As with radio, and then television, and several social networking sites, youtube.com is just too open-ended for parents not to be concerned when their children use the site.  In fact, Youtube recently made a mandate on their site that only viewers over the age of 13 were welcome.

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In the mornings, when my coffee hasn’t yet kicked in, but my son is hungry for breakfast, I often Youtube children’s videos for him to watch in his highchair as I serve him breakfast.  At nine month’s old, I’m not concerned that he could chose the SNL 10 year Anniversary version of Aladdin instead of Disney’s, but that time is quickly appearing on the horizon.  As a preschool teacher, I know well that three-year-olds understand all too well how to move a mouse and select a link, especially one that is animated or moving.  To save myself the time and energy of filtering the sites of my own, I’ve been looking for media sites that do that for me.  Here are the ones I’ve used and enjoyed:

• Youtube for Children is great when I am looking for a specific child-friendly show for my son.  I’ve found this site to be the most comprehensive, yet simplest site.

• Another site of interest is totlol because the videos are rated and discussed by parents – it takes on more of a forum.  Viewers must be members in order to watch the videos, which are customized by you.  Their ‘AgeOptimizer’ brings age appropriate videos to front of your homepage.  This would be a wonderful site – if it were free.  As it is, the membership fee is $18 a year.

• Finally, I believe Kideo Cafe could be the silver bullet.  Its free, parent-monitored, as the site boasts, and includes videos for parents as well.  It also creates a safe environment for kids to make and post videos for their peers to watch.  Even with this site, however, I have found myself filtering a bit as I have seen several music videos and other more adult-oriented videos.

Do you let your children watch online videos?  If so, from which sites and how do you monitor them?

Born and raised in Austin, I always thought Texas’ capital, would be safe from, oh I don’t know, things like airplanes flying into buildings!

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We were horrified when my husband, also an Austinite, received a call from his father that a plane crashed into a building adjacent to his (my father-in-law’s) own place of work!  Of course my first reaction was to hop on to Facebook, so easy to do with my new Blackberry Curve 8530, and note the ‘news.’  Indeed, long after Josheph Stack’s suicide blog was removed from its original site, Facebook and Twitter kept footage of the crash and original content from Stack’s anti-IRS rant alive and well.

It has been noted that an increasing number of people are obtaining news from online sources, and while this certainly effects television and newspaper industries, I think the most interesting aspect of online news sources is the following discussion at the bottom of the pages.  Comments on articles and subsequently on Facebook and Twitter allow readers to share their perspectives, and add information to the news story, helping readers to be better informed on the topic.  After all, the news reporters couldn’t have spoken to every witness or tapped every information source. Certainly we should all be wary of slander and unfounded gossip, but I think providing a variety of perspectives helps us to form a more collaborative history of events.  After being dependent on conglomerate news sources for the last half a century, we’re back to storytelling.  This time, however, its documented and global!

Forty-seven states had snowfall yesterday!  If your family is home for the day(s), here are a few indoor family activities that involve little preparation, almost no mess, and promise to get your bodies moving.

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1) Family Portrait:  This works better if you have multiple people in your family.  All you in need is one writing utensil per person and one piece of paper.  Take turns drawing a single line with out talking to anyone else about what you’re trying to draw.  After about 10 turns (or whenever you want to stop).  The outcome is always different than what you’d expect. (similar games include tic-tac-toe, squares, and hang-man)

2) Rad Libs: Shine up your language skills with ad libs.  You can do them online or, if you’re children are old enough, use a children book or song and make your own!  Young children love to hear familiar names in a story.

3) Hand it to ya:  Try not to giggle as you bring back Down by the River (where the bullfrogs jump), Miss Mary Mack, and Miss Suzy and teach your children the appropriate hand motion.  If you’re a social media dad and don’t know the songs or motions don’t despair!  Thumb war is fun at any age or gender.

3) Get Your Goose On: Burn calories with musical chairs, duck duck goose or hide and seek.

4) Foot Loose:  Turn up the music and let your children choreograph.  Don’t forget to charge the camcorder.

These activities are great for parties too! As a preschool and kindergarten teacher, I’m always on the look out for hands-on, educational games with little or no mess.  Add suggestions!

Two decades ago ‘test tube babies’ were the moral dilemma. The global community wondered at the possibilities, good and evil, that might arise from this modern technology. Now, en vitro fertilization is commonplace and so mainstream that Kate and her eight and OctoMom are not just in the news, not just on television, not just on magazine racks, but also common fodder for social media as well. Everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame and who doesn’t revel in showing off their children in any form of media. I wonder, though, are parents and their children really ready for global communication?

I have to admit that I laughed at David After Dentist and Single Babies (Cory and David each have their own websites complete with  merchandise). In fact, I love youtubing ‘laughing babies,’ there’s nothing more infectious!  But what will Charlie think of his fame when he’s fourteen years old? We all remember Numa Numa and the Star Wars Kid, which were recorded in the 2008 Guinness Book of World Records as the most viewed internet clips ever, but do you remember that Star Wars Kid? Ghyslain Raza’s parents pressed charges against the teenage boys who posted the video, and Gary Brolsma of Numa Numa initially refused calls from media and fans.

