| I’ve got a very weird love-hate relationship with media.
On one hand, it’s what helps to pay the bills in our household. My day job is in marketing, so I spend all day, everyday glued to websites, email and social media. And then there are my biggest hobbies: blogging and photography. On the other hand, when I get home, all I want to do is unplug.
Like I said, love-hate.When it comes to our monkey girl, we haven’t yet had to make any major policies in the house, but I know the time is coming soon. We struggle with whether or not to buy a DVD player for the car for long trips. We probably won’t, but it has been remarkably tempting. Baby girl is fascinated by electronics, and won’t settle for toy imitators. We hit the jackpot at a Maryland Radio Shack, where we were able to buy 3 demo phone for her to play with, and I’m always hiding my iPod from her.  sadly, this is not recent. she was about 8 months old here. It was bittersweet though. I’d much rather her play outside or engage in creative play, when the time comes that she can make that choice. Since we’re going to have to deal with it sooner rather than later, I was particularly interested in hearing what our awesome panel of parents had to say about the subject. Filing these away under “things I wish I didn’t have to deal with for a few years, but will probably need to consider next week”. Read on to find out what other parents do to help keep their kids balanced. |
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 Kelly H. says: |
Unplug and Get Moving!Yes, there is serious media overload with kids of all ages. Our 5 yr. old is already hooked to her V-tech game. Sure it’s “educational” but if I let her do it too long, it’s just more sitting and nothing active. We try to limit the cartoons to a couple of hours a day. If I have to get a babysitter or we’re gone to church meetings, etc. the TV is usually longer for that day. But I try to get her involved in other things that she really loves, like painting on her easel, playing with toys, and going outside when possible. One downside to our house is that we don’t have a yard that they can play in. He have a very steep yard that is nearly impossible to play in. But both our girls love to dance, so I turn music on in the house and they will dance and be goofy for at least an hour at a time. My biggest concern about media is what’s actually on TV. I’m not one who is concerned about censoring. I believe you should be able to watch whatever you want, when you want, etc. If there is a program I don’t want my kids to watch, I turn it to something else. But what really, really bothers me are the commercials. I’m so tired of having to quickly grab the remote and hope that I get the channel changed BEFORE my girls have seen too many boobs, butts, heard bad language, or seen something violent (like the CSI, NCIS commercials). It just seems like almost anything goes in commercials these days. |
 Melinda says: |
They’ve Got Rules + They Stick To ‘EmSometimes I think we should just chuck all the TVs in the house and be completely without any media in the home. However, my closet addiction to TV and the fact that I like to watch the news keeps me from going all out. Currently I’ve been very lenient on this summer’s media policies. Mainly because I’ve been single parenting it for most of the summer and it’s just easier for me. However, once school starts we’ll bring back the no TV on school nights rule. (this includes the computer and video games.) In the past we did let the kids use the computer for educational games and WebKinz, however right now only the oldest is permitted to use the computer for Facebook because we found a TON of viruses on the computer and I don’t trust that the kids aren’t inadvertently downloading something they shouldn’t. Regarding the online networking sites, our rule has been freshman in high school to open an account so we only have one right now to worry about. They do have to make me a friend and I also have to have their passwords. The same goes with email. And if I find they’re sneaking around then there are consequences and the possible delay in when they can open an account. |
 Jennifer T. says |
Media as a Reward, Not as a Way of LifeWe are probably stricter than most on media. We don’t own a Wii, we don’t own an XBOX, we rarely watch tv unless it is PBS. We happen to live in Boston and have not one, but two great PBS stations. The kids are allowed to watch a couple of PBS shows a day. As a reward for good behavior and such, they get to play educational video games. Yeah, we know we are weird, and we are ok with it. One of our personal favorite sites is www.starfall.com. |
