Strollerderby : childhood

Sights of the Circus Extended to Visually-Impaired

JeanneSager — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 13:20:00 GMT

There's a long list of childhood pleasures visually impaired kids are forced to miss out on because of their disability. The circus doesn't have to be one of them.

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, the folks that lay claim to the Greatest Show on Earth, have done one pretty great thing for kids. They've added a "Blind Touch Tour" to their schedule, allowing visually-impaired kids their own day at the circus, a day when the kids get to go behind the scenes, have a meet and greet with the performers, even try out the equipment and don clown suits.

Reminding me of the post our own Strollerderby blogger Amy wrote last year about AMC Theatres new showings for kids with autism, a CNN piece about the Ringling Bros. efforts highlights how important it is that every child have access to the rites of passage of childhood. Not every kid makes it to the circus during their childhood, but they should. They should see the clowns up close and personal (if only so they can make up their mind to be freakishly terrified of them for the rest of their lives!) and watch the trapeze artists fly with the greatest of ease.

For the visually-impaired, in particular, the Ringling Bros. touch and feel show is the only way they could experience the circus - they can't watch on the internet or tv the way an autistic child or a child with cerebral palsy could.They need to grab hold of a clown's nose, sit atop the giant motorcyle, smell the elephant poop (OK, maybe not that last one - but that's part of the circus experience too!).

I couldn't find anything about the tour on the Ringling Bros. Website, but if you're getting a craving for a circus visit, you can see when they're coming to your town.

Image: CNN

Kids to Obama: Read Books, Eat More Ice Cream

JeanneSager — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 15:36:00 GMT

Ah, if only life were this simple. A collection of letters written by children to President-Elect Barack Obama were highlighted in the New York Times last week.

Their number one pick? A series of junk food suggestions from a little girl who thinks the president elect needs to put on some weight.

The letter is, of course, pure kid - "You look too skinny. You should eat more food. this is what you should eat:" followed by a list of foods I'd love to eat but only let my daughter have on special occasions. You can get all upset that this child doesn't value "healthy" foods, or you can look at it purely from the eyes of a child. She thinks the president looks hungry. She likes him enough to suggest he eat better. And, hey, who wouldn't want a buddy to fatten up on ice cream, buttered popcorn and cotton candy?

Others in the list were written by older children, and with that comes a bit more worldliness. Most moving to me is the letter from a twelve-year-old who says her parents are split down political lines, with one highly conservative and the other ultra-liberal. "Thank you for bringing my parents somewhat closer together. :) You are my idol Mr. Barack," she says.

I admit it; it doesn't take much to get me all weepy about the future of our country. But that letter in particular brought on the little pricks in the corner of my eyes. Because after reading about the parents who refuse to let their kids attend school on Tuesday lest they see the wrong (in their eyes) president inaugurated, it's nice to know there are parents out there who don't agree with the president-elect and are still raising kids to be thoughtful, accepting, and productive members of society.

To read the whole list - from suggestions that he get more kids reading to requests to help their families get jobs, check out the Times piece. Bring the tissues.

Image: New York Times

Via Jezebel

Entire School Board Recalled By Angry Students

Protect Children: Prohibit Divorce

U.S. Military Making Virtual Mom and Dad

Linda Ellerbee Says Kids Should Skip School To Watch Inauguration

What Do You Mean the Guinea Pig Isn't Living on a Farm in Ohio?

JeanneSager — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 21:32:00 GMT

I finally stopped holding my breath near cemeteries on a trip to Cape Cod when I was a teenager. We were stopped in traffic for a half an hour somewhere in New England, and cemetery on either side of the road. I think I'd gotten over the belief years before that the ghosts would enter my mouth if I breathed, but holding my breath had become a force of habit. I still blame my cousins.

Most of us had diehard beliefs when we were kids that we've fortunately learned to accept just aren't so. Remember your dog who got taken to the farm where he could run after chickens all day long? What about the baseball card collection your mom donated to the children's wing of the hospital for the really sick little boys who have nothing to do all day but lie in bed and shuffle through them?

I Used to Believe is a site devoted entirely to the beliefs we just couldn't shake when we were kids. There are your basic "out of the mouths of babes" quotes on there (yaaaawn), but there are quite a few that make you wonder, "Guerilla warfare isn't a bunch of gorillas attacking guys with guns?" So check it out - see if you recognize yourself . . . or your kids.

Image: I Used to Believe

An Obama Your Kids Can't Resist: Make the President-Elect in Cupcakes

Baby Dies After a Game of Airplane

The Stick's In, But What Toys Did They Miss?

