Everything Family Issue 2

Welcome to the June 3, 2008 edition of Everything Family.    We received a whopping 72 submissions this month!  That’s incredible, and I hate that I could not include them all.  For further editions, submission time will be reduced from a month, to two weeks.

Lin Burress presents So Sexy, So Soon: The Sexualization of Childhood in Commercial Culture posted at Telling It Like It Is.

Autumn Beck presents My Top 4 Pocket Cloth Diapers posted at All About Cloth Diapers, saying, “I have been excited to write about my favorite pocket cloth diapers for quite awhile now, but had to wait for the arrival of a particular brand I wanted to try.”

Theresa L. Twogood presents Daily Prayer Journal posted at OLIN e-Book e-Publishing.

Jackie presents Mother’s Day posted at A Keeper’s Jackpot.

Madeleine Begun Kane presents Ode To An Absent-Minded Husband posted at Mad Kane’s Humor Blog.

Shaheen Lakhan presents Acknowledging Vaccination Concerns posted at GNIF Brain Blogger, saying, “When it comes to parents who choose not to vaccinate their children, a study reports two types: radical (refuses everything) and reformist (selectively opt out of certain vaccines).”

Family

Beth Blair presents Six Tips: Surviving a Family Road Trip posted at Traveling Mamas.

Linda W. presents Eating Well On Your Budget Vacation posted at The Eclectic Female, saying, “Eating out cheaply while on vacation can be tough, but is definitely doable.”

Trevor McKay presents Gastric Bypass Surgery And The Food Police posted at All About Gastric Surgery.

Jeff Sullivan presents The World Largest Toy Museum - Nostalgic Time Machine posted at Branson Travel Attractions.

Tip Diva presents Top Ten Tips - Stocking And Organizing A Medicine Cabinet posted at Tip Diva, saying, “Everyone should have a medicine cabinet in their homes in case of a sickness or an emergency. Here’s what to do to make sure you’re stocked and prepared”

Tip Diva presents Top Ten Tips - Moving Back Home As An Adult posted at Tip Diva, saying, “Maybe you’ve been away at school. Or, your lease may be up and you need an affordable place to stay while looking for a new apartment. Many young adults are moving back home for a variety of reasons, but coming back may be a culture shock. Here’s how to ease the transition”

Jeremy Neal presents What Moms Really Think About Good Dads posted at Discovering Dad.

Vera Lang presents Community Disaster Preparedness Tips - Plan Ahead of Time posted at Be Safe Insure .com, saying, “Emergencies & natural disaster can happen everywhere. Prepare to be safe and well for when this happens. Besides immediate responsiveness to get out of danger, these Top 10 Disaster Preparation Steps can help you and your family to take care of yourselves.”

Signs of a Cheating Spouse presents Personality Traits of a Cheating Spouse posted at Cheating Wife, saying, “Cheaters often have similar traits. Here is a list of characteristics to look out for.”

Hsidea presents Building friendships through homeschool groups posted at Homeschooling Tips, saying, “Tips for building friendships for homeschooled children”

Mother Hen presents Ship Full O’ Pirates » Blog Archive » Man Over-Bored! posted at Mother Hen.

George L Smyth presents One Minute How-To - How To Organize A Clothes Closet posted at George L Smyth, saying, “Nicole Green explains the most efficient way to make sure your clothes closet does not waste your time.”

Brent Diggs presents Nightlife | The Ominous Comma posted at The Ominous Comma.

Global Traveler presents Surviving Marital Infidelity - Signs of Infidelity » Protecting Your Finances In A Divorce posted at Infidelity, saying, “How to make the best use of a vacation guide.”

Metaliphe presents Dreading Family Gatherings? posted at Chandra Unplugged - No nonsense, Straight-up blogging from a Life Coach, saying, “Do you dread family gatherings? If you have a meddling mother-in-law that is constantly critical or a father-in-law that drinks too much and is bigoted, you are most probably anxious at family functions. Learn the best way to deal with these problems before, during and after dinner.”

Ken presents How To Recognize The Signs Of A Cheating Husband posted at Cheating Detective, saying, “How to find out if your husband is cheating on you”

Sherry Love presents Should I remarry after divorcing my husband for 14 years? posted at Sherry Love. net, saying, “Explore a situation when a woman isn’t sure if she should remarry.”

Mother Hen presents Photo Broadside: Fire Away!!!!! posted at Mother Hen.

Life

Christopher Johnson presents Dealing With Stress At Work posted at christopheraaronjohnson.net.

Matthew presents Will You Marry Me? posted at Conservatives and Normals . Com - The Blog, saying, “Thank you.”

