Kid Snacks

A list of the 20 Best Snacks for Kids can be found on parents.com. The list includes: quesadillas, peanut butter, eggs, smoothies, and more. Children vary immensely in terms of taste preference, but try to experiment and see what the kid will accept. Some will be a hit, and others, well... you can't win them all (my brother still remarks about the nasty tofu "hotdogs" my mom used to try to serve us--and he's 23).

Kids say crazy things

Kids always find a way to crack you up, whether they mispronounce a word or repeat something they heard. Here's my favorite youtube clip of a little girl defending herself against "monsters."

My little sister and I have much different tastes in pretty much everything, given that she is five years old. I have come up of a list of ten things that my sister and I enjoy doing together and you can do with your little sibling, cousin, niece, or any little kid you may get stuck watching for the day:

Things to do with children in the San Francisco Area:

1) Go to the park (it's what kids know and love, I recommend Golden Gate Park)

2) Take them for a treat (ice cream, candy store, hot chocolate, McDonald's, whatever). You get to enjoy the treat as well and have some time to chat with your little friend, who is bound to say some funny/interesting things.

3) Go to a movie (movies are quite the excursion for children)

4) Take them to a crafty place (painting pottery) or go to a toy or crafts store and pick up a project you can do at home

5) Bake a fun cake, cookies, make jell-o cut outs

6) Go to a museum geared towards kids (Exploratorium, Zeum, Discovery Center)

7) Take them to the zoo or aquarium (avoid the tiger exhibit)

8) Go to the beach (look for sand crabs, run from the waves, sand castles, the works)

9) Have a day of amusement (Great America, Raging Waters, Marine World, mini golf, bowling)

10)Show them a city (give the kid a sense of metropolitan life, avoid sheltered children)

Big sister Caroline

I started to write down my interview with my friend Caroline, 22, who is a big sister to two boys, Pat (20) and Nick (15). She gives some insight to her life with the next generations. Here's Caroline.

"Siblings are peers that happen to be related to you"

This quote from Laurence Steinberg, a psychology professor at Temple University in Philadelphia, holds close to me, and to others I'm sure. If you have siblings, it's highly likely that most of your childhood memories are not kept uniquely to you. Most of my childhood memories include my brother in them. As kids, we all grow up together and of course influence each other for the better--or worse. A came upon an old article in USA Today that proposes merely having an older sibling can be a bad influence.

Not sure if I agree being an older sibling myself.

Sexy resources

Sex can be a "taboo" and awkward subject to discuss for kids and their parents. For girls (or guys) in need of medical advice, testing, or contraception, Planned Parenthood, is a great resource with several locations for everyone, and the good news is they keep your information confidential and can work to accommodate all financial and health plan situations. When it comes to STDs and pregnancy, please don't be passive.

Keeping the family together one dinner at a time

An article written by Jennifer Hahn titled, "The Family that Eats Together, Stays Together," discusses the results of a study done on adolescents' to test the relation between family connection, self-esteem, substance abuse, and other things in relation to the frequency that a family eats their meals together. The study found that both boys and girls who frequently eat meals with their families are shown to have less problems with substance use and less depression.

I can attest to these results, as my family would always have six o'clock dinner. If you weren't there, it was your loss, but it really was the only time our family could all sit together and talk about anything going on in our lives. You never knew what was going to come up at family dinner, (especially when my very vulgar and inappropriate brother was present).

"When I was your age"

Watching my sister grow up, I've noticed myself stuck in many nostalgic moments. Taking her to the park takes me back to swinging with my friends and flying down the slides. Eating Mitchell's ice cream in the summer, having play dates, and getting so excited to eat fast food. But I've also noticed the child times they have-a changed. I am constantly saying to my sister, "When I was your age, we didn't get to have sleepovers"...."When I was your age, we didn't have a lap top"..."When I was your age, I couldn't fill my closet"....And the thing that I've mostly noticed is how much television has changed for the youth.

image from fanpop.com

When I was growing up, it was all about "Full House", "Family Matters", "Step by Step", "Are You Afraid of the Dark?", "Mister Rogers Neighborhood"....Nowadays, you've got the diva corner of "Hannah Montana" the recent pregnant Jamie Lynn Spears in "Zoe 101", "Wizards of Waverly Place" (and I'm sad that I know these) and 10 yr old kids talking like they have full time jobs and potential spouses. Kids are learning to have too much attitude and maturity from these money-making shows....If we can, please bring our children back to their youth.


Thank you.

Advice for the youngest sibling

Mike Albertini (20), experienced youngest sibling shares his insight and advice about how to be the baby of the family (see entire interview below):

What would be your best advice for the youngest sibling of a family?

Not to be afraid to do your own thing. I don’t think older siblings can understand that they only show their way of doing things. It’s hard not to do the same because you want to end up like the person you admire. I tried to do that for a long time. No matter how good it feels; you’re not doing anything new. Older siblings should tell their younger siblings not to be afraid to do things completely different from how they did it. For me, I think things could’ve been easier if I was told that. I used to think if I listen to this music (like my sibling), then I’ll have these kinds of friends, and have this kind of life. It’s just stupid.

