February 2014 - Motherlode - The Network of Care

Letting the Kids in on the Charitable Giving Conversation

One family's experiment in letting their daughter help decide how to divide the money it gives away each year. Read More...

Published Thu, Feb 06 2014 4:49 PM by Motherlode

Filed under: parenting, Philanthropy, The Opposite of Spoiled, Heifer International

When Marijuana Looks Like Candy, Not Drugs

Marijuana as candy doesn't just change how people use it. It changes how parents need to talk about it, and how we need to ask that new laws be designed to balance legal use with protecting those who shouldn't use it at all. Read More...

Published Tue, Feb 11 2014 7:54 AM by Motherlode

Filed under: parenting, Marijuana, Drugs (Pharmaceuticals), Highlights

Students Who Lose Recess Are the Ones Who Need It Most

Taking away recess as a punishment for behavior problems or academic lapses won't help, and might hurt. Read More...

Published Thu, Feb 13 2014 6:34 AM by Motherlode

Filed under: parenting, _featured, Children and Childhood, Teachers and School Employees, Physical Education and Training, School Discipline (Students), Highlights, Parent-Teacher Conference

For Treatments, Some Unexpected Help From a Stranger

When fertility treatments seemed to be coming to an end, a stranger offered to help. Read More...

Published Mon, Feb 03 2014 5:39 PM by Motherlode

Filed under: in vitro fertilization, Pregnancy and Childbirth, Fertility Diary, Fertility and Sterility (Journal)

The Official, if Possibly Unnecessary, End of Acetaminophen Use During Pregnancy

A study says children whose mothers used acetaminophen during pregnancy were at higher risk of receiving a hospital diagnosis of hyperkinetic disorders, but caution is needed in considering its results. Read More...

Published Tue, Feb 25 2014 2:22 PM by Motherlode

Filed under: parenting, Research, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, Pregnancy and Childbirth, Babies and Infants, Pediatrics (Journal), Highlights

Older Fathers: Assessing the Risks

In the most comprehensive study to date of paternal age and offspring mental health, researchers found that “children born to middle-aged men are more likely than those born to younger fathers to develop any of a range of mental difficulties.” But as...

Published Wed, Feb 26 2014 2:51 PM by Motherlode

Filed under: Mental Health and Disorders, Men and Boys, Highlights, JAMA Psychiatry (Journal), Age, Chronological

‘Are Parents Better Lovers?’

Now that I'm a mother — a single mother, a dating mother — I have come to believe, tentatively though it be, that the capacity for devotion to a child is a measure of the capacity for devotion to an adult. Read More...

Published Fri, Feb 14 2014 11:50 AM by Motherlode

Filed under: parenting, Down syndrome, Valentine's Day, Children and Childhood, Love (Emotion), Highlights, Paris (France)

The Growth of Magnet Schools, Amid Worries

Magnet schools are growing as part of an effort to save public schools, but critics fear they will drain neighborhood schools of motivated students and increase segregation. Read More...

Published Mon, Feb 17 2014 12:57 PM by Motherlode

Filed under: Highlights

If Acne Doesn’t Bother My Son, Why Should It Bother Me?

For three afternoons a week in sixth grade, I was "Zit Face." But no one says a word to my son about his acne, and it doesn't bother him at all. Read More...

Published Wed, Feb 19 2014 11:17 AM by Motherlode

Filed under: parenting, Teenagers and Adolescence, Highlights, Acne

The Price of a Child I Wouldn’t Let Go

Eleven years ago, when we learned about our then-unborn son's critical heart defects, we chose to fight for him. I've never regretted that choice, but it's a choice that came at a price measured in time, blood and treasure. Read More...

Published Sun, Feb 23 2014 5:40 AM by Motherlode

Filed under: parenting, abortion, Pregnancy and Childbirth, Personal Finances, Health Insurance and Managed Care, Highlights

Inviting a Picky Eater Into the Kitchen Pays Off

After four weeks of working with two experts to improve the eating habits of their twin 4-year-old boys, a couple's new dinnertime routine was being met with little resistance. Read More...

Published Wed, Feb 05 2014 10:57 AM by Motherlode

Filed under: parenting, Cooking and Cookbooks, Diet and Nutrition, Highlights, Ludwig, David, ChopChop (Magazine), Sampson, Sally, The Picky Eater Project, Recipes

Helmets: Because Their Thick Skulls Aren’t Thick Enough

If you make your kids wear helmets while sledding and ice skating, they'll look like Olympic athletes; they'll be less likely to suffer a serious head injury, and maybe my children will stop complaining about having to wear theirs. Read More....

Published Fri, Feb 07 2014 9:22 AM by Motherlode

Filed under: parenting, helmets, Highlights, Sports Injuries, Ice Skating, Sleds

The 13-Page Preschool Application

My working-class mother never schmoozed admissions staffs or wrote essays about my precociousness in turning books the right way up. I never thought I would. But if my daughter is going to go to preschool in Manhattan, I'll have to learn. Read More...

Published Tue, Feb 11 2014 12:37 PM by Motherlode

Filed under: parenting, Education (Pre-School), Manhattan (NYC), Private and Sectarian Schools, Preschool Admissions Diary

Scholastic Gives Kids a Video-Game Power-Up

Scholastic News published an article telling children that video games are good for your brain. Should it have given equal time to the more parent-friendly messages on that topic? Read More...

Published Thu, Feb 13 2014 10:39 AM by Motherlode

Filed under: parenting, brain, Computer and Video Games, Highlights, Games, Scholastic Corporation

Genetic Testing of Embryos Raises Ethical Questions

Genetic testing raises unsettling ethical questions that trouble advocates for the disabled and have left some doctors struggling with what they should tell their patients. Read More...

Published Tue, Feb 04 2014 6:11 AM by Motherlode