Aside from filling their stocking with goodies and the presents from my husband and I, Santa also bring my two children something from their “lists”(please don’t mention the word spoiled). For my nearly-2 boy, the choice was easy - a wooden Thomas the Tank Engine set, his current obsession. For my preschooler, it wasnt as easy as every month she’d come up with something new she wanted. A few months ago it was a My Little Pony house/castle, then it was the Superman Matchbox activity game, then the Barbie 12 Dancing Princesses doll (which her classmate had, of course).

By the time Christmas rolled around, it had changed to several other highly-commercialized, overpriced toys which would probably keep her interest for a week tops, but there are kids for you. So I held off her “Santa Present” for as long as I could until I finally got my husband to the mall and told him to deal with it. In true male-style, he led me to the nearest Sports shop, asked the shop assistant for kid roller skates and voila- she had her present.

Its the strangest thing, but despite her not mentioning skates at all in her Christmas desires, when we went to that Email Santa website, it was what she mentioned FIRST in her letter!!! I don’t know how my husband knew, but the moral of the story is that sometimes, just sometimes, we Moms have to let Daddies work their own magic with the kids.

[tags]Christmas, Holidays, Christmas presents[/tags]

Here it is, heart-wrenching and hilarious - what kids around the world have been emailing Santa about:

I just wish that the parents of a friend of mine really loved him (which they don’t),as he now lives in an Aid Center for kids and I want him to get out of there !
- Diana, 14, Arad, Romania.

my dad is on disability my mommy can’t work because of my sister and mommy says we not to expect much for chirstmas. but my sister needs a new bed and new clothes. and a new bike. but mommy says we have each other and that is what is important.
- Toni, 8, Indianapolis, Indiana.

Santa I am hearing impaired and had a dog named kip that would let me know if doorbell was to ring, wake me up when the alarm goes off, and much more. We were told that he was not doing everything he was supposed to do so hedaquarters in Michigan took him to help train him more. If he does not do good he will never come back to me. He have been very good up there so far and I hope and wish for him to come back. I would like for us to spend Christmas together because he had made a difference in my life. I know this may be asking too much, but I thought with hope and faith my dog may come back home. Thank you
- Annie, 18, Pensacola, Florida.

You said you might not have enough room in your sled for all the toys….I asked my mommy to get you a new-bigger sled for your Christmas present. I hope she gets it to you before Christmas!
- Alex, 4, Volga City, Iowa.

Gee it’s hard being six. I hope seven is easier?
- Damian, 6, Adelaide, Australia.

Santa, I do not have an email address of my own so I am using my brother’s email address. Please don’t get our presents mixed up though
- Lorna, 7, Essexville, Michigan.

Please bring something special for my Marmo. This is her first Christmas in heaven. We will miss her jello at Christmas dinner.
- Elizabeth, 6, Belfast, United Kingdom.

Santa, please be careful bringing my puppy down the chimney, if she doesn’t fit please make other arrangements to get her to me, do you have special helpers for precious pet deliveries?
- Scotty, 8, Fresno, California.

Santa, my computer is missing. For christmas I asked for some new computer things like what my daddy has and I was hoping that maybe your elves just borrowed it to add that new stuff to make it run gooder but if they didn’t maybe somebody stole it and you could bring me a new one?
- Matthew, 8, Franklin, New Hampshire.

I hope that you get every house in the whole Unavicers.Maybe your wife should do the work for you.
- Jessica, 8, DeWitt, New York.

[tags]Christmas, Holidays, Letters, Santa[/tags]

Tis the season we receive and send Christmas cards and get Christmassy emails too. Here are a couple that came into my inbox recently, which no doubt the kids will enjoy.

Pimp My Nutcracker -
This is a hilarious one, where the trad Nutcracker can be given a makeover to look like an …er…pimp? Well, it really does sound much worse than it is as the bits that you can put on him (think gaudy jewelry, hamburgers and a Starbucks coffee) are really more of the bling-bling-hip-hop-school rather than the back alley chap with a dubious job. Definitely for older kids or those that have a kooky sense of humour as my daughter does. I’d also leave the “P” word out, and replace it with Bling Bling or even “rapper”, as it is such a hideous word anyway and I’d hate to explain to my child what it means in literal terms.

