Parenting Parley

Animals and Kids: It's About Love

There's something about pets and kids that can make parents go all mushy. But what does the relationship mean to children?

Madeline Hauser had a rough year. Amid all of the upheaval that is adolescence, the awkwardness, the insecurity, the bevy of change that accompanies the metamorphosis from child- to adulthood, Madeline grew an unprecedented four inches in six months. And, according to her mother, the growth spurt has required more than just physical adjustment. "She's a 5-foot-8-inch 12-year-old. It's been hard for her to find success at something. Here, she finds succes," Madeline's mother, Shayla, says to me one Friday evening at Nova Quarter Horses in Mokena. Madeline rides breezily by in the arena, warming her horse up at a spirited walk for a lesson. My most cherished childhood memories took place at a barn. It's been ages since I've had the time or …

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Parenting Parley

Cootie Patrol: What to Do About Lice

Head lice in school children is very common, but that doesn't make them any less gross.

It took my mom a good 12 hours, start to finish. I remember it like it was yesterday. The drama. The shame. The Rid. The fine-toothed comb. My brother had cooties. When she picked him up, he was sitting sequestered in the nurse's office with head hung, gaze astray, lost in utter disbelief and total humiliation. At home, the work began. Everything got washed that day—from Barbie's hair to the stuffed animals. Coats, clothes, pillows and furniture were debugged and sterilized. By the time she was finished, my mother was exhausted. So when our neighbor told me last week that her son had been sent home with lice, it instantly summoned repressed memories of my mother and my brother and the wash and the endless rounds with the nit comb. I …

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Customs Count When Taking a Child to a Funeral: MomTalk Q&A

The Patch Moms Council discusses the right time to take your child to a wake or funeral.

Death is something we all share. Despite this commonality, we all look at it differently. Especially when young children are involved. Making the call as to whether a child is ready to experience a wake or funeral can be a difficult one. Will we traumatize the child? Will he or she be angry with our decision in the future? So we asked: When is a child ready to experience a wake and funeral? Here's what our Moms Council had to say. Nicole Yaniz, New Lenox "This is a VERY personal question and also very dependent on individual family/cultural customs. I think the age of 9 is an appropriate age but it would depend on who has passed. If an immediate family member has passed, as has been the case recently, we decided to keep our children home …

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Parenting Parley

Little Boys and Their Toy Weapons

Do video games and toy weaponry promote aggression in kids, or could we use these violent games to teach our kids valuable life lessons?

Last March, Science Daily published an overview of the research conducted by “distinguished professor” of psychology Craig Anderson, who stated that violence in video games, across the globe and through every socio-economic status, led to an increased incidence of violence in people. Period. So “definitive” were Anderson's findings that the Iowa State University faculty member (who, in the article, sits proudly beside what appears to be an enlarged version of his published work) saw no need for further research on the matter. But then, nine months later, the same outlet reported the results of another study: “Violent Video Games Not to Blame for Youth Aggression,” read the headline. And alas, the matter seems not so simple, and parents …

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Parenting Parley

Back to School or Stranded on an Island?

What if your child is bullied? What if your child is the bully? Mokena Patch's parenting columnist reaches out to the experts for answers.

Editor's note: this article was originally published on Mokena Patch on Sept. 20. I was busy working the other day when my 6-year-old burst through the garage door. "There's a kid out there and he called me a (insert expletive rhyming with witch)!" he announced. Slightly stunned but nevertheless certain that now was not the time to correct his "swear," I stormed out the door, claws and fangs bared, ready to decry the audacious teenager who would dare befoul the ears of my sweet-little-honey-pot with such vulgarities. But the villain had disappeared. My son seemed no worse for wear, and so I returned to my computer wondering if my reaction had been, well, overzealous. Even more curious was the fact that later the same evening Benjamin …

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Parenting Parley

Parenting Parley in the New Year

A local parenting colloquium for 2011.

I am not a supermom. I wasn't a babysitter, an aunt or a big sibling of any significance. Before our first son, I had never changed a diaper. I'm not an expert on kids. So why, then, do I write this column about parenting? I've learned a few hard lessons, that's why. And what I do know about raising kids is that it does, indeed, require a whole community. By their nature, kids force us to become part of the bigger picture. They remove isolation. No one family could take on the task of raising another emotionally and physically healthy human being by itself. No one family could expose a child to all of her options and benefits by itself. No one parent could even physically be in all of the places we sometimes must occupy at one time. We …

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Treasure Chest Chock Full of Gifts for Kids

The Orland Park-based foundation collects toys for children suffering from cancer and recently saw a 20 percent increase in donations.

Kristine Bulian knew what her family had to do. About two and a half years ago, her daughter Hannah was admitted to Advocate Hope Children's Hospital for intense chemotherapy to treat leukemia. It was her 12th birthday. When the doctors found out it was Hannah's birthday, she immediately got to pick a present from the "treasure chest," a selection of toys donated to hospitals across the country from the Pediatric Oncology Treasure Chest Foundation. During 16 hospital stays that followed after her birthday, the staff would bring her toys to choose from on days when she needed rest, especially after a difficult procedure. "It was significant. She always smiled," Kristine Bulian said.  "The hospital staff would always look for the perfect …

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