Monday, March 31, 2008

Stay Tuned!

by Teresa

We’ve been having some techinical difficulties with the NewsMoms blog over the past few days (ah, technology!).  We hope to have it all straightened out soon.

In the meantime, for diversion, check out this comedy song that was a huge YouTube hit a few months back.  It’s great fun for all moms.  This lady figured out everything that a mom says to her kids in a 24-our period… and she sings it all to the tune of the William Tell Overture.  I love it! 
You’ll laugh if you watch it, trust me.  Just click here.

Monday, March 24, 2008

Beloved Books: Byron Barton

by NewsMoms

In an earlier posting, Teresa discussed one of her children’s favorite books.  Today, Kelly talks about a series of books that her sons have loved.  We hope to continue featuring “Beloved Books” periodically in this space; please feel free to email us (click the “Contact” button at the very top of our blog page) with descriptions and/or photos of books your children adore!  We’ll share some of those right here on our blog!

Kelly’s Beloved Books
We are a home of devoted Byron Barton fans. My sister-in-law bought one for my eldest when he was just months old. Barton’s basic and bright colors framed in thick, black outlines combined with simple, demonstrative sentences held my son’s interest right from the start. My youngest is still enthralled! In fact, this past Saturday night we used packing tape to repair these books so my 4 year old could read them again. It’s not just one he reads at a sitting. We read all 3 at once – back to back to back. So for 6 years and counting, the trio of Barton’s work still gets a weekly workout.

Which reminds me – we need more packing tape!

Obsessed with “The Office”

by Kelly

I have a problem. It’s an addiction really. I am nutty about the NBC show “The Office.”
With the recent writer’s strike, and the fact that I lent my DVDs of seasons 1 & 2 to Teresa with the hopes of recruiting another fan, I have been in serious withdrawal. I have been crawling through the Office fan sites like “officetally” (click here) and the NBC homepage (click here) every free moment. I find myself saying “That’s what she said!” at every opportunity. I work hard at my other “job” as a salesperson for Dunder Mifflin Infinity (click here), the show’s ultimate fan interactive distraction. These things have made my Office-mania tolerable, and I find that life without new episodes to fuel my “problem” is a little lacking, but manageable.

For example: I have been more awake on Friday mornings, not having to stay up for the latest episode. I find I don’t annoy my fellow Sunrise employees with detailed re-caps and witty quotes from the current Office anymore. My kids don’t have to delete Office episodes from the DVR to make room for Curious George on PBS. My addiction was under control… WAS.

Now that the strike has ended, I feel the rumblings of complete and utter Office obsession re-emerging. I have already seen the still pictures from the next 2 upcoming episodes online. I have read the spoilers over and over. I have watched the commercials on NBC set to the “Welcome Back Cotter” theme song. The bear is out of hibernation!

The new Office episodes will begin April 10 and I can’t contain my excitement!  I am looking fiendishly at the network promotions for those precious frames and dialogue of the actual new episode. I need to know if Jim and Pam’s relationship has evolved even more since we last tuned in. I wonder about Dwight and if he’s back with Angela or making a go alone. Did Jan leave Michael after he completely bungled her case with corporate?  I miss Stanley, Creed, Meredith, Kelly, the warehouse crew, Oscar and Kevin. I miss Michael tormenting Toby. I miss the pranks. I hope Andy/Drew sings again.

April 10 is so close yet so far away! 

So…. Do you have a tv show obsession? Which shows do you have set to “record all episodes” in your DVR? Let us know! We can make a post-strike television show anticipation support group of sorts! 

Friday, March 21, 2008

Sibling Rivalry in NYT

by Teresa

My children are best friends who love each other completely.  Really, this is true.  They’re good kids who often share things with each other, even if they don’t “have” to share.  When my son walks out of the school building when kindergarten lets out, they RUN across the playground to hug each other.

But still.  We are definitely not immune to moments of sibling rivalry in my house!  We’ve heard things like “I don’t want him near me!“ and “I wish I didn’t even have a sister!“ and “I hate you!“  These comments are usually shouted when one scribbles on the other’s artwork, or knocks over a Littlest Pet Shop village, or destroys a painstakingly-created Lego plane. 

Now that I’m a parent, I really have a new understanding of how my brother and I must have tried my parents’ patience. 

A video posted on the New York Times website this week got me thinking about the things I used to do to my brother, when we were younger.  I won’t embarrass myself or him by detailing those escapades here.  Perhaps unsurprisingly, though, like many siblings, by the time we were teenagers, my relationship with my brother was greatly improved (my parents might even tell you that we became partners in crime.  They might tell you stories about parties in the house when they were out of town.  I’m not admitting or denying anything here.)  When I see my brother these days, there’s certainly no more name-calling or shouting “I hate you!“  I assume the same will be true of my kids, someday.  Perhaps they’ll grow up and the closest they’ll come to conflict in their adult years will be vigorous debates about political candidates.

Anyway.  To the video.  A New York Times camera crew recorded people’s stories about sibling rivalry.  You can click here to see it.  (The video was a sidebar piece to an article about an author who had apparently faked her recently-published memoir; her lies were uncovered when her own sister revealed the truth about their upbringing—yikes!  Now THAT is some serious sibling conflict!  To see that column, click here .)

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Soapbox Topic: Vaccines (Flu)

by Teresa

The Boston Globe reports that four children have died this year in the state of Massachusetts, from the flu.
No children died from the flu in the Bay State in all of 2007.
This flu season has been a bad one, but thankfully, health officials say it’s nearing its end, and the worst is behind us.

To read the Globe article, click here.