The Snow Dog
This interactive card, sent by my Mother to the kids is of the classic and heartwarming type. Kids who are nifty with the mouse can click on different bits to make the story go along. Lovely graphics and very very sweet.

[tags]Christmas, Holidays, Christmas e cards, Nutcracker game[/tags]

Lately nearly every place we go to is adorned with Christmas decorations - poinsettias, wreaths, garlands, lights, santas, snowmen, and yes, styrofoam balls covered in glitter, ribbon, rhinestones and so on.

At our local Gymboree, where my son and I attend twice-a-week lessons (which he LOVES by the way), there are lots of the homemade variety, of balls in different sizes, simply decorated with multicoloured glitter. Many had impressively had Gymbo the clown too.

My daughter thought that these balls were just “beautiful!”, and asked if we could make some at home too. As Christmas is coming, I thought I’d don my SuperMom cape for the holidays and get down to some serious Yuletide styro-ball-ornament making. You have to love the styro ball. Its cheap, easy to find, and easy to decorate for little kids.

Heres’ how to do it:

Styrofoam Ball Ornaments

*styrofoam ball (about 2 1/2 inches)
*glue
*paper clips
*paint
*craft items - glitter, jewels, ribbons, etc

Put some glue on one end of a paper clip and push it into ball, this will be the hanger. Paint and decorate as desired.
You can also paint with glitter paint, glue on “jewels” & tiny shells and ribbons as below.

Ribbon Covered Balls

* Styrofoam ball
* 1/4″ satin ribbon
* Dressmaker pins
* Christmas cording
* Ribbon for a bow
* Pearls, beads or other decorations
* Hot glue

Take a large pen and poke a hole all the way through the center of the ball. Secure the ribbon with dressmaker pins at one end and basically just wrap the ribbon around the ball through the hole. At each end of the hole, secure the ribbon with a pin. Then after you cover the whole ball, you can push some pretty cording through the hole and tie a knot at the bottom and make a bow or something like that at the top for a loop to hang on tree. You can also use a hot glue gun to add other baubles like beads, pearls or small crystals.

[tags]Christmas, Holidays, Christmas ornaments, styrofoam balls[/tags]

I’ll probably get throttled for saying this, but now with the backing of the esteemed American Academy of Pediatrics, I can finally admit that I let my kids watch copious amounts of tv, and that I believe that if the right programmes are chosen, it actually does them good. Of course it doesnt beat an afternoon of playing make-believe in the backyard, but you know what I mean.

I’m talking about Barney, Sesame Street, Blues Clues, Dora, and the like, which teach a lot of good stuff they wouldnt learn at home (especially if they don’t go to school yet)- and not some of the awful stuff tweens and teens get on Nickelodeon and Disney. My 4 year-old unfortunately is amused by the likes of Zach and Cody and High School Musical, which I don’t really mind too much. Its Sponge Bob’s less-than-respectable language and shows like “All That” which have kids pouring down coffee and white sugar down their throats while they act absolutely horrifying - are what makes me shudder.

So back to this startling piece of news, which I share with you here:

Study Finds Positive Effects of Educational TV on Preschoolers

SEATTLE, November 6: A new study published today in the November issue of Pediatrics, the official journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, has found that educational television programs can be beneficial to toddlers and preschoolers in broadening their knowledge, affecting their racial attitudes and enhancing their creativity.

The report looked at 12 studies conducted between 1973 and 2000 focused specifically on television content viewed by children under the age of 6 and its impact on learning, racial preference, aggression, pro-social behavior, self-regulation and imagination.

The research found that there is evidence to suggest that educational television programs, such as Sesame Street and Mister Rogers, can aid in the acquisition of general knowledge plus improve overall cognitive knowledge among young children. There is also evidence in the literature that children’s imaginative play can be positively affected by television content. Furthermore, educational television programming that emphasizes diversity can improve children’s racial attitudes.

