The Working Mom by Kay Luna

Just passing on this info, since some of you might be interested.

A workshop called “Parenting in an Online World” is set for Feb. 21 in Davenport, to teach parents how to help their teens handle the many perils and opportunities of the Internet.

Author, storyteller and consultant Michael Mann will lead the event, set from 1 to 4 p.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church, 1122 W. Central Park, Davenport. Cost  is $5 per adult, and children are welcome to attend with parents.

 A meal will be provided before the workshop starting at noon. Meal reservations are required by Feb. 16. Call the church office at (563) 323-8001.

Wonderful news!!!

This blog won third place for “Best Blog” in the Iowa Newspaper Association contest this weekend.

Please know I am sharing this honor with all of YOU!  We’ve got something special going on here, and it’s because of all of you.

All of your witty remarks and comebacks, all of your stories … It’s the back-and-forth of it all that makes this a place we want to return to again and again. So, thank you so much.

And thank you, Babycakes. Without you, I would be sorely lacking in material and inspiration. Teehee! This blog actually was born when my 3-year-old daughter was born. I started writing it soon after returning from maternity leave.  In celebration, please enjoy my retro-prego picture … and know that I never plan to look that way again. Teehee!

Who beat us in this contest, you ask?

The Sioux City Journal’s political blog placed first, with the Des Moines Register coming in second. Yes, I’ll be reading these blogs regularly now, to see what they’re doing right. Ha!

You can read the full story about what other many awards the Quad-City Times won this weekend here (and congrats to everyone!): http://www.qctimes.com/news/local/article_9e7906bc-139a-11df-a03d-001cc4c002e0.html

What’s up with you???

Say you meet a new family somewhere, like the park or a neighborhood party.

Your kids seem to play together well. You and the kid’s parents seem to hit it off. Maybe you could become friends and do things together sometime, you wonder.

So, what do you do? Do you scribble your phone number down on a scrap of paper in your purse, and hand it to them? Do you ask them for their phone number?

Or maybe you simply reach into your pocket and pull out your … Mom cards. They’re like business cards, except they’re printed with your family’s contact information on them.

Yes, these really do exist. But why????

Why do we need these? I have a hard enough time remembering to carry my actual business cards, let alone cards that say, “Kay Luna, Babycakes’ Mommy.” Geez. It just seems so unnecessary.

But some moms think they’re great, including a blogger at “Playground for Parents.”

“Just imagine how organized and together you’ll seem when you whip a calling card out of that diaper bag,” she writes. 

I’m still not buying it. Or those cards.

What do you think? Do you know anyone who uses these? Or do you?

U.S. researchers have announced this week that babies who die from sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) make low amounts of the message-carrying brain chemical serotonin, which is needed to regulate sleep, breathing and heart rate.

The finding was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, and may help identify babies at risk for SIDS, which each year kills more than 2,300 babies before their first birthday.

Here’s the link to a Reuters article that offers more information: http://health.yahoo.com/news/reuters/us_infant_deaths.html

Watching my 3-year-old daughter twirl around at her new dance class is like holding onto a little piece of happy. 

It’s like watching little dolls twirl around in ballerina skirts and slippers, and I just love it. The best is when they pose and watch themselves in the floor-to-ceiling mirrors that line the walls. It’s just hilarious and so cute!

But last night, I had an “Oh, no!” moment.

That was when the dance teachers handed out red-sparkling top hats and CANES for the little ones to use in a dance routine. What in the world??!! Ha!

To me, that’s like handing out weapons for them to knock each other in the heads with, or poke in the eye with, or fall on top of … or about 150 other disasterous injury options.

Believe me, I slumped down in my plastic chair along the edge of the dance studio, cringing as I watched my daughter swing that cane around with the music. No, she wasn’t supposed to be swinging it! Ha!

But she did do some fancy footwork with those tap shoes, and you should have seen her spin that hat around on the top of her cane. I’m serious! It was pretty cute.

And no one got hurt. No one got bopped in the head. I saw some near-misses, but mostly just smiles.

I guess that just shows how little I know about teaching 3-year-olds how to dance. These teachers are amazing … and patient. It’s so cool to watch.

What’s new with you?

A columnist with the Washington Post wrote this week that she essentially pays to work there. Isn’t that a little backwards?

Well, it’s not too far-fetched, unfortunately. With the rising cost of childcare, especially for very young children, Petula Dvorak said she’s spending more on childcare than she earns.

A lot of parents are in this boat. Read about it here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/25/AR2010012503553.html

The story talks about how many families make too much to qualify for financial assistance for childcare, but not enough to afford having one parent stay home and not work.

Where does your family fit in this? Do you struggle to weigh the financial benefits of staying home vs. working? Plenty of people argue the emotional benefits of both sides, but how do you afford it?