Now that I have a son and some adorable and funny footage of him, I wonder about the wisdom of placing his video on the internet.  This issue isn’t black and white.  It seems relatively harmless to post the video of his first crawl on Facebook.  After all, only my ‘friends’ can see it.  But what if it is transposed elsewhere?  And while posting a video of your child ripping up paper on YouTube may seem innocuous, where do you draw the line? With Google advertisements and merchandise is almost too easy to capitalize on your children. What is your child’s dignity worth?

Image: (Zazzle.com)

I was sitting in class with a mother of four whom works full time, is a full time student, and tutors in whatever spare time she has. While most people find this admirable I was, to put it mildly, a little scared. I myself am a mother of one, a full time student, and working part time. Motherhood alone is a full time job. I am not able to fully concentrate on my studies, and am exhausted all the time, not to mention the constant pressure I feel in needing to contribute financially. Unfortunately, it cost money to live, and life demands a double income, so mothers are compelled to join the work force. Today, the media glorifies the working mother, and many women feel pressured to fill that lofty societal image that demands women to be superheroes.

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This year’s economic challenges have made it especially harder for woman, demanding longer hours at work, and out of the house. Studies show that 14% of women have taken second jobs to make ends meet. Being a working mom may make you feel like a superhero, but it eventually takes its toll. It is extremely important to realize your limits, and actually delegate in order to normalize your workload.

In aiming to create equality for the female plight, feminists failed to acknowledge the fact that only women can be child bearers. More importantly, fathers cannot replace the role of a mother. Here is a great video explaining the importance of a mother being at home the first 3 years of their child’s life.

Luckily, advances in social media allow us mothers to work from home. This has lightened our load considerably. It cuts out the commute. There are more part time jobs available, and women can be more flexible and available to attend to home duties as well.

How Diet and Mental Health Connect

I’ve just recently been introduced to Mamapedia.com and already find myself  hooked! It is extremely user-friendly; to start with, I was able to use my Facebook account to sign up. Meaning, I have one less set of account information to remember. Like most online accounts they send out a “Daily Digest,” but unlike most I receive, I actually read theirs from beginning to end. I actually find every bit of text interesting and useful.

To fully understand what I mean, I am going to explain the various attributes of their site. To begin with, you are able to set your profile to your specific location, allowing you to obtain local information relevant to you. Each member is able to ask questions of other mothers, who may not be professionals, but definitely have the necessary experience in the mothering field. There is a full range of categories that are subcategorized to ease your search for previously asked questions as well. You can then view currently asked questions and help others by sharing your own advice and solutions. This creates a beautiful ‘give and take’ community. And because of the large volume of members, your questions are bound to be answered. I just love the assortment of questions! An example of a current question:
“Am I Asking Too Much?

My husband and I both work full time. He works at least 50hrs a week, I work at least 35 usually 40. My home is not immaculate by any means, but I try to keep it together the best I can. My days off are filled with cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, bills ect. Which doesn’t leave a lot of free time for fun. My question is am I expecting too much help from my husband. For example… we are both off today. He let me sleep in until 9am and he got our son ready and off to school. Super nice of him. However, now I am getting irritated because there is so much to get done around the house and he is just sitting and watching tv. He asked what we should do today and I said that I wanted to get the family room and our bedroom up to snuff. Which means dusted, vacuumed, laundry put away, this is in addition to my other daily “chores”. He thinks I am overly clean. Am I being a jerk because I feel like he should find something productive to do around the house, instead of sitting around?”

Click on the link to the question to view responses. Many of us lead similar lives: married, children, and working – we are bound to overlap experiences. Some questions are very tempting to respond to, especially when you feel you can relate. While I am not a very active member, I love reading people’s responses and am very grateful to those who do take the time to help others.

Another great component of Mamapedia.com that initially got me excited was the timeline. It allows you to add your children to your profile and record their developments on individual timelines. I always worried about forgetting to write down when my son took his first steps, or losing the book I recorded it in. Thankfully my fears have been relayed because I can automatically enter these events into the site, and I can always find a computer!

Being a new member of Mamapedia, I’m sure there’s more to this site than I’ve listed: forums, current event articles, local searches. I strongly recommend all mothers try it out, and while you do, check out the Member Perks!

I love good old-fashioned snail mail donation request envelopes that come with a free page of address labels adorned with flowers or puppies, but lately giving online has become more exciting seeing than “free gift enclosed” printed on the outside of some of my envelopes.  This may stem from the fact that sometimes its even FREE (for me) to give to charities.