“The bottom line is that content is key—high-quality educational programming can have a positive effect on children under age 6,” said Dr. Dimitri Christakis, a pediatrician at Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle. “However, much more research is needed. It was disappointing that there are so few rigorous controlled trials of something that is so important and so prevalent.”

However, there was also evidence that television viewing can increase a child’s display of aggression.

“This is a good start, but more research is needed on the impact of television viewing and content on infants and young children,” added Christakis. “Especially as the infant video and cable television markets are exploding, we should be carefully monitoring whether or not these products meet their claims to improve a child’s intelligence, language acquisition and pro-social behaviors. At this point, we should continue to be cautious about the amount and type of television we let our kids watch.”

[tags]Television, Kids, Preschoolers[/tags]

A couple of days ago my kids woke up sneezing, coughing and with very runny noses. As you probably know by now, Halloween is a BIG deal at our house, so it couldn’t have happened at a worse time. And with another big Halloween party happening tomorrow, and trick or treating on Tuesday, the mission was clear - I had to get them better FAST.

So apart from our Pediatrician, Dr.J’s usual measures of regular over-the-counter meds, I have a tried-and-tested arsenal of “alternative” methods which I use on my kids and husband, as well as myself. So at the risk of sounding like a granola-organic Mom (which I am fast becoming), here it is:

Vitamin C - I have found a high-dose pediatric syrup, so when the cold symptoms set in, I give around 500 mg to my 20 month old, and about 1,000 mg to my 4-year-old. The regular ones with lame amounts like 100 mg and are really just sugar, are a waste of time in my book. Don’t be afraid of large amounts of C - it REALLY does work.

Zinc - I give them a multivitamin daily with this anyway, but increase the dosage when they have a cold.

Echinacea - The drops I have have both echinacea and goldenseal, which I give 3x a day.

Honey Turmeric - This is my Mom’s remedy for a cough. My kids have gotten used to the taste and now ask for it when they feel a cough on them. Its basically 1/2 tsp each of ground cinnamon and ground turmeric, mixed in a tablespoon of virgin honey (use the runny kind for easy swallowing). For adults, a raw garlic clove, chopped and heated for 10 seconds in a pan, should be added in. This is a really potent antibiotic and should be taken 2-3x a day. If I do the garlic bit I give some to my husband too and vice versa. You get the idea.

Bioplasma - These homeopathic tissue salts are just amazing. My Aunt’s homeopath highly recommended this, saying we could even take it everyday (ill or not) for optimum good health. And when its for a cold or other malaise, you can take it every 15 minutes for acute conditions and it will NEVER cause an overdose. He even said it would be good for our 10 year old Basset Hound….so, now my kids are taking it every hour.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, Bioplasma “….is a combination of all 12 of Schuessler’s Cell Salts“…whatever that is. I’m a big fan of Homeopathic remedies, which gives me an idea that I should post more about that…. But anyway, I’m crossing my fingers now….

[tags]kids colds,kids health,homeopathic remedies kids,alternative health,echinacea,halloween[/tags]

To de-mystify ADHD a little more , here are the symptoms the doctor will be watching out for, classified into the classic three types. Read and learn:

1. an inattentive type, with signs that include:

* inability to pay attention to details or a tendency to make careless errors in schoolwork or other activities
* difficulty with sustained attention in tasks or play activities
* apparent listening problems
* difficulty following instructions
* problems with organization
* avoidance or dislike of tasks that require mental effort
* tendency to lose things like toys, notebooks, or homework
* distractibility
* forgetfulness in daily activities

2. a hyperactive-impulsive type, with signs that include:

* fidgeting or squirming
* difficulty remaining seated
* excessive running or climbing
* difficulty playing quietly
* always seeming to be “on the go”
* excessive talking
* blurting out answers before hearing the full question
* difficulty waiting for a turn or in line
* problems with interrupting or intruding

3. A combined type, which involves a combination of the other two types and is the most common

[tags]ADHD,ADD,Kids,Health[/tags]

As you’ll easily notice from my last posts, my four-year-old is a handful these days. She shouts at the top of her lungs as often as she can, cannot seem to sit still at home for longer than 5 minutes and will do all that is humanly possible for a preschooler to avoid bedtime - or prolong it at least.

