My kids are just about to finish off school for this year, as are so many of yours. Course this means some of them will be changing schools and the subject of uniforms has come up. This got me

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thinking of what everyone thinks out there.

For myself I find that a school with uniforms is better, at least for me it is. You won’t have to worry about who’s wearing what or what colors are okay to wear and which ones aren’t. I like the idea that each child will look the same because you won’t be worrying about which one has the next “Cool t-shirt” or even how many different color shirts they need.

Instead they’ll wear the same thing day after day, you can have two or even three shirts, skirts or pants and not worry. Your child will just need it re-washed during the week. Yes, it might mean more laundry but you won’t have to deal with the “Mom, I have nothing g that goes with my green jeans.” Instead it’ll be “Mom, wears my paid skirt, pants, shirt.” You’ll just state you have another one in the closet. Sigh with relief.

What are your thoughts? Are you for or against school uniforms and why?

Why is it my 8 year old daughter can’t wait to grow up? She’s constantly talking about boys, which I can go with. But when she starts talking about getting a boyfriend and getting married or even having kids my stomach gets all turned in knots. Kids these days are growing up so fast that it makes me question why.

As an 8-year-old I remember running around to spend the night at my best friend Stacy’s house or hanging in my bedroom with Barbies. How many of you remember those days? Things were just a bit more innocent, there were years before we’d even begin worrying about our future.

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I’ve seen it so many times. We will be playing at a park, shopping in a store or at a school function and we see a child who is being a complete brat. The mom will flush and say something like, “He has ADHD.” Oddly enough, that same child will be seen eating junk food for lunch and is known for the ability to quote whole episodes of Transformers. Hello? If the kid really does have ADHD, why isn’t he on a restricted diet? Why is he obviously consuming way too much television, known to worsen ADHD symptoms?

I know why and so do you. It is an out…a way for parents to justify the bad behavior and not have to put effort into parenting. Now, before you get hot under the collar and yell at me, know this: I do believe that ADD/ADHD and other common childhood disorders are real. My own son was diagnosed with ADHD, among other things. However, we do not use it an excuse to allow him to act out. He also knows that if he chooses to act out, that there will be consequences. Maybe not the same consequences that his siblings without ADHD are subject to, but one that is tailored to his need for patient, gentle discipline and a large amount of teaching/redirecting.

I think that the whole ADHD/ADD epidemic is getting out of control. Foods are being made for convenience and have terrible side effects on the body and mind. Television and video games are too easy to use as babysitters. Parents are becoming too involved in their own lives and look to convenient methods of controlling undesirable behavior (medication is one of the biggest tools that parents are currently seeking out.) In my opinion, it is being abused. If more parents of hyperactive, lethargic, or out of control children would put more effort into treating their children through diet, behavior modification techniques and supplements, instead of passing the buck and opting for convenience, their kids would be much better off in the long run. Sadly, I do not see this happening any time soon. In the end, it is the kids who suffer as they become adults and are unable to function in the real world, where acting uncontrollably leads to jail, chemical dependence or even premature death.

The answer? Stop making excuses and start getting more involved. What is your take on the issue?

Yep, you’re going to see a whole lot of back to school posts around here for the next few weeks! My kids are gearing up to face their return to school in only six more days. One of our biggest struggles is keeping track of the hundreds of school papers that come and go every week. It seems that some of my kids are great at keeping track of everything, while others struggle to find the homework that was in their back pack, just five minutes earlier. The solution? Making an easy system that all kids can use and mom can manage without a huge hassle.

Here at home, we have been through a trial and error method of finding the perfect system for us. We have five kids in school, which adds up to a lot of duplicated school newsletters, book order forms and PTA announcements. In addition to the usual paperwork, each child has a homework packet to keep track of for the week. We implemented a drawer cubby system, much like they use in Kindergarten. Each child empties the contents of their backpack into the personalized drawer as soon as they walk through the front door. As they have a snack, I go through the drawers, throw out duplicate notes, pull out homework and file each packet into a slot in an accordion folder, then pin any important papers onto a large cork-board.

The kids are not allowed to mess with the accordion folder. I retrieve the packets and replace them when the kids are done with homework and I have checked their work. This way, I never neglect to check for mistakes and I know that the homework made it back into the appropriate slot. The kids are responsible for taking any papers that they wish to save and put them into their memory boxes. At the end of the week, the drawers get cleaned out. After the kids are in bed and I have a few minutes of quiet time, I pull the papers off of our cork board and tend to the business of signing field trip forms and other important parental duties. After I finish, the forms go straight back into the backpacks in which they belong. The cork board also serves to display jobs well done, lunch menus and b-day invitations. It has been a great reminder of coming events.

