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July in The Motherhood

July in The Motherhood

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Take a break from the pool and this recent blistering heat wave and come on over to The Motherhood this month! We’ve got some amazing Talks scheduled and we can’t wait to see you there!

 
Check out this fantastic lineup:

 

 
Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails: Raising Boys – July 10 at 1pm

 
Are you surrounded by boys? Join Shell of Things I Can’t Say to share your thoughts, advice and questions on the unique challenges you are presented with when raising sons.

 

 
How to be Fashionable on a Budget – July 16 at 1pm

 
Think you need expensive shoes and handbags to look good? Not at all! Learn about the basics and accessories you’ll need to make you feel great without breaking the bank! Melissa of All Things Chic and her panel of co-hosts have great suggestions and tips.

 

 
The Crowd-Sourced List of Places to Take Your Kids Before They Leave Home – July 17 at 1pm

 
What are your favorite places to travel with your kids? We’re creating a list with Jodi of Mom’s Favorite Stuff, and we would love to add your thoughts!

 

 
Easy DIY Home Improvement and Decor – July 20 at 1pm

 
Come and get inspired to make your house a great-looking home! We’ll get some easy tips from our DIY blogger friends, led by Kelli of Lolly Jane, for making those DIY projects a little less daunting!

 

 
Treat Yourself to a Home Spa Day, July 24 at 1pm

 
Do you have a recipe for a great facial? How about great spa uses for some household products? We want to know all about them. Share with us, and find out what advice Angie of My Four Monkeys has for home pampering.

 

 

“Music is Magical”: Tackling Important Family Topics through Song, July 26 at 1pm

 

From potty training to the first day of school, table manners and cleaning their rooms, your kids (and you!) can benefit from making these tasks more fun with music.  Join Ellie Hirsch of the blog Mommy Masters, creator of the new CD “Music is Magical,” to discuss how music can educate kids and entertain the whole family when it’s done right.

 

 
Taking Great Photos of Your Kids – July 30 at 1pm

 
Let’s talk about taking photos with all types of cameras…even the one on your cell phone! You can always take beautiful pictures, no matter what!

How to Live Gluten Free

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These days, it seems like everyone either has a problem with gluten or knows somebody who does.  Walk down any aisle in the grocery store, and you’re likely to see items labeled “gluten-free.” Clearly more and more people are choosing–or needing–to go without gluten. But why, and what does it mean?

 

Debbi Smith of Debbi Does Dinner Healthy, along with Lauren of As Good as Gluten and Lisa of My Extraordinary Life popped into The Motherhood today to share information, resources and advice on going gluten-free.

 

 

One foundational question: where exactly is gluten found? Most people know gluten is contained in wheat, but it seems like it’s in a lot of other foods–and it is. Barley and rye as well as wheat contain gluten, making almost all commercial baked goods and pastas off-limits. Pizza usually is too, though Debbi offers a recipe for gluten-free pizza. Packaged lunchmeat is a less obvious culprit. Lauren emphasizes the importance of reading every label, noting “The less obvious foods I tend to find are spices, sauces, and seasonings. Gluten hides in a lot of products like sauce/spice pre-mixed packets and dressings/sauces.” Debbi says she’s even heard of lipsticks containing gluten.

 

 

Even though our panelists agreed that finding gluten-free alternatives is easier now than in the past, it’s still challenging. Which leads to another question: Why on earth would anybody subject herself to a diet that seems so limiting? On doctor’s orders, maybe, though many people, like Debbi, make the choice on their own. Going gluten-free makes them feel so much better that it’s absolutely worth giving up certain foods. Lauren observes, “I can eat everything I used to love and I eat healthier.” Debbi and Lisa found the Wheat Belly book and blog informative and helpful in choosing to go gluten-free.

