DotMoms

DotMoms Daily: Pregnancy perils, teacher crushes, and more

Photo Illustration: Kim Carney, MSNBC

In family-related news:
> Sleep trouble isn't inevitable during pregnancy (Reuters/MSNBC)
> Steroid use in pregnancy mostly safe (Reuters/MSNBC)
> Anxiety may persist after miscarriage (Reuters)
> CPSC: Lead toy recalls due to reduced clout (AP/CBS)
> Like a supervised 'Real World, for children (NYTimes)
> Teacher crush spells good grades and giggles (MSNBC)
> Krochet Kids teaches Third World women a marketable craft (MSNBC)
> Americans giving up friends, sex for Web life (Reuters/MSNBC)
> Refeathering the empty nest (NYTimes)

DotMoms Daily: Where recalled toys go, teens worry about drugs, and more

Image: Pat Roque, AP/ABC

In family-related news now:
> Pregnancy + Junk Food = Obese Kids? (WebMD/CBS)
> Parents warned cough medicines imperil infants (The New York Times)
> Mattel's challenge: Disposing of recalled toys (AP/MSNBC)
   Related: What went wrong at Mattel (Business Week/MSNBC)
> Powerful magnets cited in toy recall (Washington Post)
> Some baby bibs said to contain levels of lead (The New York Times)
> Real lead danger is in houses, not toys (AP/MSNBC)
> Poison expert: 'Children have to be systematically tested for lead' (ABC)
> Teens: High-school drug issues getting worse (AP/MSNBC)
> Forced to pick a major in high school (The New York Times)
> Public schools prepare to educate kids with Autism (NPR)
> Schools worry about fate of desegregation efforts (NPR)
> My dad, American inventor (The New York Times)

Smashing Plaster: The cost of the Martyr Mom routine

By Julie Kirtz Garrett

It started as a thin line in the ceiling above the second floor landing.

"Maybe it's a spider web or a little chipped paint," I rationalized.

My three kids, husband and I walked under the crack countless times each day. But I ignored it because I couldn't face  another home-repair project. And I became bitter. We live in an old and very needy house. I did not marry Mr. Fix-It. So this time, I decided to borrow my husband's usually irritating laissez-faire attitude about home maintenance. It was petty -- I know.

Naturally the crack grew, and so did my resentment. "Why can't he deal with this," I thought. "Why can't he call the repairman this time."

In the spring, the crack spread out like varicose veins. By summer, one of the lines turned into a small gap above the entrance to my 7-year-old's bedroom. I took no action. I let it build. Then, my husband finally called a contractor, but the guy canceled four different appointments.

Which brings me to 7:15 one Monday morning. That's when it all came crashing down -- the ceiling and my pettiness. A sickening, plaster-smashing whoosh woke us all. A huge section of the ceiling collapsed to the floor in one smelly cloud of plaster and dust.

The kids rushed to their bedroom doors.  I sat up in bed and froze, instantly realizing one of them could have been underneath. My husband, sensing my rare paraysis, jumped into action. "It's all OK. No one is hurt," he reassured the kids. "The chandelier isn't even damaged."

He immediately hauled a trash bag and vacuum up the stairs and started cleaning up. He even called a different contractor before leaving for work. 

The kids and I spent that day at home. A summer thunderstorm kept us inside: no complaints. We felt safe, lucky and grateful not to have stitches on top of our heads.

I know we should have fixed the ceiling sooner. I should have skipped the martyr-mom routine. But as it turns out, the smashing plaster exposed more than bare wood ceiling slats. As a couple and as parents, we have more than a few cracks  by now, but together we're still solid.

Julie Kirtz Garrett is a writer and television reporter. She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and three children.

DotMoms Daily: Prenatal stress, back-to-school sales, and more

Image: MSNBC

In family-related news now:
> Prenatal stress may affect babies' sleep (Reuters)
> Videos don't create baby Einsteins, study shows (Reuters/MSNBC)
> McDonald's marketing tricks tots' taste buds (AP/MSNBC)
> Peter Pan peanut butter back in stores (AP/CBS)
> Skyrocketing milk prices hit families just in time for school (CNN)
> Should preschools be all work and no play? (MSNBC)
> Low marks for back-to-school sales (The Washington Post)
   Related: Home work before homework
> High school reading lists get a makeover (Christian Science Monitor/CBS)
> 'Two Angry Moms,' One important cause (USAToday/ABC)
> Check-ups, vaccinations urged for pre-teens (Reuters/MSNBC)
> Finding missing kids a click away with screensaver (CNN)
> Bullying tied to mental health problems later (Reuters/MSNBC)
> Patchwork system means kids don't get shots (AP/MSNBC)

DotMoms Daily: Huge new toy recall, DIY delivery and more

Image: AP

In family-related news now:
> Fisher-Price recalling almost a million toys (AP/ABC)
   Related: List of recalled toys (AP/Yahoo)
> Disney buys popular kids' networking site (AP/MSNBC)
> Support group strengthens mother-daughter bond (NPR)
> Teens seek luxury items for back-to-school wardrobe (AP/CNN)
> Kids often get unapproved drugs for sleep issues (Reuters)
> Study explores link between SIDS, hearing (CBS)
> Do-it-yourself delivery (Washington Post)
> Partisan battle brewing over children's health insurance (AP/CNN)
> Stress of war hits Army kids hard (ABC/USAToday)
> Cyberfamilias: What's my house worth? And now? (New York Times)

Perspective: Mornings

By Sarah Rachel Egelman

It is 6:48 a.m. My husband is trying to be quiet as he gets ready for work, but I cringe at every small sound and know I will not get any more sleep today.

