Columnist's
Corner
We have lots of wonderful gifts for you in this issue.
Bill Paterson will give you his unique view of dealing with Santa and how an exceptionally smart 4 year old can foil any dad's explanation and turn him into a pathological liar! Naughty, naughty!
And Randi Killian tells us tales of the "joys" of holiday shopping with twins and offers some helpful hints she's picked up.
We are so pleased to welcome some brand new columnists. We will have the first installment of Robin Black's (from New Jersey)sometimes tragic quest to have a third baby after 40. This very compelling article will be presented in three parts.
Elizabeth Sprague (from Oregon) tells us how her family benefited by her teaching her babies to "sign" and how this opened up their communication at an early age. She shows us how it's "As Easy as Saying Bye-Bye".
Please go to www.babymetv.com to see the full articles in this newsletter as well as some other interesting ones you might have missed.
You'll also want to check out our VIDEO LIBRARY that shows parents just like you sharing their parenting experiences.
|
In the cold Northern parts of the country, lots of folks might just stay inside, cursing the weather instead of finding ways to enjoy it.
There are lots of fun winter activities to enjoy. Kids want to be out enjoying the snow - romping and getting soaked as they sled down hills or go ice skating or skiing.
In the warmer climes, they love swimming, fishing or boating other warm weather activities.
It's great to enjoy all that each season has to offer. And you will create lifetime memories for your child.
| |
Welcome to All our BabyMeTV Visitors
Happy Holidays to All!
Whether you celebrate Hannukah, Christmas, Kwansaa or none of the above, we want to wish you the very best of times as 2009 draws to a close and a new decade begins. As always we hope that 2010 will be a good year for all.
This time of year is our chance to get together with friends and family and let them know how much we love them. If not an in-person visit...a phone call, a special holiday card or a gift from the heart reminds them of our love. This newsletter is a labor of love prepared for our wonderful readers.
Special congratulations go out to our columnist (Model Mom) Debi Jaye and family on the birth of a brand new son. Edward Morgan IV was born December 10, 2009. (Debi will want to read Robin Black's article.)
PS - I apologize for the late issuance of this newsletter. But, as John Lennon said, "Life
is what happens when you're busy making other plans." And that's what
happened to me!
Mary Halperin
Editor
|
|
THE FUNNY THING ABOUT DADS
The "People" Vs. Santa
by Bill Paterson
Bill is an advertising copywriter who lives in Niagara Falls, NY with his wife Jenn and daughter Katie. He still finds it shocking that the universe has entrusted him with the fate of another living thing! Congratulations to Bill and family as they will welcome a new little Paterson to the world this spring.
This time of year, my Mini-Me, like yours, is fixated on the portly, fictional sleigh-jockey. Sure, Santa is essentially a toddler meth dealer, but I totally get the appeal. I can even reach back into my pre-401(k)-riddled consciousness to recall the euphoric anticipation of free plastic crap shaped like my favorite characters. For some reason, all spawn become instinctively ebullient at the mere mention of the original "weird beard."
If you sense a "but" coming, here it is. You see, although He of the Unflattering Red Velour Pants may be a bearer of infinite jolliness, he does come saddled with one major side effect...his sack of toys turns me into a lying sack of shizzle. Now I'm not talking so much about the morality of perpetuating the actual ruse itself. I'm all about sprinkling around some white lies when the crime is victimless. And I'm quite willing to look past the fact that ole Nicky gets a lot of credit for efforts that I'm putting forth. (I don't see his tubby backside fending off the hip check of some evil mom-lady in the big box store.)
But none of that is the issue. No, the real problem is the barrage of half-truths and flat out bull$%&@ that I'm required to spew in order to keep this elaborate charade afloat. Which is a real mind blowing conundrum considering that lying would theoretically land one on the naughty list to begin with.
