REVIEW: Up All Night

The first episode was so on the money! At least I felt the same way when our little nugget entered our lives...kinda....Of course we're more traditional and my hubby was the one who went back to work and our party days were already long gone. But either way I really liked the first episode. The second episode was a little slower and way more over the top. I think what young parents with babies like to see in a TV show based on their lives is more reality and less over-the-top-unbelievability.

I'll stick around for a third episode but I'm not too sure I'll be setting my DVR for this show just yet.

OPINION and NEWS: Kids' Lunches Harboring Bacteria--So What?

I was watching CNN this morning when I saw this bit on kids' lunches and how they are too hot and harboring bacteria by lunch time. CNN's chief medical correspondent, Elizabeth Cohen, reported on how the University of Texas in Austin conducted a study and found 98 percent of the lunches tested were too warm by lunch time. The study was done on 700 packed lunches of 3- to 5-year-olds attending day care.

CNN.com in this article quotes Dr. Steve Abrams, member of the American Academy of Pediatrics Committee on Nutrition as saying, "This is a red flag. This means that the recommendations for food safety are not being followed."

Simple recommendation is to pack more ice-packs into the lunch-bag, and one pack may not be enough.

What the article fails to show, and the blurb on TV for the most part, is to say why should we care if our kids eat a little bacteria? Isn't it good for them to eat a little bacteria now and then to get their bellies used to things not being 100 clean? If my daughter is encouraged to eat dirt once in a while, what's a little warm turkey sandwich going to do? Make her burp a little? Maybe boost her immune system so that if she visits Mexico one day she doesn't automatically have to run to the bathroom after the first piece of unfiltered ice chip slides down her throat?

Aren't we getting a little too sterile and scared of a little not-so-fatal bacteria? Ok, I wouldn't be giving sushi to my kid for lunch without tons of ice-packs being involved in their lunchbox, but I probably wouldn't waste sushi on a child's palette anyway.

In my unmedically sound opinion parents are way too concerned about bacteria and a little dirt: hand sanitizer in every corner of every library, classroom, and playzone and anti-bacterial soap in every bathroom. I know superbugs are not a real concern just yet in this country, but it seems to me they will be one day and we're doing all we can to create them. Let the kids eat some warm sandwiches once in a while, let you kids play on the ground and get a little dirt under their nails, let them eat some bread that fell off their highchair from lunch, their kids they're supposed to be growing an immune system not living in a bubble.

PERSONAL: Daycares, home versus centers

Since we're moving and I'm trying to get back to work part-time, the great daycare debate has taken over in my head as to whether we go with a family-run daycare or a center. Also my daughter is an incredible extrovert (no idea where she got that from), so even if I wasn't working I think she'd still do better going part-time to a daycare.

Since my daughter is so young still, only 14 months, I have repeatedly thought and heard that we really should go with a smaller family-run setting rather than a center, but I do see benefits to both.

Small family-run care benefits: Personalized care and attention, lots of time spent with child one-on-one, in-depth communication with parents, deep connections with children in group, and can be cost-effective.

Center-run benefits: More people working at the center means employees are less likely to stray from a set plan of care, large amount of oversight from parents, corporate HQs of center and other employees, and lots of other children to socialize with.

Some downsides for each

Family-run: Possibly less secure of an environment, can be harder to reach someone if a trip or outing is planned, many of them take vacations or breaks and other care is needed for that time-period.

Centers: Lots of kids means lots more can go wrong including bullying by other kids or impatient employees, can be very costly, usually there are more older children which can be a good or bad thing, needs of children are met at a slower pace and less individualized care is provided.

Like I said, we're leaning more toward a family-run daycare, but are doing extensive research for them because care provided for my daughter not given directly by me or a family member makes me extremely nervous.

Tips? Send them my way!

