MomTech has moved to WordPress

Not many people will be aware of the change, but I have moved this blog from GoDaddy to WordPress. I started with GoDaddy’s QuickBlogcast product because it seemed like it would be simple to use. But I was spending so much time “fighting” with the editing software, that I couldn’t spend enough time creating content. But the WordPress features are sooo much easier to use and navigate. I’m relieve that I’ll now be able to spend more time on writing, and less on formatting.

It just been a few hours, but I already love my brand new site. I hope that you’ll enjoy it, too.

Podcasts to keep you informed and entertained

During the past few months I’ve gotten hooked on several podcasts. They are all FREE and I’ve subscribed to about a dozen of them through iTunes (although you don’t need iTunes or an iPod – any MP3 player will work). Now I can get informed, improve my memory, or just be entertained while I get ready in the morning, prepare dinner, or clean up around the house. I think a few of them are really cool and thought I’d share them with everyone:

CNN News Update (about 4 minutes) – The latest news happening in the U.S. and around the world.

PediaCast with Dr. Mike (about an hour) – I’d rather listen to this than read the medical information in my regular parenting magazines. Even if you disagree with his opinions at Arial (like his take on the HPV vaccine), it’s great information. I wish I’d known about this when my daughter was an infant.

Dr Mike is a board-certified pediatrician and Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He earned his medical degree at The Ohio State University and has over 10 years of parenting and clinical practice experience. Dr Mike can’t diagnose the ear infection or prescribe the antibiotic (unless you visit his office practice), but he can take the time to share his knowledge. And you won’t have to pony up a co-pay or spend precious time searching the index of another WHAT TO EXPECT EVERY DAY OF YOUR CHILD’S LIFE type of book.

BrainReady.com BrainCast (about 20 minutes) – My mind actually feels more “awake” after listening to these. Perhaps “Mom-brain” will soon be a thing of the past?

BrainReady is the revolutionary new way to turn back the clock on the damage that aging has already done to your brain & body. Whatever your age.

• “Start whipping your brain & body back into shape — by simply listening to our free, innovative audio brain exercise modules! Now available in downloadable MP3 format too, as well as Apple iTunes!
• As recently featured in Reader’s Digest magazine and numerous other publications: BrainReady’s audio BrainCasts let you exercise your brain while you’re busy doing what you’re already doing: eating breakfast, driving in your car, at the health club, going for a walk, whatever!
• Listen anytime, anywhere — On your iPod, MP3 player, right here on this page (see below), or put on a blank CD for your car!

4) A Prarie Home Companion: The News from Lake Wobegon (about 17 minutes) – I just love listening to these segments. Witty and full of imagery. I saw it live at the Hollywood Bowl a while back and am glad to be able to hear the show now whenever I’d like.

Listen to The News from Lake Wobegon wherever and whenever you want. GK’s signature monologue is now available as a free podcast, updated every Monday. Each week, Keillor shares with listeners the latest news and views from the little town where “all the women are strong, all the men are good looking, and all the children are above average.”

5) fitPod (varies) – — This is great music to listen to while running around doing mindless housework. Helps you get it done in next to no time!

fitPod.com is the free online community for everything fitness and iPod. It’s the place to meet others with similar interests, pick up fitness tips, discuss fitness and music, and share your favorite fitness playlists — what we call “fitLists.”

OK, that’s it for now. I’m subscribed to a few others, too. But they are all spiritual/religious/self-help in nature.

Ciao!

Tara

Determining Your Child’s Learning Style

Today a friend of mine posed the following question to my playgroup:

Does anyone have a suggestion for a book, website, seminar
to help determine what your child’s learning style is?
Is 4 too early to determine how your child learns?

In looking at schools, it seems like it would be helpful to
know how my child learns best, but I frankly, don’t know
how to figure that out!Thanks,
C

I really like this question. And, here is my reply:

Apparently it’s not too early to determine your child’s learning style. If fact you seem to be right on time in wondering about this. I imagine the educators and child psychologist in our group will be able to give real insight into this, but here’s what I found on the internet . . .

