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Welcome to Educated, Common Sense Parenting! This is my parenting education/commentary blog. Start here and read About This Blog.

I believe too many parents today have let their children rule their households. Their children dictate their daily lives, demand every ounce of their attention and do not show any respect for their parents. This needs to change. The only way to do this is if parents start letting good old common sense start dictating their parenting practices and stop letting their children run the show. You're the parent. Act like one.

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Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Flashback

I got this forwarded to me via email and I love it. For the record, I don't condone smoking while pregnant or many of the things listed here but this whole post shouldn't be taken that lierally. The point of this is to look at the BIG PICTURE. What this says is....have a little COMMON SENSE!!

I took the liberty of highlighting my favorite parts :-) Enjoy!

And for the record, I ate tuna when I was pregnant and drank from the hose all the time..sue me! :-)

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE 1930's, 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant. They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can and didn't get tested for diabetes.

Then after that trauma, we were put to sleep on our tummies in baby cribs covered
with bright colored lead-base paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets and when we rode our bikes, we had baseball caps not helmets on our heads.

As infants & children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes.

Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And, we weren't overweight.. WHY?

Because we were always outside playing....that's why!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on..

No one was able to reach us all day. And, we were OKAY.

We would spend hours building our go-carts out of scraps and then ride them down the hill,only to find out we forgot the brakes. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Play stations, Nintendo's and X-boxes. There were no video games, no 150 channels on cable, no video movies or DVD's, no surround-sound or CD's,
no cell phones, no personal computers, no Internet and no chat rooms. WE HAD FRIENDS and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut, broke bones and teeth and there were no lawsuits from these accidents.

We would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping pong paddles, or just a bare hand and no one would call child services to report abuse.

We ate worms and mud pies made from dirt, and the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls and, although we were told it would happen, we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend's house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts and not everyone made the team. Those who didn't had to learn to deal with disappointment.

Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of.. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers, problem solvers and inventors ever. The past 50 years have been an explosion of innovation and new ideas. We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

The quote of the month is by Jay Leno:

'With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of swine flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?'

Saturday, January 2, 2010

Homemade Spaghetti O's!


Brookey doesn't often ask for more of any type food unless it's candy and she's ALWAYS has seconds and thirds of these so they're kid-tested!!

Homemade Spaghetti O's
(I don't measure very well, so amounts are approx)

(1) cup (dry) whole wheat "O" pasta (Safeway chains have these in their Eating Right line, they're called "Wheat Pasta Rings)
(1) 15 oz can organic, low-sodium tomato sauce
1/3 cup of milk
(1) teaspoon butter
(1) teaspoon sugar
Pinch of garlic powder
(1) handful of shredded cheese. I have used cheddar, mozzarella and jack.

- Cook pasta 2 minutes past package instructions (for that mushy, Spaghetti O's texture); drain.
- Whisk next 5 ingredients together over medium heat. Simmer for 5 minutes and whisk in cheese.
- Combine pasta and sauce--enjoy!!!