Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Suzanne Fleet, an East Atlanta mom and blogger on parenting issues, is one of 36 mothers who contributed essays to the newly released book, "I Just Want to Pee Alone."
EAST ATLANTA — As any mom will tell you, motherhood has its joys and its moments where it has you wishing you could run outside and just scream at the top of your lungs. Screaming isn't always practical, of course, so finding other outlets is the preferred option. Suzanne Fleet, an East Atlanta mother of two, found that outlet through Toulouse & Tonic, a parenting blog with a humorous take that she launched in 2010. Fleet also is a contributing writer to the newly published parenting anthology, I Just Want to Pee Alone, which features insights from 36 blogger moms from across the country. The book, which is currently No. 4 on iTunes' humor list, delves in to tales of motherhood through a series of essays from the moms. “I'm so excited to …
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Should pronunciation be taken more seriously in school?
When I was a kid, there were a lot of "ain'ts," double-negatives, dangling participles and people who "seen you." Yet somehow, I speak fairly well. I am thankful I was taught to speak correctly by a combination of parents and teachers. I pronounce entire words and expect my children to do the same. I wouldn't expect people to take me seriously if I didn't. I recently visited a prospective school for my child. The faculty and PTA had set up a room with charts, baby chicks and fresh fruit to impress the parents. I must say, the school is very impressive. It is free of the Atlanta Public Schools cheating scandal. It was new and clean and the halls were lined with the accomplishments of the children. As we waited to walk the halls, a group of …
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Parenthood appears to worsen the eating habits of mothers.
You come home from the hospital with a new baby and a good 20 to 30 pounds you were sure would come out with the kid. You may be kinda depressed, indescribably happy and extremely tired. What you most likely are not - ready to eat healthy and exercise. New research from the University of Minnesota found moms with young children consumed an average of 400 more calories a day than non-mothers. The data comes from the university's Project Eat, which tracked the eating and exercise patterns of nearly 1,600 women and men. Co-author of the report, Jerica Berge, said all of the women in the study ate similar amounts of healthy foods. But moms consumed more sugar and saturated fat. "They were having more sugar-sweetened pops and beverages. They …
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Unintended consequences of ignoring race.
When I was growing up, race was more than talked about. It was the butt of many a joke. Black baby dolls were given as gag gifts, grown-up's didn't catch "a tiger by his toe" and accusing you of having a "black" boyfriend was meant as an insult. I was taught very young black people look different. They talk differently, walk differently, act differently, dress differently. And different was not good. Somehow, with all of the negative attitudes about race, I emerged unscathed. All of the negative talk about everyone with a tint, somehow made me more accepting. At least they were talking about it. Now I have kids. I don't talk about race or skin color. I don't point out hair texture or eye shape nor do I discuss past atrocities with my four-…
Friday, January 6, 2012
Two key parenting skills you may not know.
There's as much advice on parenting as there are parents. Bloggers, psychologists, parents, grandparents and people who have never had kids will all give you free advice on what skills you should hone as a parent. How do you decide what you should work on? Is it more important to be consistent, to stay calm or to praise them the correct way? Ya got me. I have no idea. I try to do them all and end up mastering one. Loving them so much I could, and sometimes do, explode. When you sift through the skills a parent should have, what comes out on top? According to Robert Epstein's analysis of 2000 online parenting-skills questionnaires, giving them lots of love an affection is the best thing we can do for our kids. That's the easy part. What may…
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
How do children view death?
The last thing anyone wants to have to face during the season of giving is the death of a loved one. There is so much going on: family dinners, gift giving and shopping. Then, you see something in someones eyes and the everything seems to drop. Before you have children you can drop it all, for a moment at least. However, thats not the case when you have to open Christmas gifts and pretend everything is all happy and cheery for people who don't grasp the concept of death. How do you explain to a 4-year-old that Nanny is not with us anymore? How much does she understand? Will you scar her for life by introducing her to death? I have no idea. St. Francis Health research can give us some idea. As you would guess, a child’s understanding of …
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Overindulging your child can be worse than spoiling them
There is a part of me that cringes when the kid I just saw screaming for a toy is bouncing happily out of Target with said toy and probably an Icee. It seems obvious. Give your kid everything and you're likely to end up with a selfish, materialistic child who wants "Pink macaroons and a million balloons and performing baboons and …" It's so easy to just hand over what your child wants, either to see them smile or shut them up. A lot of the time, both of those outcomes benefit the parent more than the child. This time of year we think a bit more about overindulgence, although some parents can't say no to "I WANT!" no matter the season. Overindulging your kid is not the same as spoiling them. It's a lot more than annoying adults and having …
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Why giving makes you happy
At this point in my life giving has become the norm. I give everything: time, focus, effort, energy, food, money, baths. The kind of giving I'm involved in every day feels like a completely selfless kind of giving. The majority of the time, no one will ever know what I have doled out over the course of a day. The majority of the time, I wouldn't say it makes me feel better about myself. It leaves me feeling used, under-appreciated, taken advantage of and beat. With all that giving takes out of me, it seems to be giving back. According to the Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey, a survey of 30,000 American households, people who gave to charity in 2000 were 43 percent more likely than non-givers to say they were "very happy" about …
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Picky eating is in the genes
A meal plan for Nicholas consists of beef in the form of hamburger, hamburger on pizza or in tacos and French fried potatoes. He was able to sleep through Thanksgiving dinner with a belly full of Five Guys. Nick does't have tactile sensory issues. He has no problems tolerating the sensations of chewing squash. He just never learned to like it. If Nick was a child, instead of the 29-year-old father of my children, his eating habits may pass as a phase. Now they serve as a warning sign. Researchers examined the eating habits of 5,390 pairs of twins between 8 and 11 years old and found children’s aversions to trying new foods are mostly inherited. The study, led by Dr. Lucy Cooke of the department of epidemiology and public health at …
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Do parents spend enough time with their kids?
With all the travel, family and food of Thanksgiving upon us, there is little time for "Moms Talk." Less time for mom's writing. I find it difficult to believe anyone who normally reads "Moms Talk" has the time to click the link this week. The Thanksgiving holiday gives stay-at-home parents a chance to pawn their kids off on eager grandparents. It gives working parents the chance to spend more time with their kids. Mom stays home from work and bakes pies while dad tosses the baseball in the yard. It's families spending time together, 1965 style. Or is it? Social scientists have been tracking how Americans spend their time for decades, and it seems parents are spending a lot more time interacting with their kids now than they did in the "…
Péralte Paul
10:28 am on Wednesday, April 25, 2012
I don't think it's a "South" thing, necessarily. I grew up in Brooklyn and later on in northern NJ and I heard plenty of "yous" instead of "you," "yutes" instead of "youths," "you is" instead of "you are'' and Anthony pronounced something closer to "Ant-knee." All in all, I don't mind the occasional grammatical witticism. English is a fluid and ever-changing language with great idiomatic … more ›