Gomom.com Recent Posts

The Death of the Chore Chart

sarah — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 11:57:23 -0500

Posted by sarah on 08/27/2008 - 11:57am.

Children now spend 25% less time doing chores around the house than
they did 20 years ago. It's not that they're spoiled--their parents now
rely on outside help, and kids are expected to spend more time studying
or participating in extracurricular activities. But what effect will
this have on them as adults? A piece in the Wall Street Journal posits
that these little boys might grow up to be aggravating husbands 'cause
the Modern Woman needs a mate who helps with the housework. More
interestingly, whether or not children do chores is a big predictor of
whether they will volunteer in their communities as adults. Anybody
have anecdotal evidence that supports this?

A way to a man's heart via cookie dough, best of the blogs 08/27/08

eds — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:20:57 -0500

Posted by eds on 08/27/2008 - 12:20am.

Derfwad Manor: Who needs food and money when you have passion?

Undomestic Diva: I made the mistake of asking my husband what I should blog about

Unexpected Bliss: My son's internet obsession

Idea Factory: Top Five Brown Bag Aces

stephanie — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 23:02:52 -0500

Posted by stephanie on 08/26/2008 - 11:02pm.

In honor of the panic that will hit us around, say Wednesday morning, when we've run out of ideas of what to throw in the bag.

First of all, get a SIGG, because how do you not have one already? Fill it with chocolate milk shaken with a touch of cinnamon and vanilla.

If you have the time for homemade sports-bars, these are cheaper and tastier than most shelf brands.

Dark chocolate covered bananas, and they're organic, fair-trade, and will get your kid an A from the hemp-wearin' English teacher.

Shun just any pbn'j, surprise them with a pbn'mf: peanut butter and marshamallow fluff sandwich. Relax, it's all natural and probably no worse than jelly. Plus you'll get a huge smooch when they get home.

The least you can do is throw in some Pocky sticks, but better yet, send along some choice Double Whammy Hard Candy! Who doesn't want that?

Does Day Care Harm Children?

sarah — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 16:52:16 -0500

Posted by sarah on 08/26/2008 - 4:52pm.

A piece in the Washington Post examines what we can now, 17 years after the first comprehensive study of children in day care began, say about children cared for out of the home: they don't suffer any ill effects. While the Study for Early Child Care and Youth Development had to rely on observation and therefor can't address cause & effect relationships between child care and child development, researchers were able to conclude:

"There were few significant differences between children cared for
exclusively by their mothers and those in any form of day care. The
most important predictor of children's attachment, as well as their
cognitive and social development, researchers found, was the
sensitivity of their mothers and the characteristics of their families,
such as parental income and educational levels. The influence of these
factors trumped any effects of day care."

Okay, but what does "sensitivity" mean in this context? I went to the home page of the study but it was uninviting. If daycare doesn't matter much but "sensitivity of mothers" DOES, why won't the Post tell me how to be a sensitive mother?

Blogging the recession, a collection of mom blogs about the recession (via Motherhood Uncensored)

eds — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:57:15 -0500

Motherhood Uncensored

Posted by eds on 08/26/2008 - 12:57pm.

Idiots loose in the country, the best of the dad blogs 08/26/08

eds — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:02:05 -0500

Posted by eds on 08/26/2008 - 12:02am.

Spazz Dad: City idiots on ATVs

Black Hockey Jesus: Putting your shattered boy back together again

Dad Gone Mad: Why a shower caddy doesn't make a good gift

Finally, a Place to Report Bad Baby Names

sarah — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:07:20 -0500

Posted by sarah on 08/25/2008 - 9:07pm.

Blogger Diana Goodman runs a site called NotWithoutMyHandbag, and she keeps a running collection of absurd baby names that makes for very entertaining reading. Goodman invites readers to send in their tips, and then tries to corroborate the info to make sure she's not trying to serve up Oranjello/Lemonjello style urban myth as the real deal. Kynda Boring? Unconfirmed. Chanda Lear? Yep, she's really out there. Luv Joy Seamon? Walking around a college campus (probably introducing herself as "Madison") as we speak.

To Bus or Not To Bus

stephanie — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 09:21:29 -0500

Posted by stephanie on 08/25/2008 - 9:21am.

The schools my kids attend are the same ones I went to as a kid. Besides the addition of a new pool and a new middle school, they haven't changed much. Except in the morning when the road and parking entrance are clogged with parents dropping their kids off. When I was there, being dropped off by your parents was the ultimate wussy-indicator, if you didn't ride the bus something was wrong with you. I know this isn't the case anymore, but I have still always favored the bus.

Now, as I am about to toss my 5er into the reality of Kindergarten, I am freaked out! How can I put my little dough-boy on the bus with a bunch of kids he doesn't know? How will he know where to go? What if he forgets to get off at his stop? I know it will all be fine, that he might have to jump a hurlde to win the race, but still, there's something scary about putting him on a big yellow beast and watching him pull away out of my control. I'm curious, do you bus or drop off and why did you choose?

Heavy metal moms, the best of the blogs 08/25/08

eds — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:54:56 -0500

Posted by eds on 08/25/2008 - 12:54am.

Whiskey in my Sippy Cup: Mr. Lady goes all heavy metal on your @ss

DadaMama: The first trip to the dentist? Bring a crowbar

Surrender Dorothy: What sounds good to me

"Sometimes I Cry For Fun"

sarah — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:07:05 -0500

Posted by sarah on 08/22/2008 - 4:07pm.