Alllllvin! Everyone's Favorite Chipmunk is Fifty

Child Hunger in the U.S. Doubled in 2007

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:00:00 GMT

The Agriculture Department has reported that 700,000 American children went hungry in 2007, up from 430,000 in 2006. Since this sharp increase in the number of kids who are not getting enough to eat came before the economic crisis, it’s very likely that 2008 will be an even more difficult year for children in lower income families.

As if the president-elect didn’t have enough world crises to combat, these new figures make Obama’s promise to expand food aid and end childhood hunger by 2015 even more important—and more daunting.

Among those families suffering from “food insecurity” (i.e., the inability to afford or get assistance for enough food to maintain a healthy lifestyle), the hardest hit were—in descending order—those living below the poverty line, single mothers, African American households, and Latino households.

Overall, 12.2 percent of Americans didn't have enough to eat in 2007.

Photo: Total Broadcasting

Have You Brought Your Toys Out of the Closet for Your Kids?

JeanneSager — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 16:33:00 GMT

A discussion via e-mail with some of my fellow Strollerderby writers sent me on a mission the other night to find the ultimate toy of my '80s era childhood. Tub Town was suction-cupped to the wall of my parents' bathroom for the length of my tubbing time.

Punching it into trusty Google, I wasn't surprised to find an everything eighties fan site pop up atop the list. We were raised in a material world, and you're darn tootin' if you think I was a material girl. I've made toys of my childhood research into a bit of an obsession since my daughter was born. The toy portion of our office/playroom has exploded to the point where calling it an office is like calling George Bush a president (yuk, yuk). Still, I manage to convince myself that that perfect toy that kept me enthralled when I was a kid will be the one she will never bury beneath a pile of puzzle pieces and abandoned kitchen towels long ago "borrowed" to use as a baby blankies.

The bulk of the toys from my kid-dom are gone, abused by a younger brother and later chucked as my bedroom went the way of most "kid who moved out first" rooms. It's now an office/catch-all room where the catch-all explodes with grandkid stuff the way the playroom has taken on its own life across town. So I've turned to eBay, where thousands of sellers are preying on eighties kids-turned-parents like me, who are desperate to find the Glo-Worm treehouse ($100, but it comes with 11 vintage Glo-Worms - tempting, very tempting) or the solitary cow still missing from a Fisher Price barn rescued from mildew in their parents' basement.

What is it with us? Our parents' generation said to hell with all of that old crap. Raised by our grandparents who grew up in the Great Depression and counted every penny, our parents went to the other extreme and created us, eighties-era monsters with an eBay habit. There are some among us who have been thisclose to whoring themselves out in exchange for the entire Garbage Pail Kids collection or a Pound Purry.

My proudest purchase since my daughter was born is a British book of children's stories, out of print since the eighties, that I finally tracked down and had shipped overseas to take up residence on my shelf, waiting until she's old enough to hear one of 365 bedtime stories every night of the year. And if only I could find the Tub Town. I'd pay . . . maybe give up the first born? Er, I mean, I'd be your best friend.

Image: Inthe80s.com

Do You Play With Your Kids' Toys?

News from Darkest Peru: Paddington Turns 50

Stuff Parents Dream About: Life Without Play-Doh

Do You Keep Every One of Your Kid's Masterpieces?

Facebook Kicks Teddy Bear Offline

The Smurfs Turn 50

Of Childhood Trainwrecks and Literary Inclinations

Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 12:31:00 GMT

From time to time I'll look back on childhood and cringe -- either because of the way I behaved in a particular situation or the way I was tormented in others. Most of childhood was just grand, don't get me wrong. But every now and then a memory will spring forth out of nowhere, and I'll think: "Who was that kid?"

Which is why I'm having so much fun reading Can I Sit With You? -- a web collaboration of some really fantastic writers recalling some really unnerving events. Or funny events. Or downright catastrophes. It's like getting the chance to rubber neck someone else's childhood angst and neuroses, and I just can't avert my gaze.

The most recent essay, by Lisa Lucke, offers the perfect blend of humor and humility, and it's all capped off at the end with a jaw-dropping, cringe-inducing revelation -- a must-read for anyone who remembers practicing so hard as a child only to be told, well, go read it. I don't want to spoil it. Then there's Dori Ben-David's yarn about her late afternoon encounter with someone she and her friends used to torment. And these are just a few of my favorites.

