Friday, November 23, 2012
Local moms talk about what they are grateful for this year
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Friday, November 23, 2012
Each week the Mentor Patch Moms Council answers a question on parenthood posed to them by readers or another member of council. This week our question is: What are you most thankful for this year? Renee Ochaya: I am most thankful for my family and friends. Without them, the rest just doesn’t matter. Mary Jo Stack: I am thankful for my wonderful children and husband. Thankful that my husband's business is doing well. And thankful that we now have Mom living with us. Devone Lansing: I am thankful for my family, my health, my friends, my home and all of the other blessings that God gives to me every day. Kimberly Jones: I am thankful for my family and friends. Without all of them I wouldn't know where I would be. They have helped me though …
Friday, November 16, 2012
What books helped prepare you for parenthood?
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Friday, November 16, 2012
Each week the Mentor Patch Moms Council answers a question on parenthood posed to them by readers or another member of council. This week our question is: What, if any, books, videos or classes helped you prepare for the birth of your first child? Devone Lansing: I loved the book "Babywise" by Gary Ezzo. It worked like a charm for sleep training my three girls by about four months old. Jedidiah did not read the book, though, so he didn't conform to those rules! With him I used the book "Silent Nights," which I found in the parenting section at the library. Renee Ochaya: "What to Expect When You Are Expecting" was a great resource for basic childbirth information. It was easy to reference almost any topic relating to childbirth. Now that I …
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Moms talk about trusting their teens on Halloween
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Thursday, October 11, 2012
Each week the Mentor Patch Moms Council answers a question on parenthood posed to them by readers or another member of council. This week's question: What is the best way to make sure teens don't get into too much trouble on Halloween? Is there a good way to keep tabs on them without seeming overbearing? Jill Korsok: I've always kept them close to home and they have to check in regularly. I hope that they have enough respect for other people and for their parents that they wouldn't do anything stupid, but just to be sure - I threaten to take their phone, their cars and their college funds if such stupidity should occur - that usually does the trick! Melanie Majikas: I guess I'm fortunate that neither of my girls are big fans of Halloween, …
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Are there any good ways to monitor your kids' Facebook pages and Twitter feeds?
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Thursday, October 4, 2012
Each week the Mentor Patch Moms Council answers a question on parenthood posed to them by readers or another member of council. This week's question: How old do you think a child should be before they can have a Facebook or Twitter page? Are there any good tools for parents to monitor their kids' pages? Mary Jo Stack: I believe a child should not have a Facebook or Twitter account until at least the age of 14 or 15. The first thing to do is make sure your child friends you. Our schools do a decent job of teaching our kids about online etiquette, but it's important for parents to teach children, too. Some good tools to use are monitoring your child yourself, checking websites like commonsensemedia.org, i-safe and requesting a software …
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Is it appropriate for contraceptives and morning-after pills to be distributed in a high school?
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Thursday, September 27, 2012
Each week the Mentor Patch Moms Council answers a question on parenthood posed to them by readers or another member of council. This week's question: This week's question comes with a bit of reading. Here's a link to an NY Times story about some high schools that are distributing birth control -- including condoms and morning-after pills. What is your reaction to this program? Is it a bit of pragmatism, unfortunate or otherwise? Another indication of society's decline? A nonissue that's being pumped up by the media? Would you be comfortable with contraceptives being distributed at local high schools? Melanie Majikas: I don't have an issue with the existence of the program, but I do think it should be done as a parent opt-in rather than an …
Thursday, September 20, 2012
During the nursing age, how do you make sure dad spends quality time with baby?
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Thursday, September 20, 2012
Each week the Mentor Patch Moms Council answers a question on parenthood posed to them by readers or another member of council. This week's question: What is a good way to get dad involved with the care of the baby? I'm asking specifically about newborns. Melanie Majikas: If the baby is nursing, it can be a little hard for dad to feel as involved in the early weeks, but there are certainly ways to do it. He can be the baby bather, bedtime story reader, middle of the night baby rocker, after dinner stroller walker -- any number of things that he can do routinely to build a good bond.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
How do you explain what happened and how it felt to kids who were too young to understand it at the time?
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Thursday, September 13, 2012
Each week the Mentor Patch Moms Council answers a question on parenthood posed to them by readers or another member of council. This week's question: How do you explain 9/11 -- both what happened and how it felt -- to a child who was born afterward? Jill Korsok: I watched part of a Smithsonian Channel special about that day with my 16-year-old son. Of course he was too young to understand what was happening that day, but he's very familiar with the images, the locations of the attacks and the significance of what happened. Today was probably the first time we had an in-depth discussion. Our conversation and his questions and observations were mostly situational: how did the people caught in the billowing smoke on the ground avoid …
Thursday, September 6, 2012
How do you get a child to sleep through the night?
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Thursday, September 6, 2012
Each week the Mentor Patch Moms Council answers a question on parenthood posed to them by readers or another member of council. This week's question: What's the best way to help my baby sleep through the night? At what age can they start sleeping all night? Devone Lansing: With all three of my girls, we used the program in the book On Becoming Babywise by Gary Ezzo. It worked like a charm on all of them! They were sleeping like champions AND taking regular naps from the time they were a couple of months old. My little boy, however, did not read that book nor subscribe to its philosophy. He refused to even consider following the order of "Eat, Wake, Sleep" which is the main idea of the book. I desperately read everything I could get my …
Thursday, August 30, 2012
Moms in Mentor talk about what feminism means to them
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Thursday, August 30, 2012
Each week the Mentor Patch Moms Council answers a question posed to them by readers or another member of council. From your perspective and your perspective alone, what does feminism mean to you? Melanie Majikas: Feminism is simply ensuring that women have equal rights and opportunities under the law and in all aspects of society. It is not the dirty word that many make it out to be. Mary Jo Stack: I suppose I have been a feminist from birth. Feminism to me means that I can be or do whatever I choose. That my gender doesn't hold me back. I am free to have every right that every human being is entitled to have.
Thursday, August 23, 2012
What advice to mothers have for those who are leaving for college?
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Thursday, August 23, 2012
Each week the Mentor Patch Moms Council answers a question posed to them by readers or another member of council. We have reached that time of year when the college-bound depart for their universities. Obviously, this is a big change for those young men and women. So, my question is, what was the best advice you ever gave when a loved one departed for college? Donna Milnes: Use your brain, be smart, work hard, have fun and stay safe.
Michelle
9:25 pm on Thursday, October 11, 2012
My daughter is planning on going out Trick or Treating with some friends. They go on their own but they will be checking in often. I have laid down all the ground rules: stay in neighborhood, dont go in anyones house, be polite, be home on time, etc . . . . any infraction and the phone, ipod etc are gone!!! They are working so hard to put costumes together, I wish they could spend more time … more ›