This system may seem overly simplistic, but it works well. The kids have some responsibility, but not an overwhelming amount. The only chance of losing a paper, happens in transit to and from school. Since this rarely happens, we have had a huge decrease in missing homework packets and the like. Now…remembering who has which lunch is an entirely different problem!

With a new school year just a sneeze away, many parents are getting ready to put their children back on the medication that they’ve taken a summer break from. Some of these parents, along with others who have children that display behavioral problems but do not take medication, are concerned with ensuring that their kids can focus and not be disruptive during school hours. What many of them do not realize, is that what you eat greatly affects brain function, concentration, hyperactivity and behavior. The following is a list of ingredients that, if eliminated from the diet of children, can be of assistance in controlling a child’s behavior and academic performance:

• Any kind of food dye, especially red.
• Any processed foods (lunch meat, chicken nuggets and most convenience foods fall under this category.)
• White flour (also called “bleached flour.”)
• High fructose corn syrup.
• Refined sugar (usually just called “sugar”)
• Sulfates (found in hot dogs and many other foods)
• In some cases, gluten and casein (allergy tests can determine if you child has an allergy to these.)

If your child has problems with hyperactivity, loss of focus or is being disciplined frequently for behavior problems, you may benefit from taking a closer look at their diet. Most foods that are served in cafeterias contain these ingredients. Many foods that advertise convenience in packing lunches are big culprits in causing reactions that disguise themselves as undesirable behavior. Do your child a favor and try to keep school lunches and snacks as natural as possible. You just might find that their behavior radically changes for the better because of it! 

My oldest child has always enjoyed playing with dolls, dressing up in costumes and having tea parties. I have a feeling that things are about to change. She will enter the fourth grade next month. From what the teachers at school tell me, this is the year when playground games end and drama begins. Tether ball tournaments turn into gossip sessions. Swinging on the monkey bars is replaced with rounds of “My friend likes you. Do you want to go out with her?” Innocence is abandoned at the roadside as the kids head for the bright lights of the highway to adolescence.

I am scared shitless. I watch my daughter frolic around our back yard, her wavy hair dancing carelessly in the wind as she chases her siblings in a game of freeze tag. She is still too young to have to trade her dress ups for make up. It hurts me to think that she will have to choose between the backstabbing, spit swapping practices of the popular kids and being called uncool if she shuns these premature rights of passage. It hurts me because I know that she will choose the latter and be forced to fall prey to the vicious cycle that is social segregation. Those who do not conform to the standards set by the cool kids, will be labeled and black balled. It is fine by me, that she will not choose the path of the self destructive, but I know that she will be bothered that it has to be so. Luckily, she will be in the GATE program this year and grouped with other kids who are capable of higher thinking. Hopefully, she will make friends who do not care to concern themselves with such bull shit.

I think what scares me the most, is that I see so much of myself in her. I see her having to struggle with the same issues that I did, growing up. I was smart and placed in the honors classes. I was very social and wanted to be friends with everyone. I was raised with strict morals, but was not hard on the eyes. I was the cheerleader, but also the honors student. I was popular, but enjoyed hanging out with my peers who were not. I wanted to date, but also save myself for marriage. High school did not leave much room to fit into more than one category. The pressure to have sex, drink, do drugs and snub the unpopular was tremendous. I see my daughter facing the same challenges as she gets older and I hope to God that she is strong enough to reject the labels and shatter the mold that people will try to pour her into.

“Mom, can I go over to Timmy’s house?” It starts the same way every time. The kids make friends in their new classes and want to have a play date on their turf. I, in all of my parental paranoia, refuse to grant their request to set foot on unfamiliar turf and am met by cries of, “You’re so mean! That’s not fair!” Sometimes, the parents of said friend get involved and insist that their homestead is completely safe. These decrees hold just about as much weight as if it were made by Michael Jackson himself. I am very weary of strangers and even acquaintances. I grew up knowing of far too many families that discovered a member who was a child molester or had an abusive parent. Call me what you will, I’m not a parent who takes the safety of my children lightly.

My husband and I have strict protocol for getting comfortable enough with a family, to allow one of our kids to be trusted to their supervision. Sometimes, people get offended. There have been occasions where a parent will get down right pissed. For the most part, however, they can appreciate our skepticism and receive it as being protective and not paranoid. We always welcome the kids to come and play at our house. We welcome their parents to stay. We encourage them to do a background check. It has been known to strike people as odd, but we do one on every parent that we trust our kids with. We are honest about it and figure that the only ones who get tweaked about it, have something to hide.

