Microwaving plastic containers - is it safe?
This article from The Harvard Medical School Family Guide is worth a read - it puts to bed a few urban myths whilst telling you what to actually look out for.
Writing letters to grandchildren
There no simpler gift than a letter from someone you love. The Gave That blog has written a beautiful article on the power and value of letters from grandparents to grandchildren.
Read it in full here. I still have postcards from my grandparents I treasure and my kids love getting postcards from their grandparents to put in their treasure box. How about you?
I’m sick of competitions masquerading as rorts
Over the past month, if you buy Coon cheese, you may have seen promotions around ‘Win a million dollars’. We buy their cheese and so have been going to the competition website to enter barcodes.
I was about to enter my fourth when I thought to click on the tiny ‘terms and conditions’ link, and realised the ridiculous steps one has to go through just to have a chance to win the big bucks:
Entries will be divided into groups according to each selection and component of the toastie made by the entrant when building their toastie (for example, entrants who choose a particular type of bread, who chose to butter their bread on both sides, selected a single slice of Tasty cheese, to be cooked under a grill, until ‘crispy and golden’ would form one group, while entrants who chose the same bread but with no butter, and who selected a single slice of Tasty cheese, to be cooked under a grill, until ‘crispy and golden’, would form another etc..). The group that, as determined by the Promoter in its sole discretion, has the highest number of entries will be the group that is entered into the draw. If more than one group is determined by the Promoter in its sole discretion to have the equal highest number of entries, the Promoter will in its sole discretion select only one of the tied groups to be entered into the draw. From the group(s) of entries selected for the draw, the first valid entry drawn will win the major prize. The major prize consists of the opportunity for the winner to participate in the Cooking Demonstration and the opportunity to participate in a game for the chance to win either $1,000,000.00, $30,000.00 or $10,000.00 (“Game”). Accordingly, in addition to the Cooking Demonstration, the major prize will be either $1,000,000.00, $30,000.00 or $10,000.00, but only one of those amounts will be won. The Cooking Demonstration requires the winner to prepare and cook their winning toastie on television at a time and place to be determined by the Promoter. Ingredients will be supplied by the Promoter. The Game may also be recorded and broadcast on television. Entrants should note that, if the Promoter is unable to secure a television appearance, the Cooking Demonstration component of the prize may be cancelled and no compensation will be provided in lieu. It is intended that the Cooking Demonstration and Game will take place on 17/11/08 (but this date is subject to change at the Promoter’s sole discretion). The Game will take place at Quad 1, 8 Parkview Drive, Sydney Olympic Park, NSW 2127 (but this location is subject to change at the Promoter’s sole discretion).
In other words, you MIGHT be in the group that goes through to the final draw and even then you play a ‘game of chance’ that will likely net you 10 grand rather than a million. I wouldn’t sneeze at 10 grand but it’s yet another example of PR spin over any substance. Oh and did I mention you need to keep the receipt for every product you’ve bought? The actual wrapper ain’t good enough - unbelievable.
A big thumbs down, Coon cheese…
Track your haircuts
I’m a bit of a geek but even I find this story a little ridiculous. A guy called Matt Cutts has posted about using a spreadsheet and Google calendar to work out the time between haircuts.
The obvious question is: why???
What’s your relationship IQ?
Smart Marriages has an interesting quiz on relationships - try it out.
Drinking on the cheap
I came across a fairly useful article on not sending yourself broke paying for alcohol when you go out for dinner or entertain.
It needs an Australian slant though - what’s good cheap wine or spirits that you’d recommend over the more expensive brands?
Microwave versus Stove
The New York Times of all places has an excellent article on using your microwave more effectively.
I tend to use it to start to pre-cook potatoes before I throw them into a wok but don’t do a lot else with the microwave except to defrost things - I may have to make more of an effort after reading that article!
My turn to cook
I’m far from an accomplished cook but I try to cook at least once a week, twice if bringing home takeaway counts as ‘cooking’ (we’ll cover health takeaway in a future post - I’m not claiming we don’t bring home junk food sometimes but we try to minimise it).
Anyway, I really only have a repertoire of three or four dishes - Chicken Korma, Chicken Parcels with lemon and ginger, and Chicken Burgers. Do you see the theme? So, to break out of the mold, I’ve decided to branch out to Quesadillas. Here’s one simple Quesadilla recipe I found and I think I’ll try that. With chicken of course.
I’d love to hear from everyone on how they divide the cooking duties. As I’ve said, we’re in reality a 5-1-1 household (HappyParent-Her cooks five times, myself once and a night of leftovers / toast / random crumbs from the floor). What’s your ratio?
Food on road trips with the kids
Lifehacker are asking for tips for commuters wanting healthy food options and it got me thinking about the whole food thing on lengthy road trips.
I think it’s fair to say that you need something more than McDonalds to cover a six to eight hour road trip. We’ve certainly stop at the fast food place on the side of the freeway but we also carry a bunch of semi-healthy snacks that help to pass the time as well as reduce the chance of screams from the back of the car about wanting chips (we’ve avoided them eating a burger so far).