This all started on December 28th, when I realized I had forgotten an old friend’s birthday.  I rushed to her Facebook page and noticed she had asked all of her Facebook well-wishers to donate what they could at Unite for Sight with whom she will be volunteering in Ghana.  I donated $5, which was nice of me, I know, but the really cool thing was that the website actually tracks the monies donated, so I’ve been looking to see how close Emily is to her goal!

Since you’re on Facebook already (I know I am), you might consider taking a look at the Causes application, instead of feeding your chickens on Farmville or whatever meaningless applications you may have been sucked into.

Giving my own money was good, but when several of my friends invited me (to put it nicely) via Facebook to vote for Friendship Circle, which matches teenage volunteers with special needs children, to win $1 Million through Chase Community Giving Program I was hooked.  With a click of a button, I could direct major corporations to donate to charities I deem important.  I happy to note that the recent tragedy in Haiti, wasn’t on the ballot Chase is giving a matching $1 million to fund Haitian relief.

It gets simpler, with hundreds of non-profits providing ‘click to donate’ buttons on sites like care2.com, which provides ample information about the cause, the sponsors and how get more involved, or click to donate directories for organizations near and far.

Apparently giving online, in any form, is quite trendy right now, but to me giving economic direction to large corporations is quite a novelty.  As a life-long environmentalist, I have often seen conglomerate businesses portrayed as the bad guy, but ‘click to give’ is bringing everyone together!

www.babycenter.com

In the not so distant past newly minted mommies had to *gasp* figure out their problems for themselves.  Thankfully new moms aren’t alone anymore.  Through any number of online networks, mothers (and fathers) can share their post-baby body woes or compare notes about their wild nights.

When I had my son last May, my mother was my lifeline for the first few days of his life.  As I struggled with my son’s lack of dirty diapers and inability to ‘latch on‘ during nursing sessions, my mother assuaged my fears and told me of her own difficulties as a new, single mother.

“You barely ate anything for the first few weeks, but I never gave up trying,” she told me. The day after I left the hospital, my husband, newborn and I drove my mother to the airport. I was hysterical. When I got home I sought female comfort, but due to third-degree laceration, I could barely move and wasn’t up to entertaining company.   I reached out to the easiest and most open nurturer I could find: the huge society of mommies online. I signed up for several baby and mommy e-newsletters. Some of them, like Facebook’s Circle of Moms, didn’t calaculate my son’s birth appropriately and sent me way too many updates.  Others, like Baby Center,  were gently empathetic, helpful and sent me coupons!  Speaking of coupons, I also signed up online to get freebies from Gerber and Huggies and have been well rewarded!  Gerber sends me coupons for up $15 off of formula and Huggies regularly sends me $3 off any mega-pack or larger.  Just a note, beware of the 10% and $25 off code at Diaper.com.  I’m not saying its a disreputable site, but that particular coupon is misleading.  I would only recommend them for hard-to-find diaper and baby products.  More recently, I’ve been more interested in a more global community of women and found some interesting groups and blogging personalities at Twittermoms.com.

As I head towards my new home in Baltimore, and consequently temporary unemployment, I have also stumbled on a site called Mommies Online that may keep me busy in my new community.  Mothers from all backgrounds and countries are uniting on a professional level, as seen at the Haredi Women Professionals Network.  If you know of similar sites please share!

FemNetism. Add that to your Urban Dictionary and smoke it!  Finally, an employer that doesn’t wonder whether we’ll take maternity leave or quit after two years to get married.  The world wide web doesn’t look down its nose at us ‘Mommy Bloggers’ in our spit-up stained sweatshirts and unpainted faces or raise on eyebrow at the BlogHers who may or may not be burning their brassieres.  Equal opportunity employer has a new meaning when it comes to those of us employed by the web, or facets thereof.  Although technology has been traditionally seen as a man’s vocation and vice, the flexible hours and content matter that social media affords is too tempting to pass up.  According to the 2009 Women and Social Media Study done by BlogHer, iVillage and Compass Partners, women all over the world are not just taking the world wide web by storm via blogging and other social media outlets, but they also care very much about what their fellow woman bloggers have to say.  85% of the nearly 4000 women when asked, said they had made purchases influenced by reports written by another woman through her own social media avenue.

This evening, I listened to Women in Media Predictions via Radio Blog by Tech in Twenty and was interested to hear the dialogue of three female bloggers who have made their pastimes into their professions.  An interesting note made by one of the guests speakers was that blogging is not just a means to a paycheck, but a very real way to create a social network.  I happen to agree.  As people read each other’s blogs for simple intentions (whether its advice about a product or travel or whatever), we begin to imagine the person typing at the other end of the screen.  Indeed, a form of  interaction that was taking a downturn in recent times has been reinstated: writing.  There was once a time when pen pals were popular and exciting, when hand-written thank you notes and letters to our grandmothers were everyday.  And its back, only this time instead of one pen pal we have millions and Grandma doesn’t have to wait five business days to hear from you! Blogging has become a modern day beauty parlor, where one can gossip and relate stories and take care of business simultaneously.