cut to the web, and it is a valid issue that parents face whenever they see their kids off to school.
