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Octopus Mom featured in MOMSENSE magazine

SO this month’s edition of MomSense Magazine features a personal essay written by Bonnie Ferrar….OctopusMOM. NO…not Octo Mom, but rather the editor and founder of Octopusmom.com, a parenting and pregnancy website designed for busy moms who have their hands full.
Check it out
Becoming Human- by Bonnie Ferrar
http://www.christianitytoday.com/momsense/2009/julaug/becominghuman.html

Potty Training Boys

Is your little boy giving you trouble about potty training? Don’t you wish there was a way to potty train him in less than a week? Well there is!!!! Little boys are notoriously more difficult to potty train than girls, but there are a few tricks to get them interested in potty training. From potty training books for boys to fun potty training pottys designed specifically with boys in mind, getting them excited about potty training is the first step towards potty training success!!

Check out these great resources:

Potty Training Boys: Everything you need to know

Potty Training 911

Potty Training Girls

How to potty train your girl in a few days!!!! Are you about to begin potty training your girl? Well believe it or not, girls are a bit easier to potty train than boys. Yet there are some pitfalls new parents make when they begin potty training their little girl. Find out if your little girl is truly ready to potty train and what you can do to make potty training a success. These are two great resources to get you started!

Potty Training Girls: Everything you need to know

Potty Training 911

Got any great potty training tips?? Share them with our readers NOW!!!!!

What is a Molar Pregnancy

If you are pregnant, there is a 1/1,000 chance that you could be diagnosed with a molar pregnancy. But what exactly is a molar pregnancy. A molar pregnancy is not a typical pregnancy. There is usually no embryo, just a mass of cells that clusters together like grapes to form the “mole’.  What makes a molar pregnancy so devastating is that there is a chance that the cells could be cancerous. What starts out as a happy occasion (a couple find out they are having a baby), can turn into a frightening one in a matter of minutes when it is diagnosed. For the next year, the mother may need to undergo chemotherapy and put off getting pregnant.

To find out more about Molar Pregnancies, read this great article ” Molar Pregnancies”

Octo Mom NOT to be confused with Octopus Mom

When news first broke of the Octuplets’ birth in California, I didn’t think much of it. Like most Americans, I am disgusted by the fact that any doctor would implant more than 2 embryos in a female uterus. Any more than that is simply unethical. As a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit RN, I have seem the problems quads and even sextuplets face as they struggle to breathe and eat on their own. Chronic disablities are a real consideration and can bring a lifetime of pain and suffering.

Now she is labeled as Octo Mom and we have a situation. I am Octopus Mom, not Octo Mom and the two are vastly different.

An Octopus Mom is a mother with 2-4 small children at home, juggling life and work at the same time. We are confident, active and the ultimate multitaskers.

Please do not confuse the two!!

The Trouble with Boys

I am currently reading a book titled ” The Trouble with Boys” and let me be the first to say that it is amazing. If you have a boy, you owe it to yourself to read this book. The author, Peg Tyre, sheds light on a troubling statistic—that our schools are failing our boys. Throughout the last few decades,  the school system has been changing. Different teaching styles, longer hours, less recess and different expectations have morphed schooltime. Boys, who notoriously need more “wiggle room”, find themselves crammed into desks, punished for fidgiting and as a result, begin to slip behind in school. By the time boys enter middle school, the majority of them are not living up to their academic potential and the majority of  “behavioral” problems in school are boys. More “honor students” are girls and more women are attending college then their male counterparts.

If you are a parent with a young boy, you know all too well that “circle time” has become the dreaded regiment they all must conform to before they head off to kindergarten. Many boys are inappropriately labeled as ADD or ADHD when 40 years ago they would’ve been just a normal kid.

Cultural changes have also changed the way boys are allowed to play. Good ol fashioned games of tag have been replaced by adult driven “kiddie soccer” classes. Free time spent lazily swimming in rivers and creeks have been replaced by “swim lessons” with a certified instructor. No splashing, no running.  Boys are discouraged from aggressive play to “prevent” them from becoming aggressive bullys. Sword fights and gun fights are discouraged and video game have replaced board games.

As a result of society’s changes, the school system inevitably changed as well. Now, it favors girls and the style of learning that is best suited for the female gender. Boys need to learn in a more hands on way and need to have access to sports and recess throughout the day. If our school systems fail to see what a diservice they are doing to our boys, we may end up with a generation of slackers and underachieving men.
As a mother of 2 sons, I found Peg Tyre’s analysis of the problems boys face in the school system  absolutely enlightening. I encourage all mothers with boys and all educators to read her incredible book. If you are a mother struggling with your boy in school, you need to read this book and realize that it is not your fault….and it is not his fault. It is the school system that is failing them and unless we speak up, the situation will only get worse.

What Ever Happened to Late Bloomers??

My little boy is 5 and by all accounts he is a great kid. He is funny, active and intelligent—-it has also been suggested throughout his short life that he had a language disorder, a sensory integration disorder and even the early stages of attention deficit. But by my accounts, he is just a late bloomer. One of those children who would’ve thrived about 50 years ago when lazy days were spent chasing fireflies and playing tackle football in the neighbor’s yard. He is not interested in sitting in circle time or singing “Mary had a Little Lamb” in rounds in the music room. He is not interested in coloring a giant purple dinosaur or cutting out snowmen for the Christmas party. He is happiest riding his tricycle full speed down the sidewalk and climbing trees in the backyard. He loves to read books for hours and run through the sprinkler…what he doesn’t like are rigid classrooms with unrealistic expectations. What he doesn’t like are round people with round pegs trying to shove his unique shape into their “ideal mold” and truly……I can’t say that I blame him.

If you like what you read here…check out my parenting blog at www.octopusmom.com

Thanks

If there is a germ in the house….I will catch it!

Why do moms always seem to catch whatever cold the kids get, while the hubby blissfully stays healthy? Could it be the fact that the kids use MY shirt as their own personal hankie? Could it be that all sneezes, coughs and spit-up is directed in MY direction? Or could it be all the half cookies, sloppy kisses, and juice boxes we share throughout the day?

Probably all the above I am sure. But whatever the reason, there is no amount of Vitamin C strong enough to stop a cold bug from making his rounds through the family. We are all thankfully getting over our colds just in time for my little baby to turn 1 this weekend!

I am sure there is a new germ just lying in wait for us next week, but for now—we get to eat cake!

Recently on another blog

I recently started moonlighting for another blog titled “Remembering That”. It is a great site full of personal essays devoted to life the way you remember it. Readers are encouraged to comment and make it an online community. My recent blog “The Year of the Rubik’s Cube” was a lot of fun to write. Check it out and let me know what you think!!