Tina presents My Special Blend: Oh, happy dry day! posted at My Special Blend.

Fuel Efficient Driver presents Tips On Saving Gas And Money posted at Getting Better Gas Mileage, saying, “Here is a general list on how to save money on gas.”

Heather Johnson presents Finding an Ethical Partner posted at A Philosopher’s Blog.

Moms

Alison presents 7 Green Gifts for Mom posted at Green Me.

Woman Tribune presents A Little Mother’s Day History posted at Woman Tribune.

GP presents Mom?s Day in the Kitchen posted at Innstyle Montana- Come on Inn, saying, “Mom’s day in the kitchen… and a recipe”

Pregnant Woman presents Third Trimester Diet posted at Pregnancy, saying, “What you should eat in your third trimester for a healthy baby!”

Tip Diva presents Top Ten Tips - Finding The Perfect Mother?s Day Gift posted at Tip Diva, saying, “Mother’s Day is for celebrating that special woman in your life - and not just your mother, but perhaps a grandmother, aunt, older sister or close friend who’s been like a mother to you. Don’t know what to get that person? Here are some creative and unique ideas”

Mother Hen presents Mommie N’ Me Cookies posted at Ship Full O’ Pirates.

Tonya presents First Trimester Pregnancy: Symptoms, Problems, and Solutions posted at My Pregnancy Blog, saying, “Information about the first trimester of a pregnancy.”

Patty presents Inspiring Women to Be Irresistible! Listen in to Christina Wiley, Motivational/Health Coach posted at Parenting, Child Development, Shopping Resources, Recalls and Reviews, saying, “Please consider adding my post and blog to this carnival.
Thanks! My weekly moms support show features bi-weekly guests, authors, experts and women/moms in business.”

Suzanne presents Reaction To Eco Kid’s Birthday Party posted at Mommyfootprint.com, saying, “One of the places that accumulates the most waste and excess is our kid’s birthday parties. Read about the reactions from my guests after we tried an Eco party for our son. We would never go back to a traditional party…”

Tonya presents Natural Labor - Some Suggestions For A More Comfortable Labor And Delivery posted at My Pregnancy Blog, saying, “Natural labor followed by childbirth without any intervention from doctors or medical procedures is safe and most common.”

Parenting

Sam presents Best Children’s Books. Best Kids’ Books. Good Story Books and Picture Books for Children ! Surfer Sam posted at Surfer Sam and Friends, saying, “The best children’s books delight, inspire, and teach. You open the world to a child when you read together. Here are good story books and picture books for children. Would your child like these favorites?”

Fiona Lohrenz presents Getting Parents Involved At Day Care posted at Child Care Only.

Angela Williams Duea presents At least she?s not naked. posted at angelawd, saying, “When does clean=punishment? When you’re talking to a teen, of course!”

Sonja Stewart presents Avoiding arguments part 1 - Gift Cloning. posted at Parenting Squad, saying, “When it comes time for gifts, you can stop a lot of arguments by buying the same thing for every kid.”

Jessica Jones presents Celebrating Womanhood posted at Practical Nourishment, saying, “sharing female rites of passage with our daughters”

Kevin Heath presents Bringing Baby Home - Parenting 101 posted at More4kids.

Kevin Heath presents Tips for Working Parents posted at More4kids.

Linda W. presents Signs And Symptoms Of Dust Mite Allergies posted at The Eclectic Female, saying, “How to tell if you might be suffering from dust mite allergies.”

Nara presents Surviving Marital Infidelity - Signs of Infidelity » Helping Young Children Through A Divorce posted at Infidelity, saying, “Divorce can be hard on young children. Make sure to keep their interests in mind when going through a divorce.”

Summer presents Compassionate Parenting posted at The Attached Mother, saying, “Thoughts on raising compassionate children.”

Jamie McIntosh presents Organic Gardens Blog @ Suite101.com posted at Suite101: Organic Gardens blog, saying, “Get children out of the house and into the garden.”

Dianne M. Buxton presents Parent Volunteers Can Help With Natural Stage Fright Before Ballet Recitals posted at Ballet Shoes and Pointe Shoes, saying, “Suggestions for helping with stage fright in young performers.”

Homework. Dinner. Life. presents 10 Ways to Make Certain That Your Kids Hate School, Become Lazy & Dependent Learners, Drive Their Teachers Crazy, & End Up Living in Your Basement Until They Are 40 - posts - Homework. Dinner. Life. posted at Angela Norton Tyler, saying, “Angela shares a story about doing too much for her daughter.”

