How many times a week does your family eat dinner together?According to a recent study from the Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA Columbia) the answer to this question may be directly related to the risk of your teen’s drinking, smoking, or using other drugs.More specifically, compared to teens having frequent family dinners (five to seven per week) those having infrequent family dinners (fewer than three such meals) are: More than two times as likely to use alcohol More than four times as likely to use tobacco Two and a half times as likely to use marijuana…
Apparently the apple doesn't fall far from the tree as Dr. Oz is now to apple juice, as Oprah is to beef.Dr. Mehmet Oz, is the much beloved Oprah protege with the high TV Q, and now, his own show. Last week, in one fell swoop, he caused entire nursery schools to cry, prompted parched playgroups around the country, and made Mott's really mad when he announced that apple juice is toxic. A collective gasp from mothers everywhere, was actually audible. On his syndicated show, and in interviews afterward, Oz claimed that apple juice contains high levels of arsenic that are unsafe—higher levels …
This week, more than 170 countries are supporting educational advancements for World Breastfeeding Week. A lot has changed in the six years since I became a mom. Back then I didn’t understand the realities of nursing. Focusing on romanticized versions, I firmly believed my body’s natural predisposition to nurture and care for my baby would be automatic. Like many, I never experienced the romanticized version. My intent was to breastfeed. When my son was born, the hospital didn’t provide advice regarding breastfeeding. He seemingly latched on and the nurses told me everything was going great. …
On Friday, the Today Show featured a segment, questioning, “Everybody Gets a Trophy?” It’s something I have felt strongly about for a long time. If you are a parent, and your kids have played on sports teams, enrolled in dance classes or attended camp, chances are good that they have amassed a large collection of trophies. Trophies have an entirely different meaning today, than they did when I was a kid. Trophies used to be awards given for excellence, to reward a job well done, for outstanding effort and/or ability. They were rare/coveted/worked hard for. Through the years, my kids …
My tissues are ready. I’ve got waterproof eye makeup. The family is under strict orders NOT to photograph me this month. Graduations are approaching. Mom will be a mess. The end of the school year is a bittersweet time. Kids change so much in that time span from September to June. They mature and the changes happen so subtly that you don’t even notice them. They learn a huge amount in the span of one year, much of it virtually imperceptible. Then June rolls around, you mentally review the year, and it hits you—these kids are different than they were just a few months ago. Their interests have…
Just a year old when the twin towers fell, my oldest didn’t understand what was happening. She ran around our house in San Francisco repeating “Oh my God. Oh my God.” She was mimicking us as we sat glued to the television that morning, having been awoken by a crying friend’s phone call alerting us to the attack. Since moving here, she’s seen the memorial plaques in the park, honoring the parents of kids she’s shared an auditorium with, parents who never got to see their children grow up and reach milestones. She’s seen documentaries in school about 9/11 with the children of the dead asking, “…
It’s not an obvious tear-jerker, and the play’s not even a tragedy. Still, I can’t make it though Act V of The Tempest without welling up, no matter how many times I read it, teach it, or even direct reluctant seventh graders to perform it. When Miranda, who has been raised on an island with only her father, Prospero, and Caliban for mortal company, sees a company of shipwrecked nobles in front of her, she says, O, wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has such people in't! And in a world-weary voice, speaking for …
My granny was 93 when my mother, her only child, died unexpectedly. I was the working mother of two young children and unexpectedly thrust into the role of primary caretaker of an old person. Amid the grief of losing my beloved mom, I struggled to cope with inheriting Granny. As I learned almost immediately, there is no manual, no “Caretaking for Dummies.” And believe me, it is not a simple task. Many people have shared with me their stories of parents who can no longer manage their affairs, grandparents needing full-time care, and family members slowly losing their memories. Heartbreaking …
I can’t pay my kid to read Anne of Green Gables. The Little Princess, Little Women, Little House on the Prairie? Forget it, out of the question, no way. But why? As I learned when I gave a talk at the local public library, for more than 100 years, dead-ending with my daughter, you could assume that a girl raised in the United States had read or knew about Little Women. In a room of more than 50 women gathered at the library, all of them could name the four main characters in the novel. Canadian girls had the equivalent in Anne of Green Gables. For British girls, the Enid Blyton and E. Nesbit …
Each season brings a new set of forms for camp, school, sports, and scouts. And on each piece of paper, along with name, age and t-shirt size, I provide my kids’ emergency contacts. As I write those familiar names and phone numbers that I have memorized, I realize how the years have brought me choices. When I first moved to New Jersey, I listed names of people in New York and far away in this state. When I knew my neighbors better, they joined the roster. Now friends, and neighbors who have become friends, are on that list. Still, when I step back, I realize what it means to choose a friend …
The news out of Japan – an 8.9 magnitude earthquake followed by a devastating tsunami, tens of thousands of people believed to be dead and now explosions at nuclear power plants – is a lot for an adult to absorb, let alone a child. One parent shares the importance of saying the right thing when talking to children about tragic news. As a parent, I struggle with what to tell my kids about tragedies, and natural disasters. Sadly, there have been many natural and man-made disasters in their short lives. Devastating earthquakes in China, India, Iran, Pakistan, New Zealand, the Deep Water Horizon …
Jason, a boy I taught in seventh grade, spearheads a major fundraising drive at his house of worship, bringing a youthful, college-age energy and idealism to the project. I will donate to the effort, but I wouldn’t have put money on this result. When I taught him several years ago, Jason’s religious rite of passage was big news in the seventh grade. His parents had a big celebration planned. An older brother was about to move across country, and some of the older relatives were aging quickly. This party was intended to celebrate Jason and the entire family. And so it did. I was invited. I …
My children have partied well. They’ve ridden ponies, wrapped snakes around their necks, and greeted a New York Yankee, all in suburban back yards. An American Girl doll party, for dolls and girls, had food and entertainers brought in from the New York American Girl store. A carnival party meant rides, the moon bounce, and clowns doing the old clown car act, all brought in from Manhattan for the day. That party included cotton candy and snow cone machines staffed by local teens; another party I recall had an ice cream truck pull up. The treats were distributed by a costumed Spiderman and …
Recently a former classmate from the elementary school I attended before my father was transferred overseas asked if I’d like to be on the alumni list. She’s a lovely person, so I felt bad saying no although that’s exactly what I did. I explained I have such horrible memories of the school I’d never like to be reminded of it and certainly would never donate money to it. I have reconnected with the friends from the school I’d like to reconnect with through Facebook. I knew from an early age children could be breathtakingly cruel, especially girls. I was a half Iranian little girl in Texas …
