It’s been years since my husband and I went out for New Year’s Eve. We don’t want to be on the icy and snow-covered roads with all the people who have had one too many drinks to celebrate the new year. Plus it’s cold out and we’re big wimps.
The last few years we’ve let the teens have a small party. Last year we even let the younger kids join in by inviting one friend each to spend the night. The kids think we are really cool for letting them have a party. But we really do it so we know where are kids are at and that they are being safe. [Shh...don't tell them.]
If you’re going to have a party you need some things to keep the kids occupied. My boys are crazy for all things video games so entertaining them is easy. We move a couple TVs in to the family room and hook up video game consoles (some of our own and some their friend’s bring over). But what about my daughter? Or kids who aren’t video game fanatics? What other themes
Have a blast from the past party. Dress like a different era; the 80’s, 70’s, 60’s or 50’s. For an 80’s party you can watch Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Sixteen Candles and the Breakfast Club. Have a Rubik cube contest. Who can solve it the quickest? Or at all? Maybe just one color? Play a game of Cooties. Dance to some old 80’s rock.
Have a game night. Break out the board games for a night of fun. We have a ton of Scene It! games that always get us laughing. And my family loves the game Apples to Apples. If you haven’t played it, try it.
How about a movie night. Watch movies until midnight. It might be fun to pick a theme. When I was younger we had a John Travolta night. We threw on our PJs and slippers and watch old John Travolta movies. Teens today probably don’t want John, but you could have Star Wars or Brad Pitt movies instead. Make sure you have lots of popcorn, candy and soda.
Clear your throat and have an American Idol party. Rent a karoake machine and sing ’til the ball drops.
Send the kids on a scavenger hunt around the neighborhood. Put the group in teams of two and give out prizes to the groups that bring back the most items.
Have a mystery party. There are tons of role playing party ideas. You can find them in the games section at many stores.
Have a slumber party like when they were kids. They can roll their sleeping bags out on the floor along with their pillows. Get them retro pillow cases like Rainbow Brite and G.I. Joe. Have a pillow fight. Tell ghost stories.
Create a time capsule. Put in pictures or an article of clothing or an old toy. Include a note card with why the item is special. Share the stories with the rest of the guests. If the grounds not to hard, bury it in the backyard.
What other New Year’s Eve party ideas do you have?
I remember when I was a teenager and a family member would buy me clothes for Christmas. It was usually something I really couldn’t see me wearing (like the year I got these two really ugly brown striped turtlenecks). I thought old people just don’t understand good fashion.
Up until this week I thought that wasn’t me. I’m a parent now, but I’m a hip parent. I watch MTV. I glance at the teen magazine covers. I read TMZ. I know what everybody’s wearing.
But then I found myself standing in the middle of the men’s department at Kohl’s and I realized, I have no clue what’s hot this year. Well actually I have an idea of what’s hot, but I don’t know why. All of these latest men’s fashions are ugly.
And that’s when I knew. I was one of those people thinking why would anybody wear this? I was one of those old people.
Everything has skulls on it. What is up with the skulls? What happened to a nice college sweatshirt. Or football tee. And everything is either black, gray or brown. What happened to bright colors? I like bright yellow, red or orange. Happy colors. Not colors of death.
But I don’t have to wear it. My boys do. And they want to wear what everybody else is wearing. Jeans with holes in them. Jean you buy with holes already in them. And sweatshirts with skulls on them. *sigh*
Since clearly I’m well passed my fashion prime, I spent the whole time at Kohl’s following these two young men around. I’d guess them to be around 20. They were there with their dad, but their dad was just doing what I was doing; following them around and letting them pick out the good stuff.
I listened to their conversations. If they said, “This is awesome. But it’s not in my size.” I snagged that sweatshirt. When they said, “This rocks.” I grabbed one of those shirts in my teen’s size.
And apparently it worked. My 16-year-old got to open his gifts on Monday night since he’s going to be visiting his mom for the break. And he LOVES his new clothes. I’ve never heard him be so enthusiastic about the clothes I bought him.
So going forward my shopping trips will start with me scouring the crowds looking for the nearest hip teen. And then following him around. Hopefully I don’t get arrested for stalking.
Just in time for the new year, a Missouri woman will be going to court as one of the first to face harassment charge since Megan’s law went in to effect. The Megan I’m referring to is 13-year-old Megan Meier who committed suicide after a grown woman pretended to be a mean teenage boy who broke Megan’s heart. The law adds electronic sources, such as internet and text message to the Missouri harassment law.
This first case involves a 21-year-old woman, Nicole Williams, and a 17-year-old girl. Apparently the 17-year-old was talking to Williams’ boyfriend and she was none to pleased by it. She sent the younger girl several text messages some of which threatened rape. Williams claims others sent the text messages from her phone. Apparently Williams needs to keep better track of her phone.
Some say these are just normal threats between two girls who are squabbling over a boy. Now the comments are a legal matter only because of the medium used; text message. What do you think of that claim?
