Archives: Parenting

Great post here from Sarah:

the Moses basket has once again become a symbol. A symbol, this time, of how much better motherhood is second time around. A symbol of the fact that, this time, I’ve found my way to being the relaxed, laid-back getting-on-with-life mother that I meant to be when Jamie was a baby but somehow lost sight of in the anxious scrabble to Get Motherhood Right. A symbol of the fact that I’ve finally got it the only ‘right’ that counts - right for me and for us, not bothering too much about what The Books say but doing what works for this family.

This sounds a bit technical, and in some ways it is, but Doug Cornelius has an interesting (and doable) approach to organising things in the home.

One of the goals of my current paternity leave was to try to get The Daughter into a schedule for sleeping and eating. As any parent knows the more regular the schedule, the happier the child.

So I needed a way to track The Daughter’s activities during the day. By tracking the information, hopefully I could find a common pattern. Also, The Wife wants to see how The Daughter’s day went. So I would need a way to deliver the information to The Wife. If I could use a web-based tool, I could deliver a live feed of information to The Wife.

Vinod Khosla is a busy man, a Silicon Valley Venture Capitalist and a dad. He tracks his time with his kids though. Religiously.

It’s great to know how to recharge your batteries. But it’s even more important to make sure that you actually do it. I track how many times I get home in time to have dinner with my family; my assistant reports the exact number to me each month. I have four kids, ages 7 to 11. Spending time with them is what keeps me going.

Business Week have a fun list of “working mum moments”, gleaned from high-flying executive mums…

“One morning in my haste to get the kids off to school and go to work on time, I allowed my preschooler to pack his own backpack for school. I dropped him off and went on to work—only to be pulled aside by the teacher at pick up to inform me that the contents of my child’s backpack had consisted of a large pair of scissors, a steak knife, and a box of tampons.”

Apparently,

“White noise is an amazing sleep inducer. Not only does it mask unwanted outside noises, creaking doors and barking dogs, but it also mimics the sound of the rushing fluids and shifting body weight that your baby heard in the womb. In one study, young babies were three times as likely to fall asleep while listening to white noise as those not exposed.”

And if you go to beprepared.net you can download some white noise to put on a CD and play to your sleepless child. Maybe worth a try?

In December the NUT published a report called “Growing Up in a Material World” [PDF].

“Companies [it says] are unashamedly targeting their campaigns to exploit children’s “pester power” on every level, from day to day purchases of food and drink, through treats, such as meals out, to clothes and toys, which can include expensive electronic equipment.”

Not 100% sure about letting a child drive a car in London, but only really because of the language they’d hear

A while back I gave a little talk at school to various parents about what their children got up to online, and how to go about keeping them safe. It’s not exhaustive, but I thought it might be an idea to share the slides here. (Some of the fonts got a little messed up during the transfer, but the aquamarine bits are clickable links)

| View | Upload your own

The good news is we are now over half way through the school holidays. The bad news is the weather doesn’t look as if it is going to get any better. So, why not use Little Legends to help you find days out and softplay centres near you.

Here are some tips to help you get through the last weeks:

I have recently been in touch with Ben Palmer, a Dad of two from London. Ben lost his wife to Childbed Fever in June 2004. She died just six days after giving birth to her daughter, Emily, from a type of post-natal blood poisoning. He has set up a website called Jessica’s Trust to raise awareness about this illness.

Childbed Fever (also called Puerperal Fever or Puerperal Sepsis) is a TREATABLE illness that kills mothers. It is defined as an infection of the uterus following the birth of a child. Its symptoms are easy to recognise and it is easily treated with antibiotics if diagnosed early enough.