Search Results for: blog parents as fashion police

Is High Fashion Hurting Kids?

Strappy sandals, rhinestone-studded belts, and racerback dresses look great on the catwalk, but wearing them to school could lead to developmental problems, according to a new study. Fashion-conscious moms, who want their kids to look like they just stepped out of a children’s clothing catalog, could be setting up their offspring for failure in class. According to a recent study, wearing inappropriate outfits has the potential to disrupt the entire class and could seriously compromise a child’s development. What’s more, researchers note that the children, who are most likely to be scarred by wearing fashionable duds to class, are not … Continue reading →

Something for Parents of LEGO Lovers to Think About

Are your children into Lego? Are you constantly nagging them to pick up the tiny brick-like blocks from the floor before a younger sibling decides to make the colorful toys an afternoon snack? Now, let me ask you this: Are those Lego lovers of yours boys or girls? If they are girls, then what sets do they play with? Are your daughters crafting houses and castles from the popular Danish designed toys or are they more content building robots and fire engines? If it’s the latter, then you might want to contact Sweden’s Trade Ethical Council against Sexism in Advertising … Continue reading →

Parents Who Don’t Give Out Candy on Halloween

I’m not referring to curmudgeonly Mr. Wilson who thinks Halloween is just another way to get scammed by neighborhood rugrats. Nor am I referring to parents who are opposed to the holiday all together and prefer to celebrate All Saints Day with their children instead. I am referring to parents such as my neighbor whose son is diabetic. Each year she hangs an “Ask Me For Non-Sugar Treats” poster on her front door (you can download a poster at the Institute for Applied Biomedicine’s website) and offers a slew of alternative treats to kids who prefer something other than traditional … Continue reading →

Halloween Candy Competition Among Parents

There’s one in every neighborhood—-the home where you know you can score a king-size candy bar on Halloween as opposed to those tiny fun-size bars (which are really not all that “fun” unless you can cram 10 in your mouth at one time). King-size candy bars came courtesy of the Duerr family in my neighborhood. They had five kids, which explains a lot in terms of their generosity (with that many kids they were used to hosting half the neighborhood on a daily basis) and their choice of premium chocolate (one Halloween they handed out regular-size bars of Ghirardelli Chocolate … Continue reading →

Parents and Halloween: Scary Stuff!

What’s the Halloween game plan at your house? The holiday yields a litany of opportunities to exercise parental control beginning with the type of costume your child wears down to the type of candy you hand out to other people’s children. Then, there’s the decision between parents as to who stays behind to dole out candy and who shepards the mini ghouls and goblins around the neighborhood. And, perhaps, the toughest call to make as parent on Halloween: How much candy to allow your kids to eat on the big day before gathering up the sugary haul and locking it … Continue reading →

Are you Raising a Mini Fashionista?

Thankfully (for my sanity as well as my wallet), my preschool daughter is much more interested in flinging her body off furniture than she is in fashion. She would rather craft than discuss clothing trends and she could care less about the latest and greatest hair accessories. In fact, save for her sparkly tutu and matching pink heels that she dons when watching “Dancing with the Stars” she really has no desire to dress up at all. My current situation (as fleeting as it might be) makes it hard for me to relate to parents who (whether they realize it … Continue reading →

Telephone Tips for Parents and Children

In a previous blog I shared my adventures in parenting in regards to teaching my preschooler how to use the telephone. Learning how to use the phone properly is a skill that is best practiced at home. After all, home is the place where your child has the most interaction with the telephone (unless you are one of those parents who’s surgically attached to their cellphone). As I mentioned in my previous blog, one of my brother’s duties as a firefighter is to visit schools to teach students about safety issues. A couple of years ago he sent me a … Continue reading →

Parents in Ohio Irate About Ban on Cheerleaders’ Short Skirts

Is your daughter a cheerleader? If so, does her cheerleading uniform include a super short skirt? If you wince every time you see your daughter don her revealing uniform then you know exactly how administrators at Monroe High School in Ohio feel when they see teen cheerleaders wearing their short skirts to class prior to football games. All that leg was a bit too much for educators in the district, who recently banned cheerleaders from wearing their uniforms on school property during normal school hours. According to the Monroe High School’s principal, allowing the teens to wear the “short, tight, … Continue reading →

Parents, Kids and Nicknames

If you ever want to see the face of horror try using your child’s family nickname in front of his or her classmates. Trust me; the mortified look your child will flash is one that will be seared in your memory forever. How do I know this, you might ask? I was witness to a similar scene last weekend and I still can’t stop thinking about it… and it didn’t even involve my child. Last Saturday I bumped into one of my former colleagues at Macy’s. I was exchanging a birthday gift and she was doing some back-to-school shopping with … Continue reading →

Parents as Fashion Police

From the pool… back to school. Summer is rapidly coming to an end (sigh) and soon parents will be less worried about whether their daughter’s swimsuits are too tight and more concerned about whether their son’s pants are too baggy. Right now many of us are smack in the middle of that dreaded annual ritual—back to school shopping. Besides gathering the right shopping lists for each child and calculating how our household budgets will accommodate new pens, pencils, backpacks, socks, shoes, pants, tops and haircuts most parents are faced with the additional role of acting as fashion police. Who among … Continue reading →