Wholesome programming for kids?

A friend of mine who is also a mom of two, told me that she downloaded episodes of The Brady Bunch for her girls (ages 5 and 7) to watch. She says she was fed up with the kids' shows available on TV and wanted to expose her kids to something more wholesome.

The Brady Bunch was one of my childhood faves. Loved when Jan tried everything to get her freckles off her face, or when the kids make it 'big' as a singing group, or when Cindy loses her precious Kitty. So many funny episodes.

I was also a fan of Little House on the Prairie, the Anne of Green Gables mini-series, and Sesame Street (I posted about that few posts ago).

Do you get your kids to watch shows or programs from the "olden days" (as my children call anything pre-2000)? Which ones? Why?

On the phone already?

Has your child learned to make a phone call yet? My son made his first 911 call when he was 18 months old. I had no idea he had done it until I received a call back from the dispatch centre confirming there was an emergency!

Well, for the last couple of months my kindergartner daughter Lauren has taken to calling her aunt. Most of the time, Auntie L isn't home, so she leaves whispered messages that are completely unaudible and undecipherable. The other day, I thought I heard talking in Lauren's room and sure enough, found her lying underneath her bed, phone in hand, furtively leaving yet another message for Auntie L.

We've since had a talk about using the phone...she must ask permission first and I have to know who she is calling beforehand. At the time, she seemed to understand and agree to the terms. And yet, this morning, I found one of our handsets hidden underneath her bedtime stuffy, "Mitterand." That sneaky little munchkin! If this is what she's like at this age, I'm not sure I can handle what tweenhood will bring.

A wish for Benjamin

Today, I received a call from the Children's Wish Foundation, notifying us that my son Benjamin has been chosen to receive a wish. I have mixed feelings:

1. I am thankful -- so thankful -- for the doctors and social workers at BC Children's Hospital who referred him. I did not ask for the referral. They did it because they care.

2. I am sad. Because it brings me back to the reality that my son is seriously ill. He is doing well right now and responding to treatments. That is good. So I choose to forget that his disease is serious stuff.

3. I am overwhelmed when I think about the Good Samaritans out there who don't know my son -- Good Samaritans who donate their time, their resources to give sick kids like my little boy, a wish to help lighten the load.

4. I am excited for my son. I can only imagine how giddy he will be when he realizes the possibilities.

It is an emotional day.

Missing Sesame Street

I am guilty of raising kids who don't know Sesame Street. It seems impossible, especially because I absolutely love Sesame Street and have since I was a child. But the other night, I mentioned Oscar the Grouch to my 5-year-old daughter Lauren and she stared back blankly at me. "Who's that?" she asked.

And I realized that my kids have never really watched Sesame Street. In fact, I don't even know when Sesame Street is on or what channel it's on. And so my children have been deprived of one of the most entertaining TV shows the world has ever known. I can't imagine a child's world without the bickering between Bert and Ernie, the gluttonous Cookie Monster, the energy and earnestness of Grover, the obsessive-compulsive Count, the child-like Big Bird.... the list goes on. Oh, I am a bad mommy.

A few of my favourite Sesame Street skits:
- Grover demonstrating "near" and "far"
- Bert doing the pigeon dance
- Grover and a Sesame Street kid singing "G, Grover; G, George"
- the baker balancing strawberry shortcakes on his arms walking down the stairs
- Big Bird trying to learn how to whistle
- Bob singing "You've Got a Friend"

Do your kids watch Sesame Street? Did you watch Sesame Street? What are your favourite skits?

Extreme coupon clippers open my eyes

I watched Extreme Couponers on Slice the other night and was at first impressed, and then offended.

There's nothing wrong with saving money. I don't clip coupons myself, but after watching the first few minutes of Extreme Couponers, where shoppers saved 90 - 95% on grocery bills consistently, I asked myself, why not? But, my positive impression gave way to offense when I saw how one 'extreme couponer' stockpiled thousands of items (we're talking enough underarm deodorant to last 100 people a life time or 1,000 boxes of cereal) in his garage. Did he really need all that? It was a show of excess that offended me. How much does one family need? He couldn't consume everything he'd bought before the expiry date. Why not donate the excess items to charity?

The extreme couponers are, well, extreme, to be sure. But could I learn a lesson here? Could I be saving more? Absolutely. But I wonder if people in Canada can get the same coupon deals as people in the US. Do we have stores that double your coupon savings? How often do marketers offer coupons for free items? I really don't know as I've never really used coupons. But it does make sense to keep your eye open for them. You don't have to go to extreme lengths but you can save money even if you use a couple of coupons here and there.

Coupons aren't as hard to find as I think. In fact, I need only go as far as my own magazine to see coupons. urbanbaby & toddler has coupons in the pages of its current Winter 2010 issue -- they're from all sorts of businesses, from toy stores to cloth diaper retailers. Why aren't I using coupons like this to save on toys for birthday presents or clothes? If you want to save, I guess you can't be lazy about it.

For food, my grocery bill runs between $125 - $200 per week. Is that a lot? I don't know. Do you use coupons to shop for your family? If yes, what are you secrets to getting the best deals?

Fewer Canadian firms plan to hire working moms

According to new research by Regus, (read the article in The Vancouver Sun) only 31 percent of Canadian companies say they plan to hire more working mothers in 2011. That's down from 41 percent in the previous year.

The business owners that were surveyed revealed that they feel working moms may:
- show less commitment and flexibility than other employees (37 percent)
- leave shortly after training to have another child (33 percent)
- have outdated skills (24 percent)

Employers in Canada reported being particularly concerned about a working mother's flexibility (38 percent).

