Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Is it the parents’ influence and guidance, or are children genetically predestined to be particular about the foods they prefer to eat?
Maybe we’re just lucky. To date, we’ve been fortunate to not deal with picky eating with our two sons. I’m not a picky eater, so during my pregnancies I continued to eat EVERYTHING. This allowed the tastes of these foods to transfer through the amniotic fluid to my growing sons in utero. Yep! According to an NPR report, a mom’s tastes have a direct impact on the growing child’s future preferences. Fascinating! When we were at the point of venturing into the world of baby food, I was adamant about starting with vegetables – green veggies to be specific. These were likely the least tasty, so I figured it was best to start with those before the sweeter foods. I clearly remember my oldest son’s reaction when I spooned the peas into his mouth. …
Wednesday, August 1, 2012
The approach of the 2012-13 school year means changes in some children's screen time. What are your plans?
People who don’t own a television always impress me. Right now it would be difficult to miss the exciting Olympic action or be on top of breaking national news. There’s got to be a balance. Through the years I’ve seen a direct correlation between our boys’ behavior and the amount of screen time they have. We purchased a Wii a couple of years ago with hopes that it would provide us with some indoor activity during the cold months. It did, but with it came an increase in aggressive and disobedient behavior. After 20 minutes of play, when we told him time was up, our oldest would become red in the face, jumping up and down and begging us for more. It was as if the thing had possessed him. The Wii has since been unplugged. When my oldest was …
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Plus, an answer to the nature vs. nurture debate.
The old saw “success has many parents but failure is an orphan” is never truer than when you’re dealing with actual kids. When your child brings home straight As or helps a little old lady carry her bags, it’s tempting to think “he gets that from my side of the family” or “I taught him that.” When that same kid throws a tantrum or refuses to clean his room, we think, “Where did THAT behavior come from?” We solve the “nature vs. nurture” question of child raising by assuming if it’s a fault, he was born with it; the virtues come from us. As the parent of teenagers, I know it’s a bit early to be giving parenting advice – lots can still go wrong. But I mentioned to a friend who has a preschooler that I used to tell my kids if any stranger …
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
The language may make your ears bleed, but for parents of young, seemingly tireless children, it is funny.
Sleep deprived parents the world over have found a book to which they can relate. It is not written by Dr. Sears and it won’t tell you how to become a better parent, but it just might make you laugh. Every parent has been there: the baby is up at 2 a.m. and there is no sign of sandman gracing the nursery. You feed the baby, you rock the baby, you sing to the baby, you read to the baby, but the baby just won’t go to sleep. After a couple of days, or, as was the case with our son, a year, that amount of sleep deprivation can cause one to think some crazy thoughts. Now, while many people may have thought it, uttering the phrase, ‘go the f*ck to sleep,’ rarely passes the lips of even the most frustrated parent, but, one man has put it to …
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Is "gender-neutral" parenting harmful to children?
How can an infant raise a storm? Answer, when the parents won’t disclose the gender of their four month old child to more than six people. This has raised many questions. Will failing to disclose the biological sex of baby Storm have any impact at all on the social or emotional development of the child? How much impact does culture really have on gender identity, after all, isn’t it biologically determined? Should children have the opportunity to choose anything let alone their gender identity? Canadian parents David Stocker and Kathy Witterick say they want Storm to discover him/herself by shielding Storm from cultural influences that would otherwise influence gender identity. They arrived at this decision due to their son Jazz’s “intense…
Saturday, April 23, 2011
It’s Time To Lie … Again.
For those of you who have been with the Patch since the beginning, you might recall a column I wrote about “lying about Santa.” It never occurred to me until I had my own children that the whole concept of Santa sliding down the chimney and the Easter bunny hopping through the front door were essentially just lies told to our children. I mean, really, they are. Call it tradition; call it bribery. Either way we are all still telling our kids that, this Easter Sunday, an 8-foot-tall rabbit is going to make his way to their house bearing baskets full of tacky toys and teeth-rotting treats. I’m still having some trouble with this. I have no one but myself to blame. Silly me. I started a tradition of placing a colorful trail of penny-filled …
AnnaMarie Zeravsky
1:48 pm on Wednesday, November 28, 2012
I definitely feel that children's eating habits come from their parents and what they are first introduced too. For example, my oldest daughter (almost 3 years old) was born with a severe milk allergy (No, not an intolerance, an actual allergy where if exposed her throat would eventually close even from milk being passed through my breast milk). Because of her allergy and my unknowing of the … more ›