The baby, curled up next to me, is restless, beginning to wake. Next, I hear my daughter crying for me from her room. She wants me to come get her and carry her back to my bed, but I don't want to get up. I yell back that she should come on in, but this only upsets her. I go get her, and she is mad at her father for some reason and starts yelling at him and grumpily settles herself into our bed, demanding a cup of milk. It is now 7 a.m. and I already know this will be an exhausting day.

* * *

Another day. It is 7:10 a.m., and I hear her footsteps in the hall. It is a Saturday so my husband is still home and asleep. My daughter climbs into our bed, and I scoot the baby safely over. She nestles down between her father and I and tells us she loves us and had good dreams about golden dragons. The baby wakes at the sound of her voice and starts smiling and cooing. I go to the kitchen and get her a cup of milk and crawl back into bed with my family. We are snuggly and sleepy and we will have a busy day.

* * *

Days later. It is 7:19 a.m. and I cannot believe that she choose this day, the first day of preschool, to sleep late.

I get up to brush my teeth and get dressed and it wakes her. She is mad I am not waiting for her in my room so I get back into bed with her and she calms down. She tells me she doesn't want to start school but then is distracted by a "cuddle party" with her little sister who is finally awake, too. She eventually picks out her favorite clothes and fills her purse with treasures and we head to school. I have promised her we will bake cookies when she comes home.

At the school, she holds my hand for a moment, shy of her teacher and the classroom. But before I know it she has joined a group of girls to hear a story and I say goodbye. The baby and I head out into the 9 a.m. sun.

The day is getting hot already, but there is a nice breeze. We drive to the store for baking ingredients. I picture her in her classroom, cautious but curious, brave and interested and I know this will be a wonderful day.

Sarah Rachel Egelman is a community college instructor and freelance book reviewer who lives in New Mexico with her family.

DotMoms Daily: Hogwarts theme park, baby bling, and more

Image: Lisa Adams, New York Times

In family-related news now:
> Don't point that menu at my child, please (New York Times)
> All aboard for the Harry Potter rollercoaster (Reuters)
> Warner Bros. hurries up 'Harry' (Variety)
> Children good at approximate math (Reuters)
> Narrowing the grade-school standards gap (CBS)
> Video game maker target teens with cancer (Reuters)
> New formulas make ADHD meds hard to abuse (Reuters/MSNBC)
> Stressed-out moms at risk of poor mental health (Reuters)
> Experiment shows need to trust mom (ABC)
> Family Management 101 (Washington Post)
> New parents paying big bucks for baby bling (Forbes/MSNBC)

DotMoms Daily: Texting teens, opting in, and more

Photo: Kevin Clark, The Washington Post

In family-related news now:
> For texting teens, an OMG moment when the phone bill arrives (Washington Post)
> Teaching children about money (CBS)
> Single mom wins $1 million lottery (MSNBC)
> When stay-at-home moms go back to work (Newsweek/MSNBC)
> Senator Clinton's "woman" problem (Newsweek/MSNBC)

In family news this week:
> Test can tell baby's sex 6 weeks into pregnancy (AP/MSNBC)
> Kids' brains offer glimpse into life's learning curve (AP/MSNBC)
> Teaching kids label literacy (ABC)
> Boston suburb goes on a diet, slims kids (AP/MSNBC)
> Prescription drug use up in teen girls (WebMD)
> Cartoonist: From Bloom County to Moms on Mars (NPR)
> Does raising children bore you to death? (ABC)
> Where did all the baby sitters go? (Christian Science Monitor)

DotMoms Daily: Bunny banned, TV tweens, and more

Photo: ABC/PhotoDisc

In the news today
> Easter Bunny banned from school (ABC)
> Tactics for getting even the pickiest kids to eat (Forbes/MSNBC)
> For kids, banish the word 'fat' (St. Petersburg Times)
> Tween on the screen (The New York Times)
> Research: Brain to blame for teen risks (ABC)
> Grass not always greener in suburbs (The Nation/CBS)

DotMoms Daily: Your son's sperm and more

Photo: Reuters

In the news this week
> Eat a lot of beef? It may affect your son's sperm (Reuters)
> Report: More than one-third of lesbians have children (365Gay)
> Kids awards celebrated with burps, slime (AP/Yahoo)
> Microsoft to release Xbox 360 Elite (AP/ABC)
> Teenager casts light on a shadowy game (NY Times)
> Disarming the dangerous world students live in (NY Times)
> An ocean of promotion (The Washington Post)