Extracurricular activities are a child's way of trying out new things and figuring out what fits. Dance, at our house, is one activity that never changes -- the kids look forward to it every week. But we've tried soccer, t-ball, karate and art classes, all with varying degrees of success.

Lisa Belkin over at Motherlode has asked readers when do you let a child quit an activity? Like Belkin, we have a few rules in our house about this, and we've had to enforce the "if you commit to it, you see it through" rule once or twice. But that was for short term activities -- six weeks or less -- that only met once a week. Had the activity in question been a more involved commitment, I think I would have been more flexible. After all, I don't force myself to continue a hobby I don't enjoy, so I don't think it's fair to make my kids do it either.

But at the same time, it is a parent's responsibility to teach and to guide. And jumping in to solve the problem every time a child gets bored or feels discomfort is the hallmark of helicopter parenting. Exactly where is the balance?

Source

She's been nominated for an Oscar, made her way on to "Forbes" list of Young Hollywood's top earning stars and pulls in $2 million a movie. But child star Abigail Breslin still has to feed the cat (among other chores) for spending money.

At the premiere of her latest movie, "My Sister's Keeper," she told reporters that she recently got a $1 raise. "I get $13 [a week] now, because I'm 13," says Breslin.

Breslin, who lives with her parents and two brothers, might be a millionaire movie star, but her parents are still teaching her to be financially responsible -- chores and a weekly allowance are status quo for most kids, famous or not.

Source

Planning a road trip this weekend? Or any weekend, for that matter? Keep things calm and quiet in the backseat with these free downloadable games from LilSugar.

Tired of feeding the kids chicken nuggets and mac and cheese? These restaurants have figured out how to do kids' menus right. -- When Blog

Time to hire a sitter! Here's the top 10 July 4th parties, going on across the nation. -- Digital City

Want your kiddo to look patriotic at the fireworks this weekend? Here's a quick, last-minute craft: Fourth of July tie-dye tees. -- AlphaMom

Family vacations are for spending time with family, but bringing the nanny along -- that doesn't seem like such a bad idea. What do you think? Smart? Or pretentious? -- Strollerderby

Your daughter got your hair, your chin and your ... sarcastic wit? Do your worst traits ever show up in your children? -- Mommy Track'd

You're comfortable with just one, but are worried about only-child syndrome. Would you have a baby just to give your child a sibling? -- Work It, Mom!

An ultrasound picture you can hold? That's right. An artist makes a model of your baby based on your ultrasound pics. Cool or creepy? -- LilSugar

No one ever wants to think about it, but it's smart to plan for it anyway: Who would you choose to be the guardian of your child? -- Motherlode

How do you know when you've become a little too entangled in your teen's life? Changing her grades to improve her class standing on a school computer is probably a red flag that you've crossed that line.

Caroline Maria McNeal, a high school secretary and mom of a 2008 graduating senior did just that. Not only did she tamper with daughter Brittney's test scores -- in one case, changing her SAT score from 1370 to 1730 (which is actually kind of clever because it could just be perceived as a typo except that she put the score in a week before any other students' scores were entered) -- she also changed other student's grades as well so that Brittney's class standing would be improved.

Bad move, mom.

Source

As families everywhere tighten their belts and pinch their pennies, summer camp attendance is taking a hit. The American Camp Association reported at 10 to 15 percent decrease in enrollment this spring at sleepaway and day camps alike. But while our little ones aren't off learning about horseback riding, soccer and pottery, childhood experts are hoping something else is happening: Boredom.

A little boredom, after all, is an important part of growing up. And our heavily scheduled kids just don't seem to have as much free time as we did as kids. A camp-free summer, say experts, just might give our kids that free play time they so desperately need. "Parenting is a higher calling than being a cruise-ship activities director," Dr. Alvin Rosenfeld, psychiatrist and author of "The Overscheduled Child," tells Newsweek. "Boredom is not necessarily our children's enemy. It can stimulate [children] to think, create, and hear the soft murmurings of their inner voice, the one that makes them write this unusual story, draw that unique picture, or invent some new game."

