Cross-posted at MotherTalkers.
Good morning fellow moms, dads and caregivers!
I am back with your weekly parenting news update. Here are some topics we recently discussed at MotherTalkers:
This week we sadly mourned the loss of one of our moms, Janet Carol Lane Eaton, who was known as "Janetle" at both MotherTalkers and Daily Kos. She died of colon cancer at the age of 56.
For those of us fortunate to have known Janet either virtually or offline, she was an attorney by trade who left a job at a law firm to raise two children who are now in their 20s. She was smart, thoughtful and not afraid to hold back on her opinions. She was an inspiration to all of us and will be missed.
We were also shaken by the death of actress Natasha Richardson who died at the age of 45 from a freak skiing accident. She left behind her husband and two teenaged boys. While there is much talk in the media whether a helmet would have saved her, one thing we can all agree on is to hold our children as often as we can and never hold back from our loved ones.
Another topic that dominated the news this week, was the birthrate in the United States. More children were born in 2007 than at any other time in our country's history, even at the peak of the baby boom 50 years ago. Some of the increase was due to the number of babies born to single, teenaged and Hispanic mothers. About 40 percent of those births were to single moms, again, more than at any other time in our history. But analysts expect less people to have children now that we are in a recession.
Also, in case you missed it, Eric Carle's famous book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, is 40 years old. Newsweek had a story about the author, who is now 80-years-old and living in Key West, Florida. Anyways, La Oruga Muy Hambrienta, Colores and Oso pardo, oso pardo, ¿qué ves ahí? are three of my children's favorite books. I found two of the three books in the foreign language kid section of Barnes & Noble. They also like the Dr. Seuss books, the "dinosaur" series by Jane Yolen and Mark Teague, and some "junk" books we found at the Scholastic Book Fair like Star Wars and Dora. What are your children's favorite books?
Speaking of Dora, what do you think of the new doll to be introduced in the fall? Here is a picture of her at 10-years-old.
Also, we discussed the desperate measures some schools are taking to make up for budget shortfalls such as leasing cell tower space on school premises and selling ad space on exams. You have got to read some of our reader comments especially in regards to the ad space. They are funny!
Finally, we discussed at what age children should receive allowances. There seemed to be agreement, at least on our site, that children should learn to earn and save money at around 7 years of age, but no money should be tied to household chores. This made sense to me.
What else is in the news? What's up with you?