Byte-Sized Parents Rule!

For several months I have wrestled with the idea of bringing back Parents Rule! radio show but was not sure what format to use. Radio was great fun and I miss it. But I began to think that it was hard for you all to find the time in your busy schedules to listen to an hour long radio show.

Voila! Why not bring Parents Rule! to You Tube? http://www.youtube.com/parentsrule1 That is more easily used by young parents who are constantly on the go. You Tube is on your iPads, laptops, iPods and smart phones. So now we are more readliy available and in small doses. Each segment on You Tube is going to be 5-20 minutes. I am aiming for an average of 10 minutes. You will still get all the advice, information, and encouragement that you loved from the radio show--just in shorter segments that fit into your schedule better.

And I get to make eye contact with you. I really like that part of the Parents Rule! video blog--feels like I can connect with you better. There will be times when I am speaking about a topic I feel strongly about and times when I have guest interviews--just like on the radio.

Today is my kick off, so tune in and let me know what you think. "Like" the videos that mean something to you. Feel free to comment whether you agree or disagree.

Join me--we are going to have fun with this http://www.youtube.com/parentsrule1

If We Take Obese Kids Out of Homes, Who is Next?

It is all over the news today. A couple of doctors at Harvard want the government to remove obese children from their homes, place them on foster care, and treat the obesity. Let me think, didn't I hear something else about Harvard researchers recently? Oh, yes, they think that only Republicans enjoy celebrating the founding of our country. But I digress.

So what do I think? Obviously childhood obesity is a serious issue. Seventeen percent of kids are obese; three times the rate of obesity thirty years ago. More kids are being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol than ever before. So yes, something must be done about this pending healthcare crisis.

Do I think it is a form of child abuse? Yes, but these parents don't realize that. In the majority of cases, you will find that they are raising their kids the same way they were raised. Are we not all guilty of that to some extent?

Is removing them from their homes a good idea? Absolutely not--and for many reasons:

• First of all, none of the articles I read this morning discussed the psychological effects this would have on the child. Now I am not a psychologist, but I am sure that many of these overwieght kids have some issues already--depression, low self esteem, and more. How does taking them away from the family unit, who they depend on and love, benefit them in that manner? What a traumatic event for that child.
• Putting them in foster homes is suggested as a solution. I know there are many wonderful foster parents out there, but I have heard so many horror stories of physical, mental, and sexual abuse that I have to question the wisdom of that move. So you move a depressed overweight, but loved child into a home in which they are put on a forced diet and possibly sexually abused--for their welfare? Hmmm.
• Do we have that many foster homes out there? The last I heard, the demand for foster homes was much greater than the supply already.
• What about the expense of adding that many more people that the government has to pay to care for?
• Another important reason to not resort to this forced removal from homes is: What is next? With Obamacare leading us down the path to socialized medicine, we better take a long look at the future. If we let the government start deciding who is a fit parent and who is not, where does that slippery slope lead? Trust me, don't trust the government. At some point they will be coming for your kids and putting them in re-training camps--for their weight, their level of exercise, their grades, the fact that they got caught smoking a cigarette, the fact that they drink sodas and eat chips and so forth. Am I paranoid? Perhaps, but remember, with socialized medicine you must control the actions of the public in order to afford the cost. So if kids can be, for want of a better term brainwashed, into good health practices, isn't that for the greater good? In my mind it is better not to peek into that Pandora's box.

So what can be done? There are many different ways to attack the problem:

• Remove all vending machines from schools. We didn't have them when I went to school and we survived just fine.
• Remove so many choices from school lunches and give them one entree, two vegetables, a desert (that could be fruit), and milk or water to drink. Give them healthy foods instead of so many choices and wasted food at the end of the day.
• Reinstate physical education in schools so that kids have it every day K through 12.
• Government money could be spent helping dieticians and physicians provide low or no cost dietary classes for families with identified obesity issues. If the whole family attends and learns, then they may be able to make the changes necessary for their health.
• Health educational classes for families of obesity to help them understand the consequences their child will face due to the obesity.
• Encourage more towns to have community gardens for families so they could grow their own healthy foods. The garden plots could be leased on a pro-rated sliding scale based on income.
• Free classes on gardening for those who would be interested in growing their own foods. Many poor people cannot afford organic foods, but might grow their own.

