Big Kid

Mom Moment
Apologies to My Children, at Ages 7 & 5

posted by Linda Sharps 1 hour ago in Big Kid

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(I wrote some apologies to my kids four years ago -- I thought it was time for a followup.)

Riley,

I'm sorry I don't always have the patience to endure the near-constant barrage of pshew pshew pshew sound effects that come out of your noise-hole. I don't know what mental movie is playing so frequently in your active little brain, but I suspect it's directed by Michael Bay and gets a one-and-a-half-star rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I'm sorry if I sometimes fail to assemble my facial features into a properly stunned expression when you show me your latest Lego creation, and I'm sorry for that one time I deadpanned, "Boy, I can't WAIT to step on that thing in the dead of night" instead of marveling over your building skills, which are in fact quite impressive.
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Mom Moment
Why Keeping Kids From Funerals Is a Bad Idea

posted by Sasha Brown-Worsham 17 hours ago in Big Kid

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Last week, my mother-in-law died suddenly of a heart attack in her sleep on Mother's Day. There are no words for the grief and shock and pain this sent through our family as we rushed to pack all of our things and start the 10-hour drive back to my husband's hometown to be with his family and friends.

As we loaded our 6-year-old daughter and nearly 5-year-old son into the car, we had many questions about what they understood and didn't understand. Our daughter immediately cried and seemed to understand while our son reacted with more shock and some silly behavior. He didn't seem to get it.

When we arrived late the first night, the children were asleep, and as the family gathered to quietly talk, cry, and pray, we left them out of it.
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Moms Matter

Say What!?
Expert Questions Flu Vaccine's Safety, Effectiveness

posted by Lindsay Ferrier 18 hours ago in Big Kid

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Based on my pediatrician's advice, I have made a point of getting my kids and myself a flu shot every single year.

So you'd better believe I sat up and took notice when a Johns Hopkins scientist released a study recently that questions whether the flu shot is as safe and effective as we've been led to believe.

Suddenly, I'm not feeling so good about those flu shots.

The article was written by Peter Doshi, PhD, a scientist at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and published in the British Medical Journal. In it, Doshi had some pretty strong words for the CDC.
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OMG
Mom Wastes $35K a Year on Designer Wardrobe for Son

posted by Mary Fischer 19 hours ago in Big Kid

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You know how sometimes you hear something that makes you shake your head so hard you wind up all dizzy? Yeah, that's how I felt after hearing about a mom who spends thousands on her 8-year-old son's wardrobe -- and is actually proud of it.

Vicky Antonia is so dead set on her son Zak being dressed to the nines that she admits shelling out over £20,000 on designer name clothes for him. (That's $35,000 a year. OMG.)

Want to know why? Because she apparently likes "dressing him like a doll."

(For reals.)
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American Pride
Soldier Surprises 9-Year-Old Who's Waited Nearly 2 Years to See Him in Unexpected Place (VIDEO)

posted by Jeanne Sager 21 hours ago in Big Kid

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Who doesn't love a military homecoming video? Grinches? Well, even their hearts will grow a few sizes once they catch what a soldier dad returning from Afghanistan did to surprise his 9-year-old daughter at a Tampa Bay Rays baseball game the other day.

Lt. Col. Will Adams knew his daughter deserved a little something special after putting up with life without Daddy for nearly two years. So he arranged for Alayna to throw out the first pitch at the Major League Baseball game. And then he put on a uniform ... but not the one he wore to fight insurgents in Afghanistan. Just watch:
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Rant
School Bans Kids From Making Mother's Day & Father's Day Cards

posted by Julie Ryan Evans 22 hours ago in Big Kid

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Is it just me, or does it feel like disdain for Mother's Day and Father's Day has been growing in recent years? For what are supposed to be a couple of sweet days of celebration for some people in our life, there's been a storm of backlash, including this latest move from a school that has eliminated both days altogether and replaced them with Family Day.

According to CTV, Astral Drive Elementary School in Nova Scotia has chosen to do away with any projects for (no cute hand-print cards!) or mention of either traditional holiday and instead now celebrates the International Day of Families, so non-traditional families are included. School officials said they did it to avoid children feeling isolated, which is lovely in theory ... but complete overkill in general.
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Spring Travel

Hot List
25 Things That Belong on Any Mom's Spring Travel Packing Checklist

posted by Jacqueline Burt 23 hours ago in Big Kid

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Remember traveling before you had kids? Packing was a breeze: A few of your favorite wrinkle-free outfits, makeup/toiletries bag, Advil, iPod, a good book (Kindles weren't invented yet when I was still childless, okay?), maybe a protein bar or two, and you were good to go! Fast-forward to filling a suitcase (or several) with everything your family needs to survive sans the comforts of home: Wait a second, are we going on vacation or are we moving?!

It's true, there's really no such thing as traveling light when kids are involved. But if you plan ahead and keep organized, packing doesn't have to feel like punishment. Here are 25 things every mom should have on her spring travel checklist:
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Inspiring
5-Year-Old Who Saved Mom's Life Wants to Be Known as Batman From Now On

posted by Jeanne Sager Saturday at 7:28 AM in Big Kid

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The biggest hero of this week isn't big at all. He's just a regular 5-year-old from North Carolina. When Caleb Taylor woke from a nap in the backseat of his mom's car, he saw her having a seizure, and like any true superhero would do, he unbuckled, leaped forward, and managed to steer the car off the road and turn it off.

Naturally, the little boy has told reporters that he'd like to be referred to as Batman in the future.
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Inspiring
Krim Family's Pregnancy Announcement Is Sweet News for Their Surviving Daughter

posted by Jacqueline Burt Friday at 10:50 AM in Big Kid

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A joyful announcement from a couple who has suffered more sorrow than anyone should ever have to experience: Marina and Kevin Krim are expecting a baby this fall. I still can't think about the incomprehensibly tragic murders of 6-year-old Lucia Krim and her 2-year-old brother Leo last year without feeling physically sick, so to even contemplate what these past months have been like for their parents -- well, it's virtually impossible. As a mom, though, I would venture to guess that their surviving daughter, 4-year-old Nessie -- spared from her siblings' horrible fate because she was at a swim class with her mother when nanny Yoselyn Ortega allegedly stabbed the children to death -- is why they've managed to keep getting up in the morning.
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Horrifying
Poop in Public Pools Shouldn't Stop You From Letting Your Kids Swim

posted by Mary Fischer Friday at 10:39 AM in Big Kid

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Yeah, so there's really no polite way to put this, so I'll just come right out and say it. There's poop in public pools. Did you hear me? Every time you take the kids to a public pool -- odds are good they're swimming around with feces in the water.

Excuse me for a second -- I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.

Last summer, researchers from the CDC found E. coli bacteria in 58 percent of the pools they tested. Yep, you guessed it, E. coli comes from the human gut -- and poop.

And the poop that's found in pools doesn't necessarily come from someone pooping in the pool.
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