Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday:

A Texas couple was demonized by the media last week for not giving a souvenir baseball to a little boy at a Rangers baseball game. The 3-year-old started crying when the couple next to him caught the ball. Announcers called the couple heartless. The Rangers team gave him another ball.

Later the couple said they didn’t know the boy was so upset and the child’s parents said they had no beef with the couple for not handing over the ball.

Good for them. One day a kid thinks he’s entitled to a baseball and the next he’ll think the world owes him a living.

Yes, I’m exaggerating—a little.

But recently I’ve watched my own kids try tears and guilt when I told them they couldn’t get what they wanted. My 10-year-old turned on the waterworks when I told him he couldn’t have a stray cat he found. We already took in one stray cat a few years ago and you know who feeds it and changes the litter box. I wasn’t going to be suckered again.

For my older one, the issue isn’t baseballs or cats. It’s colleges. He has begun his college search and suddenly he realizes that he might not get in the school of his choice just because he wants it. He tried to blame me for his mediocre grades, but even he realized that was ridiculous.

I’m not heartless. I probably would have given the little kid the ball. But I congratulate his parents for teaching him that he isn’t entitled to it just because he wants it.

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Teens
        

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday:

I had to chuckle when I read Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot’s comments last week urging school systems across the state to delay starting classes until after Labor Day.

“The chance for families to spend precious time together and to build those lifelong memories during that final, end-of-summer vacation has been lost by the decision to begin school a week, or even 10 days, before Labor Day,” Franchot said.

Delaying the start of school would be a boon to the state’s tourist industry, he noted.

On that point, I don’t disagree. I’m sure Ocean City and other tourist destinations would appreciate having another week of family vacations. But to my thinking, the summer break is long enough for most of us working parents who struggle to find child care, camps and productive ways to keep the kids busy. By mid August, I’m out of money and ideas. I can’t even afford a hot dog on the boardwalk¸ much less a week at the beach.

The kids might say they’d like an extra week of summer, but the truth is, they are bored by the middle of August. After all, you can only sleep and hang around the pool so much.

I’m reminded of that Staples commercial where the happy parents push the cart through the store shopping for back-to-school supplies while the music plays “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year.”
I say, let’s open schools at the end of August as always and let the tourist destinations entice us with spring break getaways and winter holiday vacations.

What do you think?  

Posted by Hanah Cho at 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Teens
        

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday:

I have a notion to create a bumper sticker that says: “It’s a job, not a choice.”

I’m sure you’ve heard about the dustup last week over Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen’s comment that aspirant first lady Ann Romney had “never worked a day in her life.”

Romney responded by saying she had “made a choice to stay home and raise five boys” and that was “hard work.”

All of us parents know that being a parent is hard work. It is the hardest job I have—lots of overtime and sometimes meager reward. But those other things I do—the full-time teaching, the part-time freelance writing—those aren’t choices. Like most women, I work to support my family.

And, while I grew up in the 1970s and am not afraid to call myself a feminist, I never imagined that I had a choice in working. My mother worked alongside my father on the farm and later was a teacher’s aide. My grandmother worked the evening shift in a textile factory. Neither had a choice. I was lucky. Thanks to strides made in the women’s rights movement, I at least had some choice in the kind of work I did.

I don’t have daughters. Like Ann Romney, I have boys. And no one is telling them they have a choice of going to work—in the job market. It’s hard to believe we are still having this debate about our daughters.

If I had a daughter, here’s what I’d tell her: Chances are, you aren’t going to have a choice, so you’d better learn a marketable skill and be prepared to support yourself. You might even have to support your children, too.

Because here’s the truth about the career of being a wife and mother: Just like any career, it is full of uncertainties. You might not get hired right away. Or, you might get hired, but find your husband is not a wealthy financier and doesn’t earn enough to support you. Or, some years down the road, you might find yourself out of a job when your husband asks for a divorce.

So, daughter, prepare yourself to work, because like most of us, you won’t have a choice.

Posted by Hanah Cho at 3:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Teens
        

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday

As the nation slowly recovers from the recession, a new survey from T.Rowe Price finds that tweens want to know more about how to make and save money. And while three quarters of parents say they talk to their kids fairly often about money matters, the survey also finds that parents believe they are lacking as financial role models.