Indeed, propping up the Santa myth requires the skills of a pathological liar, or at least a trial lawyer. With each conversation, I feel like a murder suspect who can't keep up with his own story. It starts innocently enough as Katie asks, "How does Santa get into our house?"...
|  |
 PARENTING TWINS
The "Joys" of Holiday Shopping with Twins
By Randi Killian
Randi is a registered nurse living in suburban Philadelphia who works in emergency medicine and has experience with medical/surgical nursing and pediatrics. She and husband Steve welcomed their twins, Gavin and Gabriella, over a year ago. Learning about their experiences raising twins should be a great help to anyone facing the parenting of multiples or even JUST ONE at a time!
Holiday shopping, whether you like it or not, inevitably means hitting some stores. Picture moms with their babies: hauling through the mall with a stroller, diaper bag, coats, and whatever purchases they may have collected along the way. Now multiply this by thousands and the mall, or any store, seems a pretty daunting place. If that's not bad enough, try doing it with twins! Double stroller, a set of babies, diaper bag, purchases, shoes flying, kicking, hitting and eye poking. Oh the holidays are wonderful. But you don't have to avoid shopping altogether. Some quick tips can make the process of shopping with two sidekicks a bit smoother.
First things first. If possible, do some of your shopping online. Online shopping can be limited to naptime where you can actually use a brain cell to decide on proper sizes, appropriate aged gifts, and your gift receivers' wish lists. That way your 80 year old grandmother doesn't end up with a pair of hip hugger tight jeans and your 4 year old niece doesn't rip off the paper to find teething rings; or vice versa...
.
Gavin & Gabriella |
|
Defying the Odds- How I had a baby
after age 43 and 5 years of loss
by Robin Black
Robin lives in Central New Jersey with her husband Kevin and 3 children...Daniel, 16, Caroline, 12 and Cameron, born March 2, 2009. Her story is one of triumph over tragedy. After many lost pregnancies, she is now ecstatically balancing the disparate lives of her children. She spends her days changing diapers, fielding questions about middle school dances and debating which college her oldest will attend.
An acquaintance of mine was pregnant with her fifth child. She'd become something of a phenomenon in my town. Every other summer she was the pregnant lady at the swim club. As she was expecting her fifth baby, I asked her if she was finished after this one. "I'm the youngest of five kids," she said. "I guess I just want to have what I am." She has six children now, so maybe she wanted a little sibling, too. In any case, she has now stated emphatically that her family is complete.
I am the youngest of three children. In the 1970s when I was growing up, the families I knew best had the same amount of kids. Families with two children seemed abbreviated and sterile. Three was messier in every way. No gentle pairing off of siblings. No equal numbers of people around the square kitchen table. Someone was always left out, either because of differences in age or gender, or someone was always an extra. Families with three children versus two were noisier, their cars were more crowded, and in the three-bedroom homes common in the 70s, two children always had to share a bedroom. But families of five were also more raucous and fun.
|
|
SIGNING WITH YOUR BABY
It's As Easy As Waving Bye-Bye
by Elizabeth Sprague
Elizabeth is a wife and mother of three boys in Oregon. She taught all of her boys to use infant sign language and continues to share her knowledge with other parents, babies and early childhood educators by teaching classes in her community. You can view her website at http://www.babysignsprogram.com/withelizabeth
And her blog at http://www.babysignswithelizabeth.blogspot.com
If we did everything the way all the "experts" told us to, reading to our baby for exactly 30 minutes every day, studying flash cards or practicing shapes for 30 minutes and spending half the day speaking just Spanish, while training them to sleep.... blah, blah, blah- we'd go a little crazy. It's just not humanly possible to do it all and quite frankly it sounds like a boring life. Babies learn so much more by participating in activities they enjoy with you. I love how easy incorporating baby sign language into your daily routine is. There are endless ways to teach just going about your usual day-to-day activities.
You have baby in the highchair and a spoon shaped airplane ready to land. Simply make the sign for eat as you say; "Do you want to EAT?" "Would you like more to EAT?" Each time the airplane re-loads say "Would you like MORE to EAT?" and practice both signs. Teaching a baby anything takes consistency and repetition, but it doesn't have to take time out of your already busy day...
 
Josh says "eat" & "please."
| |
|
|
|
|
|
