It’s a time-honored tradition for schools to hold elections so that kids can participate, however unofficially, in the important process of selecting a national leader. Very often, children vote much like their parents, write-in candidates such as Homer Simpson or the girl Joey has a crush on notwithstanding. When it comes to a national poll, no one has had a higher profile than Scholastic News, brought to us by the educational publishing titan responsible for everthing from elementary school textbooks to the U.S. editions of Harry Potter books.
Since 1940, the Scholastic News Election Poll has conducted a survey that has successfully predicted the presidential winner in every race — except for two (Dewey over Truman and Nixon over Kennedy). Announced earlier this month, the 2008 poll reults showed that Barack Obama garnered 57% of the vote to John McCain’s 39%. Will the kids be right, this time? As much as the poll results of 250,000 students from first to 12th grades are intriguing, reality dictates that the adults are the ones with the votes that count, so by all means, vote. And, if you’re looking for interactive materials to teach your kids more about the process, check out Scholastic’s excellent resources.
In a still-declining economy, it’s hard to read an article that tells me I’m doing all kinds of financial preparations incorrectly. The article posted at Yahoo, called “The Top Five Financial Mistakes Parents Make,” says that moms and dads neglect to buy enough life insurance and are lacking in the amount they invest in their children’s college funds. When you’re just trying to not go into debt with all the expenses of current daily life, it’s hard to plan ahead. But there are all sorts of little errors I make in budgeting, including making too many impulse buys, and this worldwide money crunch is just the time for me to start financially healthier patterns that will put my family in a better position moving forward. I will continue to post articles about family finances, but please post your ideas and opinions about saving money.
For Family Man® Contest #1, we have two winners of the Beethoven’s Wig 4 CD from Rounder Records. Special thanks to Beth Blenz-Clucas for helping make this happen. Our two champs made up the following classical song titles that sum up their current parenting lives:
“Ode to the Melodramatic Whining Woes” - Ricki V., mom of three, Valley Village, CA
(Two entries!) “Eine Kleine Kinder Poop (Unspecified Excerpt)” and “Requiem for Sleep (And Other Variations with Three Minors)” - Lexi R., mom of nine-month-old triplets, Oak Park, CA
Their CDs are on the way. If you want to add song titles just for fun, do them below or at the original contest posting. And keep on the lookout for another contest/giveaway coming soon!
To paraphrase a great line from Casablanca (aren’t they all great lines), Capt. Renault says to Ilsa, “If I were a woman, I should be in love with Rick.” In the case of umpteen award-winning parenting columnist Carol Band, if I were a woman writer, I would want to be her. Before anyone goes so far as to imagine me in a skirt, let me point you in the direction of Carol’s work so you can see for yourself. You can find her gently satirical view of motherhood at her site, her blog, and at Parenthood.com, a national publication where we both publish our columns. After more than a decade of finding the funny in everything from kindergarten to college and long-term marriage to everyday mayhem, the Massachusetts-based author has collected many of her best pieces in her book, aptly named after her column, A Household Word. Read and learn from this wise and wacky mom.
Every year, my wife and I debate how many extracurricular activities we and our kids can handle/want. We want to expose them to sports (our kids need the exercise with PE so minimal at school), the arts, and more, but how much is too much? The driving around alone is a huge time-suck. Where do the costs outweigh the benefits? We also want to be fair with our sons so no one has much more extra stuff than the other, but the little one has gotten the least this year, so far.
Readers, how do you manage the extracurriculars? What’s your cut-off point? How much do you let your kids help you decide? How many activities should a child have during the school year?
Between what really seems to be happening with the economy, the presidential election rhetoric, and the media’s constant sounding of alarm bells, most of us are feeling awful about the economy. This is just one posting on this issue, so it’s likely the tip of my financial iceberg talk. Just yesterday, I heard about a father’s murder-suicide of his entire family and that drove the topic home in the worst way for me because it shows how much money rules our lives.
I do know money’s important, and I realize what I have to say may sound cliche, but this recesssion/depression/funk/whatever you want to call it must not dissuade us from our priorities. We can all weather this storm and, as parents, owe it to our children to keep our senses so that they have us around to be there for them. We may not all be able to afford the same things, but we can give them shelter and food and love — and that is really all they NEED from us. The rest is about our own egos and what we think we should give them.
I will ramble more, in days to come, but please comment on this posting and let’s continue to strengthen our support for one another, online and in person.
The silly lyrics and wry talk-singing of Richard Perlmutter as set to the sounds of the world’s most recognized classical music have long been favorites with my kids and me. Now I get to give away two (2) copies of ‘Beethoven’s Wig 4′. This new disc is as goofy as ever, with renditions of marches, waltzes, and more dance-along symphonies. All you have to do is be one of the first two readers to make up a new classical song title that sums up your current life as a parent. You know, something like “Prelude to a Toddler Meltdown,” or something hopefully funnier than that. Post your title by hitting the Comments button below this posting. Even if you aren’t among the first two, please feel free to supply song titles. Winners must provide their e-mail address so we can alert you of your good fortune. Your street address will then be required to send the disc to you, but rest assured that it will only be used to send you the disc and nothing else.
This month is both National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Domestic Violence Awareness Month. With organizations like Avon sponsoring fundraisers and Major League Baseball commemorating the fight against breast cancer with pink bats (among other efforts), awareness is growing for this major threat against our women. As a forty-something adult, I have known of too many cases in my sphere of friends and family who have suffered from this kind of cancer and I urge the men out their to help their women get regular breast exams because early detection is so important.
On the domestic violence front, this is an area in which men are much more likely to be the aggressors. Our women and children fall victim to what can often be the result of men not getting the help they need to stop the violence. Please take a look at a past article on this issue, called “Being a Man Means Stopping Domestic Violence.” Not that most of us need a special month to be reminded, but this is certainly a period of time to do what we can to show our women respect, love, and support.
