Managing Expectations

January 06, 2010 by Joelle Kaufman

It's January which means...time to figure out summer camp for grade-school kids. Insane, but true. Camps are broadcasting their dates and enrollment has begun. While our eldest will have 3.5 weeks of sleepaway, for the first time, we still have 12 weeks of summer to program for the boys - 8.5 for the eldest and 12 full for the younger. And I decided to helicopter parent for an hour to determine if a new camp would fit my younger son. Call it a temporary hover...or managing expectations.

Sticking with Sugar

January 05, 2010 by Joelle Kaufman

I've been on a personal crusade for about 10 years against High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). Recently, I added soy products to my list of scary stuff. And today, I learned that Agave Nectar is just as bad as HFCS. Turns out, my husband's desire for us to have a kosher home (compliant with the Jewish Dietary Laws) is inadvertently protecting my family from a lot of bad "food products".

Digital Dope

January 04, 2010 by Joelle Kaufman

Does the thought of spending 18 hours, one-way, in a car (okay, SUV) with three children and three (or four) adults give you cold sweats? I would have said yes a few weeks ago.

Are two week school vacations necessary?

December 22, 2009 by Joelle Kaufman

California isn't known for the quality of it's elementary and secondary schools - which is sad because they apparently were state of the art many years ago. I realize that we don't have snow days out here and that the children are in school for 180 days by law. But did you know that 90 minutes can constitute a "day"? I think we can expect more. Including single week (ok- 9 day) holiday breaks.

In New Jersey, where I grew up - near the Jersey Shore that is being ridiculously parodied by a reality TV show - we did have snow days and we didn't have two week school vacations. In fact, we went to school through to December 23rd and returned on January 2nd unless one of those days was on a weekend.

Here are the problems with two week school vacations. First, that's a long time for the kids to get out of the school rhythm. Consequently, they are likely to have an actual adjustment upon returning. One week off is enough to get a mental break without forgetting how to work or be in school. Ah yes, work is the second problem. If both parents work or have some semblance of a life during the day there are now two full weeks to fill. And that's a very expensive extended vacation or a recipe for cabin fever. Third - starting and ending every vacation on a weekend leads to some expensive travel as every family traveling flies those days. There's nothing wrong with starting mid-week. Third, the camps and other activities add more cost to families - unless a parent takes off from work (or other responsibilities) for two weeks. Which is a long time to be off work too.

The public schools in our area give two weeks (or more) off for Winter Holidays. I think that led our private school to do the same thing. My kids are loving the winter sports camps I found for them - and we'll leave for vacation in a day or so. In the spring, my school will close for two weeks again because of Passover - which occurs mid-week. It's helpful for people traveling to family and maybe that's the majority. But I'm not sure two weeks off from school is a good idea. Save that treat for college. What do you think?

Safe from unbalanced disappointment - this time

December 21, 2009 by Joelle Kaufman

A couple of weeks ago, we decided to allow our younger son to join our eldest in trying out for competitive soccer and I wrote about our concerns and decision. On Friday, we got a call from the U8 coordinator that neither boy made the team, but that they would like both boys to join their Friday academy in the spring.

Managing sibling competition

December 15, 2009 by Joelle Kaufman

Like most parents, we don't enjoy the regular bickering between our two eldest children. They love each other and share a room but get under each other's skin. It's normal. Our eldest is competitive and he recognized a couple of years ago, when he was 6, that his younger brother is a natural athlete. We've worked hard to keep them from being in head to head competition because we just thought that was best.

Holiday fears - who is the loud guy in the red suit?

December 12, 2009 by Joelle Kaufman

As a Jewish parent in the US, I'm very conscious that my children will be exposed to Christmas and Santa Claus. In fact, like most Jewish parents, I worry that they'll feel envious of the Christmas experience or feel a real desire to blend in and do what everyone else, it seems does and celebrate the holiday.

The fallacy of parenting insurance

November 03, 2009 by Joelle Kaufman

We all look for insurance - health insurance, life insurance and to some extent "parenting insurance". The challenge with parenting insurance is that we're really trying to affect the outcome of someone else's life and they have more than a little to say about the matter.

Learning to ride a bike

October 26, 2009 by Joelle Kaufman

They say once you learn, you never forget. And who doesn't have memories of their mom or dad running behind them and letting go as we pedal furiously to stay upright. I have memories of being the mom running behind each of my boys. But my sister found a better way - a balance bike/run bike/likeabike. Whatever - it's a tot-sized bike without pedals. And even my 2 1/2 year old can use it and loves it.

The best educational toy for toddlers

October 25, 2009 by Joelle Kaufman

Disney is offering exchanges for books and CDs for people who bought Baby Einstein DVDs from June 5, 2004 and September 4, 2009 as educational aids. Because they aren't educational at all - and studies show that children under 2 who watch DVDs (any DVDs) have a smaller vocabulary than their peers. I remember when these were "all the rage". Besides the fact that the music and the imagery made me a bit batty, I found research where the logic was so rational and obvious that I was sure these were not good for kids.