I am been doing teleclasses for parents and educators on how to keep children safe from predators. I am doing a live talk in NYC on 12/8 at the Museum of Motherhood. Please let your contacts know. They can register for the free event below.

Thanks in advance.

Jill Starishevsky
Prosecutor, Child Abuse/Sex Crimes
Author, My Body Belongs to Me

http://www.MyBodyBelongstoMe.com

646-262-7418

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/video/talking-kids-sexual-abuse-10255396 http://keepingchildrensafe-efbevent.eventbrite.com/

Great Blog about where we are going with the babies and small cell devices  ….

I have a very good friend who is a nanny. Almost every time I see her, her iPhone is either scratched or has a broken screen because she lets the children she cares for play with it. It’s really no surprise. As we know from this study…

via Slobber Alert: Turn Your iPhone Into A Baby Toy.

Children’s Story for the young ones…

Artie has written over 20 children’s stories, and that is just the tip of the iceberg.  Although he has a passion for film and writing, he also has a different career in Human Resources by day…  it is amazing how far your passion can take you.  This story speaks to children’s eating habits.  We laid it out here Artie’s 9th published story…

The Story

“Alex, your brother ate everything on his plate. Why don’t you be a good boy too and eat your dinner?”

“But I’m not hungry,” said Alex.

“Okay, I guess you won’t be hungry for sweets then,” said Alex’s Mom.

Alex’s Mom walked over to the countertop and brought over the most mouth-watering, tasty looking dessert you ever did see.

“Okay, who wants a piece of chocolate cake?”

Before anyone else at the table could utter a single word, Alex blurted out, “Me, me, me, me, me!”

“Alex, you just said you’re not hungry,” said Alex’s Mom. “How could you possibly want a piece of cake?”

“I just got hungry all of a sudden,” said Alex.

“Good, I bet you’re ready to eat your peas and carrots then.”

“I’m not hungry for them. I’ll just have a piece of cake please,” said Alex.

“Alex, it doesn’t work that way. To get a piece of cake you’ll have to eat your dinner first.”

“But I don’t want too!”

“Well, I guess you’ll just have to call it a night,” said Alex’s Dad. “You’re excused from the table, Alex. Brush your teeth and get to bed young man.”

“Yes, sir,” replied Alex.

As Alex stood up from the table, his brother pretended to be flying an airplane. After a bite of chocolate cake made a safe landing in his brother’s mouth, Alex ran out of the room as fast as he could. Being sent to bed without having dessert was tough enough, but being teased by his brother is what really took the cake.

After he brushed his teeth and climbed into bed, Alex found it hard to fall asleep that night. His stomach roared like an angry lion and he felt dizzy.

“I am so hungry,” Alex said aloud.

Alex felt weak. The room was spinning!

As he made his way to the kitchen, Alex could hardly wait to sneak a nice big piece of chocolate cake. He knew that would make him feel better. But when Alex opened the refrigerator door he was shocked to see a crocodile swimming in a jar of pickles. The crocodile looked mean and appeared ready to attack. Alex slammed the refrigerator door and cried out, “Help me! Please help me!”

Alex’s cry for help woke everyone in his family up. His parents and brother rushed to see what was wrong.

“What’s going on Alex?” asked Alex’s Dad. “Why are you up at this time of night?”

Alex hid behind the kitchen table as he pointed to the refrigerator and said, “Daddy, there’s a crocodile in our pickle jar.”

“There’s a what?” asked Alex’s Mom.

“I saw it! It’s in there,” said Alex. “There’s a crocodile in our pickle jar!”

As Alex’s Mom and brother joined him behind the kitchen table, Alex’s Dad opened the refrigerator door. He grabbed the jar of pickles.

“Please get it out of here,” cried Alex.

Alex’s Dad reached into the pickle jar and took a huge bite out of the crocodile.

“Wow,” said Alex’s Dad. “This isn’t sweet. When did we get dill pickles?”

“What’s going on?” asked Alex. “Where’s the crocodile? I saw it move. It showed me its teeth.”

