Bunch Family

By Nancy Walton

Having a quirky kid means that you get to laugh a lot. Really. I consider Georgia’s quirks to be the best things about her and the things that make her truly a fascinating little person who manages to charm almost everyone who meets her.

GEORGIA IN TRINITY-BELLWOODS PARK

Many theories of autism talk about how difficult it is for people with autism to generalize skills or knowledge, that is, to be able to do or know something in general, not only in the original context in which it was learned.  Read more...

What the cool parents are reading today:

1. Remember that mom who was sent to jail for putting down her father’s address instead of her own so that she could get her daughters into a better school? Kelley Williams-Bolar is half-way through her sentence and giving a lot of speeches.

2. Does your baby need music classes? New research suggests that “music training can foster babies’ emotional development and communication skills,” so you’d better enroll that 6-month-old in classes. What, you think it’s enough that they’ve learned to hold their head up at that age?

3. If you’re a mom, do you feel like you’re got about seven things on the go at all time? Moms are all about the multi-tasking.

4. Did you know that in Denmark, your baby name has to be approved by the government? Here are some other baby name rules from around the world. You can bet there aren’t a lot of Tyrannosaurus Rexes across the Atlantic.  Read more...

What the cool parents are reading today:

1. Aiden, Jayden, Brayden; Mia, Leah, Sophia; why do the popular baby names rhyme? And it’s not a recent phenomenon either; back in the 40s it was Marilyn, Evelyn and Carolyn and even further back to when Social Security first starting tracking these things in the 1880s, all the girls named ended in -ie.

2. So you know how maternity/paternity leave in the States is terrible? The National Partnership for Women and Families has made it official by giving 18 states an F grade. California and Connecticut are good places to have a baby since they each got As and Washington, Oregon, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Maine and Hawaii are all OK.  Read more...

What the cool parents are reading today:

1. Parenting and nudity: One mom who chooses to keep a few things private starts feeling like the biggest prude in her Brooklyn neighbouhood.

2. Nicole Cliffe of the Hairpin shares a story about taking her baby to the emergency room. Our hearts were racing the whole time we were reading it.

3. Picking out a baby name can be “fraught the fuck with complete mayhem,” so here’s a helpful guide from Jezebel. Now we’re going to go on a Google hunt to find a popular 1940s name that means winner of the spoils of war. (When we think “spoils of war,” we think Agamemnon, which we’re sure wasn’t big in the 1940s) Update: We think it’s Edith.

4. Parent like Picasso: start off traditional and structured and as the kids get older, experiment.  Read more...

What the cool parents are reading today:

1. Want your kid to step in line? Try public shaming! Wait, maybe not. No, definitely do not change your kid’s cover photo on Facebook to some PSA about how she misbehaved and wasn’t allowed on Facebook for a while.

2. Or maybe presumptive, judgmental, racist people are the worst. A woman writes Dear Prudence that she was trying to befriend a mom at her daughter’s dance class, but the woman stormed off saying she was anti-adoption… and her daughter’s not adopted, but she is mixed-race.

3. A vegan book for kids. Do you think the author was banking on controversy selling their book?

4. Peaches Geldof has named her son Astala, and Bob Geldof wants his daughter to change his grandson’s ridiculous name immediately. Yes, the man whose kids are Peaches, Pixie and Fifi Trixibelle is annoyed that his daughter chose an old and obscure name from a baby name book.  Read more...

What we’re reading today:

1. You know how eating one’s placenta, whether in casserole or pill form, is said to be beneficial with regards to post-postpartum and breastfeeding? Here’s one mom on why she regrets falling for the hype. Remember when Meri was wondering what to do with hers?

2. Man, sometimes kids are the best. Tommy, a 4-year-old with two lesbian moms and a gay biological dad comes out to one of his moms. He’s straight.

3. Are you one of those parents who doesn’t really like kids that aren’t your own?

4. Mad Men-inspired baby names isn’t happening, according to a genealogy website. Except we’d kind of already heard the opposite. Sure we haven’t seen any baby Sallys, but we could so see Joans and Rogers and this site seems to have missed that the name Betty is totally en vogue again.  Read more...

What we’re reading today:

1. Parents of kids with behavioural or learning issues really, really don’t need you diagnosing their kids.

2. Looking for an old Biblical name for your kid but want something a little more unique? Here are 12 underused names for boys. (Though we’d still stay away from the ones with such negative meanings)

3. If your kid confesses to you that their friends are engaging in some bad behaviour, do you tell those kids’ parents?

4. Some mom who went on Toddlers and Tiaras is now suing a bunch of media outlets for sexualizing her daughter. Um, we’ve seen Toddlers and Tiaras; it’s not the media outlets doing the sexualizing, it’s the crazy pageant moms.

5. Love Walking Dead but wish there was a family-friendly zombie show to watch with your kids? If only!

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What we’re reading today:

1. Oh Tina Fey. We feel you. Fey was watching 30 Rock with 6-year-old daughter Alice when there was a reference to an erection under someone’s clothes. Alice asked what an erection was and Fey picked the most innocuous explanation she could. “An erection is a building.” But Alice knew that wasn’t quite right.

2. Dr. Spock’s revised his Baby and Child Care so that it now covers autism, ADHD and has a new section for gay and lesbian parents.

3. Looking for some new baby names? Look no further than this civil war general guide! We actually really love a couple of the names on here, but you can blame our Classical education. Also, while we’re not huge on Cullen, the Cullen on Hell on Wheels is tough as nails and mighty handsome, so we could see that name coming back. (Just not coming back in an Edward and Jacob way).  Read more...

What we’re reading today:

1. The first baby names of 2012 are decidedly Kardashian in flavour: Karis, Khloe, Kyren, etc.

2. Know how your kids can be so loving and wonderful and then they say things like they hate you or you’re a bad parent because… Yeah, just don’t take it personally.

3. More on older moms: some may feel isolated since they’ve devoted their early adulthood to their careers and such, and so there are parent groups.

4. Should you bring a toddler to an adult party? Motherlode says no! We’re actually kinda surprised…

5. New mini kid show: Recess Stories.

Recess Stories #3: Rat Story web series for kids from Beeswax Productions on Vimeo.

Photo by adrants via Flickr

What we’re reading today:

1. Picky eaters are trying to destroy healthy lunch programs!

2. Aw new Canadians and Americans are so cute when they get excited about snow! (No one tell any recently immigranted friends about February, they just don’t need to hear about it yet)

3. Ever argued with your partner over naming the kids? Here are some suggestions for cutting down on those disagreements.

4. The Great Children’s E-book Debate.

5. And happy first night of Hanukkah! In addition to all the Maccabeats you’ll be singing and dancing to, how’s about a little Cali Swag District?

Photo by Eric Rice via Flickr

What we’re reading today:

1. Non-moms are generally less healthy than moms.

2. Babies can form expressions like laughing or crying from as early as 24 weeks.

3. Why we shouldn’t outright ban chocolate milk.

4. Thinking about baby names? See what Google says.

5. This boy sure has a lot to say, we just wonder what it is he’s saying…

Photo by samk via Flickr

What we’re reading today:

1. Have you seen the new baby name trends? Our next child is definitely being called Alionahma-Ruth.

2. Speaking of baby names, here are the most popular middle names of all time.

3. Here’s some advice for parents with sleep monster children. (Those who deny you any sleep)

4. Thomas Friedman thinks parents are the way to a better education system.

5. Nightmare scenario: toddlers get their hands on a bag of flour.

Photo by Alan Light via Flickr