Being the youngest

I know what it's like to be the older sister in a situation of a large age gap, but I wanted to know what it's like for the younger sibling in this situation. I talked to my friend Mike Albertini (20) about his life as the baby of the family. Mike has four other siblings: a sister five years older, a brother eight years older, a brother ten years older, a sister 16 years older, and a brother 18 years older. Mike shared with me his experiences of feeling like he had second parents, distance relationships, and the pros and cons of being the "baby".

What was it like growing up in a house where you were the youngest?

I was the entertainment pretty much. They used to put me in a huge blanket and tie it up, then they would leave me outside and lock the doors. Once it was even snowing. And a lot of tickle torture, which I hated because being ticklish is one of my weaknesses.

One of my sisters has this thing for slapping me. This summer we were at a beer festival in Portland, and after we were staying at her place, I decided I wanted to go home. She didn't want me to drive so she slapped me like ten times.

How was your relationship with your siblings?

It's changed a lot over the years. Now, I finally have caught up to them, and we're on even playing fields. Before it was hard, like when they'd all go out, and it was my bed time. Now they all have families. I was five years old when my brother married and ten years old when my sister got married. I was the ring bearer for both of them.

It was weird cause I was an uncle when I was eight years old. I'm definitely the cool, young uncle. I'm Uncle Mikey. But they don't respect me, they don't even call me "uncle", I'm just Mikey.

Did your parents treat you differently than your older siblings?

My siblings give me shit all the time, cause they think I've had it easy. I got a car and they said I was spoiled. There's definitely a little resentment. They paved the way for me, definitely. What not to do, get ideas of what you should do.

As far as my parents, let’s just say I knew how to play the game and they didn’t want to play anymore. Their mentality was: do whatever you want, just don’t get busted for it.

Did you act differently than your friends, having older siblings?

Yeah, one thing different was I'd try to be older. I think it had to do with the trying to catch up thing.

What's an example?

Like playing video games in high school with my friend. I got it in my head that my brothers didn't play video games. I thought we should go drinking and start trying to do stuff.

What was your relationship with your oldest brother (18 year gap)?

Tony was the authoritative type of guy for me. He wasn't in the house when I was growing up. He would come home once in a while, and he had a mullet. I was like Tony's old and weird. When I was a sophomore in high school I went to the beach with Tony. He lectured me about how great 80s music was, and made me listen to Eddie Money and Poison. I was like "Oh my God, you're such a loser". That's so funny cause that's probably gonna be you with your little sister. [Thanks!]

Miracles Do Happen!

Pregnancy, as we all know, is not always intended or expected. Here are some great stories of pregnancy miracles:

"Pregnant after being infertile"
"Delivery after 37 weeks"
"Baby born out of abdomen"
"60 year old woman gives birth"

We need to talk

In interviewing for my article about the surprise of a child into a family, the most fun I had was listening to people's anticipation for the news (i.e. being told "we need to discuss something") and the reaction of people when they found out. People immediately think the worst. For instance, when my mom said "we have to talk" to my dad, he thought she was going to say something like, "I want a divorce." When I heard "we have to talk" I thought I was grounded for life. Next time you talk to a pregnant woman, ask others how they found out and what they were thinking could have been the "need for discussion."

"Adult Stuck in Child's Body" Syndrome

In interviewing my brother about our little sister, Marielle, he made a comment that I found interesting and true:

" It’s funny cause we’d actually have conversations like adults, you know, I’m a 23-year-old talking to a 4-year-old sitting down eating, it’s pretty funny to interact. "

Everyone always remarks about how my sister is like a 30-year-old trapped in a little child's body.

I've noticed that many children who have been raised in a predominantly adult environment share this trait. They talk like us because they are constantly listening to us. Is this just a new generation of entirely too mature children or is this something more circumstantial?

Looking for any insight people can share with me on this!

Pregnancy Considerations

Here are some helpful videos about how to "survive" the pregnancy period:

Exercise and Pregnancy


Emotions and Pregnancy


Prenatal Pointers


Common Considerations

Pregnancy at all ages

As we are all aware of the physiological and mental changes we experience throughout different stages of life, in the same way, pregnancy at all ages can differ in experience. There are generalizations made about the average ease of a young pregnancy (mid-20s), as well as the frequent problems and risks of late pregnancy (late 30s and up); yet these notions may be the opposite when looking at pregnancy at an emotional and maturity level.

While it is important to consider the facts and stats, most importantly is evaluating your situation on a personal and unique level. Dr. Richard H. Schwarz, MD assures us:

"The truth is that no matter what your age, you're very likely to have a healthy baby as long as you are in good health, seek early prenatal care, and adopt sound lifestyle habits."

Ask experts, check out interesting articles, and join communities of pregnant women at: http://health.discovery.com/centers/pregnancy/pregnancy.html