The site raises money for special education in a Bay Area school district, and the essays are also published in a book. I just wanted to share for a good cause, but mostly, for a good read. If you had an odd childhood, this is the perfect site for you. And really, who didn't?

You Look Like Your Husband's Mom

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 16:35:00 GMT

A study has found that men tend to be attracted to women whose facial structures resemble those of their mothers. The same holds for women, who tend to pick partners who look like their fathers. This is because the faces we are exposed to in childhood largely determine what we find attractive later on.

Psychologists call it “sexual imprinting.” We lay folk call it creepy.

On the bright side, we’re not talking striking resemblances, but more subtle similarities, like jaw bones and eye shape. So, rest assured, you don’t look exactly like your mother-in-law.

And just in case you were concerned about inbreeding, a psychologist from the University of Durham puts all your fears to rest. “We have a lot of mechanisms—such as pheromones and smell—to stop us choosing someone too similar to us, like an immediate family member,” says Dr. Lynda Boothroyd.

Man, is science sexy or what?

Photo: The Daily Mail

Kid Food Is Mostly Crap, and It's a Little Shocking

Kelly Mills — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:02:00 GMT

I doubt most parents would assume a box of waffles with a picture of SpongeBob on the front was necessarily health food. But what if the box also had a label saying, "high in essential nutrients for growing kids"? Even if you don't consciously think about it, you might soften in your approach to the waffles. Well, I got news for you: That food is most likely junk.

See, researchers in Canada analyzed more than 360 products marketed to children. They did NOT include junk food, so there's nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide on this study. Instead they covered what is sometimes packaged as "fun food", products with cartoon characters and so on pimping the contents, such as prepackaged dinners. And guess what? Nearly 90 percent did not meet established nutritional standards, measured by percent of calories from fat, and the amount of sugar and/or sodium. Worse still in my book, 62 percent of the foods researchers identified as being of poor nutritional quality had claims of health on the packaging, like "low fat" or containing "essential nutrients".

So yes, the food industry is not above using shady marketing (such as pictures of kids playing sports on a box of sugar-salt crack) to fool parents about the health value of foods. And of course, there's the issue of directly marketing to kids, by putting appealing and familiar characters on the packaging. Just be forewarned that the fun, convenient food you buy at your kid's request is highly likely to be straight-up junk.

Tyson Foods Big Fat Liars

Locally Grown Ain't All That

Horrific Trauma For Children. Waaaa.

Kelly Mills — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:31:00 GMT

Remember yesterday, when there was mostly news of death and tragedy? And we all wept in our hands and considered getting really drunk to dull the despair of the Derby? I bet you'd really like it if I posted about something light and happy and funny right about now to take away the pain. Well, okay, you are Princess Buttercup and I'm the Dread Pirate Roberts/Westley. "Life is pain, your highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something." Because there's a trauma I just can't ignore here.

Perhaps you know about the Childhood Goat Trauma Foundation? It's an organization I hold dear, because I was a sufferer (sniff) and spent years just terrified of petting zoos. (By the way, I also suffered goose ambush trauma--anyone wanna start a foundation for a worthy cause? Those bastards have teeth in their beaks, you know.) Anyway, I raise the issue because June is Goat Trauma Awareness month. You know I love awareness months. And it just means the timing is perfect to openly discuss this issue, and encourage survivors to get help. Break the silence!

Top ten awareness months

Childhood Goat Trauma: The healing begins now

Wandering two-year-old struck by car

Childhood Imagination Gone Wild; Rambo Style

Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) — Mon, 05 May 2008 11:31:00 GMT

I'm loving this little ode to make-believe -- in fact, that's the tagline for this flick: Make Believe, Not War -- and can't wait to see Son of Rambo, a screwy title for what looks to be a classic tale of childhood friendships and fantasy. Lordy I'm a sappy sucker. But I still can't wait.

Seven Unluckiest Irish Childhoods

Jen Chaney — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 13:02:00 GMT

Are there any Irish kids who grow up happy, well-fed, wealthy and without alcoholic fathers? Not if pop culture is to be believed.

The luck of the Irish simply doesn't apply to many of the troubled lads and lasses in movies, books, plays and music. On this St. Patrick's Day, let's honor a few of the Emerald Isle's wee battered souls with this list of the Seven Unluckiest Irish Childhoods in Recent Pop Cultural History.

7. The Twins in "The Commitments": As Irish families go, the Rabbittes seem fairly pleasant. But the twin girls in the family don't have it easy. I mean, aside from having multiple siblings and living by modest means, they have to speak in unison all the time. That's a lot of pressure.

