February 22nd, 2007 in Health, kids, parenting, tv
TV! This latest study found
that watching TV lowers melatonin levels which can create all sorts of
nasty side effects in children. This study (as others) linked TV
watching in kids to:
- autism
- obesity
- trouble sleeping
- eye problems
- lower melatonin levels
- early puberty
In adults, "the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease
increases with each extra daily hour of television viewing among people
aged 20 to 60."
Watching TV must give people immense pleasure … otherwise I can’t
imagine why they would expose themselves and their kids to so much of
it. We spend nine months of pregnancy trying to eat right, drink
no alcohol, get all sorts of prenatal tests and then we plop our
toddlers down in front of another round of SpongeBob or Thomas the Tank
Engine without a second thought.
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February 6th, 2007 in parenting
Several of my friends that live in Germany and Spain have told me that I’m very lucky to be able to work. When they have children it will be very hard for them to go back to work. Things that are hard to find internationally, that we take for granted here:
- daycare
- part time work options
- a society that accepts working moms
This quote in a New York Times article made me realize that I’ve had this conversation with a number of friends:
when she had a baby 18 months ago she was able to work part time — something she said would not have been possible in Germany
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February 1st, 2007 in Health, adoption, discipline, kids, lonelyness, love, parenting
Having just spent three days in the hospital with my own 5 month old son, this article hit a nerve, Russian Shock at Gagged Babies. The babies were gagged with plaster and tape because their crying was disturbing the nurses. A woman who happened to be in the hospital with her own children heard the babies and took a video with her cell phone.
All of the gagged children were orphans. It definitely made me understand why people want to adopt! Everytime Caleb cried in the hospital I talked to him or held him. The thought of those babies being gagged instead of comforted just made my heart hurt.
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