And this is why you don’t put things you don’t want out in public on your MySpace page. A student teacher has been refused her credential due to a picture labeled “drunken pirate” on her MySpace page, because the college felt the photo was unprofessional. They felt the photo would encourage underage drinking.

Considering that she was rated superior or competent in all other areas, I find this ridiculous. It’s a part of her private life, and it’s certainly not that she was showing underage drinking. Drinking is legal for teachers off duty, after all.

I could even see the college informing her that it would be a good idea to take the image down and remind her that some would see it as unprofessional. But to deny her the credential she had earned over something so simple is ridiculous. Read the rest of this entry »

Guilt. It surrounds a mother’s day pretty much no matter the choices she makes. Work outside the home? Negligent. Stay at home? Lazy.

And it just keeps coming.

No matter what you do, sometimes you have to make compromises. You may have to work outside the home so that your family has enough to eat and a roof over their heads. Or it may just keep you sane. Despite what some may say, this is not a bad thing!

That’s a point where I disagree with many of my fellow stay at home moms. Many feel a mother should stay at home if at all possible. I agree, but my definition of possible includes mom’s sanity.

Frankly, I think there are more important things for a mother to worry about than whether or not her choices meet with everyone else’s approval. Doing the best you can for your family in your own way is far more important. Read the rest of this entry »

I see it all the time, people wanting to work at home but not knowing how to get started. And it’s interesting to see who has realistic ideas about what they could do and who has been taken in by the fantasy of the easy life working at home.

You see, one of the most important things you can do is ask yourself questions about working at home. Don’t just go to forums and ask everyone else. You need to ask yourself too.

• Ask yourself what you want to do from home.

“I don’t know, whatever pays well,” is not a good enough answer. Looking for ways to work at home when you don’t have any goals at all is not going to get you anywhere.

This is why you always hear answers about the need to have a passion for whatever you do. It is the starting point for any at-home career. You need more than just passion, but without that you aren’t likely to get far. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s one of the most dangerous things you can do as a parent - washing your children’s favorite stuffed animals. It can lead to tears, tantrums and begging for the swift return of the filthy toy.

But you have to be careful in washing these toys. They can be highly sensitive to the heat from the dryer, may develop splits in their seams, rough fur or other issues.

Many can be safely washed in the washer. Tying them up in a pillowcase can help protect them from damage in there.

But others can only stand surface washing. This is especially true of stiff toys where time spent in the washer can break them down too much. You may have to rely on surface washing with these. Using a soapy cloth and warm water is generally sufficient. Read the rest of this entry »

Despite how easy it is to dread science, it can be a lot of fun for your children. Kids love to do basic science experiments from a very early age.

One of the easiest ways to encourage an interest in science is to buy science kits. Depending on your children’s ages, these can be simple or more complex, and require varying amounts of direct parental supervision.

Even though she’s too young for most of them, my daughter has been begging for a robot kit. At her age, a robot kit would have to be just a few quick clicks, not something really challenging. She’s 4, after all, and many are for ages 14+. Were she old enough, though, she’d probably enjoy something like the amphibious solar vehicle.

In the past we did show her how to do a crystal growing kit. It wasn’t something she could do herself, but she certainly could watch the way I mixed it for her, and wait rather impatiently for them to grow. Of course, the impatience probably lasts a while. But the nice thing about the crystal growing kit was that we managed to break them down and do it over again.

I’ve often enjoyed helping my kids with some science basics. At the ages of my kids, kitchen level experiments work well, but as they get older we’ll get more complex. It’s a lot of fun.