Even Boy Scouts are wimping out these days

This hasn't spread to the U.S. yet, but across the pond the British Scout Association is banning pen knives except in rare circumstances. The ban is supposed  to combat what they say is a growing "knife culture." What's next? No more campfires because of arsonists?

It was thanks to the Boy Scouts that I first realized I was hovering and babying my son too much. When he was in the Cub Scouts in third grade I was horrified that they actually required us to buy an 8 year old a sharp knife so he could earn a Whittling Chip. When the older men in my family fondly recalled getting their first knife at that age and I saw how thrilled my son was about the idea, I realized I was a hoverer. It soon occurred to me that it's far better to teach a child how to use a potentially dangerous tool safely than to simply ban any sharp edges from his life. It was my first moment of  crossing over from protecting him from danger to teaching how to deal with danger.

It made me start to notice how often we are cutting off kids from valuable opportunities to learn how to be creative, confident and in control of the environment with all our hovering and cushioned table corners. People don't let their kids walk to school or play outside without an escort. Now add one of the cooler Scouting badges to the list and it seems like parents are just out of control.

Over at Lenore Skenazy's Free Range Kids blog, which encourages parents to park their helicopters, she put this story up as the Outrage of the Week. "While apparently carrying a fold-up knife whose blade is shorter than 3 inches is still actually legal, the Scout Association nonetheless recommends that 'knives should be carried to and from meetings by an adult and must not be carried around campsites,' Skenazy writes, her pen dripping with sarcasm, "Maybe Scouts should be carried to and from meetings by an adult, too?"

-- Sharon Kennedy Wynne

Spider-Man and his pals join stable of Disney characters

Okay Mommas, now your little boys can swing into the House of Mouse with their best Spider-Man, Hulk or X-Men costumes -- not to mention that dude who raked in all the box-office bucks last summer, Iron Man.

Disney has signed a $4 billion deal with Marvel Entertainment. The Imagineers will put the comic-book giant's characters in Disney's chain of amusement parks and sell toys based on the vast stable of Marvel titles. I can already picture a Spider-Man stunt show at Disney Hollywood Studios.

A New York Times story also points out that this is good for Disney because most of the Marvel characters are targeted at boys, an audience  that Disney has missed the mark on because of all its emphasis on princesses, fairies and Hannah Montana. Disney XD, a channel specifically targeted at boys, already shows a cartoons about Spider-Man and the X-Men so it's only a hop, skip and jump to show others. As the mom of two boys, having another option from Disney isn't a bad thing.

This also is fortuitous timing for Disney to acquire the Web Slinger and his superfriends just before the Halloween season so that little boys can wear their Spidey gear to the park at Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party -- and probably buy lots of gear there as well.Can't you see the Hulk trick or treating with the kids?

Disney is starting to look more and more like Star Trek's The Borg, assimilating everything in their path: "Resistance is futile."

-- Sherry Robinson

Teens get new hangout space at Tyrone Mall

I took some kids to check out the new teen Internet cafe and video game hangout space called More2Life at Tyrone Mall last night and it managed to impress my pack of jaded middle schoolers -- quite an accomplishment. Run by a coalition of churches that normally focuses on abstinence and teen pregnancy, this project aims to keep the kids busy so they don't ... get busy.

It's at the Border's entrance to the mall, so it's a bit off the beaten path, but it's free, has a Wii room, a PS3 room, a Wii Fit room, four computers in an Internet cafe and a living room that a couple times a day will host "Hook Up Sessions" (I asked these church folk if they knew what that phrase meant and they winked and said they certainly did). The sessions will be short movies about making good choices. Parents also have a space (in back to keep their mortified teens from admitting they know them) where the group will show movies a couple times a day on subjects such as how to talk to your kids about the birds and the bees.

It's for kids in sixth through 12th grade and the hours are 1 to 9 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. They only have a lease for a month to test the waters, so if this is an idea you support, now would be the time to check it out.

