Facebook Status Updates that Parent Should Be Concerned About

One of my readers, Melanie Slaugh, sent me this link entitled "10 Scary FaceBook Status Updates Parents Should Watch For." It provides good information for parents about what to look for, and be concerned about, with regard to the content of your child's social networking status. I think it is important to monitor what your child is doing on the internet. This may seem like an invasion of their privacy but, with all the predators and cyberbullies out there, I believe it is a parents job to keep their child safe in cyberspace.

http://www.myispfinder.org/ispblog/2011/10-scary-facebook-status-updates-parents-should-watch-for/

Unplug Today and Reconnect for a Lifetime

"Unplug for a day and reconnect with your children for a lifetime!" This would make an excellent catch phrase for parents today. As parents, we are constantly connected into the world through our cell phones, and computers. Whereever we go, we go connected to the rest of the world. We are distracted by it all from something that requires our undivided attention, our children. I suggest that you take one day a month and disconnect from all that is electronic and spend the day reconnecting with your children. This means no cell phones, no computers, no TV, no iPods. Leave it all behind and reconnect with your children in a way that you may not have in years. Play games, take a walk, have a picnic, take a bike ride, or do whatever your family finds fun.

The world will not fall apart if you are not connected to it for 24 hours, but your family just might fall apart if you don't disconnect every so often. So consider unplugging this weekend. If you noticed there were no blog postings this past weekend. I took my own advice and unplugged for a long weekend. I find myself energized, my mood uplifted and feeling very close to my family after this past weekend. I wish the same experience for you this coming weekend.

Note: Teenagers may be resistant to this idea, but it is important for their wellbeing that they disconnect at times as well.

Parents Here are Some Words to Use With Those Critical People in Your Life

Dirty dishes prove we feed our family, full trash can means we clean up after their messes, messy floors mean we let our children have fun, pile of unfolded laundry means we keep our family in clean clothes, wet bathroom means we bathe our kids! So the next time you walk into our house and see a "mess" think twice before you judge. If you come over to see us, come on in...if your coming over to see our house please make an appointment.

***Share this with someone in your life who thinks that it is more important to keep your house perfect than to spend time with your children and let's you know it through their words or actions.

"Too Posh To Push" Crowd and Elective C-Sections

Britain, where the government provides free health care, will soon be allowing pregnant women to choose to have a C-section even if there is no medical need for it. This option has been available for a while now to the wealthy, including celebrities like Madonna and Victoria Beckham. They are members of the so called "too posh to push" crowd.

I am concerned that even one woman would choose to have this surgery when it is not medically warranted. There are many more risks to you and your baby when having this surgical procedure. There could be unforseen complications during and after the surgery. Even if everything goes as planned, some things to think about when making this decision are: risk of infection and bleeding associated with any surgery, potential problems with future pregnancies, the recovery time for a C-section far exceeds the recovery time of a vaginal delivery and the scar that will adorn your stomach for all time.

This change in policy may come at a fairly high price tag. C-sections cost about 800 pounds (that's $1,280 American dollars) more than a vaginal birth. In an already struggling British economy this may just break the bank. It is widely believed that only a small percentage of women will elect to have this surgery to avoid labor and other unpleasant effects related to child birth and therefore it will not put an undo strain on the economy. I guess only time will tell what the economic effect will be.

Making the decision on whether to have a C-section birth or a vaginal birth should always be based on what is best for baby and mother. For those women who do have a medical need for this surgery, it is relatively safe, I just don't believe that anyone should have surgery unless it is necessary.

Two Websites That Parents Need to Visit to Keep Their Children Safe

I just visited a website that I recommend that you take the time right now to visit. This website is radkids.org. It has practical tips to teach your children to esape from a predator, activities for children of all ages to teach these lessons, statistics about this growing problem and information about classes that your child can attend in your area. I was so intrigued by what I saw there, I am looking into making a conection with this organization.

A second site that you may also want to take a look at is notonemorechild.org which is an orgaanization trying to address the growing concerns about predators across the country and our children's safety. They are seeking support from Congress to provide better laws and funding for programs and law enforcement support that will keep our children safe from predators.

The Importance of You, Me and Us Time for Parents

It is imperative to good parenting that you. as a parent, remembers to take time for yourself and for your relationship if you are lucky enough to be part of a parenting team. It is important that both parents get some individual "me" time, as well as "us" time to grow your relationship. You will be a much better parent if you are relaxed and feeling good about yourself. Finding the right balance of time for each of these things and still being there for your children can be tricky to maneuver in our hectic day to day lives. This can be particularily challenging for the single parent family. If you are a single parent, find another single parent who has children of similar ages to yours and take turns watching each others children so that you each have the opportunity for that all important "me" time.

Keep in mind how important down time is to your well being annd the quality of care that you are able to give your children. Don't just let this time slip away because you are too busy. Take the time, it is that important.

A "Novel" Thought to Better Connect with your Child No Matter Their Age

Here is a "novel" thought to better connect with your child no matter how old they are, read the same book they are. Get it "novel" thought. Whether the book is something that they are reading for pleasure or for a school assignment is not important. Reading the book at the same pace as your child will give you something to talk about and may just give you both new incite into the book you are reading. My son and I just finished reading the "Hunger Games Trilogy" and it was great. Talk about interesting discussion.

Join a book club with your child today or create your own with just two members.