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Help Needed

My parents will be moving soon into their new home. My mother will need a housekeeper to help clean the house. They live five miles north of Loon Lake, on Hwy 395. Do you know of anyone in the area who could do the job? ( Full post )

The "meandering route" to motherhood

I had to stay in the car the other day to finish listening to this story, �For Prospective Moms, Biology and Culture Clash,� which aired on NPR. ( Full post )

Skip the �sappy statuary� and other Mother�s Day don�ts

In her blog called, �strollerderby,� writer Rachael Brownell provides folks with a list of Mother's Day do's and don�ts. ( Full post )

Slashing the family budget to stay at home

Earlier this year, an article in the Wall Street Journal told the story of Dan Kunitz, a media executive who decided to quit his job to stay at home with his son. �When Two Incomes Became One� shows why this dad dropped out of the work force for a while and the sacrifices the family made in order to make their lifestyle work. ( Full post )

The forgotten moms

Until recently, I never gave much thought to the �other� mom. ( Full post )

"Detachment Parenting"

Kelly Reising, one of the columnists for a website called �The Imperfect Parent,� wrote an article last month titled �Detachment Parenting.� ( Full post )

Just a little more food for thought

I wrote a story this week about the importance of the family meal based on some of your comments about making time to eat together. I found the responses in that particular thread to be really heartwarming � they reminded me of the need to slow down, sit at the table and break bread with the people I love. Thank you for sharing your experiences. ( Full post )

�I saw your nanny��

Our recent exchange about the nanny cam and websites/blogs about nanny nightmare stories compelled me to look into the steps that people could take to avoid such mishaps. ( Full post )

Helicopter Parenting: �Death by Hovering," according to psychologist

One of the nicest editors I know recently passed along this link to a bizarre story about the murder of a college student at a university in the Midwest. The Chronicle of Higher Education also published its own account that explained how the suspect, Tina Loraine Morris � the mother of the victim�s roommate � had been staying in the students� campus apartment for two weeks before the killing. According to news reports, which quote court documents, Morris confronted the victim about her conduct with her daughter the night before. Then she stabbed the young woman repeatedly and fled in her car. ( Full post )

What you eat...

According to this front-page story in The Spokesman-Review, eating cereal and potassium-rich foods such as bananas and also not skipping breakfast before pregnancy can raise the odds of having a boy. ( Full post )

What is Courage?

My son has been having some issues with an older/bigger/meaner/obnoxious (what i would call a BULLY) kid at school and we've been working with him/his teacher/the principal about it. Tonight he asked me to give him a few lessons in courage. It just breaks my heart to hear him ask about how to be brave. Some things we discussed tonight include how people who do brave or courageous things are sometimes still scared; that sometimes kids act out like this because they want negative attention/any attention but don't know how to get it in other ways; talked about worst-case-scenarios (ok let's say Boy X does punch you... then what); dad is going to show him some self-defense stuff (he's a police officer), how to block punches, etc. ( Full post )

"Bad for kids"

A Seattle teacher was recently suspended after he refused to give his students the WASL, according to this story in The Seattle Times. ( Full post )

Working teens

This summer�s job market is looking tough for teens, according to this story in The Chicago Tribune. ( Full post )

Baby bottle blues

A front-page story this weekend discussed how Canada is now banning BPA � bisphenol A � from being used in baby bottles and other consumer products. ( Full post )

Children, chores and keeping the house clean

Spring always makes me feel more self-conscious about the messy state of my household. ( Full post )

Half or full-day kindergarten?

Thanks to a new state grant, all-day kindergarten became an option this year for kids in Spokane�s poorest neighborhoods, according to a story that was published this past weekend in The Spokesman-Review. The full-day program is available at five schools in the district; next year, it will expand to six more schools. ( Full post )

An addendum: On Faith

I wrote a story for Monday�s Today section based on the �Gotta Have Faith?� thread as well as on some recent conversations I�ve had with readers about raising children with or without religion. ( Full post )

Chickenpox and vaccines

I was in seventh grade when I got the chickenpox and I still have a scar on the left side of my head to prove it. But that�s about it, I think � I�m not sure my parents ever had any written proof that I had the disease. Obviously, my parents also didn�t get me vaccinated. ( Full post )

Birth

When I was pregnant the second time, we considered having a doula with us at the hospital. At that time, I knew many couples who sought the expertise of a doula � a person who is trained to help during labor and after the birth of a baby. ( Full post )

Parenting, Inc.

A new book called �Parenting, Inc.� explains how "the act of rearing children has been turned into big business, requiring thousands of dollars where hundreds once sufficed and filling our playrooms, storage bins, and hallway closets with products our own parents never dreamed would exist," according to the author. ( Full post )