Should teens have sex education in school? *Helium*

To not teach sex education in schools is to deny that our teens have sex, and this would be the worst thing to do.

Sex education teaches our children about what sex is,what comes from sex (ie pregnancy and STDs), and how to safely have sex. Some schools even go so far as to offer free condoms. I think this one of the best things public schools have to offer our teens.

I also am a firm believer that children should be taught about sex at home and before they are teens, but unfortunately this doesn't happen in a lot of homes. Children NEED, I cannot stress the need enough, to be educated about safe sex and the dangers of sex. If they are not what's to stop them from having unprotected sex?

Parents that are against sex education have to ask themselves if they would rather their child come home with a condom and some factual information that they may or may not use, or come home with AIDS or a baby.

We must not live in denial that many teens are either having or thinking about having sex. If we deny this fact we put our most precious possession in harms way. I personally would hate to think that my daughter will have sex as a teen, but I also understand that it happens and it is their choice to make, not ours. Therefore, if she does make the decision to have sex I want her wearing the armor of information, and a condom.

I think that on top of sex education, we as parents should reinforce this information to our children and do it early and frequently. One talk is not enough. Children need to know that sex is not a dirty thing, and although it should wait until they are adults, they can openly talk to their parents about it should they ever have questions or need advise.

Remember, knowledge is power.

Learn more about this author, Sara Tremeear.

Xposted to Manik, Sara Roxx and The Wisconsin Blog

Back to School Sale, all kids clothes are 48 cents

I’m not sure if it’s nationwide Salvation Armies, but the ones in Kenosha and Racine, WI. There is a sale where all kids clothes under size 12 are 48 cents. Can’t beat that price. We found some very cute things also. I found some Old Navy and Gap clothes for Echo that were in new condition and Bob found a bunch of stuff for his kids. When kids are young you might as well buy there before they start bitching about how they can’t wear things from the thrift store and yadda yadda.

All other clothes are half off, so it's worth a look. You never know what you'll find there.

Echo's 6 month check-up

First off the stats. She weighed 17.4 lbs (oh my!) and was 26 inches tall. She is back up to almost the 75th percentile, which is fine since that’s where she was born at and would have stayed at had we not had the wieght gain issues we did early on. Dr. says he’s not worried about it.

Dr and nurse were both VERY impressed with Echo’s advanced development. The nurse asked if she could roll both ways and if she reached for objects. I explained that Echo’s been crawling for almost a month and is now climbing furniture to get to things, and walks along furniture after pulling herself to a standing position. I also told her that I had to read in my parenting books in the 7th and 8th months to keep up with her. I was glowing with pride lol.
Dr. said we can giver her baby cookies to help her learn to feed herself with her hand, although she can feed herself with a spoon (no she can’t scoop, but if you hand her a spoon she gets it right in her mouth with no mess 90% of the time.

We talked about nutrition because Gerber pormotes the 5 a day for fuits and veggies, but I can’t get her to eat that much and Dr said don’t worry as long as she’s on formula she’ll get what she needs. Off the subject a little, but according to Gerber, who goes by stages for feeding not age, she should be eating finger foods and table foods because she’s a crawler. LMAO can you imagine a 6 month old eating a sandwhich.

Also a bit off the subject I was so graciously “hit on” by my Dr’s physician’s assistant on the way out. He was hot too lol. Makes a girl feel good after just having a baby. Then again he also knows I’m going to the same school he did for eitheer PA or anasteasiology, so it’s not like a random incounter, we had talked for some time the other day.

We don’t go to see the Dr again until the end of November when she is 9 months old. Oh my, what will I do without a check-up for 3 whole months?! Ah well, I’m always paraniod so i’ll probably be ther next month lol.

xposted to Sara Roxx and Manik

Baby "cookies"

have got to be the messiest thing ever. I thought feeding her solids was bad, but OH MY GOD. I think I have as much cookie on me as she did. She ate her first one yeasterday by doctors order, yes her Dr. said to give her some b/c she is very advanced and he believes she can begin to learn to feed herself at 6 months.

So I did what any mother would and followed his orders. I purchased some Gerber graduates bitter biscuits and some Arrowroot cookies.

Yesterday I gave her one of the biter biscuits and she made a mess! She sat in her bumbo, at first not knowing what the heck to do, I put it in my mouth and then handed it back. So she sucked on it for a while before she realized it was melting in her mouth and was GOOD. She then proceeded to wipe it all over her face and arms and even "painted" her toes with it.

Today I gave her an Arrowroot cookie before bath time and that wasn't as messy, probably because when she was done she gave me a hug and wiped her face on my shirt.

The biter biscuits are harder to hold but stay in one piece, but the Arrowroots are easy to hold but fall apart into chunks she could choke on....

