Sunday, January 22, 2012
Daddy Knows Best
If you’re like a lot of couples out there, you and your partner have very different parenting styles. But that doesn’t mean what he’s doing is wrong. Men may be from Mars, but when it comes to bringing up babies (and toddlers, preschoolers, and teens), they can be just as effective as women. According to a report from the American Academy of Pediatrics, dads can be a positive influence on their children’s development. And research shows that when kids bond with their dads they feel more secure and curious — and less likely to lose it when they get frustrated. So let your partner discover his own parenting style.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Japanese TV
I told my oldest boy, "The TV you're watching was made in Japan." He replied withour missing a beat: "Well, it speaks English!"
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
The Little Con Artist
My youngest boy, the six-year old paid someone else to do his homework for him. Where did he get that from. They learn really quick these days don't they?
Monday, March 14, 2011
Dads' Postpartum Depression Ups Odds of Spankings
By Catherine Donaldson-Evans
Growing evidence shows that fathers can suffer from postpartum depression too. A new study finds that dads' post-baby blues can have a negative effect on their parenting and increase the chances that a child will be spanked.
Researchers from the University of Michigan studied more than 1,700 fathers of 1-year-olds and found that 7 percent of them reported a "major depressive episode" in the time since the birth of their babies.
In many cases, the black moods apparently were taken out on the children, making it four times more likely that they had been spanked recently and half as likely that their dads read them stories on a regular basis, according to the paper in the April issue of Pediatrics.
Pediatricians could play a bigger role in suggesting ways to combat fathers' postpartum depression, since about 77 percent of the fathers who were down said they'd talked to their baby's doctors in the past year.
"Pediatric providers should consider screening fathers for depression, discussing specific parenting behaviors [e.g., reading to children and appropriate discipline], and referring for treatment if appropriate," wrote the authors led by Dr. R. Neal Davis.
The new dads' experience with depression resembled that of new moms, as they were most likely to suffer symptoms within the first year of the child's life.
Experts attribute the trend to fathers' increased role in child care. Though that heightened participation has been supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics, what's difficult is getting doctors to recognize postpartum depression in men and help them do something about it.
Pediatricians need to "embrace paternal perinatal depression screening with the same vigor" they do with mothers, which could pose a challenge, wrote Dr. Craig F. Garfield of Northwestern University in Chicago and Richard Fletcher of the University of Newcastle in Australia in an editorial published with the study.
"The field of pediatrics is now faced with finding ways to support fathers in their parenting role much in the same way we support mothers," they said.
The latest research relied on interviews with 1,746 fathers of babies who were a year old. The data had been collected for a large-scale national study on families and children in the U.S. born between 1998 and 2000.
About 7 percent of the men said they'd been very depressed at some point during the previous year.
The sad fathers were more likely to be unemployed and have substance abuse problems, which probably contributed to their state of mind, according to the paper. But they were just as likely as the other fathers to have spoken to their child's pediatrician during the time period in question.
Forty-one percent of depressed dads reported spanking their babies in the prior month, compared to only 13 percent of other fathers, and 41 percent of them said they'd read stories to their children at least three days a week versus 58 percent of the happier dads.
Put another way, the depressed fathers were 62 percent less likely to say they'd read to their children at least three days a week and 3.92 times more likely to have spanked them in the past month.
Both groups of fathers were equally likely to sing songs to their kids and play with them, the findings showed.
The issue of spanking children has been hotly debated, but the researchers found it worrying that these babies were a year old or younger, at "a developmental stage when children are unlikely to understand the connection between their behavior and subsequent punishment and when spanking is more likely to cause physical injury."
Postpartum depression occurs after the birth of a child and is typically accompanied by significant feelings of sadness, emptiness, anger, irritability and listlessness. Insomnia or sleeping too much are also common symptoms.
Growing evidence shows that fathers can suffer from postpartum depression too. A new study finds that dads' post-baby blues can have a negative effect on their parenting and increase the chances that a child will be spanked.
Researchers from the University of Michigan studied more than 1,700 fathers of 1-year-olds and found that 7 percent of them reported a "major depressive episode" in the time since the birth of their babies.
In many cases, the black moods apparently were taken out on the children, making it four times more likely that they had been spanked recently and half as likely that their dads read them stories on a regular basis, according to the paper in the April issue of Pediatrics.
Pediatricians could play a bigger role in suggesting ways to combat fathers' postpartum depression, since about 77 percent of the fathers who were down said they'd talked to their baby's doctors in the past year.
"Pediatric providers should consider screening fathers for depression, discussing specific parenting behaviors [e.g., reading to children and appropriate discipline], and referring for treatment if appropriate," wrote the authors led by Dr. R. Neal Davis.
The new dads' experience with depression resembled that of new moms, as they were most likely to suffer symptoms within the first year of the child's life.
Experts attribute the trend to fathers' increased role in child care. Though that heightened participation has been supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics, what's difficult is getting doctors to recognize postpartum depression in men and help them do something about it.
Pediatricians need to "embrace paternal perinatal depression screening with the same vigor" they do with mothers, which could pose a challenge, wrote Dr. Craig F. Garfield of Northwestern University in Chicago and Richard Fletcher of the University of Newcastle in Australia in an editorial published with the study.
"The field of pediatrics is now faced with finding ways to support fathers in their parenting role much in the same way we support mothers," they said.
The latest research relied on interviews with 1,746 fathers of babies who were a year old. The data had been collected for a large-scale national study on families and children in the U.S. born between 1998 and 2000.