NEWS: Warning on Geotagging Photos

I always knew you could geotag your photos, which is when the photos on a smartphone like the iPhone are tagged with latitude and longitude coordinates, but I never thought about the dangers of that tool. When you take a photo with your smartphone, then post it publicly online, the location of where those photos were taken is saved in the metadata. I certainly never thought someone could download software to grab the metadata, complete with the exact location, of those photos and then stalk (or worse) those children photographed.

I have to actually thank my mother for this information, which is VERY strange for ME (who used to write about technology) get news from my mother (who still has trouble opening Skype up properly after a year), about technology. Goes to show you, technology and technology news really is everywhere!

If you worry about such things like your children's safety and you post photos publicly online, make sure to turn off the geotagging service on your iPhone or other smartphone. If you have an iPhone you do this by going to the Settings, Location Services and then it has a list of which applications are using the GPS in your phone to geolocate you.

Many of the iPhone applications, like Around Me (that finds restaurants, gas stations etc...around you) or Sit or Squat (which shows you bathrooms in the area--very handy when you are pregnant), you might want to keep on, but you can turn it off just for the camera.

Don't be fooled it's not that a ton of stalkers are using this every day. It's not that easy and they'd have to really really want you or your kid to be going through this kind of trouble, but for me it's definitely worth turning off the service for a bit more safety.

More on this

PERSONAL: Icky Momma

When baby licks airport windows, baby gets sick. When baby gets sick, momma gets sick. When momma is sick, no one is happy. :(

NEWS: 10 Things Worse or New Now For Parents to Worry About

I was in a discussion with a Patch.com mom council about teens and sex and it made me think of sexting and that sparked this idea for a post:

10 things that we, as parents, have to worry about that our parents didn't have to worry about as much: (Feel free to tell me I'm wrong or add your own points)

1) Sexting
2) Facebook and predators online
3) Harassing text messages from bullies
4) Guns in school
5) Cocaine and other hard drugs at especially early ages
6) Pesticides on food
7) Childhood obesity
8) Being inside too much and forgetting how beautiful/fun nature is
9) Watching too much TV and too old-for-them TV
10) Spending too much money on materialistic crap.

PERSONAL: Baby Talk

This is my kid trying to break it down as to why she refuses to eat her whole wheat, ham and cheese sandwich.

She also reviewed the video with me a few hours later and decided that she had something to say...it was pretty much the same thing, repeated, to herself on camera, finger-wagging and all. :)

PERSONAL: Help The Helpless

In light of the Casey Anthony trial and reading too many disturbing articles this week, please join me in supporting any organization helping to end child abuse. There is a good list here at the Network for Good website.

Some other ways to help is to become a foster parent, adopt a child, donate to an organization helping with children, become a Big Brother or Big Sister, or even the simple act of speaking up when you think a child is being abused--even if that means in a grocery store.

For the motivation to help--if you dare (I literally felt sick to my stomach and cried after reading this), read this article.

PERSONAL: Idiocy Strikes Bedtime

Ok, we all make mistakes, sadly as a Full-Time Mom if you mess up, you run the risk of harming your kid. Thank GOD it turns out the little one wasn't poisoned by her idiot mother!

Last night my husband finally noticed something was up and asked, "Umm, honey, where is the toothpaste up here? Are you using this teething gel on her teeth every night instead of toothpaste?"

I scoffed at him from downstairs as I prepared dinner and told him that it indeedwas toothpaste, it was just made by Orajel.

Um, no I was incorrect, it wasthe teething gel I had been putting on her teeth instead of the baby toothpaste. Whoops! I think I must have switched them when I cleaned out her bathroom and put all her toiletries away, about a month ago! Nice work mom!

A quick call to the pediatrician office and Poison Control (1-800-222-1222) confirmed it was not lethal and could only be really harmful if symptoms like difficulty breathing occured or her nails started turning blue or if she exhibited other signs of a rare disease called methemoglobinemia.

Don't be dumb like me, though, double-check everything before giving it to your kid please! It, at the very least, will save you from feeling horribly guilty and scared!