Here’s some tips on snacks that take a while to eat, something that’s handy as time is no object trapped in a car:
1. Fruit straps - they take a while to chew and aren’t ridiculously high in sugar
2. Little tupperware containers with sultanas, dried apricot. If you have more than one type of dried fruit the kids tend to enjoy the variety more.
3. Cut up watermelon - it may get a little messy but you won’t get any complaints from the kids!
I’d love to hear your food tips for longer car trips. What works for you? Any interesting food disasters in the car?
MumDad Media - parenting in the news
Each week we plan on doing a roundup of media sites and blogs that feature interesting articles on parenting, family and kids. So here’s the first edition:
1. The Guardian (UK) - Good old parenting will keep the online bogeymen at bay. “The day after Barack Obama won in Iowa, I tried to engage my nine-year-old daughters in a conversation about what had the feel of a historic moment. “Oh yeah,” one replied. “I’ve seen him on Presidential Paintball.” I looked bemused, and she promptly Googled up a game in which players could adopt the persona of White House hopefuls, blasting away at each other with green goo.”
2. The Mining Gazette (USA) - On Parenting And Life. “Life is a journey, full of good times and bad. For the past couple of weeks, my life has been roller coaster that I just can’t seem to stop. This ordeal started March 4 when I received a phone call at work from my son’s teacher. Christian, she said, had a severe nose bleed and I was needed to come check it out. When I got there, I saw how upset and distraught he was. I got him ready and off to the the hospital we went.”
3. The Telegraph (UK) - The idle parent. “I hope you’ll forgive me a moment of idle parent smugness. But I think this story helps to prove that a life of pleasure can continue alongside child-rearing. I recently found myself at Castle Cary station in Somerset with three children in tow and an hour to wait for the train to Paddington. How would I cope? By nature lacking foresight, I had forgotten to bring any toys or amusements. I sat down in the waiting-room among the other passengers and gave the eldest child some of those tourist pamphlets to leaf through, while the smallest one sat on my lap.”
4. PennState Live (USA) - Early living together, marriage, parenting benefits some young adults. “Young people are always encouraged to complete their education and postpone marriage and children to achieve more rewarding lifestyles. However, a Penn State study found that for some young adults, getting married or living together and having children have provided positive benefits. “In industrial countries, young people age 18 to 25 are expected to explore their identity, work and love by delaying marriage and parenthood,” says lead author Alan Booth, distinguished professor of sociology, human development and demography. “It is believed that those individuals who fail to postpone these family transitions miss out on better career opportunities, make poor choices on partners, and may experience problems.”
5. The Globe and Mail (Canada) - Are the children safe? And are the children too safe? “Becoming a parent means you have more to worry about, but does it actually mean you have more to fear? We cocoon kids with organized play dates, rules against playing in the front yard and walking to school unsupervised, not to mention protective gear for every conceivable outdoor activity. So is it possible we’re raising anxious, risk-averse children? Or is this, quite possibly, just something else to worry about?”
6. Sydney Morning Herald - Risks in sharing bed with kids. “It’s the middle of the night, you’ve just fed your baby and you’re both feeling dozy; wouldn’t it be nice to drop off to sleep together in bed? Well, yes - and no. Welcome to the contentious issue of co-sleeping.”
7. The Fallbrook Village News - Does parenting style reinforce anxiety in kids? “Any parent can tell you that his or her child’s personality was always just “there.” The sweet, smiling infant becomes the happy-go-lucky kindergartner. The sour-faced foot-stamper morphs into, well, a four-year-old who thinks she or he is 18. Even in the earliest stages of life, parents can see that their baby is shy or a people person. So is personality set in stone from the womb or do we as parents have the power to change how our children react to the world?”
8. Suburban Daddy - Parenting Poll Of The Week - Kids and Video Games. “When I was a kid I played a lot of video games. My favorite games were (now) classics like Missle Command and Centipede. It was a simpler time for video games. The games were so basic. Nobody considered them violent at the time. But, I guess, when I consider the premise of those games now, there was an awful lot of “blowing things up”.”
9. Weary Parent - Paris Hilton is a Role Model? “Paris Hilton is in Turkey to help choose the new Miss Turkey 2008. She said she’s not just looking for a pretty face, but she’s also looking for a “good heart” during her time judging the competition. “I’m going to look at how the girls carry themselves, what they look like, the way they dress and what they say,” she said.”
10. Peter Bracken - A Dad’s guide to parenting, 5: let sleeping dogs lie. “There is a feeling among parents that out-of-school children are like peace-time armies: they need to be exercised, occupied and maintained. The military analogy is apt in another sense, too: the regimented, disciplined manner in which we ferry our children from piano pillar to football post and back again in an effort to squeeze the most from their formative years.”
11. Scott Counseling - Demanding Child. “It’s not unusual for Children to begin to make some kind of demanding remarks between the ages of two and four years of age. This behavior is often a test given by a child to test parent limits and boundaries. Children who are demanding often are seeking control or may be facing some stress in their life. Parents who avoid stopping a child’s inappropriate demands may only be reinforcing such behaviors and allowing the child to develop a false sense of pride and security. Furthermore, there is growing research that supports the notion that demanding children become teenagers who feel they are “entitled” and “owed” whatever demands they make. Children need to learn early in life that they need a balance between giving and receiving.”