Strollerderby : reuters

They Say: School Makes Your Kid Stupid, Fat and Mean

Madeline Holler — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 19:08:00 GMT

If your kid goes to one of those academic and/or desperate to improve schools, where all the little ones are hunkered down drilling math facts and learning phonics and taking practice test after practice test, you might need to worry.

Schools responding to the test score requirements of No Child Left Behind -- many of which have given up recess and other free time to up math and reading test performance -- are failing children (yet again!) in terms of learning how to behave socially.

From Reuters (via Yahoo!):

"The available research suggests that recess may play an important role in the learning, social development, and health of children in elementary school," the research team said in a study published in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

But today many children get less free time and fewer physical outlets at school "because many school districts responded to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 by reducing time committed to recess, the creative arts, and even physical education in an effort to focus on reading and mathematics," they added.

These schools, which often serve urban children who don't get much free time outdoors either, are also not helping the rise in childhood obesity. Another topic, another day.

Here's my question: if learning the academic stuff like math and reading is all about putting in hours, why not up those hours? Not by killing off art and P.E. and music, but by extending the school year. The U.S. school year is surprisingly short and the summer break is painfully (and harmfully, if you ask me) long.

You teachers out there might hate me for this, but the normal two-month summer break should be way shortened -- to two or three weeks. Then the days could be less packed, there would be time to bring back music and art and who knows what other long-term learning projects.

What do you think?

Photo: DrRobyn.blogspot.com

Breaking News -- Obama Assassination Plot Thwarted

Madeline Holler — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 21:21:00 GMT

Two men were charged and arrested in Tennessee Friday after authorities heard of their plot to rob a gun dealer, shoot as many "non-Caucasians" as possible and assassinate Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama.

From Reuters:

An official from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said police found the men in the Jackson, Tennessee area with a number of guns, including a sawed-off shotgun, in their car.

According to an ATF special agent, the two Neo-Nazi skinheads, Daniel Cowart, 20, of Bells, Tenn., and Paul Schlesselman, 18, of West Helena, Ark., were planning a national shooting spree that included an African-American school, which wasn't named in the report, and ended with shooting Obama.

From MSNBC:

The two planned to shoot 88 black people and decapitate another 14, he added. The numbers 88 and 14 are symbolic in the white supremacist community.

“They said that would be their last, final act — that they would attempt to kill Sen. Obama,” Cavanaugh said. “They didn’t believe they would be able to do it, but that they would get killed trying.”

Court documents show that they two had planned to shoot at Obama out the window while driving quickly toward him.

No word on how authorities found out about the men or the plot.

Photo: Reuters

They Say: More Children Have Allergies

Brett Singer — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 22:30:00 GMT

If you thought it only seemed like every other kid had allergies, it turns out that they do. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, "About 3 million U.S. children have a food or digestive allergy -- an 18 percent increase over the past 10 years." The CDC also says that slightly more girls (4.1 percent) than boys (3.8 percent) have some sort of allergy.

What I wonder is how common food allergies are outside of the United States. As Chris Rock said, "We got so much food in America we're allergic to food. Allergic to food! Hungry people ain't allergic to sh*t. You think anyone in Rwanda's got a f**king lactose intolerance?!" Obviously someone in a less developed country could have an undiagnosed allergy, but it's an interesting question.

The article also doesn't say what they think the cause of this allergic increase is, or offer a theory as to whether or not these allergies were always there and just went undetected. (It does, however, mean that when that mother leaps across the table at you during a birthday party and screams, "BUT MY CHILD IS ALLERGIC!" she's probably telling the truth. But it's still OK for you to wish she'd just tell you calmly.) There's also some good news: "Most children outgrow" their allergies to food, they say.

Frankly, I wish I were allergic to Autumn Mix candy corns. That would make it a hell of a lot easier to stop eating them. Maybe.

Source: Reuters

Image: Amazon

The Babble List: The Best Candy Ever

New York Times Anthrax Update

What are your kids wearing this Halloween?