Parent Center has a whole page dedicated to figuring out your child’s learning style. Fortnet.org offers a brief article on the topic. I also found a homeschooling site with a number of links. But if you want an actual book to read, Amazon has a lot of them. The most appropriate and highly rated ones appear to be Discover Your Child’s Learning Style: Children Learn in Unique Ways – Here’s the Key to Every Child’s Learning Success by Willis and Hodson and The Way They Learn by Cynthia U. Tobias.

By the way, C always seems to be very in touch with what developmental stage her child is currently in. At her recommendation I picked up a copy of Touchpoints: Birth to Three: Your Child’s Emotional and Behavioral Development (Touchpoints) by T. Berry Brazelton, which provided some insight into what was going on in the unpredictable mind of my then-two-year-old. So although this question hadn’t even occured to me, it’s got me thinking. And knowing the answer would seem to be very important in guiding my daughter’s learning experience. 

Tara

Easy Help For Slow PCs

I subscribe to a newsletter written by Ron Douglas, owner of RecipeSecrets.net, which specializes in copycat recipes for dishes at popular restaurants (e.g. Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Boston Market). Well, today’s message included a tip on speeding up your PC that I thought I’d pass along. They key is two handy-dandy tools that come with Windows. The first is the System Configuration Utility (msconfig.exe) with which you can select which programs load when your PC boots and reduce the number of icons that appear in the system tray (which is on the far right of the task bar). The second is the Disk Cleanup tool (cleanmgr.exe) which allows you to free hard disk space by reducing the number of unnecessary files.Before you begin make sure you are logged in as a User with Administrator access, then proceed as described:

. . . here’s a cool tip I recently learned when my computer began running slow. The reason it was so slow was because I had many different programs which were automatically loading and using up the PC’s resources whenever I started the computer. Once I configured my computer start up, these programs now only load when choose to open them. Here’s what I did to fix it (for Windows users). Disclaimer: this is only my experience and not to be considered professional or technical advice.
1) Click the Start button and then click Run
2) Type in msconfig and hit Ok
3) Go to the Startup tab to view the list of programs
4) Type the name of each item in Google to see what it is if you’re
not sure *
5) Uncheck any program that you don’t need to automatically load
upon startup
6) Restart your computer **
7) Go to Start/Programs/Accessories/System Tools and click Disk
Cleanup.
Run Disk Cleanup to Remove all temporary files That’s it – now you’re running more efficiently.

* I prefer to look up each program at processlibrary.com, rather than Google as suggested here. ProcessLibrary gives a description and recommendation for each program. And, yes. It’s free.

** Windows XP Note: If there is an HP printer or certain firewall or anti-virus software (i.e. ZoneAlarm, McAfee, or Nortons) installed on your computer, you may receive an error message that reads “An Access Denied error was returned while attempting to change a service. You may need to log on using an Administrator account to make specified changes.” If you are already logged in as a User with Administrator access, then don’t worry – your changes will take effect anyway. Click “OK” and restart the computer. Once the computer has re-booted and you have logged in again, you will see another, larger message box notifying you that “You have used the System Configuration Utility to make changes to the way Windows starts.” Check the box that appears to left of “Don’t show this message or launch the System Configuration Utility when Windows start” and click “OK.”

Steps 1 – 6 took me about 15 minutes, plus the time it took to restart my computer. Steps 7 & 8 took less than 5 minutes to get going, but required quite a while to process. However it can run in the background, while you’re doing something else.

Good luck!
Tara

P.S. Check out The Secret Recipe Blog where you can score recipes to some yummy and familiar foods!

Morning and Bedtime Routines

 

Since school began my daughter has decided that she no longer wants to be late. She wants “to be on time” and frequently asks me about our timeliness. Which, of course, is great. However, anyone who knows me can imagine what an issue this new-found desire for promptness has become. But we’re trying and have made major improvement over the last week or two.

And, with the aid of her new Bedtime and Morning Routine charts (these are Word docs), she is doing her part. She actually helped choose the clip art and in some cases decided what order the tasks would go in. So, if she gets distracted, I ask her what’s next in her routine and that usually re-focuses her attention. We’ve posted two sets: one in the bathroom and one in the bedroom. That way she can see where she is at all times (her idea). Anyway, the charts have been such a big help that I thought I’d pass them along. I hope someone else can use them (with their child’s name inserted, of course).

Ciao!

