I’ve packed up and moved. Please point your browsers to my new digs.
Let’s Panic (which I found via Rational Moms) is probably one of the best parodies of the crazy Santiparenting sites EVER. If I were drinking coffee right now (and let’s face it, it’s 5:30 so I should be), it would be coming out my nose!
In light of my “Crafty/Makey” post on my other blog today (and in an effort to stop thinking about the judge-y person over at Science Based Parenting who thinks parents who use harnesses on their children should have never had them – yay! early morning judginess!) I wanted to point out the most excellent list from SkepDad called “100 things to do before you’re a teenager.” I like to think of it as the “Baby Bucket List” – and plan on using it as AJ gets older to have us do fun and new things together.
One interesting thing is that I look at the list, and there are probably 50 things *I* haven’t actually done either – for example, I totally lack experience in # 10 (magic trick learning), #20 (electricity and the basis of circuits), #44 (see a glacier or iceberg), #59 & #60 (high dive and snorkeling), #69 (ride a unicycle), #81 (find out my blood type), and the list goes on. It seems like fun to do with your kid, and I like the idea that we can turn it into a learning experience for ourselves as well. Since I’m on the crafty side, and Jason is on the make-y side, I’d like to come up with some items for the list indicative of our family – however, I totally am in love with #10.
Apologies for the abscence, but between my parents coming into town for a visit and me getting a stomach flu (first time being sick with a baby too….it was interesting to say the least), my schedule has been way off. And I’m learning how important the idea of a regular schedule is in the life of a baby- even if its just for my sanity. I’ve got a few posts planned out that I need to finish, but in the meantime, I wanted to highlight a few great posts I read last week:
- Brad over at SkepDad has a post about “Bubble Babies” – and the products that cater to them (ok, ok, their parents). I actually have some thoughts about this in the works myself.
- Mile High Mommas (love that name) has a post by pediatrician Dr. Steve Perry on Dr. Bob Sears and the delayed vaccine schedule.
- For those of you with older kids who want to teach some media literacy – Bazaar has a feature on models without makeup. It’s nice – for me, anyway – to see pictures of real women as they probably are every day. Great kickstart for a discussion on what’s “real” and what’s not in media photography. (Interestingly, it says the pictures were done without “excessive retouching” – which I still find funny)
- I call my mom all the time and ask her if food in my fridge is still good. At 33, and a parent, its nice to have this chart to help me out — besides I’ll keep it and use as a cheat sheet for AJ in 18 years!
- Science Based Parenting asks “How do you feel about the leash?” (My answer: Yes, please)
Wisebread (via Consumerist) has a great post in which a mom (Frugal Duchess) has to tell her preteen daughter that the sales girl at a popular “tween” store – who spent quite some time with her – was not her friend. Both posts – and comments – on Wisebread and Consumerist make for some great reading. Consumerist in particular makes the point that, if you don’t teach kids early to be “aware” consumers who can apply critical thinking to their purchases, it can come back to bite them later – something that totally rang true in *my* early life, to the tune of a $3000 credit card debt at 22.
Jason and I already had a discussion about this (totally unprompted by the article) and how we plan to start teaching AJ about money. Of course, now at 2 months (!) old, the most we can do is start him on a savings plan, but as he grows up, we’ve already discussed the best way to frame up both earning and spending money. Since it was Jason’s big idea, I’m going to see if he can do a guest post to discuss it and get some feedback.
In the meantime, how do those of you with older kids (i.e., those that can feed themselves) teach them to apply critical thinking to their purchases? Or do you?
Science Based Medicine, a blog that provides in depth articles about the relationship between science and medicine, has a great post today by Dr. John Snyder, Chief of the Section of General Pediatrics at St. Vincent’s in NYC, looking in depth at the Dr. Bob Sears’ book, “Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for your Child.” In the book, Dr. Sears – who part of the AskDrSears.com family – provides a bunch of anti-science language and sweeping generalities that seems to appeal to a lot of new parents. (The book is a best seller, and is ranked #414 on Amazon). Dr. John walks through a number of fallacies contained in the book – and provides some excellent information for parents looking for additional research material.
