Discussion #1

[trisha]

please remember out of all discussions that they will be shared...doenst matter if they get silly or whatever, but we have to prove community interaction, so please try to bring something to the table.

Lets discuss kids today. To spark the conversation, I am going to add some questions to get us moving on an idea about children.



If you could bring in one thing that would make a difference in your childs life, what would it be?

Do your children lack something in their community?

How did you feel growing up?

What is the best thing about having one child? more than one child?

What thing do you and your DH disagree about the most when it comes to your children?

Is there something that stands out to you as lacking in the world when it comes to kids? Is it parental involvement? Health care? Self Esteem?



Lets start to discuss today if we were basically the president how we would make an indiv. life better for kids.

[trisha]

Ill start. I wish there was a way in our community to trust more about our kids being outside. Its so nuts that when i grew up i could sit in my front yard alone, but im freaked about charlotte being in the backyard with a 6 foot privacy fence!

[AJ]

The one thing that stands out to me as lacking in the world when it comes to kids is respect. Not only respect for others but respect for themselves. I don't know if this from acting out because they are craving attention due to not having enough parental involvement.

It could also be because kids are handed more and more these days without working for it or earning it. So they assume they everything in their lives should be just handed to them and they are better then everyone else.

I know that one of the major things I teach my kids is to respect themselves and others. They have to earn the things they get by good behavior.

[Cat@3KidsandUs]

Is there something that stands out to you as lacking in the world when it comes to kids? Is it parental involvement? Health care? Self Esteem?

One big problem I see frequently with kids, including my own is their apathy towards doctor/dental offices. The environment in these places is too professional and intimidating for young kids. I'd like to see a place that my kids could go, get checkups, immunizations, etc that is friendly, inviting and fun. In the same line of thinking, doctor's offices are very difficult to visit with more than 1 child, they aren't baby proof or have age appropriate areas set up for children. Maybe it has been done but I'd love to see communities have offices, doctors and staff that were theme park based. offered help with keeping the kids entertained while waiting. etc.

[Stefanie aka bloggymommy3]

What thing do you and your DH disagree about the most when it comes to your children?

Dicipline! He thinks I'm not hard enough on the kids and I think he's too hard on them.


Is there something that stands out to you as lacking in the world when it comes to kids? Is it parental involvement? Health care? Self Esteem?

Healthcare is a big one for us! It's crazy to me how much money medicines cost! There have been times that my kids have been sick and needed to go to the dr and/or needed meds and we didn't have enough money for it/them. Meds and drs should be affordable so that they get what they need.

Self esteem is another huge one for us. Young girls are loosing self esteem b/c all the see and hear are girls/women that are picture perfect. Girls need to know and understand that being different is more important and memorable than being just like everyone else. Beauty doesn't define who you are!!! We need to be showing girls that its ok to be: different, chubby, have freckles, live in a divorced home, middle class, not have the nicest and next biggest thing that everyone else has...I could go on and on.

If I were the president, I would find a way to make healthcare more reasonable for the parents to deal with. healthcare is important, especially for kids and kids with special needs/health issues. I would also ban all supermodels that were too skinny!

[trisha]

cat, that is interesting because we have a GREAT dental office and its so kid friendly. All the walls are murals and they have a playroom. But its specifically a pediatric dentist.

[AJ]

Ill start. I wish there was a way in our community to trust more about our kids being outside. Its so nuts that when i grew up i could sit in my front yard alone, but im freaked about charlotte being in the backyard with a 6 foot privacy fence!

I think about this a lot when I was my kids age I was riding my bike up and down the road to visit friends. I would walk myself to go swimming. I just can't handle the thought of letting my kids out alone. There are too many crazy people out there.

You know the fences that dogs can't get out of. Well what if when your kids are outside they wore bracelets, necklaces or something and when they cross a certain line a buzzer goes off inside and an alarm outside.

[trisha]

Stefanie, so to solve your problem, what you do think about in elementary schools having a diary focused on health for children where they can cut pictures out of magazines, books, online that represent a healthy lifestyle and those that do not . So that way they can start to RECOGNIZE the affects of good eating, bad eating, too thin, too big, too much junk food, etc.

[Stefanie aka bloggymommy3]

My kids' pediatricians office isn't childproof either!!! DRIVES ME CRAZY! And I think there really should be sick waiting rooms and well visit waiting rooms. I HATE taking my kids that are not sick to the drs office b/c they just end up getting sick later on from al the nasty germs they were exposed to while there.

My dd has't been a dentist in a while b/c he was creepy!!!