 Kelly W. says: |
They Watch What Their Kids Watch, Read What Their Kids Read, Play What Their Kids Play…I’m not even gonna lie, our opinions on media have always been more impressive in theory than in practice. When I was in college I worked on a research study where one of my jobs was to interview moms of three-year-olds about their child’s tv watching. I was astounded at some of the answers I got and vowed to limit tv drastically when I had kids. A couple of years later I would be begging my toddler to watch Sesame Street (pleeeease!!!) so I could wash the dishes. My “rules” have morphed over the years to fit my family. Factors have come into play: my kids’ ages, birth order, tolerances, what their peers were watching, ratings, etc. My husband and I don’t always agree, and I sometimes find myself being the lone buzzkill in a house full of guys. But we do stay on top of pop culture, are familiar with current media, talk to other parents, watch what our kids watch, play what they play, and read reviews on websites like www.pluggedin.com and www.gamingwithchildren.com. As far as WHAT my guys consume (the operative word with 3 boys), we generally adhere to movie & video game age ratings. With a few exceptions (previewed and approved by a parent), we don’t allow PG-13 before age 13 and our kids are not allowed M (mature) rated video games. Or Facebook before 13 (sorry, friends). As far as WHEN they watch & play, it has less to do with time limit and more with timing. During the school year, we just don’t have the opportunity with our busy schedule to watch much tv, so quantity isn’t an issue. And my guys know what’s expected of them first: during the week, all 3 of them have to be done their homework and their instrument practice done before the tube goes on. It seems to work for us. At the moment, anyway |
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I love to laugh. Who doesn’t? So in the spirit of laughter, here are three wonderfully funny websites that make this mama happy. Because everyone needs a snicker break now and then. Have a great week, everyone!
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It’s no secret that we are a cloth diapering family. Formerly-iBaby-now-iToddler is wrapped every day in a colorful, happy, absorbent piece of fabric—usually a bumGenius 3.0 one-size.
 under that fleece cover is a bumgenius, double-stuffed for overnight. i just love her bubble butt! Our entire stash came from Happy Baby Company, a retailer here in Pittsburgh who also services nationwide via their awesome website. Lilli and Adam, owners of Happy Baby Company, impressed us immediately with how much time and energy they invested in us before we were even diaper-buying customers. And boy did we ever become diaper-buying customers. We now have a few dozen bumGenius 3.0 one-size diapers, the ones with the hook and loop (i.e.: Velcro-esque) closures, and snaps that you can adjust to fit your bambino right up until potty training. These diapers have been a sort of evangelism tool for us when it comes to cloth diapering. We’ve found that people are nervous to offer to watch our little girl sometimes, out of fear of the cloth. But once I show them that her diapers look and operate just like disposables, fear quickly gives way to curiosity and excitement. To date, I think we’ve convinced at least a dozen people to at least consider cloth, and most of them are now converts. Anyway, the bumGenius 3.0s, while incredibly easy to use and the hubs’ first choice, is not without its flaws. The hook and loop closure got worn extremely quickly, perhaps within just a dozen wash cycles. And the microfiber inserts are subject to skunking after a few months (problem solved with Rockin’ Green). We also were not able to fit our little girl into a bumGenius 3.0 until she hit about 2 months old because the sizing really didn’t work for us as expected. So I was ridiculously excited when Cotton Babies introduced bumGenius 4.0. In the cloth diapering world, people are bonkers. I’ll admit it. I was one of thousands (THOUSANDS) of people who anxiously awaited the YouTube announcement of the new design earlier this summer. And for weeks prior, I stalking their Facebook page, adding my two cents on countless discussions about what I thought the new features might be.