Get thee to Infomania and watch this new video, where the hilarious Sarah Haskins rolls her eyes at the latest batch of chick flicks. How many times must we be presented with the same tired fairy tale? How many times must our ultimate reward turn out to be Colin Firth? Poor Colin Firth. He's not hot enough to be unattainable. It's an insult to always be presented as the man who holds out for the bachelor lifestyle into his 40s but can't quite go the distance with it. "Why can't I play an occasional womanizer?" I imagine Firth whine to his agent. "Why do I have to be the husband all the time? Cheerio, Jeeves, thanks for the tea. Oh my, it's jolly hot, isn't it?"

The benefits of nipple piercing. The best of the blogs 08/22/08

eds — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:40:00 -0500

Posted by eds on 08/22/2008 - 12:40am.

The Mominatrix: Liven up those droopers

Mamma Loves: 50 books that you should have read

Defenistrator: A college-age boy's arguments against lowering the drinking age to 18

My son or my job?

ilovemybabyboy — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 22:03:10 -0500

I have a big problem. I thought I had the perfect job, where I could care for my 2 year old son and work at the same time. I am a babysitter of another 2 year old boy for a few days a week, 8 hours a day. The issue is, my son is being bullied. I have worked there for months, without much improvement and have brought the issue up with the parents. They agree, that if I left, they would understand. However, the job is convenient and my son and I have grown close to the other child, despite the fact that he harms my son.

Mother on Fire

sarah — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:48:40 -0500

Posted by sarah on 08/21/2008 - 4:48pm.

Sandra Tsing Loh is interviewed in Salon this week about her new book, Mother on Fire: A True Motherf%@& Story About Parenting. Cali-mommy Loh was shocked, when the time came to send her eldest daughter to school, to find that the upper middle class had pretty much abandoned the public school system in L.A. But Loh couldn't afford private school tuition, and her book explains how she and her artist friends made public school education work for them. Loh is funny, profane, and authentic, and her voice will resonate with any of us who've wondered how we can give our urban children the same advantages as their private or suburban-school-enrolled peers.

The funniest thing I've read since Molly Bloom's dialog at the end of Ulysses. The best of the blogs, August 21, 2008

eds — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:34:54 -0500

Posted by eds on 08/20/2008 - 11:34pm.

The Bloggess: Inconsistencies noticed while watching Wall-e

We would have put more blog entries here, but The Bloggess completely blew us away with this one, and we just didn't want to make anyone else pale by comparison. Do yourself a favor. Read this one.

Is an hour of T.V. a day too much for a toddler?

Reeds mom — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 12:12:32 -0500

I never allowed my son to watch T.V. until recently. He is 19 months old . I let him watch Sesame Street one day just to see if he would even be interested in it. He loved it and wants to watch it everyday. I wish it was a shorter program. It is an hour long and I think that may be too much for his age. Does anyone else have this issue or advice?

Why are young mothers judged so harshly?

Reeds mom — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:17:33 -0500

Posted by Reeds mom on 08/20/2008 - 4:17am.

I am twenty five years old but everyone says I look like a kid. So sometimes when I am out with my son alone I get rude questions from people like "oh is he your son , you look too young." and "Are you married?" . I also get older people that just stare me down and you can tell they are scanning my ring finger to see if i have a ring. I just want to say I am twenty five years old, I am married and yes, this is my son. But why does it matter how old I am anyways?

Late Naps and Bed-Time

els — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:32:05 -0500

My 2-year-old has been taking her naps from 2:00-4:30PM or from 3-5:30PM. I have tried for over a month to get her to sleep earlier but have had no success. We just stopped nursing about 2 months ago right after she turned 2 and she has been trying to drop her nap ever since. I have no problem with this but then she gets tired around 5 and wants to take her nap then. With these late naps comes a late bed time--usually around 11PM. The problem is that my husband and I are in disagreement about how to handle this.

New Research on Redshirting: It May Not Matter

sarah — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:14:59 -0500

Posted by sarah on 08/19/2008 - 1:14pm.

I have been kicking myself for the past few years for sending my son off to kindergarten only weeks after his 5th birthday. Media coverage of the practice called "redshirting," or delaying school entry to make him one of the oldest kids in his class, stressed that the advantages of being the oldest could be measured into high school and beyond. Though redshirting children has its roots in the culture of competative sports, it's become so common that a fifth of all 5-year-olds in the US are not yet enrolled in K'garten. But a new study based on a review of federal education data shows that by 8th grade, the oldest children no longer have an academic edge on the youngest. Maybe I didn't mess up after all!

It's all sex Tuesday. The best of the blogs, August 19, 2008

eds — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 00:02:39 -0500

Posted by eds on 08/19/2008 - 12:02am.

Her Bad Mother: What to tell your mother when you're blogging about sex

Whiskey in my Sippy Cup: Waxing--is it making it too easy for my husband?

The Princess and the Pea: NyQuil makes me horny

Soup Kitchen Moments

sarah — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 15:19:36 -0500

Posted by sarah on 08/18/2008 - 3:19pm.

Salon has a new feature called Pinched: Tales From An Economic Downturn, and the first essay is an account from a single mom who takes her children to a soup kitchen. The mother in the essay had a full-time job. But with three kids in the state minimum in child support, she just didn't have enough money for food. But even when you don't have trouble putting food on the table, you can still feel amazed and dismayed by the way your obligations as a mother turn you into someone needy. Every mother has had soup kitchen moments, those low and vulnerable times where you ask, "Has it really come to this?"