JAK CHAT

Jack & Jill went up a hill to fetch a pail of ...Red #40? by JAK’s guest mom blogger from Pleasant Prairie, Bonnie Hahn For the past two months or so, every time I scold my son, make an unwelcomed suggestion (clean your room?) or...speak pretty much anything out loud or breathe, he asks 'Who crapped in your cornflakes?'. Talk about beating a dead horse! AND...I don't even like cornflakes. I've been spending some time at my kid's school helping out in classes, shortly after school starts in the morning. I've noticed a lot of 'behavior' that is puzzling to me. Given that these are 6-10 year old children I'm dealing with, expecting perfection is certainly unreasonable. Though, I find myself expecting much more than I am seeing... Read More... I know there are a lot of legitimate cases of ADD/ADHD, but I also know that there are a lot more that could be helped by simple dietary changes and eliminating certain things from the home environment. As I wa...

Getting Educated on Education, part 3 "Being a native of Denmark, we wanted the freedom to travel back to my native land." "We homeschool because you just cannot beat the class sizes or the chance to teach kids the morals and values your family feels are important." Another parent chose to homeschool her child with autism.  She states " School staff is not properly trained to work with kids with Autism. They viewed his behaviors as 'bad'. They taught him like he was stupid or a baby, many MANY levels below what he is capably of, I know, because I use age appropriate work". Read More... Finally, another mother's take on why she choose to homeschool: "I firmly believe that the Lord is very serious when He says that parents are to 'train up a child...'  The secular world is very different from that which the Lord wants us to be a part of. Within the schools our children are attacked on all fronts- confronted with gangs, bullies, li...

Getting Educated on Education, part 2 Needing to take my own advice as I post this week's commentary, a follow up to last week's "Pro Choice: Getting Educated on Education".  Wheeow, so many options, so little time. My regrets to those with wee little ones who (dare I say, luckily) you don't have the task of scouting out high schools, something in my day, there wasn't much of a choice to make.  You just went to your local public high school, though we did have either the all-girl or all-boy Catholic high schools as options.  My have the times changed, eh?  Brace yourselves, young mamas! Read more... When I mentioned earlier/in the title, to do your homework, you'll see that JAK here, needed "to get an extension" or rather, should have/could have broached the subject several weeks back (live and learn).  With that said, if you are a parent looking for a high school for your student for the 2012-13 school year, you're not too late, though some...

Getting Educated on Education, part 1 'Tis the season for school open houses, tour schedules, testing and registration.  While a handful of schools began as early as October with their recruiting, typically the annual Catholic School's Week (which is this week) celebration marks the beginning of what can be a couple months, and for some, years, of parents shoppin' around for the best fit for their kid(s). As a parent, how easy is it to make sense of all of this?  How early do you start?  Where do you start? What deadlines, if any, are looming? Virtual school, home school,  or brick and mortar?  Did our parents have all of these choices when we were kids.  For sure...no. Read more The landscape of education options has changed dramatically, even within the last 48 hours.  Yesterday, Wednesday, Governor Scott Walker extended our Wisconsin school's open enrollment period.  Previously, open enrollment ran for three weeks.  With this extension, parents now will now have thr...

Doctor, Doctor! by JAK’s guest mom blogger from Racine, Denise Predny When my first football player, I mean son, came along, I was at ease and confident in all of my mothering skills.  I never had a question for the doctors. Everything was perfect.  SO WHAT HAPPENED? I am now having my fourth. Yes, fourth!  And I find my doctor appointments take longer these days.  How in the world can I have more questions with already having three kids? Doesn’t it get easier?  Did I mention I have 3 boys ages, 6, 3, and 1?  See what I mean with the questions?! Read More… So the increase in questions really started with the second child.  This is when I realized I was in trouble. One of my first memories would be when the oldest decided to pick his baby brother’s nose and make him eat it.  GAG!  There I began finding myself saying all of these crazy things I never thought I would utter. “Please stop pulling on it before you pull it off!”  I am sure you know what that one was about.  And asking my doct...

Take Your "SexyBack" I am admittedly square. In one of my past commentaries, " Let's Kick Some...Buttocks " I discussed the word a** and it's nonchalant usage by the masses. Well, not me, of course.  I don't carelessly drop the "a" bomb, and according to the poll we took on Just Add Kids back then, most of the participants, 84%, considered it cursing. So I guess, at least at the time I was in the majority, and laid out the rule in my home, that we don't use the word a**, or sh%#, or f@?%.  I think you get the picture. So where does the word "sexy" fall?  Great question. Read More... "Mom, Max is calling me sexy!" rats my 9 year old daughter, on her 8 year old brother. "Hello? Come again?" That's right, my son is casually describing his sister as "sexy".  Yup, that does sound a bit weird, disgusting, whatever.  I really don't think he knows exactly what he's saying, or what it means, thou...

Electronically Addicted I put my foot down on Sunday night about too much TV and electronics with my kids. I suggested to my 8 year old son, Max, that he go grab a book and work on his Racine Reads and Six Flags reading logs/contests.  He started a Diary of a Whimpy Kid book that he received as a birthday present and in one night, just a couple of hours, nearly finished it.  Read more... On Monday, as we were getting in the car to go pick up his sister, he asked me if he could bring his book and then asked if he could turn the light on in the car, so that he could continuing reading.....He is hooked!  And I am excited. Rewind back just a couple of weeks, you find my husband and I Christmas shopping on the eve of Christmas Eve at Toys R Us , racking our brains, trying to come up with something to buy Max for Christmas. The clock was ticking and the pressure was on.  This wasn't easy.  He just had his family birthday party earlier in the month, and his friend party was scheduled a...