PERSONAL: Jealomy Is The Name

With my hubby applying for jobs in the Foreign Service, we might wind up living abroad (again) one day in the nearish future, maybe in two years or so. I wouldn't mind living abroad again. My only worry is having the planned three very young kids at once and being all alone in a foreign country. He said we could get an au pair if that would help, but I seriously can't imagine it.

I have no issue with other people having an au pair and even envy many of them, but the simple fact is I'm too jealous of a person to be able to handle that idea. It's true, I'm too insecure I guess or too needy or whatever. But as a mom it literally made my skin crawl to work from home and listen to my nanny playing with my newborn daughter downstairs. My daughter loved her and she loved my daughter, but I could hardly stand the pangs to my insides.

I figure there has to be a name for this motherly heart-wrench feeling, but I can't find one, so I propose the name Jealomy--jealous + mommy.

NEWS: Never Too Young To Be On A Diet

The Institute of Medicine warn parents and pediatricians alike that obese infants and toddlers can lead to adult obesity. Today, the IOM published in a report today, 10 percent of infants and toddlers are already obese. Childhood obesity can lead to adult obesity and so, the IOM is advising less TV and video time and making sure the kids are getting enough sleep and eating properly.

Interesting! I'd agree it's weird to see a baby who is already obese at only a few months old, and it's probably not the healthiest, but I'm not seeing anything earth shattering in this press release. Don't we all already know to limit TV and video time and be sure our kids are getting the right amount of sleep and veggies/fruits?

NEWS: Stronger Crib Standards May Cause SMBs Financial Loss

While I feel for the small businesses (SMBs) out there selling cribs no longer deemed safe by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, I can't argue that it is for the best.

See back in Dec. 2010, the CPSC voted to put very high safety standards on cribs sold in this country, making drop-side cribs illegal and creating overall more structurally sound cribs. The Commission put a June 28 deadline on companies, large and small, to get rid of their older, less safe cribs.

Now, some SMBs are having a hard time selling their older cribs and some are looking for an extension to the June 28 deadline. But the commission is not having it and so it looks like about 100,000 cribs may have to be trashed if they are not sold by the deadline.

I feel for those SMBs losing out on the already-hard-to-get dollars in this economy, but seriously, I can't feel too bad. The CPSC is doing a great thing by making sure more infants will be safe in their beds while they sleep (or don't). There has to be a deadline and it has to be enforced or it'll just drag on. So to the CPSC, I say kudos to you and thanks for helping all us parents rest a little easier in our own beds.

Read the CPSC Chairman's statement here.

NEWS: Genderless Baby?

I really don't understand the real point of this one. This family wants to raise their child "genderless" until it becomes necessary to make the sex of their child public. The full story is here.

Ok.....why is it such a big deal to be a girl and act like a girl and know that the baby is a girl? Or boy? People get so wound up in gender-roles, I get it, but that doesn't mean you can't be a scrappy girl or a bit butch just because you know you're a girl. I used to be in a skirt, with short hair, running after boys I liked and beating up the ones I didn't. Did that make me friendless and made fun of? Only sometimes, but most of the time I was able to convince a few other girls to join me in my fun.

And this therapist Susan Stiffelman brings up a good point, what about the siblings that know the gender of this baby and are told to keep it a secret? Stiffelman says, "...there's the contradiction that they want to raise their children with a sense of freedom and a lack of restraint in terms of gender expectations and, at the very same time... they are confining their other children."

Is this a family reaching for 15 minutes of fame and doing so using their child? Possibly. Is this a human/social experiment with their own child? Definitely. And to me that is just wrong. They are experimenting with their child's happiness and thrusting this newborn into the public view in an unfavorable way. As parents we're meant to protect our children, not force them from day one into the limelight with a giant question mark.

NEWS: Reannouncement of Maclaren Stroller Recall (2009)

Additional fingertip amputations and cuts have caused the Maclaren company to reannounce their stroller recall from November 2009. An additional 112 injury incident reports have been filed since 2009, making the total reported injuries at 137.

