Monday, May 13, 2013
by Allison Carter
Be forewarned: I am a little miffed as I write this. I am a SAHM (as you all know from previous musings on this issue). Yet I also blog and write. I love both of these "professions." I was a Journalism major and worked for a few newspapers over the years before my career went in a legal way. Staying at home combined with the exlposion of blogs over the years has allowed me to go back to my passion. Bonus is I get a little income along the way while forging a new workplace identity (no empty resume years for me). So why am I miffed?
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This past weekend I was blessed to go on a road trip...by myself. I went to visit a bunch of friends in the great city I lived in for years and love (and miss): Washington, D.C. I had 2 blissful nights away. That's right, 2 nights at friends' houses in big, comfortable beds and no kid-alarm clocks. And guess what: I slept terribly. I was up 2 to 3 times a night and at 7:00 am every day. What is going ON!? 
Despite how perfect your child is to you, she might develop concerns about weight at some point—particularly in her tween and teen years. And while you can't control the messages your child receives from peers and pop culture, there are things you as a parent can do to help her develop a healthy attitude toward her appearance:
We don't usually address current events on our website, but after watching the news unfold Friday I felt compelled to write something. As mothers, I know we all sat down and cried as we thought of those who lost a child in this horrible elementary school shooting. God Bless the students, staff and families affected by this tragedy. They will all be in our thoughts and prayers.
My daughter has been “testing the limits” lately. Even though this is a normal thing for kids to do, it is really unusual for her and has caught me off guard.
Bullying today is just not what it used to be ... We are always hearing that these days. “Well, when I was a kid we had to walk to school in the snow!” The same applies to bullying. It is not the tyranny of the big mean boy who steals lunch money. It’s the otherwise sweet girl that shares her candy with all the girls she likes in front of that one girl that she doesn’t. It’s the special clubs and exclusionary occurrences on the playground day after day. Sure, there are still instances of name calling and deliberate tripping. But now there are obvious and malicious emails intended to haunt and dominate. Today, the bullying we need to target and prevent with our children is the subtle, the covert and the as yet, uncensored. 
Why is it so hard to ask for what you really want? 
The dreaded day has finally come...we've lost her. White sotfy, that is...my daughter's most prized possession. White softy was a gift when my daughter was born 4 years ago, and she is like Linus with her little blanket. It comforts her, it soothes her, it has fun with her, it does gymnastics with her...there is nothing white softy won't do. 
I will never forget the words one mom said to me when my first born was just six months old. She told me she was “too busy to play with her kids.” At the time she was a stay-at-home mom and her children were in elementary school full-time. She did not have any work or volunteer obligations. I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure she also had a hired maid, a husband who helped with dinner preparations and a laundry list of babysitters she used non-stop. All that, but she was still too busy, she said.
I loved the commentary on last week's "Whatcha Think" blog where we discussed 
The most difficult part of giving support to a friend who has suffered a loss is that everyone grieves differently. Some people want to be alone, others want to be with friends, some cry all day long, and others don’t cry until a full year after the incident. The best I can do is share what worked for me in hopes that it will give ideas and suggestions to those of you who have a friend in need. If you have suffered a loss or gone through a difficult time, please add your comments at the end and tell us what helped you in your time of need. 
“It’s dark and cold and this season is supposed to be joyous?!? Instead I feel tired and cranky and like I can’t get enough sleep!” Sound familiar? Are you struggling to keep your head above water? Feeling less enthusiastic, less social, more irritable and fatigued, more inclined to stay indoors, working less effectively, and eating more? For many of us, feelings like these last for an hour or two, or maybe a day. For those who suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), these symptoms recur about the same time every year, last for several months, and make daily living very difficult. 
We are happy to share a second post from our Triad MOM 2011 Mother of the Year today. Patrice Williams has an incredible and inspirational story to tell. If you missed Part One, you can read it 
Feeling uncomfortable about being separate from mom and dad, or “separation anxiety” is most commonly thought to be something that impacts preschool children and kindergarten age. It does, but also common is the onset around 4th grade. It catches parents off guard because they think they are done with this sort of thing. 
Over the summer I took an unexpected leave of absence from Triad Moms on Main. Hopefully most of you did not even notice, and that is because of the incredible women on my team who kept the site going strong. I do not know what I would have done without them. 
When someone says "body image," most of us probably think of a teenage girl looking in the mirror and not liking what she sees. The word "anorexia" may then come to mind. But body image doesn't have as much of a gender divide as you might think. Boys feel the pressure to look good, too, and the feeling that they don't quite measure up to their peers or celebrities can take a big toll in the form of depression, eating disorders and other problems.
September – school starting back and the start of soccer and football season. Fans of both sports are passionate in their love of these games. One does not have to look very far to spot people wearing football or soccer apparel around the Triad. Sports are an important part of most people’s lives, and they are commonly discussed at home, with friends, in the workplace, in cyber space and through any form of media that we come in contact with on a daily basis. As such, it seems we would be doing our children a disservice to not expose them to different sports and give them an opportunity to experience playing different sports. 
Our sister site, 
How do I begin writing about Marriage and Couples when there are so many topics that can be discussed in this subject matter? The most basic point to start from would be; how do we see ourselves and our spouses/partners in terms of our concept of what a relationship is?
You might remember this 
You never know exactly when it happens. It just does.
Families and professionals have different challenges in supporting children after disasters depending on many factors. First, of course, is the degree of impact. Children who were injured or lost their homes obviously have very different needs from those who had no direct effects but who saw damage in their communities or on TV, or who spent time during the storm in a closet but did not get the worst of the storm. This blog is meant to help you figure out how to help the children in your lives cope and recover. 
Recently my husband and I had to make the heartbreaking decision to put down our family dog, Sheba. We think she was 15 (we were never sure since we adopted her from my husband's sister who adopted her from someone else), but she's been a constant in our lives since 2001. Because of her age she was never a dog who played much. She basically slept all day and only asked to go out and be fed. Nonetheless, we loved her dearly. 
Technology … a word that evokes both fear and awe. It is bigger than our understanding of it and it will always grow faster than we can possibly keep up. I myself, have little expertise when it comes to technology. I’m learning at a pace much slower than my children, but I suppose that makes me normal. The internet is a place I sense my own fear about the things that hardly ever happen but can, and yet is the first place I turn to for unanswered questions. So how do we live in a relationship with technology and role model for our children the appropriate way to do so? 
Does my child have ADHD? How is it treated? And what can I do to help my child do his/her best? These are questions parents often ask.