I think the ladies over at Skepchick have been colonizing my brain recently, because the last two posts I’ve made have been sparked by posts they’ve made. I’ll be blunt: I hate children’s music. I hated it when I was a kid (minus the smooth sounds of innapropriate-adult-songs-sung-by-preteens that was Kids, Inc), and I hate it now. I dread AJ wanting to listen to Raffi, or the Wiggles. However, as a parent, you have control over what your kids listen to until they reach a certain age (I think my age was about 11 or 12). Skepchick just had a post about the new They Might Be Giants album, coming out in September, which has a huge geek/sciency slant. I’ll be getting it, and declaring AJ’s theme song for 2009 to be “Solid Liquid Gas.”
If you’re looking for more “not totally annoying and actually listenable to adults” kids music, may I recommend the Junior Skeptics Mix Tape 2009 from Skeptic magazine? It’s free and worth it for the songs “I’m a Mason Now” by my personal fave, Johnathan Coulton and Overman’s “Evolution Rocks” alone. But they are all great.
AJ had his two month checkup on Monday, and got his first round of vaccinations. It isn’t pleasant to watch by any means, but having read up on the immunization “issue” online I was pretty much waiting for the world to end when he got the jab. (Then again, for AJ “really upset” sounds like other children’s “mildly distressed or annoyed” so I’m not discounting any child being upset.) We spoke with our doctor beforehand and we got on the subject of vaccine’s and she mentioned that she often feels she has to sell the concept of vaccines to new parents. I feel that its not only my duty as a parent to protect my child against some of the more pernicious diseases out there (and I’ve had whooping cough and it is NOT pleasant), but its also my civic duty to help protect herd immunity.*
His doctor appointment coincided pretty well with the fact that August is Immunization Awareness Month! Skepchick has a great article about it, with tons of resources for those parents who are “on the fence” about vaccinating their children – my personal favorite, and a go-to for medical type topics, is Quackwatch’s information on the subject. It’s important to do – in some areas (including parts of Omaha, where we live) certain diseases like Whooping Cough are making a comeback due to parents who are choosing to not immunize their children.
*That sounded way less sanctimonious in my head, by the way. Picture a Zap Branigan like pose with a DOOP flag waving in the background when you read that…
When I was pregnant, I read a lot of blog articles & opinions about giving birth. I wish I had discovered the Skeptical OB before I had AJ, but unfortunatly, I found her after the fact. Maybe had I read some of her thoughts & articles I wouldn’t have wanted to throw my computer across the room.
While I don’t agree with everything she says, Dr. Amy has focused in the past week on two phenomena I’ve seen – almost exclusively online – since becoming pregnant. They are the “Santimommy” and the “Birth Junkie.” I hear all sorts of online anecdotes about how moms act horrible to each other offline, but have really only seen it online. However, Dr. Amy describes each pretty well. One thing I’ve noticed (and I totally commented on the fact) that gets my hackles up about the way these types of women approach other women regarding giving birth and/or parenting is how they assume that the person they are speaking with has not done appropriate (ok, ANY) research and/or deep thinking about the related issue.
For example, I can’t think of one person I know who has had a kid recently that has not told me they wondered what they would do if they were in the position I found myself in on June 2nd – facing a possible c-section. Knowing my friends, I know that they (and myself) looked into each possible birth option just in case it happens to them. I believe in being forewarned and forarmed for whatever might happen – if my doctor had told me she thought I’d have to give birth in a bush wearing a tutu, then gosh darn it, I would have looked into it to see what I might say.
Unfortunately for all of us, we sometimes treat each other as stupid or unable to think for ourselves – and isn’t that what the past 40 years have been about ending? People like the Sanctimommyies and the Birth Junkies seem to think that they are the only people who really have researched or know about a topic.
Which brings me to my purpose for SkepParent. When I found myself pregnant (and even before), I was amazed at how much crap I heard. I heard even more crap from friends who told me about the crap they heard that I didn’t get exposed to. As AJ grew, I actually honed my critical thinking skills more and got more interested in the skeptical movement. After I had him, and started getting more sleep I figured that there aren’t enough of us out there to really rally around being skeptical parents, so I wanted to join in the conversation. Here’s a few things I want to do:
- Speak with science based parenting experts, educators and doctors about issues parents face
- Raise my son to be a critical thinker
- Avoid parenting magazines at all cost (they’re pretty much fashion mags for moms & dads, so why bother?
Join me, won’t you?