-- Sharon Kennedy Wynne

A Dad's Day no brainer: tix to the Father Daughter Dance

 When I was in fourth grade, my school held a breakfast called Muffins for Moms that was exclusively for the boys and their mothers. We girls got the better deal, in my opinion: the Father-Daughter Square Dance. For weeks leading up to the shindig, our PE teacher taught us to do-si-do and swing our partners -- in this case, the boys in the class. On the night of the big dance, our elementary school gym teemed with dads and girls, plaid shirts, more denim than Jay Leno's closet and, as I recall, donuts. Lots and lots of donuts.

To this day, I couldn't demonstrate a square dance call to save my life. Don't ask me how to "shoot the star" or do an "all around the left-hand lady." But ask me how to secure the bond between fathers and daughters, and I'll say spending quality one-on-one time is a great start. (That's me with my dad, Fred Wheatt, at my wedding rehearsal last February. Sadly -- or fortunately -- I have no pictures from the Father-Daughter Square Dance.

For all the Poppas (and Poppa-figures) and daughters out there, Deejay Stu Robinson of 95.7 The Beat will host his third-annual Father Daughter Dance from 5-8 p.m. Sunday at Alfano Conference and Banquet Center in Tampa. Tickets are $25 per person. You have until Friday to get them here. Doors open at 4 p.m. for seating and photos.

“It was no hidden secret in my family that my dad and my sister had this special bond. Getting older, I saw that bond that my dad and my sister had. I want that same bond with my daughter,” said Stu, whose 11-year-old daughter, Tyeisha Hairston, comes down from her home in Greensboro, N.C., to attend the bash each year. (That's Stu with Ty on your right. All together now: Awwww...)

The Poppa and little girl in your life get dressed up, enjoy a buffet dinner and sashay the night away to sweet songs like Luther Vandross’ Dance with My Father and Bob Carlisle’s Butterfly Kisses. They can always go out for donuts afterward.

-- Guest Momma Dalia Colon

Triplet mom has triplet kids

 

The Associated Press reports that 23-year Detroit mother Amber Ali has just given birth to her own triplets. Ali is one of three girls. Her new additions are all boys. "It's going to be fun," Ali said.

Dad Andre Whitaker, 25, says that naming the triplets "took forever."

Pictured: Amber Ali, with triplet sisters Asia, left, and Ashley, right, holds newborn triplet sons  Amir, Armann, and Amari Whitaker, in the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit at Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit May 29. {Photo: AP Photo/The Detroit News, Todd McInturf}

-- Dory Knight-Ingram

Boy or girl? Gender prediction test boasts high accuracy rate

Objective: Test out the IntelliGender, a baby gender prediction test that came to the attention of Whoa, Momma!  when it went on sale at a local drugstore for $29.99.

Hypothesis: This test says that it can predict the gender of your unborn baby at 10 weeks (that's six weeks from your first missed period). So my initial hypothesis is that this is a gag gift. But an insert boasts that the test has been proven over 90 percent accurate. For sake of experimentation, skepticism is put aside, eyebrow is un-raised and judgement is reserved.

Procedure: Kind of like a home pregnancy test, except this one involves a syringe and a glitter-like substance that can be seen inside the test kit. Yes, glitter. The contents of the cup are swirled, then there is a 10-minute wait. Green means boy and no change or yellow/orange means girl.

Results: After 10 minutes, it appears there has been no change in color. I have tested on a white surface to help eliminate any background color.

Conclusion: Either the test didn’t work for me, I’m slightly color blind or the result is a girl.* A boy test result would be less difficult to discern because of the greater color differentiation between the resulting color and the color of urine. This would make an interesting baby shower game or gift, perhaps. Basically, take this test with a grain of salt -- or glitter, even.

 

-- Dory Knight-Ingram, Times Momma-to-be

*According to my doctor, I am, indeed, having a girl, so a green result would have been entertaining, to say the least! 

Girl Scouts to Chris Brown: No cookies for you!