Dr. Greene's Vitamins one way to get extra D

Woman leaves toddler in car while she goes to a bar

Santa Claus says: Smoke More

Mom and son barbecue grandma's remains

Best political shirt ever - Everyone Poops

Woman changes her name to Cutout Dissection.com

Who Do You Like More -- Your Real Spouse Or Your Work Spouse?

Madeline Holler — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 21:31:00 GMT

Are you the one in 10 workers who has a so-called work spouse? You know, the person at the office that you're (platonically) partnered up with? Famous examples include: Regis Philbin and Kelly Ripa, Howard Stern and Robin Quivers, David Letterman and Paul Schaffer.

Oo oo, does your actual spouse have a work spouse? How does that make you feel?

Twenty percent of you are feeling jealous, a CareerBuilder.com survey found.

Back in my office days, I was platonically polyandrous regarding work spouses. I had two. But since one was pushing 65 and the other was kind of dumpy, I highly doubt my then partner-now-husband was the least bit jealous. As for him, the husband, he (1) works in heavily male offices and (2) is socially off-putting enough anyway that, no, actually, I'm not jealous at all!

What about you? Wish your spouse's work spouse would get a new job, already? And doesn't this happen all the time on movie sets -- except it often turns into something real? (Angelina and Brad, I'm looking at you!)

They Say: More Toddlers Get Immunized Than Ever

Madeline Holler — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:01:00 GMT

From the news -- multi-state measles outbreaks, autism-weary parents cautious when it comes to immunizing -- you'd think parents who get the full schedule of vaccines for their kids are the ones way outside the norm.

In fact, it's quite the opposite. Surprisingly so. According to the CDC, more than 75 percent of U.S. toddlers got the recommended shots against childhood diseases in 2007. And nearly 90 percent got all but one in the recommended six-shot series.

Fewer than 1 percent of the more than 17,000 children in the study got no vaccines at all.

From Reuters:

The one exception was the four doses of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis or whooping cough vaccine, received by 84.5 percent of toddlers, the CDC said.

Maryland parents are the most inclined to get the full schedule of shots -- 91 percent of toddlers in that state are up-to-date with the recommended innoculations. Nevada, with 63 percent, is the least.

Here's the schedule for toddlers that the study looked at.

The recommended series tracked in the report was: four doses of diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis vaccine; three doses of polio vaccine; one or more doses of measles, mumps and rubella (German measles) vaccine; three doses of Haemophilus influenzae type b vaccine (Hib); three doses of hepatitis B vaccine; and one or more doses of chickenpox vaccine.

Where do you come in? Do your toddlers have all the shots? Did you follow the schedule? Did you opt out of all of them (if so, do you live in Nevada?)?

PS: That kid in the picture? He's smiling not shrieking. How do you get one of those?

They Say: Everybody's Catching Measles

Was Amanda Peet Right? Jump In Measles Cases Linked to Vaccine Refusals

Photo: dearborncounty.org

Levi (aka: Mr. Bristol Palin) Meets McCain ... With (Even More) Pics!

Madeline Holler — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:15:00 GMT

Levi Johnston met Sen. John McCain today in St. Paul, Minn. Johnston, VP candidate Sarah Palin's eventual son-in-law and the father of her soon-to-be grandchild, was flown into the Twin Cities, site of the GOP convention. Why? Well, somehow McCain's going to get his arms around this spiraling family saga and use it to his advantage.

Not to mention, Sarah Palin makes her acceptance speech tonight.

While the McCain camp works out the details, let's enjoy this latest edition to the Election 2008 scrapbook. Levi, American conservatives are your new family now.

John McCain fusses over expanding Palin family (Levi and Bristol, at last reunited)

The happy couple (plus bump!)

And the rest ...

Now, really this time ... evvvvverybody! (Including Bridget McCain on the far right ... we never see her!)