 

So what kinds of things might tip you off that going gluten-free is the right choice for you? Debbi says that anyone with unexplained aches and pains might consider gluten-free: ” I would suggest to anyone who takes any kind of pain medication regularly to give it a try.” Lauren points out that gluten affects different people in different ways, so it can be tricky to know if a problem is caused by gluten. Some problems that may be gluten-related are any kind of digestive or stomach-related problems, whether immediately after eating gluten or a few hours later. She notes that some people are tired and fatigued all the time, and some have skin problems (like red blotches). Lisa’s reports that her daughter had “chronic sinus issues, mood swings, (and a) bloated looking belly.” Debbi says it’s often easy to tell within days of eliminating foods from a diet whether it makes a difference, but only a doctor can diagnose celiac disease.

 

 

As with any special diet, dining out can be a challenge when you can’t eat gluten.  Debbi says PF Chang’s, Red Robin and Outback offer gluten-free menus. Lauren mentions Chipotle as another good option. Gluten-free dining strategies Lisa uses include sticking to “whole, plain, un-marinated or unseasoned foods. We ask questions about cross contamination and often try and just develop a relationship with our local restaurants in order for them to understand our needs.”

 

While you have a lot more control over ingredients and cross-contamination at home, but it can be tricky to replicate former favorite foods that contain gluten. Especially challenging are baked goods, of course. Lauren offers this wonderful gluten-free sandwich bread recipe that looks truly mouthwatering. Those who are familiar with gluten-free diet are probably familiar with Udi’s gluten-free bread. Lisa shares her Udi’s White Bread Copycat Recipe, which also looks delicious. Even with recipes in hand, it can sometimes be expensive to procure gluten-free ingredients. Lauren grinds her own rice flour by putting regular brown rice in a dedicated coffee grinder or her Magic Bullet, which she loves. After all, as Debbi acknowledged, rice is cheap, but rice flour is less so! Lisa saves grocery dollars by “sticking to foods that are naturally free and in season.”

 

 

It’s not clear whether more people are having problems with gluten, or whether we’re just more aware of it. What is clear is that the Internet is a source of lots of great information for people who are considering going gluten-free.  Lauren pointed to the Gluten Free Global Community. TheReal Sustenance blog is also highly recommended, as is the Celiac Disease Foundation’s website. If you think a gluten-free diet could be right for you, you’re definitely not alone. And thanks to our panelists and dozens of bloggers like them, you could soon be eating–and feeling–better than ever.

 

 

It’s Olympic Swimming Time!

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We’re sure you all know that the Summer Olympics will be held in London this year, but do you have the scoop on the U.S. Olympic Team Trials? This year, all of the U.S. Olympic Swimming Team qualifiers will be traveling to Omaha to compete and secure their spots for the Olympics in London. It looks something like this:

 

 

Although we can’t be there in person, The Motherhood will be watching the fantastic competition on NBC and NBC Sports all week long! The trials start TODAY and will run until July 2. So don’t miss out on all the action! Watch with us! You can find a TV/Webcast Schedule here.

 

Need more to feed your swimming fever? Check out SwimToday.org to find swimming clubs in your area, sign up for lessons and more.

 

In addition, The Motherhood and USA Swimming are throwing a Twitter party on Monday, July 2, at 7:30 p.m. EST so we can all cheer on Dara Torres in real time as she swims!!! If you’re able to join at that time, we’d love to see you there! The party will last an hour and we’ll be giving away some prizes, talking about swimming and cheering on Dara.

 

Join us by using the hashtag #SwimToday. Can’t wait to see you there!

 

Kids and Cell Phones (Can You Hear Me Now?)

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Managing your child’s phone use, circa 1982: Stand in front of child using the family phone, frowning and tapping your wristwatch, when her telephone call to friend down the street has exceeded five minutes. Repeat as needed until child hangs up. (My father was a master of this technique.)

 

Managing your child’s phone use, circa 2012: Decide how old child must be in order to have own cell phone. Decide what kind of cell phone to get for child. Decide whether the child must pay for all or part of the phone. Decide what services and/or apps to get on cell phone. Learn and discuss child’s school rules for cell phone possession and use. Discuss with child hazards of texting and driving. Read article about frequency of teens “sexting” and fret. Discuss with child etiquette of cell phone use during family time. Give up, curl up into fetal position beneath desk and weep quietly. (I am a master of this technique. At least the last part).

