Archives for October 2019

During pregnancy you gave in to the urge for a Diet Coke. Gasp! You lifted heavy boxes while setting up your baby’s room. Uh oh! You ignored your doctor’s warnings not to gain more weight. Shhh!

Before your child even entered the world you probably lived through more than one guilt-producing ‘bad mom moment.’ Let’s face it, being human means making mistakes and sometimes caving to temptation. Instead of beating yourself up about how you fail as a parent, why not choose forgiveness, or at least acceptance? Take it from plenty of good mothers: we all find as many ways to mess up as there are hours in the day. Don’t believe it? See how many of these bad mom moments sound familiar:

1. Forgetting to pick your child up from school/practice/lessons.
2. Eating the last piece of fudge that your son had already claimed.
3. Falling asleep/texting/talking during your daughter’s dance/band/piano performance.
4. Locking yourself in the bathroom so you can finish the last chapter of a really good book.
5. Placing your child’s school project on the roof of the car and then driving away with it still up there.
6. Arriving at parent-teacher conferences in your sweats.
7. Sneaking a pacifier/stuffed animal/blankie/other ‘lovey’ into the trash.
8. Missing an appointment because it just slipped your mind.
9. Letting out an expletive in front of your child (under duress, of course).
10. Accumulating a stack of scout badges that should have been sewn onto a uniform.
11. Accidentally leaving Santa’s special wrapping paper where your child can see it.
12. Making your child re-wear pants/shirt/underwear/socks because the laundry wasn’t done.
13. Tooth Fairy? What Tooth Fairy?
14. Putting the car in drive without buckling your child’s car seat.
15. Losing your child in a store, mall, or museum. (Just looking away for a SECOND!)
16. Finishing the leftovers of your child’s kids’ meal, and then having him ask where it went because he’s still hungry.

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17. Discovering a rash on your baby’s bottom because (oops!) you hadn’t changed his diaper all day.
18. Unintentionally giving your child a black eye while horsing around.
19. Scolding your child for leaving her dirty plate on the table, only to realize that it was your plate.
20. Finding your son’s goldfish doing the backstroke because you neglected to feed it while your son is at camp.
21. Telling your child he can only have two cookies for a snack and later caving to temptation and having five cookies yourself.
22. Landing your son on the wait list for the tee ball team when you fail to log on to registration at the exact hour that it opens.
23. Being the only parent to pack a brown bag lunch for the field trip, while everyone else’s sends money for the cafeteria because outside food is banned.
24. Waking your teen early (at her normal time) on a late start day because you’ve freaked out that she’s going to miss the bus.

Just remember, a bad moment does not make a bad mom. In fact, your response to the mistakes you make with your kids can be growth opportunities for all of you. If nothing else, they often make for funny stories later on.

By Lara Krupicka, a parenting journalist and mom to three girls. She’s lost count of her bad mom moments, but thankfully her daughters still call her the “Best Mom in the World.”

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Spring is the perfect time to teach kids about how plants grow. Even if the ground outside is still frozen, there are fun things you can grow inside. Try one or more of these fun gardening experiments for fun and learning!

Beans in CD cases:

Recycle a clear CD jewel case to grow beans and teach kids about the parts of the plant. With the empty case hinge side up, add some potting soil, filling about one-third of the case. “Plant” a bean concave side down (like the letter “n”) on top of the soil and let the kids water with a dropper by adding drops of water into the hole at the top of the CD case. Stand the “planter” upright in a sunny window and kids will be able to clearly see the roots reaching down into the soil as the plant grows out of the bean.

Flower bulbs:

Paper whites and daffodils are favorite early spring plants, and growing flowers from bulbs is a great science experiment. Use any see-through container as a vessel, from plastic cup to a clear glass or vase. Add rocks or marbles to the bottom of your container and place the bulb on top, root side down. Fill with just enough water to cover the bottom of the bulb. Observe the bulb as it grows roots and eventually a flower! Bonus lesson: Cut open an extra bulb so that kids can see the inside of this plant powerhouse.

Colored Carnations or Celery:

Fill a vase or glass with water and tint the water with food color. Place a white carnation or celery stalk inside and watch the plant become colorful as it “drinks” the tinted water. This is a great, short experiment to show how plants take in water.

Root Vegetables:

Ever wonder how root veggies form under the ground? You can see for yourself– and show the kids– by planting root vegetables in a clear container. Clear Mason jars are perfect for this, but a clear vase or other container works just as well. First, fill the bottom of your container with pebbles, marbles or gravel to allow for drainage. Then, add potting soil. Plant any root vegetable seeds, several per jar. Try carrots, onions, radishes or turnips. Keep the soil moist and enjoy watching the root form. Best of all, when the vegetable is done growing, you can eat it!