About a million strollers are being recalled in total (from before 2009 and now) after a total of 17 fingertip amputations were reported and multiple laceration and finger-entrapment and bruising reports.

The strollers being recalled are the double-wide and single-wide umbrella strollers.

For many women, buying a stroller brand new is not an option. If you buy a used stroller, however, make sure there are no recalls on the item by checking online through the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission website.

PERSONAL: Miscarriages Are No Fun

So yesterday I had a miscarriage and I wasn't TOO upset because I wasn't too psyched on the idea of having a new baby (especially in the dead of winter) so soon after my first one. BUT as the time had gone on, mind you I'm talking a week, I had started to come around to the idea and was starting to look forward to the little rascal. Guess there was something wrong with the baby-to-be or my body wasn't ready after all cause resident numero due was kicked out.

I can understand how this could take a huge emotional toll on someone who had their heart set on a baby. Even though I wasn't super down with the idea it still stung a little bit. But what people fail to really tell you is how physically unhappy the whole process is. We're not talking about period cramps, we're talking major major cramps and I was only 6 weeks or so. For someone even further along it would even worse I can imagine.

And let's not forget that it does not end in one day. No my friends this process can take weeks, about two for most people. First the miscarriage, then your missed period soon follows, the nurse explained to me. So much fun I think I'll ask God to come back as a boy next time around!

PERSONAL: Your Baby Is Not My Baby

One things mothers love to do is talk about their kids, and what they did to raise them, feed them, get them to sleep through the night, play with them, get them to walk etc...but what many mothers don't get is your kid is not my kid and my kid is not your kid. I love my kid just the way she is and I don't want yours, sorry.

Every kid sleeps differently, every kid eats differently, every kid is not the "average kid." There are dream babies out there who sleep through the night at 3 weeks old (though I have to say I almost don't believe the exist) and there are kids wake up every three hours until they're 2 years old. It's possible, because there are all types of people out there and kids are after people too.

Some babies will eat up all the home-made baby food in the world, some will only eat processed baby food and some will shun the food for months and months before finally succumbing to the spoon. You can't force a baby to be "average" just because the books tell you your kid should be one way, nor would you want them to be because average really sucks.

I really can't complain about my child, she's been ahead of the curve on nearly everything. At 11 months she's eating almost anything we give her, she can walk, she babbles and says momma and dadda and even cat sometimes. She loves books, the pool, other kids and people, smiles constantly and laughs uncontrollably at my tickles. The only thing we have some of a time with is her sleeping. We did all the wrong things and all the right things and on a good day she naps for about a combined 1.5 to 2 hours and a good night she sleeps for 12 hours. There are some nights that for no apparent reason, however, she will scream her guts out at different intervals and it's a toss up between going in and picking her up (which sometimes calms her down and she passes right back out and doesn't wake up again) or not going in at all and sometimes she passes out quickly on her own.

Sometimes though, she does not go back to sleep without screaming for a good 30 minutes up to an hour no matter what we do. Why? Who the hell knows, she's a baby. She can't tell me and I'm not a psychic. I know what has worked for other people hasn't worked for us and I know what does works for us might not work for others out there.

I'm ok with the fact that sometimes my sleep is just gonna get totally messed up, because guess what? That doesn't change. I know that kids mess with your sleep from zygote onward if they are the type to do so. I am 6 weeks pregnant and this morning I essentially woke up at 2am. (I can tell this next one will be a fun one too.) If the kid is a sleeper, those babies are giving their mothers hell in some other way, trust me. No one is getting out of this without some scars (even if some of them are pretty well hidden).

So the next time a mom gives you unsolicited advice that makes you want to rip her hair out, you can tell her bugger (or whatever) off or you can tell her that you're pretty sure your kids aren't twins so what worked for her might not be the answer for you.