 

Most of us learn parenting skills from how our parents raised us, but what about the parts of parenting, like kids and cell phones, that didn’t exist when we were kids? We turn to other parents, other mothers. Today in The Motherhood, we were joined by Dr. G and panelists Jennifer Hall and Jessica Torres, along with some other wise women and mothers to try to figure out this new normal.

 

First off, when does a child need to have a cell phone? And how young is too young? Dr. G. says, “I would not get my kid a cell phone below the age that I would not ever let him be in a situation in which he is without adult supervision. So when my kids are old enough to go somewhere alone or only with friends.” That squared pretty well with most of the moms in the discussion, who generally felt their kids shouldn’t have phones until they were responsible enough to keep them safe, and needed them to communicate with parents.

 

 

So, okay–you’ve got a nice responsible kid who needs to let you know when soccer practice is running late.  What kind of phone do you get them? Flip phone? Smartphone? Most of the mothers in the discussion voted against smartphones. Given that smartphones largely equal unfettered access to the Internet, Jennifer Hall asserted, “Unsupervised internet may not happen until my kids are adults!” But as Jessica Torres pointed out, “The nice thing about iPhones is that you can set restrictions on it so if you don’t want your kids to have internet access you can block them from using it on their phones.” Still, most of us seem to feel that the main reason our kids have phones is to communicate with us–the added bells and whistles (and expense) of a smartphone really aren’t necessary.

 

Ah…communication with our kids. It’s why they have phones, but do their phones actually hamper real-life communication? Dr. G. asked if we think kids use their phone to check out of family time or face-to-face conversation. Deborah wisely pointed out that many people, not just kids, do that, and Rachel Blaufeld concurred that “I feel that statement to be more true about us as parents lately.” The bottom line: we need to model respectful phone use for our kids. We can’t expect them to attend to a family dinner if we ourselves are constantly checking our e-mail or texts at the table. Another thing we as parents need to model is safe use of our phones; it’s one thing to tell our kids that texting and driving is unsafe, but if you’re checking your phone at every stoplight, you’re sending a different message.

 

Dr. G. brought up a potentially touchy topic: do you look through the texts and pictures on your child’s phone? I haven’t (yet), but I think parents have the right to, as Deborah and Jennifer said they have done. If nothing else, a kid knowing that mom might see that photo or language she texted may put a filter between fingers and phone. Deborah is up-front with her son and unapologetic about having access: “He knows I do it. I also look though his FB and Twitter. He knows I do it there as well. No secret. It’s my job.” Dr. G. noted that it’s great to be able to trust our kids, but even the most trustworthy kids may not have the best judgment.  Realizing that mom’s eyes are on their phones might improve that judgment a little, methinks.

 

As with so many situations, giving kids clear expectations of what to expect with regard to our management of their cell phone use helps things go smoothly. Dr. G. suggests a rule whereby kids’ cell phones charge in the parents’ bedroom, starting a half-hour before bedtime. I thought this was brilliant: it’s an unobtrusive way of keeping kids from staying up late into the night texting their friends, and provides parents an opportunity to supervise who’s been called and what’s been texted (without having to do it right in front of the kids). A good way to establish this, and any other rules we deem important, is having a  contract with our kids. No need to involve a lawyer: Dr. G. has a guide for creating a tech use contract on her website. That way, you and your kids will have a clear line of communication about their cell phone use–before they use it to communicate with anyone else.

Plastic-Free: How I Kicked the Plastic Habit, and How You Can Too

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To be clear, the “I” in the title of this post refers to Beth Terry, whose book of the same name we discussed in The Motherhood today. The “I” who is writing this post is pausing to stare somewhat guiltily over her shoulder at the plastic clamshell container, plastic zipper lock bags, plastic ballpoint pens and plastic aspirin bottle on her kitchen counter. And that’s just the counter–we won’t even discuss the plastic in the rest of the room. And house.