Yes, I went there.Like I said, bonkers.The announcement didn’t disappoint with new features, but out of all of them, I was stoked mostly about the new hook and loop and also the option of snaps. In fact, I disliked the old hook and loop so much, I had considered hiring someone to convert all of our current dipes to snaps. However, when the time came for me to pick a bumGenius 4.0 diaper from Happy Baby Company to review for the blog, I ended up choosing hook and loop. Why? Because I wanted to compare apples to apples. Since then, I’ve been using the new diaper for a few weeks, trying to favor it so it gets washed more often. So far, I’ve been impressed at the lack of wear on the hook and loop. It really is different. I don’t know how Jenn, the creator of bumGenius, went about her R&D, but it seems like she did hit on a winner. I would probably still prefer snaps, to be perfectly honest, but this is still an enormous improvement. The repair kits that Cotton Babies sends out use the same new closures, and if you’re so inclined, you could get a pretty big bang for your buck simply by replacing the closures on your 3.0s with the new stuff. I have about a dozen repair kits, but let’s face it, there are barely enough hours in the day to eat properly, so I doubt I’ll be hacking diapers anytime soon. So what about you? Have you tried the new 4.0s yet? Want to try, but haven’t had the chance to get one yet? Well here’s your chance.Because Happy Baby Company rocks, they not only let me try one out for myself, but they also gave me one to give away to one very lucky imanimama reader. Will it be you?  yep, that's a 4.0 and one of you are going to win it, courtesy of the fine folks over at Happy Baby Company. I’ve got a bumGenius 4.0 one-size in Butternut (pale yellow–I originally listed Noodle but was incorrect!) with hook and loop closure and I want to give it to you. Yes, you!
And just in case you’re new to imanimama.com. First, WELCOME! Also, be sure to head on over to the Happy Baby Company website and use code “imanimama” for 10% off your entire order and free shipping. One-time use only.
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I promised a bathing suit shot, and here it is. As much as I wanted to go with one more angled and concealing, I’ve decided to buck up and give the full-on, real-deal view. { big deep breath } here it is, as promised. the bathing suit shot. aaaahhhh! We’ve been back from our beach vacation for about a week now, and I had so been looking forward to settling in to some food normalcy, but when we arrived home, we learned that our floor refinishing project that was supposed to be completed while we were gone, was going to take a couple extra weeks because of the humidity here in Pittsburgh while we were gone. So about 1/3 of the first-floor furniture is still crammed into my kitchen, leaving me without access to the dishwasher, some cabinets and about half of my counter space.  i know it's not Weight Watchers related, but aren't they lovely?  and here's the current state of my kitchen. that's a tv stand and a cedar chest in the center of a small, galley-style space. what you can't see is a huge dvd cabinet and a grandfather clock. and oh yes, that's my child and the dog eating from the same dish. It’s downright HARD to stay on track when things around you are in chaos, especially for those of us who are self-confessed stress eaters. And no matter how much I am determined to stay on track, I always seem to trip up in times like these. The great news is that at least this house isn’t filled with the same kinds of things we had in our car and our beach house for vacation.
Three pounds of vacation weight gain.Yep. I’m not gonna lie. There is no longer a “3″ occupying the second digit on my scale, but I’m not shedding any tears. We had a good time, and I was expecting a gain. And even though I have very limited access to my kitchen and am suffering from home improvement fatigue (which leaves me wanting to eat out far more than cook healthy meals at home), this week has still been better than last week. And that most certainly should count for something. Something else that occurred to me while on vacation. Even though I ate dessert pretty much every day, and ate out, and had cookies for breakfast, it could have been so much worse! Basically, I was still eating better than pre-Weight Watchers Jen, and I was crazy active the whole time…swimming, beach combing, splashing in the ocean, chasing a crazy toddler, sightseeing.  family fun in the outer banks If all of that equals +3 pounds, just THINK of how it could have turned out on, say, a cruise…without being on Weight Watchers. Yeah, so much worse.So I’m not crying over a couple of pounds, but it has been 150% hard to go back to more mindful eating. That much is truth. I’m surviving, but it ain’t easy, y’all. Next time I’ll be back with some thoughts on how to make real-world re-entry a little easier. Do you have any thoughts to share? Or is it just me who thinks it’s stinkin’ tough to go from a week of unrestricted eating to jumping back on the mindful eating bus? Let’s hear your tips. Till the next time, stay healthy, peeps! Print This Post
Here’s a new little feature for you, brought to you on Sundays. It will be a quick 3-5 item bullet list on any random topic I feel so inclined to write about. First up: Lessons I learned on vacation.