I’m no lawyer (I just play one in my head), but I believe the legal term of harassment typically refers to continued and unwanted behavior that is found to be threatening or disturbing. Multiple text messages threatening to rape or have somebody raped seems pretty threatening and disturbing to me. It’s not the typical “meet me in the parking lot so we can scrap” kind of threat.
My teens argue all the time. And I often hear them say, “Knock it off or I’m going to punch you in the face.” We recently had a little sit-down with both boys and told them we will not have any more talk like that. I don’t want to hear another “I’ll punch in the face” come out of their mouths. I know they don’t mean it [usually], but we don’t need to be intimidating and threatening each other in this household. Harassment will not be tolerated.
If somebody like Nicole Williams didn’t learn this lesson in her own family then maybe there does need to be a law to let her know it won’t be accepted in society. Now I doubt she would have followed through on her threat of rape, but she needs to understand that (1) no boy is worth going to jail for and (2) there are better ways to deal with jealousy and anger. I don’t really think she needs to do jail time for this, but I’m all for her facing a judge to explain herself.
My kids are smack dab in the middle of finals. At least they are supposed to be. They were supposed to have a couple finals on Friday. A few more today. And finish up tomorrow. But we got a couple inches of snow on Friday so school was cancelled. Today the temp was somewhere around -15 with a windchill closer to -30 so school was cancelled again. Assuming it doesn’t snow tomorrow (which it’s supposed to) they are just going to have a shortened day and forget about finals until after winter break.
So instead of staying up all night to cram for finals, the teens decided to stay up all night playing video games. We found out early last night that school was cancelled today so they made plans to spend the night at a friend’s house. There they played computer games all night long.
When I picked them up today the 16-year-old said, “I should sleep good tonight.” I asked what time he went to bed. “6am.” I’m pretty sure my eyes rolled in to the back of my head.
Then the 14-year-old said, “Yeah, I went to bed at a much more reasonable time.”
“What time was that?” I asked.
“4am.”
Yeah, ’cause 4am is sooo much earlier than 6am. If I stayed up until 4am I’d be a zombie. Oh to be young again.
My 14-year-old is smack dab in the middle of the teenage attitude. I speak of “the teenage attitude” like it’s a serious ailment. But then, if you have a teenager, you know it is a serious ailment. Or at least it feels like it.
My teen is a good kid, but he can be so darn annoying sometimes. He’s a big-time limit tester. He is constantly trying to see what he can get away with and how far he can go before my husband and I completely lose our minds.
Our biggest issue is him picking on his younger siblings; mostly his 9-year-old brother. I know sibling rivalry happens in every family, but it doesn’t really give me any comfort to know I’m not alone. I just want the fighting to stop.
The teen was an only child (other than his older half-brother who didn’t yet live with us) for the first five years of his life. And, I admit it, we spoiled him a bit. Then his world turned upside down when our twins were born. He went from spoiled only child to big brother of not one, but two babies. And I don’t think he’s ever forgiven the twins for crashing his party.
Fast forward to Thursday night when the teen and his brother were fighting over a video game. They were going back and forth calling each other a retard. “You’re a bigger retard.” “No you are.” Back and forth until I thought my head might explode. I cannot stand it when they call each other names. And I get exceptionally angry when they call each other “retards.”
I separated the boys and got the teen in his room. But he wouldn’t stop. He was trying to convince me he never called his brother a name…even though I heard the whole conversation. I just wanted him to shush and take a breather.
Eventually I grounded him from electronics for the rest of the night. I thought for sure that would quiet him down since his keyboard is practically an extension of his fingers. But nope. He kept on going. So I grounded him for a second night. That finally calmed him down. I guess he didn’t want to spend this whole weekend grounded from his life line.
The school ended up closing on Friday due to a snow storm blowing in. The teen was so disappointed because that meant he had a full day with no computer or video games. And he tested me all day long. He woke up at 6am and immediately got on the computer until Dad told him to shut it down. Later that night I found him on his computer and had to again get after him to turn it off.
However, other than those two “reminders,” he spent most of the day reading. And, get this, being nice to his brother. Turns out this punishment thing actually works sometimes. But I’m sure they will be fighting again by tomorrow. *sigh*
With this winter weather sometimes comes some winter illnesses. Of course, we worry about the common cold, upper respiratory infections, the flu and so forth, but there are some serious cold weather illnesses we need to be aware of as well. While it’s fun to play outdoors in the snow, we also need to make sure our tweens and teens are safe.
Hypothermia is one cold weather illness we need to be aware of. This is when the body can’t keep up in heat production and your lose more heat then you make. It’s caused by prolonged exposure to cold air and/or cold water.
The risk of Hypothermia is small for most of us, but according to the Mayo Clinic nearly 700 people in the U.S. die from Hypothermia each year so watch for the signs. It happens gradually so your teen may not even realize they are suffering. Signs to look for are:
Shivering
Stumbling
Slurred speech
Breathing abnormally slow
Cold, pale skin
Fatigue, lethargy or apathy
So basically if you’re sleeping, confused, and/or clumsy get inside immediately. A body temp of 95 degrees or lower is a medical emergency and requires immediate medical attention.