Stuart Ritter, a T. Rowe Price senior financial planner and father of three, said in a news release that kids are eager to learn about finances. “If we want to put them on the right financial path, parents need to be open and honest about money, demonstrate better financial behaviors and spend the time teaching basic financial lessons the way they do other skills," he said.
According to the survey, 77 percent of parents say they are not always honest with their kids about money-related items, with 15 percent not telling the truth at least weekly. Most commonly, 43 percent of parents report not being honest about how worried they really are about money, 32 percent tell their children they can't afford something when they really can, and 27 percent withhold information about the family's true financial situation.

I’m in the 23 percent that tells the truth: We can’t afford that! If you want to buy video games, go get a job!

Maybe that’s not the conversation T.Rowe has in mind. When it comes to financial discussions, the survey revealed that parents find talking about investing just as difficult as talking about puberty/coming of age.

T. Rowe Price offers parents five tips for helping kids learn money basics and develop better financial habits:

Continue reading "Teens and money " »

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Teens
        

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday:

Last week, I wrote about the Hunger Games, a film that is hard to avoid. A few days ago a more important film came out, but it will be hard to find. It’s Lee Hirsch’s The Bully Project, which is opened in just a few theaters in New York and Los Angeles on Friday.

The documentary tells the story of young kids being harassed and bullied by their peers. The reason you won’t see it, however, is that the Motion Picture Association of America wanted to give the movie an R rating because of the language the kids use. The Weinstein Co. decided that rather than releasing it with the R rating, it would release it with no rating. That decision means the film will have a very limited released because some movie chains refuse to show unrated movies or treat them as NC-17 movies, meaning no one under age 17 can see them, even with a parent.

Perhaps the movie will eventually find its way to wider distribution. I hope so. As the parent of a son getting ready to go to middle school next year, I think seeing the movie would have given us the chance to talk about how hurtful words can be and to explore the appropriate reactions to the peer pressures in middle school.

Of course we can talk about that anyway and we do. But the movie would have given us concrete examples to discuss and think about.

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Teens
        

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday:

Parents of teens and tweens are learning a whole new language these days. After a decade of learning about muggles, wizards and Death Eaters, we now have to study up on sponsors, Careers and Tributes.

I bet you know what I’m talking about—the newest movie phenomenon, The Hunger Games.

Parents and kids are lining up to watch the heroine Katniss battle for her life. One father I know even resorted to buying tickets from scalpers outside the theater so he could take his kids to see the show.

By comparison, I had an easy time of it. We went on opening night, but I ordered the tickets online, didn’t have to wait, and even purchased an extra at the box office when my teenager decided at the last minute he also wanted to see the film.

A month ago, I didn’t even know what The Hunger Games was and there’s a lot I still don’t get. But after skimming the book and seeing the film, I can say we’ve moved well past the Disney heroine.

This is the first film I’ve seen where the girl is strong, smart, brave and savvy with no thanks to any guy. Hermione was smart and resourceful, but it was Harry who killed Voldemort.

In the Hunger Games we see completely different love interests. The handsome Gale stays home and spends the movie pining for the heroine while the equally handsome Peeta fights with Katniss in the games, but is completely incompetent.

My older son didn’t like the movie; the younger one did. What do the girls think? Do they dream of being saved by the handsome prince to live happily ever after, or do they want to fight their own battles?

It will be interesting to see how the ad companies jump in on this. This fall, I bet there will be lots of Katniss Halloween costumes. But will any boy want to dress up and play along?

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Teens
        

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday:

The other day, my 10-year-old said he had a confession to make and begged me not to be mad at him. All sorts of things rush through a Mom’s mind when she hears those words from a child. Did you steal something? Cheat on a test? No, he had found a discarded cigarette on the ground, picked it up and put it in his mouth to see what it was like.

My first reaction was “Yuck!” But then I assured him I wasn’t angry, but we talked again about the dangers of smoking. Our conversation was a timely one. The U.S. Surgeon General released a report earlier this month that finds tobacco use is increasing among some young people.

More than 600,000 middle school students and more than 3 million high school students smoke. Every day, 3,800 teenagers try cigarettes, according to the report.

Every day I take my older son to high school, I see a group of kids standing at the edge of the school grounds smoking and I feel terribly sorry for them—sorry that they probably think they are cool, when they are not. Sorry that they are damaging their bodies and getting hooked in on expensive and deadly habit.

