Holy Info Overload, Batman!

OK, so checking out Cool Mom Pics this morning and finding the must have (The Life Doc Binder from Buttoned Up) lead me on a cruise through the website. I found the Buttoned Up Newspaper columns archive and I think...yep...pretty sure...I won't be hearing my name being called for at least another hour.

In Case of Emergency...

Here in our area today, many of the schools and local government offices are having an Emergency Alert System drill. While I didn't hear the collective sound of the familiar squeal coming from the radio because I was otherwise engaged (you know-on a conference call doing that stuff I get a paycheck for), knowing that it was drill day did remind me that this is a good week to double check our Emergency/Disaster preparedness stash o'stuff.

In third-trimester-insane-mom-mode two years ago I, for the first time in our 16 years of marriage, began to prepare for impending disaster of any and all sorts. Now mind you, I'd never done this before, even though we'd spent a good amount of years living in California (ready to slide off into the ocean and all) and lived to tell about the 1989 San Francisco earthquake. So, needless to say, I was regarded with skepticism about my mental well being. In short, the comment I got was "WHAT's WRONG WITH YOU?", accompanied by much hand gesturing and slow loud talking just in case I'd gone deaf and brain dead at the same time.

So, this is your mommy reminder. Check your disaster preparedness plan. If you don't have one yet but have been meaning to start one, don't go all gung-ho and try to do it in one fell swoop. Just a little at a time will do the trick and before you know it you'll be ready for everything from a power outage to a full scale post-apocolyptic, Mad Max, nuclear holocaust.

Also, preparing will ensure you won't have to run around in grungy, torn-up sweatshirts and eat gruel, a la Matrix style. Tres important!

There are a lot of great websites out there but I especially like Ready America because it makes things simple and easy with printouts and instructions as well as videos. Personally, I like to keep a clipboard with a list hung near my disaster cache and pick up an extra item or two every so often at the grocery store. Don't forget to raid the cache once in a while to keep things fresh.

Actually, I should probably follow my own advice, since I still have cans of Enfamil (blech) in mine and its been how long since Jude switched to milk (also known here as "Moke")?

In my never ending quest for knowledge, wisdom and know-how for all this child raising stuff, I somehow stumbled upon the good people over at Love and Logic. I'd had their book, Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood for quite a while, obtained during one of those frantic I must purchase every book ever written on parenting moments, you know, the moments where your credit card nearly blows up?

I read the book nearly a year and a half ago, thinking "this is great stuff", but since we were not yet into the toddler years, much of it wasn't really applicable in an everyday sense.

Fast forward a year, and I'm frantically searching for the book on my shelves and reading, re-reading, highlighting and attempting to commit whole sections to memory.

The Love and Logic philosophy created by Jim Fay, Charles Fay, Ph.D and Foster W. Cline, M.D. so far has proven to be a really practical solution for happily productive interaction here at Valhalla Mommykind. While I personally don't agree with every idea purported by the Love and Logic fellas (I have my own wacky ideas about the negative effects of timeout and using a child's room as a place for disciplinary guidance) their techniques seem to work quite beautifully.

In their own words from their extensive site, here's Love and Logic in a nutshell:

What Is Love and Logic?

Children learn the best lessons when they're given a task and allowed to make their own choices (and fail) when the cost of failure is still small. Children's failures must be coupled with love and empathy from their parents and teachers.

This practical and straightforward philosophy is backed with 20 years of experience. Parents can apply it immediately to a wide range of situations instead of struggling with difficult counseling procedures.

Why Does It Work?

• Uses humor, hope, and empathy to build up the adult/child relationship
• Emphasizes respect and dignity for both children and adults
• Provides real limits in a loving way
• Teaches consequences and healthy decision-making

What Parents and Educators Have to Say

"After studying this parenting program, 'Becoming a Love and Logic Parent,' I rave about the fact that it has helped me and other parents I know develop usable, practical skills, as opposed to just learning another theory about what I should be doing."

- Peter Burnett, parent, Portland, Ore.

"My teachers and I could see the advantages to the school of putting parents' back in control.' My job as a school administrator is much less stressful now thanks to Love and Logic."

- Judy Griswold, principal, Aurora, Colo.

Cruise on over and check them out. The website itself has a lot to offer in the way of articles, podcasts and video clips. We think they are trailblazers when it comes to sorting out the practical from the big brained theory (which I find fascinating as well, btw, I'm sure you'll be hearing from me on those topics soon) and giving parents concrete ways to cope with the frustration of not knowing how to best guide their children to happy productive lives.