The night before last I found her sleeping on the floor in her bedroom, and last night she asked if she could sleep there again. Is this weird behaviour or normal for someone her age?

Anyway, at a meeting at her school the other day where we Moms were roped in to organizing an entire classroom as Mexico (food, costumes,decor and all-yaaaa!) for UN month, her principal started talking about a new music-based program starting for kids with special needs - like ADHD- and I swear, I just felt she was pointedly looking at ME.

I nodded emphatcally to the Principal, but inside a wave of paranoia swept over me. Did she think my daughter had ADHD? To be honest, I don’t really know what it is exactly. I just hear about it everywhere - on tv, through friends, spoken casually in conversation like its the most normal thing in the world.

When I told my husband my worries, he brushed me off saying our daughter was a normal, energetic kid just like he was. Yes, “normally energetic” is ok, but a label like ADHD on your child is a nerve-racking prospect.

So before any more paranoia sets in, I’m off to google for a bit of educating.

[tags]adhd,parenting,kids,mums,mothers,fathers[/tags]

Its hard enough raising healthy children, so when I think of parents who raise children with disabilities with much more patience and creativity than I can even hope having, I am filled with admiration and inspiration.

I read somewhere today that Autism in the US has increased by a shocking 172% since the 90’s, making it the fastest growing developmental disability where 1 in 166 children are affected by some form of the disease.

How true that it does seem to have gone mainstream these days. My cousin, who is 18 years old, has Aspergers, a high-functioning form of autism. He was able to go to mainstream schools (albeit with difficulty) and now attends University, able to take the subway on his own to and fro school - but he has never had any friends. Also, it is virtually impossible to have a “normal” conversation with him. Sure, you can talk to him about something he’s currently “obsessed” with, but if you try to talk about something else, he’ll act like he never heard you - or simply walk away.

In my daughter’s pre-school, she has a classmate who is much bigger and obviously older than all of them. Last year, he wouldn’t even look at you and would get very upset during school performances. He always tapped or smelled my daughter’s hair (she didnt seem to mind much and was always very kind to him - something I am very proud of) and really didnt make any proper friends in class.

I’m not quite sure what form of autism he has, but it seems to be one that is improving, because he actually smiled and said his poem in front of all us parents at this year’s show without too much fuss - an amazing improvement. It was wonderful!

Even this book I’m reading now by Nick Hornby was made to raise funds for autistic children ( I didnt know it at the time of purchase, but am pleased now that I bought it). Why? because his son is autistic and sadly not like my cousin or the boy at my daughter’s school, but whose case was much more severe.

Anyway, Nick found a school in the UK called the TreeHouse and it helped his son tremendously. The book, entitled “Speaking with the Angel” is a collection of short stories by slick contemporary writers from both sides of the atlantic . Aside from profits of the book going to help children with autism get proper help, the back of the book gives useful information on how you can help/find more about these great organizations in London and New York.

In the news: A recent study performed by the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) found disturbing information claiming that teens who listen to their iPods and MP3 players at volumes relatively louder than adults experience symptoms of hearing loss.

The ASHA notes that it’s not solely MP3 players and iPods that are responsible for these signs of hearing loss. Instead, it’s the combination of length of time and volume at which the teens are listening to music through headphones that is responsible for the damage.

Thankfully, teenagers seem to have some understanding of this. The ASHA’s survey shows that nearly 70 percent of students say that they are “likely” to turn down the volume of music when listening to it through earphones. However, 58 percent said they weren’t likely to cut down on the time they spent listening to music with earphones on. “Louder and longer is definitely not the way to use these products,” says Brenda Lonsbury-Martin, PhD, ASHA’s chief staff officer for science and research.

The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD) offers three basic rules for limiting the damage done to your children’s ears by listening to iPods and MP3 players:

1. Make sure that he or she can hear normal conversation voices while listening to music through headphones

2. Limit the amount of time he or she spends listening to any type of music through headphones to one hour a day

3. Set the volume of their music player no higher than 60 percent of the maximum