Your definition of extreme cold may vary depending on where you live. I’m pretty sure those in California have a very different idea of cold then we do here in Iowa. My crazy teens still wear shorts to school when it’s in the 50s. But wherever you live there are some basic precautions you should take in extreme cold to prevent Hypothermia.
Bundle up. Wear a warm water resistant coat, gloves/mittens, a scarf over your face, and warm boots. Throw on your snow pants if you got ‘em.
Dress in layers. That way you can take a layer off if you start to get too warm.
Don’t sweat. You need to stay dry to keep the heat in.
Don’t drink alcohol (which hopefully our teens aren’t doing anyway). (1) It makes it even more difficult for you to see the signs when you are intoxicated, especially since some drunk symptoms are also confusion and slurred speech. (2) Alcohol deceivingly makes you feel warm when you really aren’t.
If you start to get wet, go inside. Snow can seep in through the tops of boots or in to mittens. When that happens go dry them out.
If you start to feel cold, are shivering, or your extremities feel numb, go inside to warm up.
And, although it likely won’t help you prevent Hypothermia, make sure your kids wear sunscreen and Blistex/Chapstick when they go outside. We often think of those as summer items, but the sun does reflect off the snow and your skin and lips need protection.
Playing outdoors can be a lot of fun, but make sure your tweens and teens are protected.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas here in the Midwest. We’ve already had a few inches of snow and a couple of ice storms. And it’s not even officially winter yet. When I was a child I loved living in Iowa. My friends and I would play in the snow for hours coming in to go to the bathroom and sip some hot chocolate and then back outdoors. But now that I’m an adult I prefer curling up in a blanket on the couch over building a snow fort.
Even though I really want to stay indoors all winter long, I do understand the importance of the outdoors. We all need a little fresh air (now that the windows are sealed with plastic) and Vitamin D (from the sun). Plus we all saw what happened when we were crammed together in the van on a two day trip to Disney World. Clearly we need to give ourselves some elbow room.
But last year we went outside to play in the snow and didn’t know what to do with ourselves. I usually spent 20 minutes crafting the perfect snow chair and then I plopped my butt in it until the kids were whining about being cold and wanting to go back inside (which was about 10 minutes later). So I’ve decided this year we need a plan. Going outside to play in the snow requires some preparation…and I’m not just talking about the 15 minutes it takes to get on all of our winter clothes.
To help with the planning I’ve made a list of fun things to do outside in the snow so you too can have a plan.
Create a snow chair. It’s the perfect snow activity for us lazy bums. Just dig a whole for your rear end and then build up the back and sides to create your chair. If you’re really talented you can even make a recliner. Now that’s the life.
Make a snowman (or watch your kids make one from our snow chair).
If you’re looking for a family vacation, go skiing.
And for a real adventure, go snowboarding.
Satisfy your need for speed with snowmobiling.
Lace up your skates and go ice skating.
Head to the lake for some ice fishing.
Build a luxurious snow fort (around your snow chair).
Play a game of snow golf. Smooth out the greens (whites?!?) with your hands, shovel, or butt (or anything else you can find to smooth out the snow) and use a tin can for the cup.
Find a steep hill and go sledding.
Have a good ol’ snow fight. Use food coloring to make it a colorful snowball fight. Everybody gets their own color.
I got a letter from the high school in the mail today. No it wasn’t grades, or a disciplinary action, or even a “congratulations, your kid rocks” letter (but it would have been so cool if it was). This was a letter from the school nurse. She says the Iowa legislature passed a law in 2007, that became effective July 1st, requiring all children entering high school to have a dental screening. There is a form attached that we need to have our dentist fill out, assuming our kid has been to the dentist in the last year. If we don’t turn in the form by the end of January a local dental center will screen our student in February.
I’m not sure how I feel about this. A cavity or even gum disease isn’t contagious. So what business is it of the state (or the school) whether my kids go to the dentist or not. Shouldn’t that be my decision as his parent?
Don’t get me wrong. I absolutely think all kids should see a dentist. The state of Iowa suggests kids should go annually, but I believe they really should see their dentist every six months. And I take my kids to the dentist every 6 (or sometimes 7) months. But I think the state should leave it up to me to decide how to parent my child.
I recently received a funny email about ordering pizza in the future. A guy called in to order a pizza and the employee had access to all of the customer’s medical records, credit card purchases, etc. The joke was that the pizza place tacked on a $20 surcharge because the customer was overweight and his medical insurance company required a surcharge if he ordered anything unhealthy. But what’s really sad about this “funny” email is it’s not to far from the truth. The government has gotten all up in our business recently and it’s a little scary.
What do you think? Does the school have any business worrying about your child’s dental health?
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I’m not sure how I feel about this. A cavity or even gum disease isn’t contagious. So what business is it of the state (or the school) whether my kids go to the dentist or not. Shouldn’t that be my decision as his parent?
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