Filed under: College, Teenager

Three New Hampshire teens are voting in their first elections this November, with a special twist. Their names will be on the ballot.

The teens, who are all college students, are running for legislature on the Democratic ballot. One student is 18 and is studying government at Harvard University. The other two, who are 19, study at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Northeastern University.

Oddly enough, none of the three actually live in New Hampshire during the school year.

The teens are using technology, such as "Facebook" and blogs, along with door to door campaigning, to line up support. While I'm not sure if I'd want a 19-year-old making laws for me, I think it is great that they are making an effort to follow their dreams and make a change.

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Filed under: Family togetherness, Crafts, Creative projects

This year the staff of Blogging Baby decided to get together and share our creative side with our readers. We are an enthusiastic bunch and have been toiling away with our children to share our festive, carved pumpkins with you all. Some of us are veteran pumpkin designers and begin our carving plans in the late summer. Others loathe the feel of slimy seeds touching our hands and just wish the whole experience to be over. Whatever the case, we hope you enjoy the pictures we will share with you throughout this Halloween day!

I had a completely different intention when I began carving my pumpkin this year, but intentions do not always become results. I had envisioned a stained glass sort of pumpkin, but discovering that it is truly no fun to grate crayons and since I am out of cartridges for my glue gun, I opted for a different theme. As I was mulling over a design, I spied all of the many plastic animals strewn about the floor of the kitchen, I was then hit with the image of a carousel. Everybody knows that if a pumpkin is not going to turn into a carriage, it will most surely become a carousel.

My oldest son refused to carve a pumpkin, he had already done one at school. My youngest son had his entertainment quota filled by simply playing in all of the pumpkin seed guts. My daughter carved a traditional face and then wandered off to read a book. I was left alone with paints and plastic horses. Other than the initial drama of changing my design plans, we had a great, if not rather messy, evening. Happy Halloween to everybody!

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Filed under: Health and Safety, Media

For so many years, the media has been teaching us that fish is good for us: rich in essential fatty acids, high in protein, low in fat. But lately, the news about fish has not been so good. It's being linked more and more with mercury, and studies are emerging linking mercury with premature birth.

A recent Korean study showed that women with high levels of mercury in their cord blood are three to five times more likely to deliver premature babies, defined as less than 37 weeks gestation.

The study disclosed two main reasons for the mercury concentration - dental treatment with amalgam and fish consumption.

Women who hadn't eaten fish during pregnancy had 4.6 micrograms of mercury per 1 liter of blood, while the mercury level of women who had fish more than four times a week had a mercury level of 8.3 micrograms.

Researchers advised pregnant women to avoid fish, and suggested that pregnant women avoid dental treatment with amalgam.

Thanks to tipster Joel A for the tip!

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Filed under: Gear

Tamara from Cookie Magazine's blog, Daysitter, wrote about these cutsie little calling cards for little ones.

If you are willing to shell out for the cute factor, which is admittedly quite high, these dollar a pop cards would be handy to have at the park or museum when your child meets someone they'd like to see again.

I certainly feel warmer toward these (which are really mostly for parents) than the ones I've seen lately for older kids. I don't think I want my pre-teen handing out cards printed with his home phone number and email. And, recently I got a call from the mom of my son's best friend wanting to know if I recognized the name of a man whose business card turned up in her son's jeans pocket. I didn't recognize the name either, and we both were a little worried about who this person was and what his intent was in giving a young boy his card. Turned out it was from a fifth grader the boys knew!

I wonder if he uses a briefcase rather than a backpack?

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Filed under: Feeding & Nutrition, Lifestyle, Public school

This afternoon I'm going over to the kids' school to drop off a veggie tray for my daughter's kindergarten Halloween party. "Moooooommmmm," she keeps saying, "Bring CUPCAKES!!"

This year the school has asked that the treats we bring for birthdays and parties be things that are on the healthy side. I have no problem with this, since I try and feed the kids stuff that will actually help them grow and thrive.

When my son turned 10 earlier this month, he took pencils and mini notebooks to hand out to his classmates instead of the brownies that I usually make for him to take (from scratch, they're awesome). He wasn't too sure he liked the idea, but at the end of the day he said that most of the kids told him they'd rather have what he brought than cake. Maybe they're just super-polite fourth graders.

It will be interesting to see how the kids like their low-sugar Halloween parties, which will be the first parties of the school year. My guess is that they'll have just as much fun, if not more since they won't feel nauseous from all the frosting and chocolate. Besides, they all know that once the sun goes down they'll have all the sugar they can handle. And then some.

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Filed under: Feeding & Nutrition, Health and Safety

I've never been a huge fan of giving children large amounts of juice, especially babies. My daughter is two and only recently have we started letting her have watered down apple juice.

A recent study published in the October issue of Pediatrics says that giving children appropriate amounts of 100 percent fruit juice is okay. Of course, you need to realize what appropriate amounts are. For a child between the ages of one and six, 4 to 6 ounces a day is "appropriate."

Also, it is important to note that the study said "100 percent juice." Most of the things I see on the grocery store shelves are definitely not "100 percent."

So, let's rephrase the study, shall we? "It is okay to give your child a small amount of fruit juice each day, granted that it really is fruit juice and not some sugary substance with the word fruit on the bottle."

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Filed under: Lifestyle, Media, Elementary school, Middle school, Public school

When I read that tag had been outlawed at an American elementary school earlier this month, I thought back to my childhood. We played games far worse than tag.