 

But Beth’s book isn’t designed to make us feel guilty. It’s written with the intent of helping anybody take whatever steps they’re ready for to reduce plastic in their lives, up to eliminating it all together. Beth decided to write the book after she stumbled across an article about the plastic pollution problem in the ocean and saw a photo of a dead baby albatross full of everyday plastic pieces that its mother had fed to it thinking it was food.  Of the article, Beth says, “It broke my heart. And that was my reason for seeing if I could live without buying new plastic.”

 

 

It occurs to me, as a human mama, that I also feed my children a lot of things I think are good for them. But I do worry that the plastic that food comes packaged in could somehow be as harmful to my babies as to that baby albatross. And I know I’m not alone in my concerns. Many of the panelists joining the discussion on Beth’s book feel the same. Panelist Alicia Voorhies says her biggest concern about plastic is leaching chemicals, and panelist Lisa Sharp is worried about “the health effects on us and animals.” Panelists Kitchenstew and Lori pointed out the pervasiveness of plastic–it’s even in chewing gum! Theecochic, another panelist, admitted honestly that her biggest concern about plastic is that she relies on it so much. It’s so easy to do, and so hard to avoid. Panelist Danielle says, “My biggest concerns about plastics are that they are trashing our planet– from preproduction to litter.”

 

It’s everywhere. It’s bad for us, other animals, and the planet, in ways we don’t even fully understand yet.  If it were only bad, it would be easy to get rid of. But it’s so useful and convenient, as we all know. What are health-conscious, environmentally-conscious, busy and cash-strapped moms to do? That’s where Beth’s book, and her blog, come in, with practical, realistic options anyone can use to help get plastic out of their lives.

 

What if you’re just a beginner at this plastic-free stuff? What’s the first thing you should do? Beth says that the best “first thing” depends on the person doing it. “Start with the one thing that is easiest for you and make it a habit. And don’t beat yourself up, but don’t let yourself off the hook too easily either.” You may have started the shift without even knowing it–lots of us have stopped buying bottled water and are using stainless steel bottles. Even more of us are using reusable grocery bags. Lori advises, “Incorporating the change into your routine works. I leave reusable shopping bags in the front seat of my car and now I rarely forget them.” And as panelist PhDinParenting observes, “A lot of the changes we make become second nature after we’ve been doing them for a while.”

 

Those are some of the easier changes to make.   But as Kitchenstew points out, having kids makes going plastic-free very challenging. Two big challenges are toys (since most little kids’ toys are made out of plastic) and goody bags at parties (the bags are made of plastic and they’re often filled with cheap plastic toys). For the former challenge, consider buying used toys on eBay or Craigslist, as Danielle does. As for goody bags, if you can’t bear to eliminate gifts for party guests entirely, why not try something plastic-free and still fun, like flower seeds in compostable planters or cotton thread friendship bracelets?

 

Perhaps the biggest challenge to plastic-free living with kids is containers for their food, especially on the go. Fortunately, as more of us raise our voices to ask for options, more choices appear. Lunchbots are a great stainless steel alternative. The Extraordinary Baby Shoppe carries several stainless steel feeding options for the smallest kids. For reusable food storage bags, check out Lunch Skins or Three Little Birds Design Company. More great ideas can be found in this blog post about traveling plastic-free with snacks.

 

Those are some great ideas for keeping plastic out of the garbage–but what about what we put the garbage itself in? Some municipalities require trash bags. One solution is to reduce your trash (and therefore, the number of trash bags you use) by composting and recycling whenever possible.  Another is to use corn-based trash bags or using plastic bags, like bread bags, that you were just going to throw out anyway.  Panelist Diane Mac suggests wrapping wet non-compostables in newspaper. If you aren’t required to use bags, consider putting your trash in a metal can that you can rinse out as needed with a hose. And check out Beth’s blog post on collecting garbage without plastic bags.