The surgeon general offers suggestions for how to fight teen smoking. Probably the most important is that we parents must set a good example ourselves.

Have you had the "no smoking" talk with your kid? How did it go?

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Teens
        

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday:

“How do I look?”

Everybody asks that question. You try on a new pair of jeans and wonder if they make your butt look fat. You try a new shade of lipstick and you ask your girlfriend if the color is too bright.

But in a disturbing trend, girls are posting videos on YouTube and Tumblr asking if they are ugly. Their insecurities aren’t new, but the access to social media puts teen angst out there for all to see. Kids who already have low self esteem are exposing themselves to ridicule and I wonder if their parents even know it.

Boys seem less likely to post these videos. I guess they might not think it is manly to ask the world about their appearance. But as a mother of boys, I know they are worried about their looks, too.

As parents, we need to remind our kids that they are beautiful, even if they might think their nose is too big or their hair unruly. My mother always said, “Pretty is as pretty does.” It sounded corny when I was a teenager, but somehow it stuck. It’s time we had a conversation with our kids about what pretty is.

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Teens
        

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday:

As if I don’t have enough to worry about with gun violence, bullying, test scores and teen sex. Now Lou Dobbs tells us that the Lorax, the new movie based on the Dr. Seuss book, is indoctrinating our kids to become Occupy Movement protesters.

My kids are getting a bit old for Dr. Seuss now (even though I’m not), so the Lorax hasn’t been on my radar as a must-see movie. Basically, it’s the story of how the greedy Once-Ler cut down all the Truffula trees, leaving a polluted mess. Only one last seed remains from which a forest can grow and save the world.

The Seuss book was criticized years ago as making the logging industry look bad, so Dobbs’ position isn’t new. And I don’t doubt that when Ted Geisel wrote the Lorax in 1971 he was trying to tell kids that it’s important to take care of the environment.

But really it’s beyond me how that can be a bad thing. Even those who support the logging industry and distrust the green movement must agree that we need to take care of the environment. I can’t imagine that even Lou Dobbs wants to see all the Truffula trees chopped down.

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Teens
        

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday:

I was happy to learn that the Maryland State Board of Education is taking another look at its zero tolerance policy. Baltimore Sun reporter Liz Bowie reports that the board is aiming to revise its discipline procedures in order to keep more kids in school. The new policies could reduce school suspensions by about a third, state officials said.

Already, some principals are having second thoughts about suspending kids for non-violent behavior. It’s time they did. I’ve been shocked to see the number of suspensions skyrocket in my kids’ elementary school. Call me soft, but I find it hard to accept that elementary school children should be suspended unless they bring a weapon to school or try to burn the place down.

I know a little about school discipline. For many years, my mother worked in a high school where her job was to keep the kids who were given in-school suspension. She had to make sure the students did the work they were supposed to be doing in the classroom. I am sure that a day with my no-nonsense mother was a more effective punishment than allowing the kids to stay home for a day.

When my mother died, a young woman I did not know came to the funeral. With tears streaming down her face, she told me my mother was the best teacher she ever had. Apparently, she had learned something from in-school suspension.

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Teens
        

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday:

My kids have been lucky not to have developed any food allergies. Many years ago, my older son pretended he was allergic to tomatoes. He had his teachers and babysitter believing he would fall deathly ill if he ate a tomato. The truth was he doesn’t like the taste of tomatoes, which our sitter discovered one day when she asked us about his “food allergy.”

We all got a laugh out of it, but when kids have real food allergies, it’s not funny. Scientists are starting to unlock the secrets of why kids develop these allergies and have begun to find ways to treat the problem.

A recent article on Parenting.com says doctors are experimenting with introducing microscopic amounts of the foods that cause allergic reactions in hopes kids’ immune systems will learn to tolerate the foods. One day these kids may eventually outgrow their allergies.

Have you wrestled with food allergies in your home? Did your kids eventually outgrow them?

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Teens
        

Moms around the world can probably tell hundreds of stories about trying to breastfeed their babies for the first time.

As much as some people say it's "natural," it's not always that easy. Maryland healthcare providers are trying to make the breastfeeding process easier for new moms.

My colleague Andrea K. Walker reports:

Officials hope that improving support for breast-feeding inside and outside the hospital will not leave mothers to figure out it for themselves. Recommendations include requiring lactation nurses at hospitals, promoting exclusive breast-feeding and encouraging immediate bonding between baby and mother. The state also wants hospitals to stop giving out free formula samples that they say may entice mothers to give up on breast-feeding in a moment of desperation.