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Okay, I need your help. And quickly. A week ago, when we left Pittsburgh for vacation, I had a sweet, mild-mannered, easily pleased little pre-toddler. After several days of practicing her walking skills, my little munchkin has grown into a full-fledged mover and shaker and has absolutely zero tolerance for sitting still. And she’s growing in leaps and bounds with new tricks every single day. I’m serious.Just this week, my beautiful baby girl started:
AND she got her first molar. AND today she kissed a teddy bear (no kisses for mama or dada yet though).  one week ago...happy, clapping baby. one week later, not so much. I mean seriously?!?! We really had no idea things would move this quickly. That’s just this week. Next week she could be doing complex algebra. Ahhhhh! It’s good, it really is, but here’s the thing. My lovely, pleasant, smiley little munchkin has suddenly become very serious and fussy, most noticeably when she’s unable to move around at her own pace. She’s absolutely intolerant to sitting. Forget high chairs. This kiddo needs to be on the move. All. The. Time. And we haven’t been able to keep her in a bathtub for ages (forget showering…she hates splashing water). And here’s where I need your help. She hates her car seat. You know, the one she needs to sit in for TWELVE+ HOURS this coming weekend. The one she had NO TROUBLE with last weekend, but suddenly now cannot stand. Yeah, that one. So here we are, in the Outer Banks, with two long travel days ahead of us, and she starts completely hysterically melting down within 45 minutes of being in the car. Help!!! We need ideas pronto!
And while I’m asking for help, any ideas for managing a suddenly temperamental toddler? The terrible twos seem to have arrived a year too soon for my monkey girl. Don’t get me wrong, I’m crazy about her. Crazy. Love. But she can be flat out bonkers. One minute she’s giggling and flirting and playing peek-a-boo, and the very next she could throw her entire body backwards and fly into an inconsolable rage of tears and fists of fury.  this one happened after she ate the last bite of peach ice cream we were sharing. I guess this is normal, but geez! She can be downright bipolar. So help, please.We are feeling pretty humbled by the terrible twos outrageous ones. Please tell us this is normal. Please? Print This Post
We are on vacation. Sean, me, the iToddler, my parents, Sean’s parents and some friends of ours, all in a big ole beach house in Waves, NC. It’s beautiful and relaxing and hot and perfect. And it’s chock full of snack food. Goldfish crackers, graham crackers, hunks of cheese, Oreos, some random My Little Pony fruit snacks, Veggies Straws, donuts, muffins… Oh my!  um, yeah, i know this is sideways. my laptop has no way to rotate it. ha!
I need to confess, I was projecting quite a bit of hypocritical energy around. Poor Sean was getting all sorts of snooty sideways glances as he grabbed a cookie from the pantry. Or munched on crackers. Or enjoyed a couple of Woodchucks. I lectured and nagged (I know, horrible) and acted all holier-than-though as I stocked up on celery and apples at the grocery store for healthy snacks. Crazy lady. Crazy crazy lady.I so desperately wanted to stay on track and not put our Weight Watchers journey on hold this week, but eating out, I wanted to enjoy the local hush puppies.
And when Sean came home with famous Orange Blossom Cafe donuts, I wanted one two. And that celery in the fridge. Um yeah…it’s still there…unopened. I’m a big fat hypocrite.But it’s okay. No worries. Sean and I still did our weigh-in this Tuesday (yes, we brought our scale to the Outer Banks…impressed?), because it was weigh-in day, whether in Pittsburgh or at the beach. So after 3 days of grazing mindlessly and indulging in coastal yums, the scale hit the beach house floor and we took turns holding our breath and thinking light thoughts. How in the world I managed to lose .2 pounds I will never understand, except to say that all of the splashing and beach combing and chasing my toddlergirl helped to keep thing a little more under control. Sean basically had a flat week with a gain of .1 pound. So all in all, we started out the week happy. And I had to tuck my tail between my legs and admit—hey, vacation isn’t the enemy…my attitude is. So with that (and with very few pictures since my SD card reader bit it in a tragic laptop-dropping incident earlier this week), I offer my new philosophy on vacations and Weight Watchers:
We’ll be back regularly next week, once we get back in town and back to a regular schedule. Print This Post
Something tells me my pastor is not going to appreciate seeing that headline come up in his news feed on Facebook. But it got your attention, right? { inserting nodding crowd here }
Today marks my 8th weigh-in. That’s 7 weeks on the Weight Watchers Online program (don’t worry about the math, it’s right, just trust me). I’ve had good weeks and not so good weeks. So far, I count my lucky stars that I haven’t actually gained, but there have been plenty of flat weeks with absolutely no movement on the scale. But this week. This week. This week was the awesomest yet. Yes, awesomest. Because this week, I saw something I haven’t seen in a very, very long time. This week, I saw a 3 as the middle number on my weight.