Tara

Crocs and Escalators

I don’t like to pass on alarming bits of news, but I thought I’d send along this Fox News article I read about Crocs contributing to injuries on escalators (especially for small children). My daughter loves her Crocs, so I’ll be taking steps to mitigate this danger whenever she wears them at the mall, etc.

Be safe!

Tara

Got Crocs? Be Careful on the Escalator
Monday, September 17, 2007
By SARAH KARUSH, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON —

At rail stations and shopping malls around the world, reports are popping up of people, particularly young children, getting their toes caught in escalators. The one common theme seems to be the clunky soft-soled clogs known by the name of the most popular brand, Crocs.

New Stores by Gymboree

 

I just read a blurb about Crazy 8, the new stores by Gymboree with prices to rival Old Navy. There are only a couple of clothing lines right now, but they’re cute and will look very familiar to those of you who follow the regular Gymboree lines. For me the best part (aside from the great “2 for” deals) is that they offer slim (and plus) jeans as small as size 4. The adjustable waist works OK for my daughter, but I’d prefer to do without the extra bulk around her waist.

Ciao!
Tara

Preparing for the Fabulous (?) Fours

OK. I wasn’t prepared for the difficulties of parenting a three-year-old. I thought that after “the terrible twos” it would be easy sailing. But I was wrong. So, I have been thinking about getting Your Four-Year-Old: Wild and Wonderful by Louise Bates Ames (the same author as Your Three-Year-Old: Friend or Enemy which I very much recommend), but the reviews on this one are very mixed. So, I’d like to see it in person first. I’d love to hear other book suggestions.

I have just started reading Positive Discipline for Preschoolers: For Their Early Years–Raising Children Who are Responsible, Respectful, and Resourceful (Positive Discipline Library) by Jane Ed.D. Nelsen, which covers ages 3 – 6. I’m only on Chapter 6, but the ideas presented so far are working pretty well right now. The advice is compatible with Noel Janis-Norton’s Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting advice and that of How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk, but is even *more* positive that those methods. You still “prepare for success” and use talk-throughs and descriptive praise, but NO punishments and NO rewards. Instead you invite the child to ”focus on solutions”, and give “positive time-outs” (in which the parent offers to accompany the child) when emotions are high. I haven’t yet wrapped my mind around the idea of going into time out with my little offender, and I still threaten her with punishment. But I’m involving her in problem solving more often, and that has de-escalated a few situations that could have gotten ugly pretty quickly.

Best of luck,
Tara

California Cell Phone Law

Sunscreen just keeps getting better

Has anyone else tried Coppertone’s Clear SPF30 Continuous Spray No-Rub Sunscreen? It is sooo quick and easy to apply! It took less than 30 seconds to cover my daughter front to back and neck to toe! And since she sometimes strips down to her underwear at nursery school, I’m going to spray her down with it every morning before she gets dressed (which I imagine you guys are already doing to your kids). It seems that Coppertone makes an SPF50 but that one wasn’t available at the CVS I went to today. I also bought the WaterBabies SPF50 QuickCover Spray Lotion, which I thought would be good because you can see where it’s been applied. But it needs to be rubbed in, and I already have Banana Boat Kids Tear-Free Sunblock SPF50 Continuous Lotion Spray which is basically the same thing (but smells so much yummier!). So I think I might return it for the Coppertone KIDS Continuous Spray SPF50 (also clear and no-rub) and keep the regular SPF30 for myself.

Also, I’ve struggled with applying sunscreen to my duaghter’s face. We have the WaterBabies Stick SPF30 which is good for the major areas (nose, forehead, cheeks, etc.) but it’s awkward to apply it in creases and near eyes. And she turns her head and backs away while I use my hands to spread it around. So today I picked up a dozen round latex-free cosmetic sponges for $3 and used one to apply sunscreen to her face, ears, and neck instead. It’s pretty quick and for some reason She didn’t mind it as much. I plan to use a clean one each day and wash them with the laundry (being careful not to put them in the dryer). Perhaps this will work for someone else.

Just one more bit of sunscreen info, and then I’ll stop: My esthetician recommends Dermalogica solar defense booster spf30 (you can wear it alone or add 2 drops to your morning moisturizer) and total eye care spf15 for daytime wear. I haven’t bought the eye cream yet, but so far so good with the booster.

Ciao!
Tara