I was lucky that Jake -- who is now 2! -- latched on pretty easily though there were moments where things did not go as smoothly. If a mom wants to breastfeed her baby, it's important that family, friends and spouse or partner provide support and encouragement.

While healthcare providers, doctors and hospitals try to encourage new moms to breastfeed, they are also sending mixed messages. In my situation, I had access to lactation nurses at the hospital, but I was sent home with free samples of formula.

What kind of support and services should doctors and hospitals provide? Should the state push efforts to stop free formula samples?

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Parenting in general
        

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday:

Folks are still talking about the Super Bowl commercials. While the Clint Eastwood car commercial appears to be the most controversial ad this year, the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth (CAMY) is more concerned with the 14 million kids under age 21 who watched the Super Bowl and saw the alcohol ads.

Dr. David Jernigan, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health who heads the center, opposes the tactics companies such as Budweiser use to market their products. Their ads often feature dogs and horses, making them appealing to kids, his group says. This year, one of the most popular commercials aired during the Super Bowl included Weego, a rescue dog who fetched beer for his owner. Budweiser is even donating money to rescue shelters for folks who click on the Facebook page and vote for the commercial.

My boys were among the millions who sat through all the Super Bowl ads. Did they have an impact? I don’t know. My kids seemed to like the car and Doritos commercials more than the beer commercials And while I’ve never drunk a Budweiser in my life, I’ll have to say it wouldn’t seem like the Super Bowl to me if I didn’t see one commercial with the Clydesdales. I missed the Weego ad, but Budweiser’s Prohibition ad gave me the chance to tell my 15 year old about the failed Eighteenth Amendment. It was one of those teachable moments.

What about you? Did your kids seem to notice the alcohol ads?

Posted by Hanah Cho at 9:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Teens
        

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday:

I noticed a few days ago that the Maryland General Assembly is considering legislation that would require kids under age 13 to sit in the back seat of the car. Currently, the state recommends kids under 13 sit in the back, but doesn’t require it.

I don’t know about you, but I think it’s a great idea. The Maryland State Medical Society, also known as MedChi, supports the measure as a way to reduce the chance of kids being seriously hurt in car crashes. That’s good, of course, but I have more selfish reasons for supporting the plan.

If the law passes, I won’t have to play referee with my kids about who gets to sit up front. One boy is 10, the other 15. The matter will be settled. The younger one will complain of course, but I’ll be able to say, “Sorry, honey, that’s the law.”

I already use that answer when he moans about going to school. “Sorry, you can’t stay home from school. That’s the law.”

So I’m asking the legislature on behalf of parents throughout the state—pass this law so I’ll have one less argument to settle. And maybe while you’re at it, pass a law that settles which kid has control over the car radio.

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Child Safety, Teens
        

As mothers, we talk about having and wanting choices on how we raise our children.

Some moms in Maryland want to have the option of delivering their babies at home and want the state to ease standards to do so. Supporters say the state places too many restrictions on obtaining a midwife. In Maryland, more than 500 moms delivered their babies at home last year.

My colleague Andrea K. Walker reports on this grass roots effort:

They are working with a Montgomery County delegate to introduce legislation that would open the door to more midwives delivering babies at home. ...

Heather Brown, 35, of Pikesville, delivered two of her babies at home, including a daughter born seven weeks ago. She said state officials need to be more open-minded about home births.

"It should be a valid choice for women who want to do it," she said. "It should be a woman's choice and not the doctor's and the medical establishment. It's not fair for the government to make it so difficult."

State health officials oppose loosening the restrictions, citing safety concerns. Currently, certified nurses or doctors must be present during home births.

But as the story points out, the majority of home births around the country are performed by other types of midwives, including certified professional midwives, who Maryland does not allow to deliver babies at home.

It's a fascinating debate, and I'm interested in hearing from moms who have delivered at home. Why did you choose a home birth vs. a hospital birth?

Posted by Hanah Cho at 10:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Expecting
        

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday:

Do your kids look at you when you talk with them? With all the cell phones, iPods, computers and other digital devices, it seems to get harder to get kids’ attention. My older son nearly always has the cell phone in one hand and the iPod in the other. The younger is glued to the laptop playing games.