Articles like this one only reaffirm my belief that the flu shot is a good thing, for ALMOST everyone.  It’s a good example of the benefits of “herd immunity.“  The idea is that if MOST people are vaccinated against a disease, fewer people at high RISK for the disease will actually get it, because there will be fewer sick people to spread the germs around, among the healthy people.
This is why the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) recently recommended changing the guidelines, and advising MORE people to get the flu shot (click here).

I get the flu shot every year, and so does my husband.  My children get the vaccine, also (my daughter gets the shot, but my son’s old enough to get the nasal spray).  Not only are we protecting ourselves, we’re also protecting the people around us. 

Sure, there are arguments against the shot.  They’re not perfect; this year’s formula didn’t perfectly match the strains of flu that are out there.  There’s the never-ending debate about whether it’s safe.  Some people still mistakenly believe that you can GET the flu, from the flu shot (you can’t; it’s a “dead” virus.  The nasal mist, however, is a different type of vaccine.  For more, click here).
I believe—again, from my own research and conversations with our pediatrician—that the risk of the sickness we COULD get without the vaccine, is far worse than the extremely minimal risk of having the vaccine. 

That’s my Vaccine Soapbox for today.  Next fall when you consider the flu vaccine for your family, you’ll have to make your own decision.  But I hope you’ll at least consider the idea that the shot could be a good thing for your family, AND for your community. 
Something to think about: four families in Massachusetts are mourning the deaths of their children from flu, right now. 

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Breaking News:  HPV

by Teresa

I’ve been working on the HPV Vaccine post (below) for several days.
In an occurrence of coincidental timing, some HUGE news about HPV just came out this week.

If you watched our local news, or any national news programs last night—or if you read virtually any newspaper, you’ve seen the shocking headlines that were JUST published yesterday, about the high percentage of teenagers in the U.S. who have sexually transmitted diseases.

ONE in every FOUR teenaged girls aged 14 to 19 have contracted at least one STD.  The most common of them all? HPV.

(In case you missed my last posting: Some strains of HPV can eventually cause deadly cervical cancer).

Parents of all teenagers should read this story if they haven’t already.
For the article in the New York Times: click here.
Or the one in the Boston Globe: click here.

Soapbox Topic: Vaccines (HPV)

by Teresa

Vaccines (HPV)

A vaccine called Gardasil protects against HPV, the virus that causes most cases of cervical cancer.  An article in the New York Times recently talks about how the vaccine is currently marketed to girls, but could soon be recommended for boys, too, and why that may be a good idea.  (For the Times article, click here. . For more information about Gardasil:  click here.)

Gardasil is pretty new, and when it first came out, some districts tried to make it mandatory for girls in certain age groups.  There was an outcry from some parents who didn’t want their daughters to have it.  Why didn’t they want the vaccine?  Because HPV is a sexually transmitted disease.  Human Papilloma Virus, in addition to causing most cases of cervical cancer, can also cause genital warts.  The HPV vaccine protects against two strains that cause cancer, and two that cause warts.  Not a pleasant topic, perhaps, but it’s important medical information.

Some parents actually objected to the vaccine because they said it would make kids more likely to become sexually active.  That’s right.  This vaccine could save the lives of daughters all over the U.S. someday, but some parents didn’t want it, because their kids might take it as a sign that they were free to have sex.  Moreover, many of these parents said their daughters didn’t NEED it, because they would never have sex before marriage.  (I guess it never occurred to those parents that perhaps their angelic daughters might end up MARRYING someone who’d already had sex; no matter whether you get it before or after marriage, HPV can STILL cause cancer!)

And so.
Here comes my soapbox, folks.

First of all, TEENS HAVE SEX.  Despite years of federally-funded efforts to promote abstinence, TEENS ARE STILL HAVING SEX.  No, I don’t like to think about my daughter having sex in high school (and my husband will assuredly turn pale if you mention it in his presence).  I don’t know any parents who aren’t concerned about teen sex.  But let’s get real, here.  A recent study reported that 47 percent of all high school students in this country say they’ve had sex at least once.  By spring of their senior year, 63 percent say they’ve had sex.  (To read more about the study, which also looked at the effectiveness of abstinence-only sex ed, click here.)
Kids are already having sex, with or without this vaccine. 

Secondly, since many schools have been using “abstinence” programs instead of comprehensive sex education, now more than ever, it’s up to parents to explain to their children that there can be MANY consequences of sex during teenage years. Those include, but are not limited to: HIV and other diseases, teen pregnancy, gossip among other students, and just plain old broken hearts!  If offering your child a vaccine to protect against one STD actually convinces your child that he or she can pursue sex with no consequences, then you’re failing as a parent.  It’s not the vaccine’s fault.  It’s yours.

Third.  It can’t be said enough.  Cervical cancer KILLS WOMEN.  More than 10,000 women in the U.S. are diagnosed with it each year.  Of those, more than 3,000 will die from it.  This vaccine could SAVE your daughter’s life someday.  Listen, it comes down to this for me.  It’s really simple.  You have a vaccine that could save my daughter’s life?  SIGN HER UP.  You want boys to get vaccinated too, to make sure they can’t transmit a potentially deadly disease to others?  SIGN MY SON UP, TOO.  I will sign them up as soon as they’re old enough (Gardasil is recommended for the pre-teen years, before children become sexually active). 

Now, if you don’t want your child to have a vaccine because of a medical concern of some kind, that’s a completely different story (in the districts that tried to make the vaccine mandatory, any parent who wanted to “opt out” simply had to sign a form, and that was that).  Do what you have to do, check with your doctor for advice, read all the information you can get your hands on, and make an informed decision.

But please, don’t argue that a life-saving vaccine should be eliminated, just because it’s aimed at an STD.