A friend of mine -- her son is 12 -- had to drop camp this summer. She's using her own mother's method of handling boredom. "When he comes to me and complains, 'I'm bored,' " she says, "I just tell him, 'That's okay, I can find something for you to do.' Suddenly, he'll make himself the busiest kid on the block."

Source

Got a case of Mommy Brain? You aren't alone -- moms often complain of forgetfulness during pregnancy or immediately after. The Cradle has tips for dealing with this sometimes frustrating phenomenon.

"Ugly Betty" star Ana Ortiz and her husband Noah Lebenzon welcomed their first child, a daughter they named Paloma Louise. -- People

A new way to approach drug-free labor? Maybe. The makers of the TENS machine say that electrical pulses reduce labor pains with few side effects. -- LilSugar

These adorable little clips are worth the pain of growing out your daughter's bangs. -- Cool Mom Picks

What a happy looking family: Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick release the first pictures of their new twin daughters.

Momversation wants to know: Can single moms and married moms really be friends? I think so -- what do you think?

He was just trying to help, but when a Colorado teen raided birds' nests -- believing he could do a better job than nature, apparently -- he ended up in trouble with the police. Can you imagine finding 52 baby birds in your teenager's room? -- Pawnation

When life gets busy, it's tempting to feed kids in the drive-thru. But with these freezer pleasers, a homemade meal is easy to prepare. -- AOL Food

Get out your vacuum cleaners! These indoor fireworks, aka confetti popper rockets, are sure to be a hit with the kids. -- Alpha Mom

Spending your Fourth at the beach? Pick up some of these cool beach toys to keep the kids busy while you soak up some sunshine. -- LilSugar

On the other hand, maybe your kids enjoy hunting sea shells instead. Here's a simple recipe for cleaning the favorites they bring home. -- CafeMom

Should you rethink bringing your kids to that backyard BBQ? If kids aren't explicitly invited, maybe so, says MomLogic, or at the very least make sure you aren't making the other guests entertain your kids.

More patriotic crafts! A fan for keeping cool, a Betsy Ross-style American flag and a stars and stripes wall hanging. -- BabyCenter

Have some fun at the family barbecue with some holiday inspired games: Balloon Brigade Relay Race, Bossy Ball and the Soggy Jog Relay seem like a good place to start. -- Family Fun

Want your kids to know the story behind the fireworks and fun? Here's a short history of Independence Day and a quiz to test your knowledge about this all-American holiday. -- Kaboose

Finally, teach your youngest kids the colors red, white and blue by serving these patriotic and colorful foods for dinner. -- About.com

When researchers sat down 13 men and 14 women and showed them pictures of babies -- some normal, others with facial deformities -- they gave the test participants a choice: They could push one button and keep the image -- which would display for four seconds -- on the screen, or they could push another button to make the image go away sooner.

What they found was interesting. Men were more likely to linger over attractive babies, choosing the button that held the image on the screen. Women, on the other hand, hurried abnormal babies off the screen, making a greater effort -- say researchers -- to avoid those faces.

Study authors think they know what this study means, and it isn't good news for unattractive babies. "Our study shows how beauty can affect parental attitudes," study senior author Dr. Igor Elman says in a news release, "It shows women are more invested in raising healthy babies and that they are more prone to reject unattractive kids."

As usual, it's the mother's fault.

Source

It's no wonder that potty training is a milestone parents worry about. It's a lot of work, and when it doesn't happen right away, the results are...messy. So it's easy to see why a one-day potty training method sounds enticing. From diapers to big kid drawers in one day? Sign me up! But is it really possible to potty train a child in one day? Real parents weigh in and share their stories with us.

Though Dr. Phil made the one-day method famous, it's actually been around for a while. Here's the general idea:

• Set yourself with supplies: A child-sized potty, big kid underwear, salty snacks, lots of liquid, party supplies, and a doll that "wets."
• Clear your schedule. Nearly every parent Potty Training Central talked to warned that it's one long day.
• Keep the potty nearby. Many parents corral kids in the kitchen to make messes easy to clean up, others wait for summer and use the backyard instead.
• Help your toddler "teach" the baby doll how to go potty. There are special dolls for this, though a less expensive version will do.
• Put your tot in big kid underwear, then give them free reign on salty snacks and drinks. The extra salt makes them thirsty, which means they drink more and have more opportunity to practice.
• Wait. Read books, play games, make it fun.
• When you see the signs, tell your kiddo to head to the potty. Make a really big deal. And once they're successful, celebrate with a "potty party."