My 3-year-old girl has a chest full of dress-up clothes – including a few pairs of jelly-style shoes with very short heels on them. Before you panic, don’t worry: She doesn’t wear them.

She can’t balance in them, which makes walking impossible. Actually, it makes standing impossible. So, she might slip her feet into them, but quickly kicks them off.

Her silly shoes — meant for play at home only — are one thing.

The idea of letting your preschool-aged daughter toddle around in high heels in public is entirely another.

But it’s becoming a trend, according to an Associated Press story, which points to photos of 3 1/2-year-old Suri Cruise (daughter of celebrities Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes) wearing blingy heels during an outing as one example.

Reactions to the grown-up look have ranged from cries of it being very inappropriate and possibly harmful to their growing feet, to defenses of a little girl’s right to be girlie.

My take? Yes, little girls can be girlie. Goodness knows my daughter is, to a point. But I also very much want her to dress and behave age-appropriately. Why rush her into growing up?

The shoes are just part of a bigger problem: Clothing, books, music and movies once reserved for older kids keeps trickling down to younger and younger audiences — like girls my daughter’s age. And I don’t like it.

My 3-year-old sometimes can be heard singing Taylor Swift songs, crooning things like, “She wears high heels, I wear sneakers … ”

And to that I say, “Yes you do! You wear sneakers and boots and flat dress shoes. You don’t wear high heels. You’re only 3, for goodness sakes.”

I have caved into many of her girlie whims. It looks like a Disney princess threw up all over her bedroom (haha). She begged until I finally signed her up for her first dance class, which starts next week. Occasionally, I let her wear some of my grandma’s old beaded costume jewelry when we go to the store.

But I will not cave in to piercing her ears (at least, not for a long time). And I won’t let her wear high-heels … not yet.

What do you think?

So, are you home with the kiddos today on this Martin Luther King Jr., Day?

Not me. I’m working, but looking forward to going home soon to see my Babycakes and Mr. Luna. It’s still pretty foggy out, so I might not venture out again once I get home, but for those of you who feel stir-crazy or just want something fun — and free — to do tonight, here’s an option.

The Family Museum in Bettendorf is offering free admission from 5-8 p.m. tonight, in honor of MLK Jr. Day. The address is 2900 Learning Campus Drive.

If you’ve never gone to the Family Museum before, please consider going. It’s a very cute place, with a lot of hands-on exhibits to keep the little ones — and their grown-ups — entertained. For more information, visit the Family Museum’s Web site at www.familymuseum.org.

What are you up to? How was your weekend?

Actually, it’s college textbooks I’m thinking about, because readers have been e-mailing me tips about where students can find cheap ones.

Wow, a lot has changed! When I was a “kid,” we only had the option of going to the campus bookstore for our books. The one constant is textbooks are still expensive. Yikes.

Because of that expense, I kept a lot of my old books for many years in storage totes and on my bookshelves — where they proceeded to get dusty and go unread. I always thought I’d read them again someday … Haha! I didn’t.

They were so out-of-date that I finally threw most of them out during a cleaning spree a few years ago.

But I bet some of you are still holding onto your college textbooks from way back, aren’t you? What’s the oldest textbook you saved?

Hey, all! I’m  loving all the hilarious things you’re posting about sailor-mouthed kids — LOL! Thanks for making me feel a little better about my daughter’s verbal bloopers.

Well, Miss Babycakes said a couple things that stopped me in my tracks this morning and I thought I’d share (but no cuss words today … sorry to disappoint. Ha!).

A little bit of background: Babycakes doesn’t have any little brothers or sisters. She is the little sister. She doesn’t want to accept this sometimes.

She recently asked if she could have a little sister or brother. I laughed and said, “Go ask your Dad.” I later heard him in the other room saying to her, “Go ask your Mom.” She didn’t feel satisfied with that exchange at all, I’m sure.

This morning, I couldn’t help but laugh again when she said, out of the blue, “Little brothers,” shaking her head disdainfully.

What does she know about little brothers?

“Do you mean the dog?” I asked her.

She stopped, looked up at me like I was crazy, and said, “Mom. He is not my little brother. He can’t talk or get married or do anything but eat and sleep.”

LOL! So true! But we love him.

Then, later this morning, as we drove to daycare, she saw a flock of birds fly overhead.

“I wish I was a bird,” she said.

When I asked why, she said, “So I could fly with my wings.”

I told her that would be really cool, but it’s also good to be ourselves. God made those birds special, with wings, so they could fly — and he made her special so she can do something very important, too.

“What does He want me to do?” she asked.

I don’t know, I told her. You’ll have to find out and let me know.

So, what’s going on with you and yours?