Cross-posted at MotherTalkers.
Good morning fellow moms, dads and caregivers!
I am back with your weekly parenting news update. Thank you for reading and participating in this diary, which is in its sixth week of existence.
Here are some topics we recently discussed at MotherTalkers:
First, we had quite the discussion about "absentee grandmas" or as the New York Times crassly called them, "glam-mas." In this shallow "trend" story, the glam-mas are the grandmothers who are too involved with their careers and their own lives to help out with grandchildren. Not surprisingly, this story rubbed a lot of us the wrong way because it rarely mentioned grandpas and seemed to be another dig at women's choices like the media-concocted "mommy wars."
At the same time, many women at MotherTalkers, including myself, did recall our own relationships with our grandmothers and mourned that, due to jobs, distance and other factors, our children do not have the same bond with their grandparents. Are any of you grandparents? How do you strike a balance between living your own life and getting to know your grandchildren?
We also talked about homework as in does your child's teacher give too much of it or just the right amount? Thankfully, I am not in the homework phase yet because I keep hearing nightmare stories about kindergartners bringing home worksheets and elementary school kids with hours worth of work at night.
There was a lot of media coverage this week on President Obama's education speech before the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. The media spin was that he emphasized merit pay for teachers and charter schools, which is at odds with the teachers union. As many moms on our site pointed out, the money the administration has promised to fund even the programs in place today may be a little too late. California has already laid off 26,000 teachers, according to a diary by MotherTalker "Jenyum." Also, some states like Illinois are receiving too many applications for teaching positions, according to the Chicago Tribune. A Chicago public school teacher lamented the pressure and lack of support for teachers in the classroom at Open Salon.
I don't need to tell you, but it is nasty out there. How are your schools dealing with the budget cuts?
In a quirky, must-read diary, one of our moms wrote about how much grief she received from a conservative-leaning online moms group for not teaching her preschool-aged daughter the "Pledge of Allegiance." Oy vey. My five-year-old still doesn't know his phone number. I have got to get cracking! That said, at MotherTalkers we got into a discussion on how much nationalistic pride to instill in our children.
Another one of our moms offered food shopping tips and even a recipe to weather this recession.
In related news, I know of three people who are in danger of losing their homes. You could say I was bummed this week. Anyways, they were considering "loan modification" and I found out that some of these private companies have sprung up in the last year to prey on desperate homeowners. Usually, they demand money upfront -- in my family member's case, the loan officer wanted $2,000 -- and then disappear. Please tell your loved ones to talk to their mortgage lenders for a lower interest rate or contact this organization instead: 1-888-995-HOPE or http://www.hopenow.com/... What other ideas do you have for people who may face foreclosure?
What else is in the news? What's up with you?