In fact, I distinctively remember burnt-orange shag carpet, a dark closet, and being 7 years old. We played spin the bottle and I kissed Jeremy C and I suspect I might have liked it. Surely Spin the Bottle is a lot more dangerous than a friendly game of tag?

I'm not the only one who remembers more "sinister" childhood games. I came across this blog entry today about childhood games we played as kids that were much, much worse than tag. It brought back memories: Red Rover, where the point is to smash into other kids. Keep Away, which was essentially an invitation to bruise, bash, and scrape. It brought back a lot of memories for me, and I wonder, do kids still play these games? I'd rather see Capture the Flag outlawed over Tag. Better yet, we should just let kids be bruised up, scraped up, and happily active.

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Filed under: Adventures in Parenting

Let us now sing the praises of daylight savings Time. Every fall it ends and we get to set our clocks back an hour. They call it a return to Standard Time. And everywhere mommies of school-aged children rejoice, because, for a while at least, we're no longer on Standard Mommy Time, and it looks to all the world (and ourselves) as if we're actually on top of things.

For example. Last night was the standard Sunday night affair; a snowballing of the many tasks necessary to ready the mind and body (and soul) for Monday morning: dinner, bath, the finishing of the undone homework, the washing of clothes, the watching of DVDs ("One. Short. And nothing with dinosaurs."), the drinking of tea and the reading of too many bedtime books. As per standard, I pushed the nits toward the inevitable with a sense of dread. It's getting too late again, I thought. I gotta get these kids to bed earlier. If only I were more organized. More focussed. More in control. God at least I got their hair washed for the week ...

And then I happened to glance at my computer clock. It changes by itself, clever thing. And I remembered.

I was supposed to change my clocks back sometime during the middle of the night on Sunday. It was actually only 7:50 p.m. The universe had granted me another hour. And my kids were bathed and in bed, rubbing their eyes! Ten minutes BEFORE their parentally-mandated bedtime!

Yes! And so it came to pass that this very morning, the first school day after Daylight Savings ends, I was the kind of Mommy I long to be. I lept from my warm bed at 6 a.m. But instead of the usual 40 short, panicked minutes, stretching before me were two entire hours before the bell rang at school. A luxurious expanse of time in the Mommy world. I actually had time to wash my own face and run a brush through my hair before gettng downstairs - unheard of on normal Mommy Time. I crept downstairs to get breakfast on the table. Of course my early-rising daughter was already there, but she was dressed and already picking the raisins out of her Raisin Bran. More importantly, the six-year-old boy was also stirring upstairs, already getting his shorts on without my having to drag him from his nest of blankets and stuffed animals. Everyone was in a good mood. We had enough milk for everyone. The tea was made and duely consumed. The Ipod Good Morning playlist sounded good. There was no fighting, no whining. Nobody lost their shoes! We meandered to school, stopping to examine every leaf, every dying worm. I was back at my computer by 8:10, feeling really quite pleased with myself. If only every morning could be like this. Was it really all about extra time? Well then why can't I just get up every morning an hour earlier all the time? My whole life could be a productive, problem-free, seamless whole.

Yeah, well. I'm not a productive, problem free, seamless kinda mom. This extra hour business makes my life work ... for about ten days. Then the chaos catches on and catches up. And it'll be back to cereal in a baggie and driving the kids the three blocks to school a minute before the bell rings. That's Standard Mommy Time for you. And I'm afraid that's just the real standard time.

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Filed under: Health and Safety, 8-9 years, Celebrity kids, Television

When it comes to television, one of my favorite shows is TLC's Little People Big World. I have a special place in my heart for the Roloffs, an Oregon family where three of its six members are dwarfs. In fact, I since I tend to watch the show while making cards, I always get a Roloff craving while visiting my local crafts store.

Jacob Roloff, the youngest member of the family, has been seriously injured in an accident on his family's pumpkin farm. Jacob, who is nine and of average height, was injured when he was hit in the face by a pumpkin catapult. Those who are familiar with the show would remember the catapult from last season, where they used it to draw visitors to the farm.

Their family friend, Mike Detjen, was pinned by the catapult and is also in serious condition. Patriarch Matt Roloff, who is also a little person, posted on the TLC message board that Jacob would need surgery but should make a full recovery.

While this is the most serious of Jacob's accidents, this isn't the first. Roloff fans might remember episodes were he was stung by a jellyfish and busted his eyebrow. Here's hoping to Jacob's full recovery!

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Filed under: Books

Welcome to the Blogging Baby Sleepover for Monday, the 30th of October. Here's where the Blogging Baby staff writers highlight posts from around the Blog-O-Sphere.

Over at Plain Jane Mom, Jane has recently discovered the joys of Hullabaloo. She, like many people, got it as a gift and never opened it, until now. Now that she's had much luck with that game, she's on the lookout for more. So go and give her a bit of help; the only game I can think of is the "sit down and be quiet game."

Jen over at The Hackworths has recently gotten news about a big move. Jen's husband, The Mister, is a Marine and has received orders to move to...Japan! They have three small children and not much time...it is going to be a close one. I can't wait to hear all about their big move; I have a feeling Japan will be very different than Jen's home state of Oklahoma!

Jenny over at Jennyology has made a statement I've muttered many times during my motherhood. "This is not what I've signed up for!" Ahh, the joys of wiping up the pee and poo. Jenny, I've been there too many times. Let's just all be thankful that the Number Two made it into the diaper and not somewhere more exciting, such as your pillow!

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