After Alex was reassured everything was okay, his parents reminded him of how important food was for energy. Alex’s empty stomach was why he had felt dizzy and weak; and when you feel that way your eyes can play tricks on you. So you see, there never was a crocodile in the pickle jar that night! The next evening when Alex’s Mom told everyone there was plenty of leftover chocolate cake for dessert, Alex was the only one who didn’t want any. He was too stuffed. Three helpings of broccoli will do that.

The End

What are your favorite stories to read to your toddler(s) ?

To contact Artie, go to his site. If you are interested in writing a story for my site, contact me.

This whole Health Care Debate has me in a tizzy.  The question becomes even when we have health care for all, are we looking at the fine print,  and more importantly, what is the real issue here.  Much of this issue is the state of our health in the nation.  Juvenile diabetes is up, Up, UP!!  Why you say,… well just take a walk into one of your weekly birthday celebrations.    It is not enough for the children to run around and have little piece of cake.  But now they must be provided with soda, juice, and goody bags full of sweets.  No parent would ever deny a child more soda if they are thirsty, especially if it would make them look bad to other parents (do you know what is in a can of soda?)… and you know, these kids get thirsty.  I guess water is hardly an option anymore unless the child specifically asks for it.  Even at family celebrations, it is only polite to be serving cake, ice cream, and pastries for dessert.  Dessert is taken to the next level and the snacks on the shelf in the grocery store qualify for the same category as desserts when I grew up.  Parents profess to be aware, but when it comes to this celebration and that celebration we give in… it seems like every day!!  I do not claim to be perfect… far from it.    All I am saying is there is a lot of talk among parents agreeing on this but when it comes to focusing on your own children and family, it is hard to adjust.   That is when the health of our children gets worse, and worse. 

Get Informed -

Google It:

http://www.state.nj.us/health/fhs/shapingnj/partners.shtml

http://www.whale.to/v/sugar_q.html

http://www.facebook.com/SmartHabitsFans#!/SmartHabitsFans?v=wall

Get Cerebral:

http://www.techjackal.net/other/2010/04/22/sugar-is-not-so-sweet-for-your-health/

http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v10/n6/full/oby200266a.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE63J69U20100420

http://www.princeton.edu/pr/news/02/q2/0620-hoebel.htm

http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2008/12/12/2008-12-12_sugar_as_addictive_as_cocaine_heroin_stu.html

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Susan talks about the benefits of sign language for babies at a pre verbal age.  Benefits include both the parent and the infants!

Do your children believe what you say?

If you’re reading this I know you care about your children, yet your love and caring doesn’t insulate you from problems. Occasionally or more frequently, your children will not listen to you. Why is that? You’re a reasonable person making reasonable requests, yet they don’t listen. There are many reasons why that may happen. Sometimes it is merely and age thing. Infants don’t have the control over their behavior so I’m not talking about them. Older children are exploring their world and finding their limits. Children of any age are finding out the rules of life and in your home. They will push until they hit a wall that doesn’t move. That is why they behave for some people and not for others. You can explain the rules to them but rules aren’t rules unless they are enforced, and many parents are so busy that many rules are sometimes overlooked. If you tell them something is a rule, and sometimes they don’t follow the rule and nothing happens, then it is not a rule. The wall keeps moving. They learn that they don’t need to listen.

I’m talking about consistency and the same can apply to good things as well. Your four year-old may ask, “Mom, can we go to the park?” “Sounds like a good idea” you reply. Your daughter is talking about right now and you, on the other hand, recognize that there is no way you can go to the park now but sometime in the near future, hopefully, you will take her to the park. When she doesn’t get to the park that day and maybe for a few days your word loses its value.

When you don’t enforce rules or there are enough occasions when you seem to say “Yes” but life gets in the way of things working out the result is she doesn’t believe you. Sometimes you follow through and other times you don’t. In your world that is what happens when the million little things of life come into play. Your daughter lives in a black and white world of right now and you don’t. Consistency seems so easy when someone talks about its importance but for a parent it is more complicated. There is also a difference between consistency and rigidity.

Pay attention to what you say to your children. Don’t make more rules than you will enforce and be clear when you agree to do something. Be specific. You understand all the things that happen in your life, but your child only sees things from her point of view and young children only see things in the here and now. Your child will believe your word when you are consistent. When your child doesn’t believe you, behavioral problems can develop later on. More on that next time.

Loving your children is a great starting point for parenting.