Comments for Robin's Little Nest

Comment on Boys and Anatomy 201 by Dawn

Dawn — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 22:17:25 +0000

Ahhh….boys. Just read a commentary this morning in a paper where the guy was fearful his son would not become a proper guys guy, but felt much better because he could make fart sounds with his armpit, and made up songs about boogers. He recounted a story of his son having the “I think I can…” spirit and in trying to get his mom’s attention (at 13) strapped his belt around his back and under his knees and cinched it. His mom wasn’t impressed (she was on the phone) so he said, look, I can walk and proceeded to walk on his bony butt cheeks. She was still less than impressed and carried on her conversation so he said, “I think I can go down stairs like this”. At some point gravity took over, like from the beginning, and he tumbled down the stairs and broke his foot spending the rest of the week telling his tale and having his cast signed. The author was no longer worried about his son being a real guy.

Comment on Trust In Your Children by Dawn

Dawn — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 22:16:49 +0000

I know what you mean. I didn’t work with T on reading because he wasn’t ready. He wanted to read earlier, and we tried, but he wasn’t ready. My parents were worried and T was worried and I reassured them all. I went through it with trepidation all the while knowing in my head it was okay, but worrying none the less. He reads more than his oldest sister who was devouring books at 7. He reads things like Ivanhoe and other historical novels. He is 15 and reads well. His sister Z followed the same path. She read a little earlier than him but not with the same proficiency or drive. She hated reading until a month or so ago. She is going on 12 and is reading quite a bit now, with no complaining. Just so you know, I always worried I wasn’t doing it right and still worry I messed up their lives. I plug on because of shear stubbornness and hope it all works out like the reading;-).

Comment on Trust In Your Children by Jenni in KS

Jenni in KS — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 17:30:51 +0000

Yay for Pete!

I know I’ve told you about Josh’s struggles with reading. Yesterday I went to parent teacher conferences where I was told he is reading above a 12th grade level as a 9th grader and is doing very well in English. He’s on the honor roll, too! I cannot begin to describe the look on his face when I told his dad about it. It was a mixture of relief, disbelief, and pride. It was a big moment for him. Now I will just try to remember the lessons learned with Josh–each child is different, each child learns at a different pace, etc.–when Naomi tells me she hates reading or fights me on spending more time reading. Patience. It will come.

Comment on Trust In Your Children by Debbie

Debbie — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 18:47:17 +0000

YEAHHHHH!!!!!!!! I know what you mean. This year it’s clicked for my son, and it’s a wonderful feeling.

Comment on Old Mother Hubbard by Debbie

Debbie — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 04:24:37 +0000

Unfortunately I lost my daughter once at the local science museam. It was a busy day and we were used to going there when it dead quiet during the week. My daughter was dawdling behind when I thought she was right beside me. The museum had such a tight system that when I noticed she was gone (within literally 3 – 4 minutes) she was already whisked away by security. I went into supreme panic mode and felt such weak kneed relief when I found her at the front desk.

There’s really no moral to my story.
I am a viligint parent. My children always with me. That day, I guess, I slipped. I’m certainly not a perfect parent. And it could have easily been a predator that day that took advantage of my slip-up and not museum security. I also know some parents who find me too paranoid.

By the way, I didn’t know you were posting over here! Which is why I haven’t been by.

Comment on Old Mother Hubbard by Dawn

Dawn — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 05:23:42 +0000

Once when we were on vacation in a city 12 hours away in our own country, when our kids were 2, 4 , 6 and 8; we were sitting with friends on a blanket at a park while the kids played. The older three were in the spray park and Z was 2 and was crouched between two pieces of play equipment playing with the rocks. She was there for about half an hour doing the same thing and then she was gone. There she was holding a young lady’s hand walking a little ways from us with another young lady (or maybe a 15 year old). Sirdar went up to her and asked what she thought she was doing with our daughter, and she said she worked at the park and had seen her there for a long time and hadn’t seen anyone pay attention to her and thought she was lost so was taking her to such and such to try to locate her parents. Hmmmm…..she was really cute and fairly well dressed; not likely a parent would leave her there. Besides, she wasn’t crying and did they ask her where her parents were? Perhaps they thought they would be heros or something. It ended up okay, but it can happen pretty quick with parents not being vigilant. When the kids get older, there are just other things to worry about. But even with J driving now, there is no use worrying. We have equipped her with a good head on her shoulder and we just have to deal with life as it happens and hope for the best.

Comment on Old Mother Hubbard by Lisa's Chaos

Lisa's Chaos — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:46:34 +0000

Hey, I’m not so sure I’ve been to this blog before. Now I know where you might be.

Comment on Toe Walking by Jenni in KS

Jenni in KS — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 14:03:14 +0000

This was very interesting! I remember one of my younger cousins (she’s Caleb’s age) had issues with toe walking, but I don’t remember whether or not this was specifically addressed. This kid has lots of other issues which probably required more urgent attention. Anyway, I think it’s great for you to post about things like this. You never know who might run across this little post and be helped by it. I know I’ll keep it in my mental files in case I come across a little “twinkle toes”. It’s so frustrating as a parent when you know something isn’t right and you are doing everything you know to do by asking the experts only the “experts” don’t know shit. The average parent will just give up, assuming that the experts know more than they do.

Comment on Old Mother Hubbard by Jenni in KS

Jenni in KS — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 13:53:54 +0000

I don’t watch the news either. For one thing, our news is pretty pitiful. Many times the local stations do not get the story right. They’re more concerned with what sounds good. I always knew this, but I really found out when Jo had her riding accident and it was misreported all over the damned place. I wrote each station a lengthy email about it, too. One station apologized and earned a little of my respect back. They were the station that had made the least mistakes, too. If I do watch news, I watch that station, and I have noticed that they do seem to care more about getting facts right than sensationalism.

Another reason I don’t watch the news is because I could tie myself up in knots worrying about all the things they show on there. We had friends who were constantly watching 20/20 and all those shows in addition to local news and they were afraid to let their kids do anything at all with them more than a foot behind. On Scout camping trips, they wouldn’t let their kids sleep in the boys’ or girls’ tents because they’d watched some stupid 20/20 where a Boy Scout had been pulled out of his group tent and murdered on a camping trip while the other boys in his tent slept all around him. If I start thinking like that, I’ll have to think about all the more normal things that could happen. We’d have to stop going anywhere in cars because I’m sure more kids die in car accidents each year than are ever pulled out of tents on Scouting trips and murdered by maniacs. Shoot, I should just put my kids in a bubble and refuse to let them live any kind of normal life.

Good for you for saying “no” to that kind of madness.

Comment on Back-up Plan by Robin

Robin — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 16:08:38 +0000

Glad you found something that works better for you.