The Girl Scouts of the USA, mostly known each year for their cookie sales, have been weighing in on more than just Thin Mints. So it's no wonder they tackled the alleged dust up between singers Chris Brown and Rihanna. A recent survey of Girl Scouts finds that 95 percent of them think Brown's alleged actions in the incident involving Rihanna were not justifiable for any reason.That's very different from another poll in which 46 percent of the teens said that Rihanna was responsible for what happened.

But the Girl Scouts aren't buying that. Nearly 60 percent hold Brown responsible for what happened while 33 percent put the blame on both of them. Now, 45 percent believe that Rihanna may have provoked Brown in some way but again the vast majority think that doesn't matter. The survey, given to girls ages 8-17, found that girls ages 13-17 were more likely to think that Rihanna did something to provoke Brown.

Now one nugget of bad news did come out of this survey: Younger girls under the age of 13 were more likely to blame Rihanna for the violent outburst. Self esteem is at the center of what the Girl Scouts try to teach members and if the girls aren't getting that lesson, then maybe it is time for a harder sell. In fact, nearly half of the girls surveyed said that low self esteen would probably be the main reason Rihanna would get back together with Brown.

With so many stories out there -- including this one -- saying that the two singers are back together, you do wonder what that says about her self esteem. Clearly, it's never okay to hit or be hit, a lesson maybe not enough kids are learning at an early age.

-- Sherry Robinson

[Associated Press]

Study: Older dad may lower kid's IQ

A new study says that older fathers may cause their offspring to score slightly lower on IQ tests. In fact, the study suggests that pairing older Mommas with younger fathers might be best to have a super-smart kid.

But wait: This study looked at 33,000 kids in the United States between 1959 and 1965. Wasn't the world a little different then? Pops wasn't as involved in the child raising as many dads are now. Could that have something to do with it as well? And it doesn't seem to say if the father's age is a little south of 35 or more like Tony Randall when his wife had a baby.

At any rate, hold your horses before you decide to jump on the Cougar train: One of the study's authors says that there are more factors that determine whether your kid will be a smarty or not. "With respect to childhood intelligence, a vast array of factors is far more powerful than paternal age," said lead researcher John McGrath.

The authors found that while society thinks that older parents would likely produce smarter kids because they would have the money and stability to provide their kids with a good education, that is not exactly what the study of found. Instead, the kids of older mothers tended to score well on these tests.

And the researchers say that what while you shouldn't just kick your old man to the curb, what is really worrisome is that there is a trend in many countries toward men waiting longer to have kids. And now this shows that men, too, have a biological clock.

-- Sherry Robinson

[Photos.com]

Runaway child bride!

Recently I blogged about my 3-year-old daughter getting a marriage proposal from her preschool classmate. I thought it was a cute, common story. But it's nothing compared to the whopper some German parents have to tell.

Anna-Lena and Mika, ages 5 and 6, set off New Year's Day to elope in Africa, packing bathing suits, sunglasses and a witness: Anna-Lena's 7-year-old sister. Without money or passports, they made it as far as a train station in Hanover, Germany, before police caught on.

Police spokesman Holger Jureczko was quoted by the AFP news agency saying the two were "very much in love" and were going to Africa to get married "where it is warm."

One for the scrapbook!

-- Amy Hollyfield

[Photo: The pix above is from photos.com but go to the story link to take a look at the real Anna-Lena and Mika]

Call the wedding planner

My husband came home from dropping our 3-year-old daughter at preschool with startling news.

Seems her good friend Didi (a boy of nearly 4 years!) had told her that morning, "Alessandra, some day I'm going to marry you."

Now this is the boy my daughter has written a song about. A song that she says can only be sung with piano accompaniment.

It goes something like this: "Didi, I love you so much! Didi, I love you so much! Didi, I love you, I love you, I love you, I looooooooooooooooovvvvvvve you!"

Now when I picked her up at school that day, I said, "Alessandra, did Didi ask you to marry him?"

A sheepish grin took over her face and she said, "Yesssssss. And Momma . . . I'm not afraid to get married."

-- Amy Hollyfield