Introducing Young Mr. Bristol Palin

Sarah Palin's Teen Daughter is Pregnant! We've Got Pics!

McCain, Palin oppose teen pregnancy aid and sex education

Palin’s Daughter’s Redneck Baby Daddy: “I Don’t Want Kids!”

'Palin Should Go Back to the Kitchen' and 4 More WTF Comments About the VP Pick

Photos: Reuters.com , Getty Images [via NY Mag]

In My Next Life, I'm Birthing Pandas

Madeline Holler — Mon, 01 Sep 2008 13:32:00 GMT

Those damn human brains! So large even in babies that childbirth for humans is, relative to much of the rest of the animal kingdom, quite painful.

Check out this short video of a panda giving birth. So fast, so painless, she didn't need a birth plan or a doula! Of course, I wouldn't trade ...

cute receiving blankets and a warm wet cloth to clean the baby for all the teeth in my mouth (no matter how efficient that may be to pick up a newborn).

Spanked! Is Your 3-Year-Old Getting It at Preschool?

Madeline Holler — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:25:00 GMT

I'm the first person to giggle/cringe/fume at all the feelings talk and redirection and tolerated annoying behaviors of kids young and old. But that's because I come from a long line of bitter, passive-aggressive control freaks. Lucky for my kids (crossing fingers, crossing fingers), I'm smart enough to know that kid brains are still developing, life is not easy and children's outward actions rarely correlate one-to-one with their inner needs/wants/emotions.

I'm also smart enough to farm my beauties out to the pros when I can. I get a little break. The kids are with other kids. And the pros know what they're doing. Because the pros are gifted in the childcare arts. Because the pros are supervised by other pros. Because the pros re-up their professional credits every summer and go on retreats and role play, role play, role play to collect the necessary "tools" for dealing with conflict and stubborness and the crankies in just the right way that everybody feels good and heard and special about themselves at the end of the day.

Right? Wrong!

According to a new Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties Union study, gobs of kids in the U.S. are getting spanked by their caregivers and teachers every year. Something like 200,000 of them. Some as young as 3! And African-American girls are getting it way more than any other demographic. I never thought to ask whether my youngest's preschool spanks the kids. Certainly not my older one's elementary school. I mean, who knew it was even an option?

From Reuters:

Twenty-one U.S. states still permit the use of corporal punishment in schools. In Texas and Mississippi children as young as 3 are struck for transgressions as minor as gum chewing, the report says.

The punishment often involves hitting a child on the buttocks with a long wooden board, or paddle.

In 13 states in the U.S. South where corporal punishment is the most prevalent, African-American girls are twice as likely to be hit as their white counterparts, according to the 125-page report.

"African-American students are punished at 1.4 times the rate that would be expected given their numbers in the student population," the groups said in a statement.

Texas is the capital for corporal punishment -- a quarter of the cases in the study hail (in my opinion, unsurprisingly) from this state (also winner in the capital punishment category!). Here's an old NY Times story where Texas educators defend the practice.

If your stomach hasn't turned enough, get this: the study found that students with physical or mental disabilities were subjected to a disproportionate rate of corporal punishment.

The study also documented cases of children being seriously injured, of course a rare occurance. But even if the majority of those getting hit at school do not leave school with bruises or red marks, I would lose my mind if a teacher or principal or daycare worker spanked my kid. Or even threatened to spank them. How about some redirection? Talk about feelings? Tolerance and role playing? I promise I'll stop rolling my eyes!

What would you do if you found out your child got spanked at school? Or are you all for corporal punishment (if the answer is yes, do you live in Texas? It's just a question!)

Should You Intervene When Strangers Hit Their Kids?

Photo: nospank.net

Elephant Parents Teach Baby to Paint

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 21:10:00 GMT

Elephants in a zoo near Tokyo are proving that artistic ability runs in the family. In this video, a mother and father elephant emulate the pleasure of artistic expression for their one-year-old baby. Reluctant at first to put brush to canvas, the elephant is soon making brush strokes with an impressionist's eye for color. Oh, the adaptable talent of the young.