But researchers at Stanford University found that tween girls who spend a lot of time watching videos and using online communication may feel less social success, sleep less and have less desirable friends. On the other hand, kids who spent more time in face-to-face communication seemed to have greater social success, greater feelings of normalcy and more sleep.

Kids need to spend time in face-to-face conversations in order to learn the visual cues of facial expressions, the researchers point out.

As we know, it’s hard to read expressions when your eyes are glued to a screen.

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Teens
        

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday:

An estimated 2 million kids have had to say good-bye to a military parent who was deployed overseas since 2001, including many in Maryland. Last week, the Department of Defense launched a website to help kids cope with the stress of parents who are stationed abroad. Militarykidsconnect.org, created by psychologist at the defense department, includes message boards, games, videos and educational resources for kids 6 to 17.

The site also has features to help parents and educators understand the challenges military families face as they go through the deployment cycle. The site includes information on how parents and teachers should address the sadness, worry and outbursts kids may experience when a parent is deployed overseas.

For military families out there: How have you helped the kids adjust to a deployment?

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Teens
        

There are 24-hour gyms, 24-hour diners and everything in between. Now some daycare centers are joining the mix.

The New York Times reports on the trend:

Day care is slowly becoming night care in today’s economy, as parents work ever longer days, take on second jobs and accept odd shifts to make ends meet. ...

About 40 percent of the American labor force now works some form of nonstandard hours, including evenings, nights, weekends and early mornings, according to Harriet B. Presser, a professor of sociology at the University of Maryland. That share is expected to grow with the projected expansion of jobs in industries like nursing, retail and food service, which tend to require after-hours work.

When I was looking for daycare for Jake, one of the first things I wanted to know was the center's hours. Most centers in this region close between 6 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. My job can be pretty crazy sometimes with long hours, so it was an important factor for me.

Imagine the stress of finding childcare when you have to work odd or overnight hours. The article features one daycare center in Ohio where the providers help children with homework, feed them dinner and get them ready for bed.

Of course, there are downsides. For one thing, the parents interviewed for the story said they rather have their children be watched in their own homes, but child care center "offered the best compromise."

Do you think there is a need for 24-hour centers, or at least those that have evening hours?

Posted by Hanah Cho at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Child Care
        

Everyone is getting into the business of celebrating the Baltimore Ravens.

My colleague Andrea Walker at Picture of Health reports that Sinai Hospital will give away a $3,000 savings bond to the first baby born after the kick off at the AFC Championship game against the New England Patriots.

Good luck to all expected mothers who are due this weekend at the Northwest Baltimore hospital.

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Expecting, Sports
        

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday:

I’ve always been a bit perplexed over the issue of giving a kid an allowance. Baltimore Sun financial columnist Eileen Ambrose gives me even more to think about.

In her column Sunday, she quotes Lewis Mandell, professor emeritus of finance and former dean of business at the State University of New York in Buffalo, who has found that that giving kids allowances without requiring them to do chores makes kids less motivated to get a job or go to college. While we’ve been told for years that giving kids allowances helps them better understand finances, the professor found that high school students who didn’t get an allowance performed better on financial literacy tests than those who did.

Allowances have come and gone in my house. At one time, I gave the kids $5 a week, but when finances became tight, the allowances went away. I also had second thoughts about paying kids to do chores around the house. I want them to learn that they must help just because they should, not because they will be paid for it. For my older son, that means mowing the lawn and taking out the trash. Both kids must walk the dog and clean their rooms.

Mandell says it’s important to talk with kids about finances and I do a lot of that. I pull out that oldie but goodie “Money doesn’t go on trees” and “I’m not a bank” and simply “We can’t afford it.” I tell them how much the mortgage and utility bills cost and what I earn. I’ve quizzed them on gas prices and phone bills. I hope these lessons will sink in now so the bill collector doesn’t come knocking at their door later.

What do you think is the best approach on allowances?

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Teens
        

Weight loss is one of top New Year resolutions for many people.

If you're a mother in Baltimore, you could take advantage of a free program called B'more Fit for Healthy Babies.

The program is part of a larger citywide initiative to reduce the rate of infant mortality. What does weight have to do with infant mortality?

According to the program, overweight women face increased risks during pregnancy and delivery, and their babies are more likely to have poor birth outcomes and are also at risk for childhood obesity.

