Totally agree. How else does one understand the concept of resilience?

My 10 year old doesn't have a cell phone either. My thought is he needs to be able to make none electronic communication a priority first, once he has mastered it, then he can handle the cell phone. I'm thinking 7th grade works, which is when his brother got his first cell.

I totally agree the influx of the news cycle has really messed with the ability for some parents to discern between real danger, and anticipatory danger.Not only do kids need to be taught to make decisions, they need exposure to situations where they will be required to use the material from lessons we have given them.

As much as I joke about being my son's roommate in college, the fact is I want him to be independent and figure out his place in the world. He's not going to do that as easily if I use technology as an umbilical chord as he gets older. You're so right about how important it is to be able to make decisions in college...and beyond.

I think being able to make my own decisions and have responsibility when I was younger helped me understand consequences and delegate tasks as an adult. I love that we live in a neighborhood where my kids can play flashlight tag or walk a couple of blocks to a friend's house. We're lucky in some ways, but even if we didn't live in the 'burbs, I would be letting my kids walk a couple of city blocks to a friend's house. And actually I think they'd already have a better understanding of public transportation as well.

Personally I think we start kids in sports way too young in the US. In other countries they don't begin until age 10 or later. We've been at tournaments where parents got out of hand and I told my husband "The field marshall should be able to make them wear a shock collar." I was only slightly joking. I cannot imagine any parent being proud of behaving in such a manner as to be suspended from their child's soccer game. Seriously, it's nuts. I hope your season is fun and your sidelines are happy!

I agree, the sidelines are intense, but we're all responsible for how we react to it. It's one thing to be intense, another to be abusive to other people or the players. There should be a decorum on the sidelines that is respectful to the players and the game itself. I played intramural soccer in college, fortunately the only people on our sidelines were cute guys from our dorm and they cheered for us no matter how we played! ; )

Maybe it is THIS spring which is the problem? We too agreed to allow our kids 14 and 9 to play two spring sports. We have NEVER done that in the past. The 14 year old will probably choose to do it again, but I remember being all over the place in highschool too, so that's fine. However at 9, it's not and it's not happening again next spring for the younger kid.

Both of my kids were able to sleep through phone calls and other noises. Maybe it was luck, or maybe it was because I followed my grandfather's advice (he was a doctor) to have the baby nap in a room with the light on and the radio going during the day, this way they could sleep when the hustle and bustle of anything was going on during the day, whether it be while we were home, or elsewhere. No doubt naps and night time slumber are sacred to parents. And my heart goes out to anyone who does have a baby who awakens when the phone rings, or the doorbell sounds, and everyone is then jolted out of their routine. That sucks. As for the telemarketers, I have found answering "I'm sorry, we just don't believe in (fill in the blank) works well to end the conversation. So far I have no belief in lawn care, decreasing my credit card balance,getting new windows or lowering our mortgage. Or I just hang up the phone. The telemarketers are doing their job, so their feelings of being hung up upon aren't relevant. It's not personal. Just hang up the phone. : )

Do they also opt out of teaching the "I Have A Dream" and "The Gettysburg Address" speeches? You should ask about those too. Heh heh. Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

I agree. Education occur without discussion whether at home or elsewhere. How many of us got to college or out in the work world and changed our minds about things our parents thought or what we were taught as kids? Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

In Virginia History and Civics are traditional subjects. Presidents, and their speeches, are routinely covered in both curricula. Our family is active duty military and I was far more upset with my son's school when we lived in Illinois for announcing the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon during school hours right after the building was hit. My son was in Kindergarten and only understood that military members were hurt. He worried all day if his father was okay, even though we did not live anywhere near DC at the time. So I guess my perspective on what is upsetting for kids to hear at school may differ based on having the personal experience of my kid who was really scared and I had no idea until hours later which was truly traumatic for our family. Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Our air conditioner is broken, so sitting in a really long movie worked very well for us that evening. There were some funny moments in the film, but if you're AC works, I would just wait to rent it so you can fast forward thru the parts that never needed to be in the film in the first place. However, if your AC is broken, this would be THE movie to go see at the theatre, unless you can find a theatre playing "Reds" which would mean you would have to probably time travel, which may not be something you can or are willing to do.

We keep our computers in my home office which is located right off the kitchen. Sometimes the kids will be on the computer in there, and I'll ask them, "What site are you on?" Just to keep them aware that I'm around, interested and keeping my eye out. Now both of them think it's a riot to answer "DicksDotCom!" even if they are on Webkinz or ESPN.com. Such smartassery. I wonder where they got that...

Diana, I was a school social worker in rural Louisiana. : )

Hi Lisa, I don't think we're on opposite sides at all. I'm with you and agree with most of what you wrote. I am a former school social worker, so I am utterly sympathetic with the stress the teachers are under when it comes to the testing. Frankly, I am waiting for someone to get really brave and file a lawsuit citing that this "teach for the test" and NCLB both violate Academic Freedom. I am horrified at how teachers must arrange everything around for preparing for the test. Kids are fortunate to have teachers like you Lisa, who do reassure them and take notice of their students and the parents too. Maybe I wasn't clear, so let me take responsiblity for that; I wasn't accusing the school of telling the students the mints were a drug. I know schools don't say that sort of thing. My commentary is on the *act* of teaching children to seek an external stress relief rather than dealing with what is actualy bothering them. I.e. take a mint to relax instead of talking about how the testing is stressing them out. As for emotional eating and how it relates to candy being given out school, we're gong to have to agree to disagree on that. I'm confident we could both find study after study to support our own position, and we'd both be right. : ) What I would love to see is more parent education as well as school admin education about the effect all of this has on the students and teachers, after all, it is the students and teachers who are in the thick of it far more than anyone else. You all need far more support than what you are currently receiving. I am very happy you took the time to voice your opinion, it is an important one and should be heard.

I'm a real Devvie Downer, aren't I?

OMG "Growing Up And Liking" It is the pamphlet my elementary school gave us! We also were treated to a film strip depicting a car hood being opened and the voice over asking us, "Do you know how a carburetor works?" then a dramatic pause followed by the voice over asking,"How about a fallopian tube?" No lie.

You might find the kid makes up her own name for you which might be gramma, grammy or even JoJo. Heh heh As for our family, my mother is "Baba" which is Russian for Grandma. My dad is Grandpa David because his father was Grandpa Herman. Although I wish he were Zayde (Yiddish for grandfather) however that would be confusing because my parents are divorced and my father is married to my stepmother, who is know as Grandma Rosanne. So yeah, blended families come with special circumstances and naming rituals! Hey, you could go the Dora route and be "abuela"

Aviva and I are still arguing about which one of us gets to be "Tamika" because we were sent an email which began "Dear Tamika". We've been far more peaceful about the one addressed to "Dear Aviva and Dave". Because my father is named Dave, so clearly Aviva has been working with him behind my back. Bitch. Why oh why did I have to learn of her betrayal from someone trying to pitch me liquid soap? Why G-d? Whhhhhhhyyyyyyyyy?

It was a fun night. And if we want to do it again, I bet we could. : )

Until I got to the hat tip to Alsice cooper, I was singing the along to a Ramones tune. But hoever you sing it, it's meant to be celebrated! Congrats!

I can get a decent steak in Nebraska, Colorado or Kansas. Tex Mex is now all over the country. So I don't think I'd miss Texas all that much. With the exception of Austin and a couple of specific blocks in Houston and San Antonio.