And Trisha, I totally 110,000,000,000% agree with what you said about feeling like our kids are safe outside! I had a BLAST when I was a kid b/c we would go out and play all day long, come home for lunch, snack, whatever and then go back out until it was dark .We weren't afraid then. I am scared to death to let my kids in the backyard by themselves let alone let them in the front yard! SCARY!!!

[Kori@hair4myprincess]

I would love to see better quality entertainment for our kids.  What I mean is:  I HATE most of the cartoons/shows for kids on TV right now!!  Half of them swear, are very violent, and have adult themes.  I mean seriously, my kids are stuck watching disney videos over and over because I refuse to let them watch the shows that are supposedly made for kids today.  I really don't think most parents would approve if they actually watched what is on.  WHY do they make the shows this way??  I don't get it.

[trisha]

Ill start. I wish there was a way in our community to trust more about our kids being outside. Its so nuts that when i grew up i could sit in my front yard alone, but im freaked about charlotte being in the backyard with a 6 foot privacy fence!

I think about this a lot when I was my kids age I was riding my bike up and down the road to visit friends. I would walk myself to go swimming. I just can't handle the thought of letting my kids out alone. There are too many crazy people out there.

You know the fences that dogs can't get out of. Well what if when your kids are outside they wore bracelets, necklaces or something and when they cross a certain line a buzzer goes off inside and an alarm outside.

i think they have shoes w/ GPS on them out there.  A bracelet would be neat. What about a bracelet that matched a parents that buzzed when out of the area and also was one of a kind that always connected to that person so it shows they are a pair.

[trisha]

I would love to see better quality entertainment for our kids.  What I mean is:  I HATE most of the cartoons/shows for kids on TV right now!!  Half of them swear, are very violent, and have adult themes.  I mean seriously, my kids are stuck watching disney videos over and over because I refuse to let them watch the shows that are supposedly made for kids today.  I really don't think most parents would approve if they actually watched what is on.  WHY do they make the shows this way??  I don't get it.

I agree. We do mostly DVR around here, but also watch Nick Jr and some disney. How do you propose we put on more quality TV? What i hate is like noggin costs EXTRA per month. Why should noncommerical  TV for children cost extra?

[trisha]

stef, any dr office i have visited has sick and well waiting rooms. Im starting to be really bothered by all of your medical experiences. They suck!

[Stefanie aka bloggymommy3]

I thikn that's a great idea Trisha! My thing is this, yes, it's very important to teach kids to be healthy, how to eat, exercise, etc. But they also need to know and understand that just b/c they dont look like everyone else and dont fit into the 'picture perfect' look that their friends look like, act like, grades, etc. that it's ok. I would think something along the lines of what Dove had been doing. Teach kids about health, nutrician and how inner beauty is most important. They need to accept who they are, their flaws, positives and if they want to change something about themselves to make sure they do it for them and not someone else. But while they're doing that they need to be healthy and not stupid about it.

Does that make sense?

[Cat@3KidsandUs]

Ill start. I wish there was a way in our community to trust more about our kids being outside. Its so nuts that when i grew up i could sit in my front yard alone, but im freaked about charlotte being in the backyard with a 6 foot privacy fence!

I think about this a lot when I was my kids age I was riding my bike up and down the road to visit friends. I would walk myself to go swimming. I just can't handle the thought of letting my kids out alone. There are too many crazy people out there.

You know the fences that dogs can't get out of. Well what if when your kids are outside they wore bracelets, necklaces or something and when they cross a certain line a buzzer goes off inside and an alarm outside.

i think they have shoes w/ GPS on them out there.  A bracelet would be neat. What about a bracelet that matched a parents that buzzed when out of the area and also was one of a kind that always connected to that person so it shows they are a pair.

That's a good idea! But it would have to be virtually indestructible for the boys.

[AJ]

My kids' pediatricians office isn't childproof either!!! DRIVES ME CRAZY! And I think there really should be sick waiting rooms and well visit waiting rooms. I HATE taking my kids that are not sick to the drs office b/c they just end up getting sick later on from al the nasty germs they were exposed to while there.

My dd has't been a dentist in a while b/c he was creepy!!!

And Trisha, I totally 110,000,000,000% agree with what you said about feeling like our kids are safe outside! I had a BLAST when I was a kid b/c we would go out and play all day long, come home for lunch, snack, whatever and then go back out until it was dark .We weren't afraid then. I am scared to death to let my kids in the backyard by themselves let alone let them in the front yard! SCARY!!!

Our Pedi has a sick and well child entry and waiting rooms. The well child has blue teddy bears and the sick has red teddy bears.

[Miss Blondie]

ya know Stef, you're right.  I know my son started taking a great notice in his appearance and the way he looks and the way other people looks at an early age.  