After they pass the check and we become familiar with every member of the family, they move on to a thorough home inspection. We ask questions about who lives in the home. We check for guns and signs of drug use. My husband, who can read people like books, will let me know if he has a bad feeling about a family member. We make sure that dogs do not have access to our kids. After my son got attacked by a dog, we no longer allow them around strange dogs. Most of the time, the family will get the green light. Sometimes, we find that we have to deny our kids visitation to a certain house that we deem unacceptable. They can still be playmates at school, but that is where it ends.

How and where do you draw the line with your kids’ friends? Do you feel comfortable with allowing them to play at a strangers house? Do you take measures to make sure that the home environment is safe? Do you ever have to restrict your kids’ access to a friend’s house? Sound off in the comment section.

Whether you have one child or fifteen children, creating balance in your home life may seem impossible. For example, my children are out for the summer. We are trying to follow a summer home-school program that allows the kids to retain their acquired knowledge. I have six kids who participate in the program, all ranging from preschool to fourth grade. It can be tricky to “balance” out the amount of time spent helping each kid. I also try to “balance” play and learning time. I’m not telling you this so that I can earn your praise. Trust me, there is so much I do not do right or well.

On top of it, my baby (almost two years old,) is starting to potty train himself. This means constant poop watch. I try to catch him in time to stick him on the toilet. This is not easy when I have six kids barking for help. I also have the job of checking the blogs for comments, responding to them and keeping up blog posts. The icing on the cake was our decision to take my son off of his ADHD medication and search for answers to his condition. This decision entails research, a whole new way of eating and being patient when he decides to have a total meltdown. Sometimes, I feel like I’m being pulled in a million different directions. I lay the blame on myself, because I chose to take it on. It is my duty to try and “balance” all of these things.

My basic job of being a mother and a housewife has become much more involved than I ever imagined. I never thought that I would be juggling PTA fundraising responsibilities, Neighborhood Watch Captain, housework, cooking, marriage, work, Girl Scouts, guitar lessons, summer school, potty training, and a thousand other things. I never imagined that I could handle more than just cooking, cleaning and pregnancy, but somehow, I do. Do I do it perfectly? Heck no. Is everything given an even amount of time? No way. You see, the secret to creating balance, is to stop trying. Sometimes, you have to be able to shift your priorities and give a little more to a certain area. You have to mentally prepare yourself for the chance that things will not be even or go the way you envision them. If you ask me, balance is an illusion. What are your thoughts on creating and maintaining balance?

One of the ways I like to teach the kids to show gratitude, is by having them make end of the year gifts for their teachers and the school staff. Teachers are the hardest working and worst paid professionals, I’ve ever met. Most of them, bring work home with them, spend lots of their own money to make the school year special and treat their students like their own  children. So we try to help out when we can during the year and do a little something for them, come year’s end.

Since we had a little extra money, I bought each of them a scented candle set and the kids are making them cards. The front of the cards will say, “Thank You For En”light”ening Me!” Then, the kids can write their own message inside. I know for a fact, that most teachers cherish their students’ cards and keep them for years. My old third grade teacher, still has letters I wrote to her. She sent them back to me, just so I’d have them to put in my scrapbook. It really touched me that she cared enough to hold onto my labors of love.

This year, I decided to paint a picture for our school principal (as seen above.) She just opened the new school and does not have a lot of decorative objects, as of yet. The kids and I chose to do a painting of the school logo. Everybody helped out in some way. The kids are really looking forward to giving her our creation! We are even giving a little token of gratitude to the secretaries, librarian and custodial engineer. They have all gone out of their way to be kind and give 110% to the students and parents.  I feel that it is very important to let them know that they are just as appreciated as the teachers are.

What does your family do to show gratitude to teachers and school staff, at the end of the year? Share your ideas in the comments section.

Livid is too mild a word to express my current feelings towards my son’s kindergarten situation. Kindergarten should be a memorably pleasant year. A child’s kindergarten teacher is so vital to their over all impression of school and learning. My son’s teacher was an exemplary kindergarten teacher. There was only one downfall. She was pregnant. I am not one who looks down upon career women having babies, but if it means that their maternity leave wreaks havoc on my child’s kindergarten experience, I am totally against it. My son has had three different teachers this year, two of them substitutes. He has gone from loving school to despising it. He has been crying for a month now and having chronic stomach aches. His desire to academically excel, has shockingly diminished. This is not the first time that this exact situation has happened, either. My older son went through the same thing last year, with his kindergarten experience. It was so bad, that we had to send him to Sylvan Learning to get caught up in his studies.

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