High Maintenance Mom

It's approaching all too quickly. Back to school shopping. Girls clothes that looked good on your daughters in May now are too tight, too worn, or if your daughter is like mine, stained. Even though it seems like summer vacation just started, it will be just a memory all too soon.

Skip the long, hot, shopping trip to the mall and select the latest in girls back to school clothes online.

I was given Mothers Who Think by a close friend of mine, another "thinking Mom" and enjoyed it very much. I do well with essays and magazine articles since my time alone is quite limited. The essays in Mothers Who Think range from comic stories of women yearning to know the truth about child birth and a Mom who used a blender to fend off a bull to haunting ones of a woman yearning for a daughter. It's a great read as you unwind from a day full of diapers, toys, laundry and toddler debates.

Many of B's friends started to lose their baby teeth when they were five but because B's teeth came in late, I assumed he would also lose his late. When he turned six and still didn't have any loose teeth, I decided to push on a few of his teeth and I was surprised to see his bottom two permanent teeth growing in behind his baby teeth. We were very excited he was finally getting adult teeth but when we showed them off, we were told they might need to be pulled. The dentist told me not to worry. We'd make an appointment in five weeks and if the teeth weren't out, they would be pulled. After they were pulled, B's tongue would move the adult teeth into place. It sounded relatively simple and although I hoped they would come out naturally, his teeth didn't loosen before the appointment. When the dentist saw the shark teeth he immediately told us he needed an x-ray and we would most likely need to see an oral surgeon to have them removed...

Whip cream for several minutes until it forms whipped cream. Put one dessert cup (I bought the vanilla ones from Whole Foods) on a plate. Add two spoonfuls of ice cream to cover the center. Add the red fruit around the outside of the ice cream. Cover the center with whipped cream and garnish with blueberries.

Summer Reading Programs are an excellent way to introduce kids to the joys of libraries and reading. Many libraries now have Listening and Parent programs too so everyone can participate. Reading to your kids is one of the best ways to prepare them for school and help them develop lifelong reading skills (Reading is Fundamental). Last year was B's first year in the Reading program instead of the Listening program and it was very exciting. We still read to him but we also had him read a little bit almost every night. Reading the same books over an over really helped as did finding a very simple series that he found interesting. Each child learns to read at a different rate and making the process enjoyable is very important. N and I snuggle with books in the evening. I let him finish the words at the end of rhyming sentences he knows and I occasionally point out words so he starts to learn more about how I read. Check out Read*Write*Now! for more information on reading to kids from birth until the 6th grade.

Our son was born a healthy 9 pounds 7 months ago and in that time we learned a great deal about Gastroesophageal reflux disease or GERD. Our son had what his pediatrician and I considered to be a mild case and in hindsight, our daughter, now 2 ½ may have had an even milder case. When my son was about 2 weeks old he began what I can only describe as grunting. I remembered my daughter doing it also but hers was slight and soon went away. My son’s grunting was loud and kept him awake at night.

Environmental Working Group (www.ewg.org) is a non profit organization that was founded in 1993 and whose main goal is to use “the power of public information to protect public health and the environment”. I found it to be a very helpful resources on environmental issues for my family. In their “for parents” section there is a guide to infant formula, a shoppers guide to pesticides in produce and a safety guide to children’s personal care products.

Tankini, one piece or bikini? Mom's have a decision to make when their daughters are choosing girls swimsuits. Designers such as Kate Mack and Banana Cabana create cute swimwear in all three styles. Older girls often have a strong preference, while babies seem to feel most comfortable in one piece or tankinis.

One of B's favorite days at school was 100's day (on the 100th day of school). B loved counting the school days in his classroom and was very excited for the celebration. In addition to counting out 100 snacks, decorating a crown with 100 stickers, and stringing 100 pieces of cereal into a necklace, the kids also got to search for 100 Hershey kisses. Each of the kisses had a sticker on the bottom with a number written on it. The kids had to match the numbers on the candy to numbers on a large paper Hershey kiss. It was fun to watch the smiling kids try to match the numbers and I wanted to see if N would enjoy a similar activity at home...

We've been having trouble accomplishing our basic morning chores - get up, come to the table, eat breakfast, clear your plate, get dressed, etc. It's not really new trouble, just the realization that most mornings are a struggle. After reading Positive Discipline and particularly Positive Discipline A-Z: 1001 Solutions to Everyday Parenting Problems , which I highly recommend because it condenses the first book into 30 pages and then gives specific advice for numerous issues through the teenage years, I decided to try a family meeting. This was not our first family meeting. I've tried them several times while reading the books but I tend to want to try everything at once so it wasn't surprising they didn't work the first time. Somehow, this meeting was a success. Maybe the kids needed to adjust to the idea or maybe we were all in the perfect mood but somehow it worked...