 okay, so it's just BARELY a 3, but darn it, it's a THREE! Would you think less of me if I told you I cried? How about if I told you that I cried and then ran in and woke up my hubs to tell him? What if I told you I cried, then woke him up to tell him, then posted about it on Facebook–both my wall and Weight Watchers‘? And what if I told you I credit my 2.2-pound weight loss last week with Dairy Queen? Come on, now. You know where I stand with the DQ. In 7 weeks, the weeks that have not included a visit to DQ, I have not lost any weight. The weeks where I did 1 DQ run, I lost. It’s completely scientific. Don’t try to change my mind.
Okay, I’m done. With that. There’s still more. So I cried. There are reasons my tears were founded, and I promise to share the whole sordid tale with you someday. Not today. But someday. Today I want to tell you that I’m having a positive body image day. Why?
 how much do i LOVE my friends???
Because I am so encouraged by the fact that my not-so-great weeks haven’t rocked my world…I am living and breathing and owning every moment of this marathon, and that makes me feel pretty darn good.So I’m wondering how your day is going? Are you feeling good, or not-so-good? Tell me what’s going on, because we’re in this thing together, you and me. And while you’re leaving me a comment, I’d like your feedback on something. Sean’s also on this weight loss journey…it’s a family thing…and his membership is sponsored by Weight Watchers because they’re awesome and they believe in what we’re doing with this here blog. We’ve kicked around a few ideas for regular features from Sean’s point of view and will be kicking something off in a few days. What kinds of things would you like to know about Sean’s experience? Any thoughts on a format? Can’t wait to hear your feedback. Till the next time…stay healthy, peeps! Print This Post
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I promised pictures, but I don’t have any to share in this post. Why? Well things have been busy…downright chaotic, actually, in this household. Sean works in retail management and had his annual inventory this week. Of course last week was munchkin’s first birthday and we had lots of family in from out of town. Tomorrow I have to take a day trip to Philly on business — nothing like seeing the same airports twice in one day. How does that relate to pictures? Well frankly, we haven’t been home much and I’ve barely seen Sean in about two weeks. So I got nada. Anyway, I was sitting here, trying to prepare for my dirt-early flight and thinking that I needed to get at least a quick Weighing In post out there, even if I had to follow up later with more details (and yes, pictures), and wondering…what’s my angle for the week? Then it hit me. Aha!How to stay on track when life gets chaotic.Now there’s something I can speak about this week. And you know why? Because I lost 1.2 pounds last week, even while planning a birthday party and eating out and doing a ridiculous amount of grazing. Sean lost a pound too, even though he made the decision to call every cookie he ate last weekend “1 point cookies” (they were very clearly NOT 1 point, but hey, I’ll leave that up to him to self-justify). In all, I am down nearly 10 pounds, and Sean is down 11. Holla!So how did we manage to stay on track, even when things seemed out-of-control busy? Here are a few tips from our tried-and-true arsenal:
So there you have it, our little tips and tricks to surviving (and even losing) while surrounded by whipped cream and frosting. Next time, I will post some progress pictures. I’ll see Sean on Friday and we can take them then. And let me tell you…I was checking myself out in the mirror at the Y this week, and I am likin’ what I’m seein’. Just sayin’. Till the next time, stay healthy, peeps! |
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