Minnow’s Five Things

1. Where’s the Meat?It’s amazing we grow into healthy adults at all when you consider the mistakes we make raising our kids. Like feeding them rice cereal at six months, for example. That’s no longer allowed, according to the latest in parenting news that came from a statement released by Health Canada last week. They are now recommending that parents offer their six month old infants meat, fish, poultry or meat alternatives two or three times a day. Move over sweet potatoes, it’s tuna time. Here’s the article from the Toronto Star explaining that babies need more iron in their diets. This is going to shake up a lot of feeding routines out there. Will it affect yours?

2. Free Range Parent or Helicopter Parent?
Maybe you’re not fussed about when to introduce meat or eggs or cereal to your kids because they’ll figure it out eventually, right? That would be your attitude if you are a free range parent (the opposite of a helicopter parent). Remember Lenore Skanazy? She left her nine year old son to find his way home alone from Manhattan to Queens (an hour subway ride), then wrote a book about free range parenting. And now she’s back. She just launched an after-school program for kids in New York City promising NOT to watch them. She charges parents $350 for eight weeks. Kids meet and can play in Central Park while she goes to Starbucks nearby. She promises to ignore them. So far nobody has signed up. Would you?

3. We Heart Amy
It’s hard not to mention the Emmys this week. Since you asked what was on my radar, I’ll admit I had a glance at who wore what. My fave? Amy Poehler. Not just her dress, but her. She’s smart, funny and can pull off a great red carpet look. Who doesn’t want to be like Amy Poehler? Apparently she is good at dishing out advice, too. Especially to girls. I found this video from her website smartgirlsattheparty.com. It’s very sound advice for young girls struggling with body image. If I had a daughter, this is the kind of role model I would try to be for her. Who is your ideal role model for girls?

4. No More Bacon?
If you have been reading my blog regularly, you’ll know that I am obsessed with the rise in bacon popularity of late. It’s on doughnuts, in jams and wrapped around all kinds of otherwise healthy food groups. Apparently bacon lovers are in trouble with the looming global pork shortage. To further prove my point that bacon is a crazy cult food, just read the social media buzz emanating from bacon lovers around the world. Will the bacon shortage affect your life?

5. Mom Blogs Are Hot
I’ll leave you with this hilarious comic from one of my favourite online publishers of irreverent jokes, someecards.com. This particular card was brought to my attention by one of our very own Savvy Storytellers who is a mom blogger herself. I love that mom blogs are so mainstream these days that someecards.com picked them up like this. Mom blogs are hot, there is no doubt about it.

Have a great week.

Tagged under: from the editor's desk

Category: entertainment