Who would of thought.. Farm and Fleet

I never would have thought that I would like this store so much. When I think of F&F I think of the farming community, which is not me. I have no need for farming or gardening equipment. But.... the other day my boyfriend saw the F&F weekly ad and it had the pet verision of the superyard gate I wanted for Echo. I said I would take a look at it since it was cheaper than other places (except Walmart.com).

We go there today and it turns out the gate is the SAME EXACT thing as the childrens superyard. Same pictures on the box and everything, just marketed for pets, so we got it. I also saw they had those little generic gates that are usually $13 for $10.99 so we got that too for the laundry room.

Here's the kicker.

They have the BEST baby and children's clothing! I wanted to see if they had a sippy cup because Echo is 6 months now and I want to try giving her a cup. Couldn't find a cup, but I found baby clothes heaven. They have an entire wall of Carter's clothes the cheapest I've seen them. I was going to go to Toy's R Us because of their selection, but F&F has the same things plus lots more! Also, it's a lot cheaper. The footies or whatever they're called at TRU were $15-$20 and I believe they were all $10 at F&F. I didn't look at all the prices but....

I briefly looked at the older girls clothes and they also have a great selection and very cute outfits.

So that's that I'm going to F&F for all my child's clothing needs.

Shopping for baby clothes

Echo "turned" 6 months on the 25th and being that she is in the 50th percentile she seems to outgrow everything within two weeks of the age limit. That means it's time for clothes shopping!!!

I know it's expensive to keep buying a wardrobe for babies every 3-6 months, but isn't it so much fun too? I'm shopaholic, it's one of my favorite things to do, and I especially LOVE shopping for Echo.

I can be very frugal at times though too. When I was pregnant I shopped for clothes for her all the time, but all together I didn't spend a lot of money. Here are some good ways to save money and still shop for the baby clothes you love, including name brand.

Hit the trift stores. When most people think of thrift stores they think of old beat up clothes that even a bum might not wear, but if you know where to go you can find great deals on great clothes. I don't reccomend Goodwill, although this store seems to be a favorite of many. I've found that you don't save much if anything, and sometimes you end up paying more. Iknow in our area (WI) Goodwill buys things at rock bottom prices from Target at times. These items are usually in great condition, the packaging is usually the only thing damaged. The problem is this: I've seen items from Target for sale at Goodwill priced higher than the normal price at Target. When I relized this was a trend, not just a fluke one time occurance I stopped shopping there. I don't like being ripped off. I highly roccomend stores such as the Salvation Army. NOw this one can be hit or miss, but I usually find it's a hit. I know the one in Racine, WI has a HUGE selection of childrens clothes at great prices. While I was pregnant I went there right before school started (right now) and they had a sale where all childrens clothes were $0.48!!!!! I spend $40 and we got lots of clothes for the baby and my boyfriends 3 other kids (previous marriage). They had a lot of name brand, I believe everything I got for Echo was Carter's, Old Navy or Gap. Can't beat that.

Check the ads weekly!!! Even if you don't get the sunday paper go online, or just give in and purchase the paper, it will save you a ton in the long run. Every week some store or another is having a great sale. I find Shopko has some of the best sales on children's clothes. They have a return policy too that states if your child ruins an item before they outgrow it they will exchange it. Only problem with that is that A. you need the receipt and B. you have to exchange it for the same exact item and when they change their inventory every few months this can be a challenge. You could always spend 30 minutes arguing that point like I did and get a similar item exchange. K-mart has AWESOME deals on childrens clothes too. You can find outfits for $5, and I don't mean a t-shirt, full 2-3 piece outfits! $5.99 is thier regular price for a lot of things (I think the most expensive is maybe $14.99) but when you hit thier sales you may be paying only $3-$8 for outfits. While this is wonderful you have to watch out for the comfort of clothes at K-Mart. I bought things because they were cute only to relize later that the material is so itchy or pinchy that Echo can't wear it, so even at that phenominal price I was throwing money away. I would say K-Mart is better for toddlers and older children clothes. Target has adorable slothes for resonable prices, but their slection is less than par. Walmart for baby clothes I would say hands down is the worst. Don't get me wrong, I love my local Walmart, but the clothes aren't that cute and their size run HUGE. My 6 month old can still fit 2 onsies that are 0-3 months from Walmart.

Coupons, coupons, coupons. Now this tip may not work for older kids, but if you go to the Gerber website to print out coupons on their already decent priced clothing. I love gerber clothes, the onsies and the sleep and plays are the best! They are so comfy and so durable. They are pretty easy to get stains out of too, which is great with a six month old baby!

That's all the saving stratgies I can think of at the moment, but if any others pop in my head I'll be sure to update. Enjoy and happy shopping!

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