 

It’s all very well to contribute to a cleaner planet by using less plastic, but try to get yourself clean without plastic? You’re facing a challenge. Let’s play a game: you run out to the grocery store, find a non-plastic container of shampoo or mouthwash, and run back. First one home gets a prize. Go on. I’ll wait here.

 

(crickets chirping)

 

Couldn’t find one? Not surprising; it’s hard to do. Our panelists were able to come up with some choices  for those truly committed to kicking the plastic. Shampoo bars, especially those not wrapped in plastic, are a good option. Lisa Sharp uses concentrated mouthwash so that the bottle is smaller and lasts longer, creating less waste. You can make your own hygiene products, too, and Beth’s book and blog offer ideas for plastic-free alternatives. You may even find alternatives to plastic in places you didn’t even realize plastic lurks, like books. But Beth has even found a way around that: “FYI: This book was created without plastic materials. My publisher found a way to do without plastic coating, plastic glue, synthetic thread, etc. It’s really cool looking. But it’s also available in Kindle and NOOK. “If you’re interested in a signed copy of the book, they’re available through Beth’s website, with a portion of the proceeds to the Plastic Pollution Coalition.

 

The Motherhood is Celebrating Dads

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Around here, we celebrate moms every day, but this weekend, it’s all about DAD! We’ve already told you about some awesome gifts that he’ll love, but today we’ve got a delicious treat that he can enjoy with the whole family! Frostys!

 

 

Now through Father’s Day, anyone can enjoy this delicious treat and help children in foster care find permanent, loving homes at the same time! Continuing its Father’s Day Frosty Weekend tradition for the sixth year in a row, Wendy’s is inviting customers to help raise money for Wendy’s Wonderful Kids. This signature program of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption is dedicated to finding permanent adoptive families for children in foster care. How, do you ask? Here’s what you need to know:

 

WHO: Everyone! And dad, too!

 

WHAT: Help Wendy’s make a BIG donation to Wendy’s Wonderful Kids, the signature program of the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption that is dedicated to finding permanent adoptive families for children in foster care. They want to beat last year’s $1.4 million donation! Let’s help them get there!

 

WHEN: Father’s Day Weekend (June 16-17)

 

HOW: There are three ways to donate:

 

1. Buy any Frosty product: On Saturday, June 16 and Sunday, June 17, for each Frosty product purchased, participating Wendy’s will donate 50-cents to Wendy’s Wonderful Kids (includes the original, parfaits, shakes and floats).

 

2. Use a mobile-friendly website to check-in at Wendy’s: Wendy’s will donate 50-cents for every customer that checks-in at Wendy’s restaurants during Fathers Day Weekend (June 16 and 17 only) using Wendy’s special mobile-friendly website, found at http://www.wendys.com/treatitforward.

 

3. Re-tweet: Now through Father’s Day, re-tweet one of @Wendys special Twitter posts with the hashtag #TreatItFwd – and Wendy’s will make a 50-cent donation.

 

 

So this weekend, take Dad to Wendy’s and have some fun while giving back! And if you want to chat directly with Wendy’s, we’ve got good news! We’re having a fabulous Twitter party planned with Wendy’s for Wednesday, June 20 from 1-2 p.m. EST!

 

 

 

We’ll be discussing nutritious eating on-the-go, because with the summer months upon us, Wendy’s knows families will be traveling and on-the-go with busy schedules! They also know that paying more attention to health and wellness these days, and they’ve been offering new menu items to reflect those interests!

 

Join us (@theMotherhood, @Wendys), some amazing co-hosts and Wendy’s registered dietitians, Patty Wynkoop and Mike Sieminski, who work closely with the Wendy’s culinary team to find new ways to come up with tasty and nutritious menu items! Join us on Twitter and follow the #BerryTasty hashtag to track the conversation. See the details and RSVP with this Twtvite.

 

And of course, Wendy’s will be giving away a total of 10 prizes (each prize is a $20 Wendy’s gift card). Winners will be chosen randomly from among participants who respond correctly to trivia questions, two winners per question.

 

So treat Dad right this weekend! We know we will!