Wendy Sweeney, a Chicago mom of six, shared her experience as a "Potty Whisperer" with the "Today" show last year. Sweeney's made a career out of toilet training toddlers and special needs children using the one day method. Calling it "Booty Camp," Sweeney holds the hands of anxious parents while their kids negotiate the potty and clean up their own messes. "Never ask if they have to go," Sweeney tells "Today," "If you ask them if they have to go potty, then you are the one who is in charge of their body. We're trying to transfer that responsibility over to them. So we just tell them if you have to go potty, go in the potty." Sweeney charges $250, but has a 98 percent success rate.

Teaching tots to be responsible for their own bodies is key to the one-day method. It's easy, during the potty training stage, to unintentionally find yourself in a power struggle with your little one, but by putting toddlers in charge that problem can be eliminated. Cathy DeValk, Iowa mom of four, has trained three of her four kids using this method and says she'll need to buy a second copy of her favorite book to train her fourth. "Basically you are giving the child a lot of opportunity for success," says DeValk, "And having the child 'help' train a baby doll how to go pee/poop in the potty. The child takes responsibility for cleaning up messes, and for cleaning up the used potty chair." DeValk says all three of her kids were trained in less than a day and were dry at night too.

California mom Kathy Partak saw the Dr. Phil special and decided to give the baby boot camp a try. She loaded up on fun snacks, diluted juice, and bought a doll, too. "(My son Mason) was two-and-a-half years old and we went from diapers to underwear. No pull-ups, no diapers at night (Partak woke her sone once or twice a night for a week), and no diapers at pre-school. His pre-school insisted that they have diapers on hand "just in case," and I put my foot down and said absolutely not." But Partak, whose son is now 5, says that she thinks the one-day method isn't necessarily appropriate for every child. "The child has to be ready and the parents have to be committed."

It's recommended that kids be at least two-and-a-half before even attempting one-day potty training. But even then there's no guarantee. Jennifer Chambers, Oregon mom of two boys, agrees. She tried the one-day method with both of her boys, with little success. "My kids didn't care. They had to be ready," says Chambers, who says both of her boys stopped wearing diapers -- suddenly, and with little fanfare -- at about three years old. And Colorado mom EllynAnne Geisel worries that parents are are too stressed about potty training in general. "Children eventually stop wearing diapers and using the facility. Then they move on to other behaviors for which even more books have been written. We can get so caught up in our attempts to control our children's habits that we forget they are children who will one day group up to be teenagers...another story altogether."

If you've got a toddler who's old enough (2.5 years) and who's showing interest in potty training, then the one-day method might just be for you. Load up on juice and treats and donate the rest of those diapers. But keep in mind that no potty training method is one-size-fits-all, so be ready to change course if necessary. And remember, almost every kid gets it eventually...yours will too.

Whether you participate in it or not, it's hard to avoid gossip. Reality TV, celebrity culture and gossip rags all promote this idea that it's okay to talk about what other people are doing -- even if it's none of your business. But what about when it comes to kids? Is it okay to talk about other parent's kids? Are moms doing too much gossiping?

It happened to me once. I was standing with a mom acquaintance we'd run into at the park. Watching our kids play, she noticed how well they got along. And then it happened, she dropped the gossip bomb. "Not like _____'s kids," she began. "We had them over once. Can you believe the way those kids behave?"

The problem was, ______ was a friend of mine, and her kids spend a lot of time at my house. Not wanting a confrontation, I quickly changed the subject. But I was left with the feeling that I should have said something more.

I probably should have, at least according to author Michelle Borba. She tells MSNBC that parents have two choices -- become part of the problem or part of the solution. "You've got two options -- are you going to step up to the plate and become one of them or be the integrity model?" Borba says. She thinks moms should stop the conversation before it starts with a gentle but firm, "You know, I feel uncomfortable talking about other people's kids."

Source