Jill Berry
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Comments
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On the article White Knuckle Parenting: The Santa Lie
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On the article White Knuckle Parenting: In Memory of Susan Niebur
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On the article Scam Alert: Cheap Driveway Paving, Too Good to be True
Jill Berry
11:45 am on Friday, October 21, 2011
ReplyVery scammy! I paid a guy to reseal my cracked in parts driveway. first of all the guy asked me to write the check to him not his business as his business was in "financial and legal troubles." Red flag one. Second the drive way is now more cracked in places. I should have called the Better Business Bureau before hiring him. He didn't come door to door, but was recommended by a friend.
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On the article Suspicious Man at Centennial High School
Jill Berry
4:04 pm on Saturday, May 7, 2011
ReplySuper creepy. Similar incident at Lisbon ES last school year. A young man was hanging arond at the back of the school during recess. Tried to talk to the kids. The AP folowed him to the turf business behind the schook. He wss the son of the owner. School sent a note home.
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On the article When Classic Toys Go Horribly Wrong – Or If You’re Lucky, They Stay Awesomely the Same
Jill Berry
2:49 pm on Wednesday, April 6, 2011
ReplyPlaydoh is a huge hit in our house. Ditto for Moon Sand and Moon Dough...very messy.
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On the article Moms Need Moms
Jill Berry
8:04 am on Tuesday, March 29, 2011
ReplyI need real people. I find it unsettling when moms compete with each other. I want to be able to tell you that my kid is doing X and not have you tell me hat your kid is doing X so much better than my kid. I love dead air...you know the space in a conversation with friends that can remained unfilled. Friends don't need to jabber on without a pause for breath. Jabbering usually means the person you are talking to is not listening to what you are saying. Not much of a conversation, really?
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On the article What are Your Kids Wearing?
Jill Berry
12:44 pm on Thursday, March 24, 2011
ReplyI wore a uniform from age 9 to 16. The uniform made it impossible to distinguish the well off kids from the kids on welfare. Everyone looked the same. At times kids tried to make their uniform more unique by shortening their skirts or tying the school tie in a wide knot but the principal -- Sister Victoire -- ruled with an iron fist. No variations in uniform were tolerated. I wish my children's school had a uniform or I could afford a private school. School dress codes are hard to enforce if kids leave home wearing one outfit and change on the way to school.
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On the article Home Schooling Isn’t For Me
Jill Berry
12:35 pm on Thursday, March 24, 2011
ReplyThis post reminds me of the letter I received from my 7-year-old daughter. She was in 1st grade. Our son was a month old. My 7-year-old wrote me a letter asking to be homeschooled. She loved school, but the thought of Mom, little sister, and baby brother, at home with the grandparents all day while she was in school was too much for her to handle. Her letter was an eye opener in to what was going with her at school. She wrote a very detailed list of Pros and Con for homeschooling, including "I won't have to deal with Jack the Bully!," "I can read any book I want," and my fave "I can take care of the baby."
After talking to the teacher about the bullying situation, I talked to my daughter about why I wouldn't homeschool her. At the time I wasn't working from home, but even with all my so-called free time I would have been a very impatient, "stressed out about whether I was teaching her everything she needed to know" type of teacher.
Homeschooling is not for everyone. Kim, like every parent, has a right to explore her options. Each child is different. I know of families where one child is homeschooled while the other is in public/private school. We have several families in our community who homeschool for a few years, then bring the kids back to the public schools.
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On the article Moms Talk: Too Much Homework?
Jill Berry
11:26 am on Thursday, March 17, 2011
ReplyMy 7 year old doesn't understand why his sister's are not able to play with him. His sisters are in middle school and high school. The high schooler has a heavy GT course load with anywhere from 2-4 hours of homework per night. The middle schooler is at about 1-1.5 hours per night. My son is in 2nd grade...he has about 30 minutes if he gets the homework done without excessive fussing...which does not happen. Homework is a given in our house. Kids have to do homework. Period.
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On the article How Important are Local Community Centers to Your Family?
Jill Berry
3:33 pm on Wednesday, March 9, 2011
ReplyCommunity centers offer classes, places for groups to meet, and fitness facilities. As a young mom, I was isolated in my home. If my neighbors were home, I never knew it. I craved companionship, but had little time to find, much less start, a playgroup for my daughter. With my youngest, I loved that I could meet up with friends at the library for storytimes or the community center. The kids would run around the walking track while the moms walked, too.
Jill Berry
11:39 pm on Tuesday, December 18, 2012
I'm all about keeping the Santa myth alive for as long as possible. My oldest started doubting at 9 or 10. I told her that children who believed in Santa got presents from Santa. That got her thinking. I went on to say that those who didn't believe only got Mommy/Daddy presents on Christmas morning. That did it...Santa presents are SO much better than boring old Mommy/Daddy presents.
She was a hard and fast believer until early 6th grade when she told me that she didn't believe any more. She wanted to be in on the magic and has never said anything to her siblings. She readily puts reindeer food out on Christmas Eve or gets excited when we see how far Santa is on his journey through Norad..
My middle is young for her age and played with toys well in to middle school. I never said anything to her, but in 7th grade she told me that she stopped believing in 6th grade. She was content about knowing the truth finally. My 9 year old is a firm believer.