Ms. Mystery presents Wife’s Affair Broke Up Marriage: How to Protect the Kids posted at Good Luck and Confess, saying, “I am wondering if I have any rights to protect my children from being around my future ex-wife’s boyfriend. They had an affair and broke up our marriage.”

Kevin Heath presents Parenting a Child with Special Needs posted at More4kids.

Kevin Heath presents Tips For Helping Our Kids Grow Up Green posted at More4kids.

Anmol Mehta presents How to Raise Enlightened Children posted at Mastery of Meditation, Enlightenment and Kundalini Yoga, saying, “Non-dual, spiritual approach to raising children such that they grow to achieve their highest human potential.”

Fiona Lohrenz presents End the whining at day care posted at Child Care Only.

Dana presents A hot water bottle named Grofa posted at Principled Discovery.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of Everything Family using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

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In light of my recent post on Birth Order: How it Affects Children and Family I thought I would follow up with some parenting advice specific to your children based on their birth order.  Now, do not misconstrue this as though I am trying to tell you how to raise your children, or what to do with them.  You can take it or leave it, because all that matters is that you know your children, and what is best for them.  This is just meant to be some friendly help, as it may work for some, and that is my hope.

A healthy family comes in all shapes and sizes, and means all sorts of different things to different people.  A healthy family for one, does not mean a healthy family for another, so what this advice means to you, it may not mean to others.  Every child is different, as is every situation, and of course this cannot account for all of them.

Instead of regurgitating things I have read from other sources, I thought I would provide links to more information for each group.  Of course, so that this blog becomes my own instead of a few trackbacks to other people’s work, I’ll provide a sneak peek of what each one offers, and some of my own thoughts!

For your First Born: This article from parents.com provides ten tips for parenting your first born child.  This includes things like: letting the child make their own decision, not making the child your “eyes and ears”/primary caretakers for his or her siblings, and making time for them if there are lots of other siblings.  This makes sense because the first born is often the babysitter for his or her siblings, and often is expected to lead.  It will allow the child to be his or her age, instead of a mini-adult too soon.

For your Middle Child:  This article from parents.com provides ten tips for parenting your middle child.  This includes things like: making special time for the child without the others around, encouraging differences between the children, and recognizing his or her accomplishments.  This will help the child from getting lost between the one before him or her, and the one after him or her.

For Youngest Child: This article from parents.com provides ten tips for parenting your last born child. This inclueds things like:  playing fair, holding the child accountable for his or her actions, and being careful not to show too much attention to the youngest child in comparision to how much attention you give the other child or children in your family.  This will help the child see that he or she is equal to his or her siblings, and the siblings will not feel as though this child is favored any more or less than they are.

This makes sense to me, of course, but is not the only thing I would ever rely on.  So, tell me what you think about it, and if it has helped you in anyway.  Does any of this advice help your family, or do you think it would?

Photo Credit: Cindy Watrous (personal photo of my son from 2006)

I would never let my child use a pacifier! At least that’s what I thought before I had a baby. I even managed to hold onto the anti-pacifier ideology for the first month after I had my son. But then I did what any desperate, sleep deprived woman with a screaming baby would do ~ I found a pacifier. Found is actually a bit misleading. Around 3.a.m., with only about two hours of sleep out of the previous twenty-four, I became desperate. He was screaming and nothing calmed him down except nursing but he was so full he couldn’t eat anymore. Then I heard a little click. You know, the sound that’s made when you flip a switch to turn a light on? He just wants to comfort nurse, he needs a pacifier! I knew I had been given one at the baby shower ~ but where had I tossed it? I finally found it in a dresser drawer full of toys he was too young for. Yes! Then I boiled the pacifier, per the instructions, and while I was waiting for it to cool down I panicked. I can’t do this! What about my principles? What about his teeth? Then I took a deep breath and did what I always do when I don’t know what to do. I looked it up on the internet! The Mayo Clinic and the American Academy of Pediatrics were both very helpful. I found out it was ok to give my son a pacifier. Heck, it wasn’t just ok, it was good!

Here are some of the health benefits for using a pacifier:

• Can soothe a fussy baby
• Can help a baby fall asleep
• Can help reduce the risk of SIDS

I was ecstatic! By this time the pacifier was cool enough to give him (yes, he was still screaming) and I popped it in his cute little mouth. In the silence that immediately followed I heard bells ringing and angels singing! He was asleep in less than five minutes and slept for over four hours. Ever since I’ve given him a pacifier when he is especially fussy or is having trouble sleeping and it still works like a charm.

Did a pacifier save your sanity? When and how did you become a pacifier fan?
Submitted by: Robin