Grow a Carrot Top:

This is a fun way to see a plant grow, but it will not produce an edible carrot. You can use an end of a carrot from your veggie scraps, or buy a whole carrot with the green fronds still attached for this experiment. Cut off the carrot near the plant end, leaving an inch or two of root. (Remember, the root is the edible part of the carrot, so you’ll want to cut your carrot near the wide end, leaving the part where the green leaves attach for growing.) Place several cotton balls on a plate or shallow dish and add water until the cotton is moist. Place the carrot top on the wet cotton, orange side down. Help the kids check and add water as needed. The green plant will sprout within a few days.

Sunflowers:

Sunflower seeds sprout and grow quickly, making this the perfect flower for impatient children. These seeds can be started just about anywhere, even in a Styrofoam coffee cup. Kids love seeing the plant push its way out of the soil, wearing the seed husk like a hat! Transplant your plant to a flowerpot after sprouting to observe the flower as it forms.

Grass basket:

Grass is another seed that grows quickly. Make a living basket by lining a basket in plastic and filling with potting soil. Scatter grass seed on top and lightly mist with water daily. The kids will love using a spray bottle! This makes a perfect spring table centerpiece filled with green, living grass!

Try any of these inexpensive garden experiments for a fun project. Growing plants is a great way to sneak some learning—and a little sunshine—into your daily routine.

By Tiffany Doerr Guerzon, freelance writer and mother of three.

Japanese taiko drumming and rice pounding, Korean kite-making, Chinese lion dancing and dumplings, Himalayan mandala-making and butter sculptures, Persian songs, moon-gazing and more: New Year’s celebrations throughout Asia are as varied and wondrous as the countries and cultures themselves.

Though individual Asian countries have unique practices celebrating the New Year, many common themes cross borders and unite peoples all over Asia. In Japan, China, Korea, Iran, Tibet and other countries along the Himalayas, the New Year is seen as a chance to start afresh while paying respect to traditions. Families clean their houses and take care of any unfinished business before the year begins. New Year’s celebrations are held from three to fifteen days, and incorporate elements of spirituality, rituals for good fortune, honoring one’s ancestors and the importance of family in addition to the larger community.

Japanese people take trips to Buddhist temples to pray and hear the 108 bells that ring out symbolizing the different types of sins humans are said to commit, followed by visits to Shinto shrines on the first three days of the New Year. In Korea people perform the ch’arye (ancestor veneration ceremony) and sebae (ritual greeting of parents and grandparents), and families eat rice-cake soup and play traditional games such as yut nori (a board game) and chegi ch’agi (hacky sack). The Himalayan New Year, Losar, draws largely from Buddhist ceremonies though the festival predates the introduction of Buddhism to the region. People of Persian ancestry honor their ancestors’ spirits in part by creating beautiful altars and dressing their children in shrouds.

Drawing on various regional folk cultures, Chinese New Year practices have influenced several countries in Asia. Some traditions recognize the past and prepare for the future, such as ceremonial house cleaning or when young people kneel before their grandparents to receive a red envelope filled with blessings.

Many rituals make use of loud noises and music to expel the bad luck associated with the past year. Banging on pots and pans in Iran and Central Asia is believed to drive away evil spirits of the past year. Similarly, China celebrates with fireworks and lion dancing accompanied by loud cymbals, gongs and other percussive instruments. Japan celebrates with a lion dance as well, but it is accompanied by more melodious court music compared to the rhythmic drive of other countries.

“Traditional food is also an integral part of the New Year’s celebration across the Asian countries,” says Japan Society’s Kazuko Minamoto. “In Japan, it is customary to eat mochi, or rice cakes, as well as a variety of traditional dishes known as osechi.” The Korean New Year is celebrated with rice cake soup, and the Himalayan Losar includes the drinking of Chaang beer and the eating of ghutuk (dumpling soup).

Because time is measured differently across Asia, the dates New Year’s is recognized vary greatly. Norouz, the Persian New Year, always falls on the Spring Equinox. Chinese New Year is also marked by the emergence of spring, occurring on the second New Moon after the winter solstice. In contrast, since the Meiji Era, Japan has marked its New Year by the Gregorian calendar, while Koreans celebrate by both the solar and lunar calendars.

2016 marks the Year of the Monkey for the countries that recognize the 12 year zodiac cycle, including Japan, Korea and China. The Japanese word for monkey is saru, and there is much lore surrounding the monkey in Japan. Click here to learn more about the Chinese zodiac cycle.

Information provided by Japan Society. Click here to see their schedule of CelebrASIA events, a three-month long series encompassing pan-Asian cultural traditions launches at Japan Society on Sunday, January 24, with New Year’s Celebration: Oshogatsu, and continues through March in Manhattan and Queens.