I could keep going; there are so many potential solutions. Bottomline is that you can only help people who want help. But there should be services that can help those that truly want it.

Dr. David Orentlicher, co-director of Hall Center for Law and Health at Indiana University of School Law said in an interview with ABC news, "Sometimes it is easier to take a child out of the home than take the time and resources to provide the right solution to the problem." I am saying that we need to get this right--for the kids, the families, our economy, and our future as a free nation.

Stop The Fighting at Kid's Ballgames Right Now!

I just saw an article on the internet about a fight at a ballgame in which 12 yr. olds were playing. Here is the link:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43715655/ns/us_news-crime_and_courts/?GT1=43001

This type of thing absolutely drives me crazy. What are these people thinking? Attacking each other over an umpire's call? Really? Umpires are just people who love kids, are out there to have fun and make a few extra bucks. They do not have the benefit of instant replay. They are not perfect.

If the two boys got in a fight over the call, then the parents failed to teach them sportsmanship many years ago when they first started playing baseball. And they exacerbated that failure by joining in the fight. What a sad day in the lives of those kids and parents!

I definitely have a competitive streak in me. And I have complained about a call loudly enough for the umpire to have no doubt where I stood. But I stayed in my seat, let it pass, and moved on to the next thing happening on the field.

Let's teach our kids that no one is perfect--not the umpires, not them, not us. Teach them that they will get as many calls their way as against them over the course of a season. Teach them that winning is a good thing, but being a gracious loser is where true character is born. By loser, I mean losing a game, a call, or anything else that in the grand scheme of life doesn't mean much.

Of course, I believe in competing to the best of one's ability. I completely disagree with not keeping score in sports. But one of the things our kids need to learn in sports is not only to try to be the best they can be, but that sometimes, someone else is better or luckier. That is just the way it goes. The test of their character is how they handle both winning and losing.

I want parents to stop this nonsense of fighting at their kids' games right now. Please. For the sake of your children--think about what you are teaching them.

Harvard's 4th of July Study Unncessarily Divisive

Last week, Harvard released a study that made me scratch my head and think about the results. "Fourth of July celebrations in the United States shape the nation's political landscape by forming beliefs and increasing participation, primarily in favor of the Republican Party," said the report from Harvard, according to a report published by US News and World Report.

What in the world? This country is great because we have diversity of people and diversity of opinion. While I personally believe that there are some vocal people out there who do not have the best interest of the US at heart (instead, they have their own best interest--and it occurs in all political parties), the vast majority of us love our homeland. We just have very different views on what is the best course of action and differences in interpretation of our founding documents. Those differences in ideas are where the fresh ideas come from--from discussion and compromise.

As far as this study, who was studied? How were the questions developed? I can create a questionaire to make the Pope sound like he doesn't believe in God if I want. So, was there an ulterior motive to this study at this place and time? In a time when we have so much division in our country, do we need anything else to further divide us?

I don't believe so. I think this holiday, more than any other we celebrate should be a unifying experience as people all over the country remember the struggle to create a land of liberty, the likes of which had never before been seen. We can appreciate the fact that we are having picnics and watching fireworks united in our love for the opportunities we have. We are grateful that it is our choice to be there--we are not forced to participate or persecuted because we do by an oppresive government.

So what does this have to do with parenting? As I have been saying for a while now, parents need to take the lead in teaching your children about this country's blessings. Get out and celebrate this weekend, enjoy each other, and spend a little time explaining to your kids about why it is good to have respectful dialouge with others who may not agree with all of your own beliefs. Teach your kids that is one of the distinct benefits of living in a free country; it is how every person can be represented.

Happy Birthday, USA! Long may you live!