6. Bono: At the age of 14, his mother died very suddenly of a brain aneurysm ... at the funeral of his grandfather. Talk about fodder for a bleak Irish drama. Young Paul Hewson's luck would eventually turn when he grew up to front the world's greatest rock band. Other major accomplishments: Earning a Nobel Peace Prize nomination, ticking off the FCC by dropping an f-bomb at the Golden Globes and holding a press conference in a K-Mart.

5. The Sisters of "In America": The two young girls in this Jim Sheridan film lose a brother, then move with their parents to a seedy Hell's Kitchen apartment with no air-conditioning. Worst of all? Since the story is set in 1982, they have to wear '80s-era clothes.

4. The Daughter in "The Beauty Queen of Leenane": Martin McDonagh's play centers around Maureen, a 40-year-old woman stuck playing nursemaid to her mentally ill mother, a woman who pees in a pot and dumps her urine in the kitchen sink every morning. Okay, so the story does not technically focus on anyone's childhood, but I think it's fair to assume that Maureen's adult life with her mother is this bad, childhood had to be even worse. On the plus side, well, you can't say they don't have a pot to piss in. (Tip o' the clover to fellow Strollerderby blogger Brett Singer for this suggestion.)

3. Shane MacGowan: The frontman for the Pogues moved from Ireland to London at the age of six, where he was eventually kicked out of school for drug use. His parents also reportedly gave him alcohol at a young age because they thought it would prevent him from becoming an alcoholic as an adult. Yeah, that plan worked out beautifully. But MacGowan ranks at No. 3 mainly because I have to assume that anyone with teeth like these must have had some rocky coming-of-age moments:

2. Francie in "The Butcher Boy": Choose the novel or the film. Either way, you get the disturbing story of a boy with an alcoholic father and a suicidal mother who eventually goes nuts and murders his neighbor. You'll need a few Guinesses just to get through it without squirming.

And the No. 1 Unluckiest Irish Childhood belongs to...

1. The McCourts of "Angela's Ashes": "Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood." So writes Frank McCourt in the opening paragraphs of this best-selling memoir, which may paint the definitive picture of young Irish woe. I mean, the twin babies drink sugar water. You know what happens to infants who do that? They wind up with teeth like Shane MacGowan's.

Photos: Paramount Pictures; Audio Cama

You Scream, I Scream for Adult Ice Cream

Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) — Thu, 05 Jul 2007 14:05:00 GMT

There's something whimsical about the ice cream truck. It toddles around, singing, shouting, keeping kids tangled in childhood and bringing adults back to it. But who needs a Tweety Bird pop at 30? Thankfully, Gourmet magazine is adult-sizing summertime treats.

And let's face it, if your children's ice cream truck handed out these delicious treats, you'd no doubt push the neighborhood kids out of the way to be first in line. (As if some of you don't already.)

Apple-celery granitas. Chocolate-covered mint ice cream terrine. Peach praline semifreddo with amaretti. I am loving summer all over again.

Royal Society for Prevention of Accidents Says Scrapes and Scratches Good For Kids, and They Should Know

Alisyn — Fri, 15 Jun 2007 13:09:00 GMT

One of my favorite parenting blogs recently pointed out that "it's pretty amazing to hear a government official -- even across the pond" say that "by scraping knees, grazing elbows and getting bruises, children learn 'valuable lifelong lessons' that will help them to avoid more serious injuries in later life."

I couldn't agree more - it is amazing! In an age where helicopter parenting and over-scheduling are rampant, people need to hear that "children can learn valuable lifelong lessons, particularly about risks and how to deal with them, from playing in the natural environment, and that parents have to accept that their children may get injured. Bumps, bruises and grazes are not serious injuries and are part of growing up.”

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents and Research for the Children recognize that though it may be difficult for parents "When children are able to interact with the world around them, they learn to push their boundaries and develop their assessment skills – rarely, for example, will children climb above where they feel comfortable."

I try my best to balance my own over-protective instincts with what I like to call "benign neglect:" that is, I try not to interfere when I see my kids doing something that may result in a small bump or bruise, but also may boost their self-confidence (crossing the "big kid" monkey bars alone is good!), or may teach a valuable lesson (walking in front of the swings is bad). Next time someone points out that my 2-year-old is about to jump off the top of the climing structure, I'll just refer them to this article, and kiss the boo-boos as need be, secure in the knowledge that she learned something from her choice.