B'more Fit begins registering eligible women Saturday at an event featuring Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake.

Mothers enrolled in the program will attend group sessions, have access to healthy food and learn proper exercise.

Women of childbearing age who live in Patterson Park (for Spanish speaking mothers), Park Heights and Upton/Druid Heights neighborhoods are eligible for the program.

B'more Fit is a joint project between the Baltimore City Health Department and the Family League of Baltimore.

Here are contact numbers for the program:

DRUM for Healthy Families (Upton Druid Heights)
410-225-3555

Park Heights Community Health Alliance
410-542-8190

Patterson Park
BMS, Highlandtown Healthy Living Center
443-703-3676

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Health
        

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday:

Is it too late for New Year’s resolutions? My diet is floundering, but I have another idea. I should teach the boys to cook.

I enjoy cooking, especially holiday meals and desserts. I like to shoo everyone from the kitchen and get to work. But cooking day in and day out gets tiring and monotonous. I need to enlist the troops.

Truthfully, the weeknight fare I make after I come home from work isn’t hard—burgers, pasta, grilled chicken, etc. I throw in a starch and at least one vegetable or salad and I’m done.

I’m sure the kids could do it, with minimal supervision. The problem is getting them to do it. It isn’t unusual for my 15-year-old to pull a frozen dinner out of the freezer and ask me to cook it. Really!

So my new New Year’s resolution is to teach the boys to make a few simple dishes without cutting off their fingers or burning down the house. If I can succeed in that, I’ll have taught the boys a valuable life skill. If I can’t, well, I guess my diet will be safe at least.

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Teens
        

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday:

My kids have never met a screen they didn't like. TV, computer, smart phone, iPad, iPod. They love them. But if you're like me, you wonder if all that screen time might be put to better use. So I started looking around for educational game apps.

There are thousands, but the good news is there are websites out there to help sort through them.

One is Bestkidsapps, which reviews apps for iPhone, iPad and Droid and organizes the apps by age and objective. You can get reviews on the most popular as well as discover new games.

Now not everything here is educational, unless you believe Angry Birds and Paper Toss develop geometry skills. But I did find some new ones that I plan to try let my 10-year-old try.

Another site I found, appolicious, lists apps that teachers use in the classroom. These are more expensive, but seem a bit more educational, to my mind.

A third, funeducationalapps, reviews and lists apps by age and subject. It includes clips from the games so you can get a better idea if you’ll like them before you download them.

What are your favorite apps for kids? As long as it doesn't have a gun or sword, I'm interested.
 

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 9:01 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Teens
        

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday:

Sasha and Malia Obama may get to meet Justin Bieber at a Christmas concert, but they won't be gushing about it on Facebook. That's because Dad won't let them on the social network site. "Why would we want to have a whole bunch of people who we don't know knowing our business?" the president said in an interview with People magazine. "That doesn't make much sense."

Although only 13-year-old Sasha is old enough to join Facebook, parents and older siblings often help children as young as 10-year-old Malia sign up for accounts. It's not surprising that there are secrets Dad would prefer his daughters not blab to the world. Most families don't have the paparazzi and political enemies trying to gather up any tidbit of gossip. Still, how many of us would like our tweens to publish to the world everything that goes on in their lives?

My tween was interested in Facebook for a while, but that seems to have been a passing fad. Now that he has discovered he can talk to friends on his iPod and play with them on his Xbox Live, Facebook seems a little old fashioned, I guess.

Posted by baltimoresun.com at 8:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Teens
        

Here's Liz Atwood with this week's Tween Tuesday:

This week education will take a back seat to celebration in most schools. There will be holiday parties, concerts and sing-alongs. But most of us don’t have to worry about what the kids will wear. A Santa hat or reindeer antlers will do if the kids want to wear them. Braver tweens might even agree to a Christmas sweater.

But across the pond, it apparently is different. I came across a press release from a London department store that said British parents are going crazy over dressing their kids in expensive costumes for the traditional nativity plays that are performed in elementary schools. Some parents will dress their kids in bed sheets and towels, but others are springing for ready-made star, shepherd and Mary costumes. While prices vary, a Mary costume can cost $40.

I love Christmas and all its traditions, but personally I’m glad that I only have to worry about finding a costume for my kid once a year on Halloween.

Posted by Hanah Cho at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Teens