There's no doubt that mothers around Canada are feeling the pinch, many opting to stretch their entrepreneurial wings and starting their own businesses. That's why, starting with the Spring 2011 issue, urbanbaby & toddler is launches a new column called, "CEO Mom," written by business coach Felicia Lee. It's aimed at helping mothers at all stages of a new business, from concept to growth. Topics will include start-up, finances, identifying your big business idea, networking, resources, self-employment programs and more.

It all goes back to my own roots, when out of work and with a baby of just a few months, I found myself wondering what I should do. After some soul-searching, urbanbaby & toddler was born, and I've never looked back.

Do you have a fantastic business idea brewing in you?

"Chinese parenting"? Author Amy Chua says it's "superior"

I'm sure you've all heard about The Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua, a Yale professor. It's all the buzz in the blogosphere and in the media. Why? Because in her book, Chua claims "Chinese parenting" is best. Is it? From excerpts of her book (I haven't read the whole book, only excerpts online), in raising her own two daughters, she belittles her children as a way of getting them to achieve.

In her book, Chua also says the "Chinese mother" believes, among other things, that an A- is a bad grade, that your children should be two years ahead of their classmates in math, that you must never compliment your child in public, and that the only activities your children should be permitted to do are those in which they can eventually win a medal (and that medal must be gold).

She says that she's raised "successful kids" by never allowing her children (now both teens) to do certain things. They were never allowed to: attend a sleepover, have a playdate, participate in a school play, watch TV or play computer games, choose their own extracurricular activities, not be the #1 student in every subject except gym and drama, play any instrument other than violin or piano.

Aside from the watching of TV and playing computer games (I think kids these days have too much screen time anyway so I am actually in agreement with that one)

I believe in setting high standards for my children, and I want them to do their very best at everything they do. I myself was raised in a Chinese household when as a child, I was not allowed sleepovers or playdates. My parents rarely complimented me on anything. I was expected to get As, to be on the honour roll, and to win awards at the end-of-year school awards assembly. So I grew up in a similar environment to the one Chua advocates.

But in raising my own children, I've deliberately chosen to go another route. I guess, to use Chua's terms, I'm raising my children in the "Western way." Why? Because as a child growing up, while I knew in my heart that my Chinese parents loved me, I often felt like I was never good enough; I lacked confidence; I never questioned anything; and whenever anyone was the least bit nice to me, I would blindly follow them (not a good thing if you're an impressionable teen who is preyed on by more opportunitistic people). And all these crippling insecurities followed me well into adulthood.

We as parents have the right to choose our own child-rearing styles -- as long as what we choose is healthy and not dangerous to anyone including our child. I think a lot of people would find Chua's methods definitely unhealthy and in some ways dangerous.

Isn't there more to raising "successful" children than high grades or winning medals? At least for me and my kids, there is. What do you think?

Get Clean Contest

I just uploaded info on a new contest that gives one lucky winner a six-month supply of Tide Free & Gentle and Ultra Downy Free & Sensitive. You have until January 17, 2011, midnight to enter. Complete the online entry here. Open only to BC residents. One entry per person, per day.

The girl can read!

So, last night, my daughter had a breakthrough. She read her very first book (well, e-book)! She is 5 years old and has always been very close to reading. She has known all her letters and corresponding sounds since she was 3. But when it came to putting the letters together and reading sentences, she just wasn't interested.

I have to admit, I felt like I'd failed somehow. As an avid reader, and writer/editor by profession, I was expecting she would read well before 5 years old, as I did. Oh, I tried to relax and not push, but inside, I was worried. After all, literacy is one of the building blocks to success, right?

I am pleased that I resisted pushing her to read when she was not ready. Now, I know she is reading because she wants to read. And this morning, guess what she wanted to do right away? READ!

She had her reading breakthrough while on this free early-reading website: www.starfall.com. Check it out. What tools did you use/are you using to encourage your child to read?

Time to catch up

Happy New Year, everyone!

If you haven't noticed, I haven't been very consistent with my blog posts in the latter half of 2010. I have to apologize. I've been feeling overwhelmed with taking care of LIFE: a son who is in Grade 3 and reluctantly facing serious homework for the first time, a daughter who just entered into the wonderful world of Kindergarten, a husband with a demanding new career, and then this little thing called urbanbaby & toddler magazine.

But, as in my Letter from the Editor in the current Winter 2010-11 edition of urbanbaby & toddler, I am endeavouring to put myself first for once. I call it the "Year of Me." It's where I make myself a priority, do things that make me happy and that are important to me.

Writing more consistently on the UBT blog is one of the things. And to kick that off, here's a summary of what my family has been doing over the past several months.

1. We went to Disneyland! Yup, every child's dream and every motion sickness-prone parent's nightmare. It was, in a word, happy. We went in late October, when the weather is warm but not hot. My daughter was determined to see every princess on the grounds--yes, we stood in line a lot!--while my son was a roller-coaster fiend, dragging a green-faced Daddy with him for repeated riding.

2. My husband and I had a weekend in New York City. It was whirlwind 4 days, but it was lovely to sleep in, to stay out late (for us, that's anything past 8 pm!), to see the famous spots in Manhattan: Times Square, Rockefeller Centre, MOMA, the Guggenheim, Central Park, East and West Villages, etc. My husband also ran the NY Marathon while we were there. We're thankful for Grandma, who very kindly agreed to take care of the kiddies for us.

3. We spent a week in Whistler this past summer. It's the perfect family-friendly summer spot for us. Lots of outdoor activities for families to do, great weather, and a small-town atmosphere that we feel safe in.

So, 2010 was a good year, but 2011 will be even better. Here's to the start of a wonderful new year!