Not everyone is wild about the elephant painting phenomenon, thinking it is cruelly forced upon the animals by some trainers as a way to attract crowds, and of course, money. Whether or not that's true, at least the elephants in this video are not forced to draw particular objects, but rather are given full creative license--followed by a refreshing hose down.

Photo: visopys.org

No, They're Not Trying to Drown Their Kids

Madeline Holler — Thu, 15 May 2008 20:01:00 GMT

If that video of villagers dropping their babies from the roof of a temple in India disturbed you, you'll want to pass on this one. Parents at a mountain spring in Bulgaria force their kids underwater, you know, for their own good.

Wha ...?? The country's Alevi Muslims celebrate the coming of spring during "Hadrelez" by bathing in holy water. According to Reuters, they believe that the spring heals mute or stuttering children, but only for five minutes after midnight on the morning of 'Hadrelez'.

Huh. They're screaming, so I guess it works!

Video: Reuters

Words Have Many Meanings

Adrienne Martini — Wed, 07 May 2008 17:00:00 GMT

Reuters, bless them, just ran a feature on "Mompreneurs," which featured folks like Skip*Hop's Ellen Diamant and Dapple's Dana Rubinstein and Tamar Rosenthal. The rant that follows isn't about them but is, instead, inspired by the way the coverage is framed.

Here's the primary question: have you ever heard of a "Dadpreneur?" No? You know why? Because business people who aren't mothers are simply called entrepreneurs. Men with kids are still entrepreneurs, even if they invent a stroller, diaper bag or baby-related device. But if you have the temerity to have a baby and start your own business, then you are only a "mompreneur," which is somehow different and just a little bit lesser-than.

Thankfully, you're not a "mommypreneur." You can, however, be a "mommyblogger," which is different from a regular old blogger because the writer in question talks about her kids rather than Grand Theft Auto 4 or Iron Man.

Here's a thought -- rather than simply label something "mommy-" whenever a mother happens to start doing something all of the other cool kids are, let's just let it keep it's old name. An entrepreneur still faces the same risks, no matter how many children she might have.

illo credit: www.canadianmommies.com

Strollerderby : reuters

They Say: School Makes Your Kid Stupid, Fat and Mean

Breaking News -- Obama Assassination Plot Thwarted

They Say: More Children Have Allergies

New York Times Anthrax Update

What are your kids wearing this Halloween?

Dr. Greene's Vitamins one way to get extra D

Woman leaves toddler in car while she goes to a bar

Santa Claus says: Smoke More

Mom and son barbecue grandma's remains

Best political shirt ever - Everyone Poops

Woman changes her name to Cutout Dissection.com

Who Do You Like More -- Your Real Spouse Or Your Work Spouse?

They Say: More Toddlers Get Immunized Than Ever

They Say: no link between autism and measles vaccine

They Say: Everybody's Catching Measles

Was Amanda Peet Right? Jump In Measles Cases Linked to Vaccine Refusals

Levi (aka: Mr. Bristol Palin) Meets McCain ... With (Even More) Pics!

Political Nanny: Mr. Sarah Palin, Alaska 'First Dude'

Introducing Young Mr. Bristol Palin

Sarah Palin's Teen Daughter is Pregnant! We've Got Pics!

McCain, Palin oppose teen pregnancy aid and sex education

Palin’s Daughter’s Redneck Baby Daddy: “I Don’t Want Kids!”

'Palin Should Go Back to the Kitchen' and 4 More WTF Comments About the VP Pick

In My Next Life, I'm Birthing Pandas

Spanked! Is Your 3-Year-Old Getting It at Preschool?

Is it ever OK to hit your kids?

Should You Intervene When Strangers Hit Their Kids?

Elephant Parents Teach Baby to Paint

No, They're Not Trying to Drown Their Kids

Words Have Many Meanings