[Stefanie aka bloggymommy3]

stef, any dr office i have visited has sick and well waiting rooms. Im starting to be really bothered by all of your medical experiences. They suck!

Technically ours does have a waiting room BUT it is litterally  the size of a corner closet, with 2 chairs, no toys, isn't childproof and maybe *1* magazine. It's not much of a waiting room. You would think that the kids that are not sick and aren't hanging off their mommy or asleep b/c they dont feel well would need more toys, books, etc. to keep them happy while they wait. KWIM?

[Stefanie aka bloggymommy3]

ya know Stef, you're right.  I know my son started taking a great notice in his appearance and the way he looks and the way other people looks at an early age. 

See I hate that! When I was little I didn't care about what I looked like, what the other kids had, wore, etc. UNTIL I had a babysitter that made fun of me for everything. I was too fat, my smile was weird, my skin wasn't soft, etc and so on. It was THEN that I started to have self esteem problems. But now kids are leanring this shit off the tv, magazines, movies, from theri friends, in the news, etc. WHY can't we teach our kids how to be/stay healthy w/o all the other crap?

[Stefanie aka bloggymommy3]

What if in school they started a class about self esteem, health, exercise and nutrician? Not like a noraml health class but something more along the lines of the Dove campaign?!

[AJ]

ya know Stef, you're right.  I know my son started taking a great notice in his appearance and the way he looks and the way other people looks at an early age. 

See I hate that! When I was little I didn't care about what I looked like, what the other kids had, wore, etc. UNTIL I had a babysitter that made fun of me for everything. I was too fat, my smile was weird, my skin wasn't soft, etc and so on. It was THEN that I started to have self esteem problems. But now kids are leanring this shit off the tv, magazines, movies, from theri friends, in the news, etc. WHY can't we teach our kids how to be/stay healthy w/o all the other crap?

I actually think this has been going on forever. When I was a kid you had to wear Calvin Klein and Doc Marten shoes. I don't think it has just started but has been made worse because of the media. My kids really don't care. I think that has more to do with us telling them to be themselves and not to try to be someone else.

[trisha]

I thikn that's a great idea Trisha! My thing is this, yes, it's very important to teach kids to be healthy, how to eat, exercise, etc. But they also need to know and understand that just b/c they dont look like everyone else and dont fit into the 'picture perfect' look that their friends look like, act like, grades, etc. that it's ok. I would think something along the lines of what Dove had been doing. Teach kids about health, nutrician and how inner beauty is most important. They need to accept who they are, their flaws, positives and if they want to change something about themselves to make sure they do it for them and not someone else. But while they're doing that they need to be healthy and not stupid about it.

Does that make sense?

this is a good idea, lets develop this more! What if WE created that book...what kind of things would we tell the kids. LIke our advice as women, as moms, as wives, as aunts...taking away your kids, what if you were giving advice to any young person about self esteem, health, etc.

I think we should create this positive book. What should we call it?

[trisha]

ya know Stef, you're right.  I know my son started taking a great notice in his appearance and the way he looks and the way other people looks at an early age. 

See I hate that! When I was little I didn't care about what I looked like, what the other kids had, wore, etc. UNTIL I had a babysitter that made fun of me for everything. I was too fat, my smile was weird, my skin wasn't soft, etc and so on. It was THEN that I started to have self esteem problems. But now kids are leanring this shit off the tv, magazines, movies, from theri friends, in the news, etc. WHY can't we teach our kids how to be/stay healthy w/o all the other crap?

I actually think this has been going on forever. When I was a kid you had to wear Calvin Klein and Doc Marten shoes. I don't think it has just started but has been made worse because of the media. My kids really don't care. I think that has more to do with us telling them to be themselves and not to try to be someone else.

but life hasnt changed much more than technology being higher. So maybe its parents that are busier....and our kids are left alone more?

[trisha]

What if in school they started a class about self esteem, health, exercise and nutrician? Not like a noraml health class but something more along the lines of the Dove campaign?!

or maybe a website like the dove campaign.

Where it shows healthy kids submitting outdoor ideas? Health ideas? Recipes? All run by kids.

[Miss Blondie]

What if in school they started a class about self esteem, health, exercise and nutrician? Not like a noraml health class but something more along the lines of the Dove campaign?!

thats a good idea.  I remember when it started for me..i was in 3rd grade and i went to school wearing a cinderella shirt and had to stand up in class.  No one made fun of me but i was embarrassed.  I told my mom I wanted "cool" clothes from now on.  

Or maybe even a tv show geared towards kids along the lines of the dove campaign.  Kids wearing all different types of clothes, hairstyles, shapes and sizes.