About 7 percent of the men said they'd been very depressed at some point during the previous year.
The sad fathers were more likely to be unemployed and have substance abuse problems, which probably contributed to their state of mind, according to the paper. But they were just as likely as the other fathers to have spoken to their child's pediatrician during the time period in question.
Forty-one percent of depressed dads reported spanking their babies in the prior month, compared to only 13 percent of other fathers, and 41 percent of them said they'd read stories to their children at least three days a week versus 58 percent of the happier dads.
Put another way, the depressed fathers were 62 percent less likely to say they'd read to their children at least three days a week and 3.92 times more likely to have spanked them in the past month.
Both groups of fathers were equally likely to sing songs to their kids and play with them, the findings showed.
The issue of spanking children has been hotly debated, but the researchers found it worrying that these babies were a year old or younger, at "a developmental stage when children are unlikely to understand the connection between their behavior and subsequent punishment and when spanking is more likely to cause physical injury."
Postpartum depression occurs after the birth of a child and is typically accompanied by significant feelings of sadness, emptiness, anger, irritability and listlessness. Insomnia or sleeping too much are also common symptoms.
Friday, August 20, 2010
Did The flintstones Wear Underwear?
My oldest boy asked me the other day, "Daddy, did the Flintstones wear underwear?" That didn't bother me. what bothered me was, I had to think about it. I had to think long and hard. I ended up saying, "Yes, of course they did." but actually they didn't. Underwear hadn't been invented yet. Unless it was underwear made of stone and by definition that is horribly uncomfortable. But I said yes because I didn't want him going to school the next day, dropping his pants in front of everyone and going, "Look, I'm not wearing any underwear - just like the Flintstones.
I told my two boys I would never lie to them, but in times like these, little white lies are okay, I have learned.
I told my two boys I would never lie to them, but in times like these, little white lies are okay, I have learned.
Monday, July 5, 2010
July 4th in Moccasin Gap
What I love about the 4th of July is living in a small town and going to the high school football stadium every year and watching the fireworks.
For a small town (Moccasin Gap is only 7,000 people), we have a pretty big fireworks display, it last about 30-minutes or more. We get to see people we haven’t seen in a while and, of course, we eat hot dogs and hamburgers and corn on the cob and we go swimming in the lake and we spend time at the grand parent’s house.
It’s always fun and the expressions on my two boy’s faces when the fireworks go off is priceless. It makes me glad I’m off the road and can spend this precious time with them. It also makes me sad that I’m going back on the road.
We had a July 4th parade this morning, Grandpa always puts his car in it and we all get to ride. My two boys love waving at everyone lined up along side the street to cheer as we pass.
I don’t know how it is in the big city, but in small town USA July 4th is a special day. It makes you proud to be an American.
I don’t know if Obama is a proud American or not, nor do I know if he started his day kneeling to the western sky and praying to Allah, but around here, we started our day by putting up the American flag and thanking God for the men and women who haven’t been killed overseas yet and praying for the ones that have.
Be glad you’re an American. This is still the greatest country on Earth and hopefully it will continue to be.
www.worldwidebc.com
For a small town (Moccasin Gap is only 7,000 people), we have a pretty big fireworks display, it last about 30-minutes or more. We get to see people we haven’t seen in a while and, of course, we eat hot dogs and hamburgers and corn on the cob and we go swimming in the lake and we spend time at the grand parent’s house.
It’s always fun and the expressions on my two boy’s faces when the fireworks go off is priceless. It makes me glad I’m off the road and can spend this precious time with them. It also makes me sad that I’m going back on the road.
We had a July 4th parade this morning, Grandpa always puts his car in it and we all get to ride. My two boys love waving at everyone lined up along side the street to cheer as we pass.
I don’t know how it is in the big city, but in small town USA July 4th is a special day. It makes you proud to be an American.
I don’t know if Obama is a proud American or not, nor do I know if he started his day kneeling to the western sky and praying to Allah, but around here, we started our day by putting up the American flag and thanking God for the men and women who haven’t been killed overseas yet and praying for the ones that have.
Be glad you’re an American. This is still the greatest country on Earth and hopefully it will continue to be.
www.worldwidebc.com
Monday, January 4, 2010
The Meaning of 'Man'
I ran into a guy I go to college with the other day. We've been on break since before Christmas. I'm starting my second year back in school next week. And I'm 60-years old. So I run into this guy, I roll down my window and say, "Hey man. How are you doing?" He goes, "Hey, man, I'm doing alright."
"Did you have a good Christmas, man?"
"Yeah, man, it was cool."
"Hey, man, are you going to be back in school next semester?"
"Oh, yeah, man. I'll be there."
And this went on for about five minutes. When I left, my four-year old who was in the back seat asked, "Daddy, why did you call each other man?"
So I had to explain the meaning of man to my son. It really isn't easy. I couldn't tell him it's just a greeting like, "Hey, dude!" Then he will want to know what dude means. Next thing you know I'll be in over my head. And I hate it when that happens.
"Did you have a good Christmas, man?"
"Yeah, man, it was cool."
"Hey, man, are you going to be back in school next semester?"
"Oh, yeah, man. I'll be there."
And this went on for about five minutes. When I left, my four-year old who was in the back seat asked, "Daddy, why did you call each other man?"
So I had to explain the meaning of man to my son. It really isn't easy. I couldn't tell him it's just a greeting like, "Hey, dude!" Then he will want to know what dude means. Next thing you know I'll be in over my head. And I hate it when that happens.
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