Editor's Blog
04/10/12Activities for Families in Tulsa: Events, Baseball, Museums, Markets and More!I know. It's only Tuesday, but there's so much going on that I'm starting the weekend early. You might want to take a look at everything you can do, so you can at least hit the high points. First, I want to start with a little reminder about an event at the end of the month. Sign up for the YWCA's RACE AGAINST RACISM at www.ywcatulsa.org/pages/race_against_racism/ or go to TulsaKids home page and link through. The race starts in the Blue Dome District by John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park and ONEOK Stadium on April 28. Last year's race was really fun, so I hope everyone will come out and support it. There's a 1-mile fun run and a 5K. OK, now on to this week. If you have a high school student, you might want to visit the Great Plains Assoication College... |
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03/29/12Breastfeeding? Moms Say It's Too Much TroubleBreast-feeding isn't easy. At least for me it wasn't the natural love-fest between mom and baby that I naively expected it to be. And, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal, I'm not the only one who found it difficult. A Scottish study(http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/2/2/e000504) that interviewed 36 mothers said that the recommendation to breast-feed babies for 6 months was "unhelpful" and unrealistic for their families. Breast-feeding recommendations exist because scientific research supports that breast-feeding is the healthiest option for mother and baby. When I think back on my own experience with my first child, I can still feel the pain, frustration and humiliation of trying to get it right. It was physically painful at the... Posted at 01:28 PM | Permalink | Comments: 2 |
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03/26/12Growing Things"To appreciate beauty; to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” Ralph Waldo Emerson While I was looking for something to keep myself busy this weekend while I waited impatiently for the new season of "Mad Men," I decided to plant a raised garden. (Can you believe the way they were throwing Joan's baby around when she visited the office?) Anway, back to the garden. I got some scraps of lumber and borrowed an electric screwdriver. After a couple of visits to the hardware store to get those metal things that hold corners together, I managed to cobble together a pretty... |
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03/13/12Husbands Doing Chores and Babysitting: It's Real SimpleLast week I was reading a magazine and watching the ABC Evening News with David Muir when something caught my attention -- a teaser for a story about how men would do more chores at home if women "let" them. Well, that pretty much set my hair on fire, so I sat up, put down my Atlantic Monthly and turned up the TV. Evidently, REAL SIMPLE Magazine had done a survey of (I assume) its readers and found that women don't have enough time for themselves because they do too much of the housework. In fact, 49% of the women said they don't have enough free time. Fifty-two percent say they have less than 90 minures and 23% have less than 45 minutes and 4% say that they don't have ANY free time. And, of the women surveyed, women are twice as likely to trust their kids... |
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03/09/12Family Activities in Tulsa this WeekendIt's Friday and I have lots of ideas for activities this weekend for you and your family. The big Home and Garden Show at the QuikTrip Building (21& Yale) started last night and continues through this weekend. I don't know about you, but my landscaping is looking pretty dreary right now. And I have about a million projects that I would love to do at my house, both inside and outside. Unfortunately they take two things I don't have -- Time and Money. What I can do, though, is get some advice and ideas from the experts at the Home and Garden Show. It's start, right? If you go, take the kids along. Kids under 12 get in free and there are some kid-friendly exhibits and activities that will keep them busy and happy. The Master Gardeners have a giant earthworm... |
03/06/12So Long, Adley!As I was randomly clicking through channels one Monday night, I got hooked on "The Voice," an "American Idol" - like show where the judges/coaches (Cee-Lo Green, Blake Shelton, Christina Aquilera and Adam Levine) choose singers they like based only on their voices. An attractive young woman named Adley Stump was singing and, when she went back to the area where parents and friends wait with host Carson Daly, I realized that I know Adley's mom. I went to high school with both of her parents, Greg Stump and Terry Noonan, in Stillwater. Naturally, I had to keep watching the show to root for the hometown girl and, more importantly to me, to support her mom who was obviously so excited and proud. I would be, too. To get the bad part out of the way, Adley... Posted at 10:57 AM | Permalink | Comments: 1 |
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02/23/12Make Your Weekend PlansWhat are you doing this weekend? As always, there's plenty going on in Tulsa and surrounding areas. Plays, musical events, astronomical happenings and a free lecture for parents are all part of the upcoming week, so get ready, get the calendar and go! First up, Clark Youth Theatre is performing George Orwell's ANIMAL FARM at the Henthorne PAC on Friday night at 7:30. The play will run this weekend and next with Sunday matinees both weekends. I remember when my kids read this book in school. Maybe yours are reading it, too. What a great supplement to the book to go to a live performance. Then you can all go out for ice cream afterwards and discuss the meaning of satire, allegory and totalitarian regimes. Throw in a little pre-WW II history and a lecture on Stalinism and... |
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02/21/12My Uterus is PersonalWith a "Personhood" bill almost certain to pass in Oklahoma, I have to say something in defense of my uterus. It doesn't belong to the Oklahoma State Legislature. And my daughters' reproductive body parts don't either. What do we women have to put up with in order for one male legislator to make a political point? Are we really ready for this legislation to intrude in so many areas of our lives? And in such personal ways? Years ago, I was pregnant with twins. My husband and I had planned this pregnancy. We were in our late 20s and ready to have a child. In my fourth month, I was on a regular visit to my gynecologist, and she did a routine ultrasound. I could tell by the look on her face that something wasn't right. She left the room as I lay on the... Posted at 08:33 AM | Permalink | Comments: 8 |
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02/15/12What? No School!I'm doing my out and about in Tulsa a little early this week since Presidents Day is coming up and you may have a day off. I did a little digging to come up with some things that you can do with the kids. On Friday, you can go to the Tulsa Zoo and help celebrate Vindi the Chimpanzee's 5th birthday. At 10:30 a.m. the zookeepers will be giving some background on the zoo's chimps and giving Vindi and his friends some special birthday treats. So stop by the zoo and wish Vindi a Happy Birthday! If you can't get to the zoo on Friday, go on Monday because it will only cost you a dollar per ticket. Not only is it only $1 this Monday, but every Monday in February. Since we've had a very spring-like winter so far, the zoo may be a perfect destination for some fun... |
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02/09/12Start the Weekend EarlyStart the weekend activities today by joining a "playologist" with Tulsa Children's Museum who will be exploring the Dream exhibit at the Tulsa Historical Society from 2 to 4 p.m. with kids and adults. The exhibit is interesting because it brings the ideas of all generations together to imagine a better Tulsa. Kids will get to make their own dream star and learn about constellations. Brena, the playologist, will also have two storytimes -- one at 2 p.m. and one at 3 p.m. If you can't make it today, she'll be doing the same thing on Sat., Feb. 25, 10 a.m. - noon. The Tulsa Historical Society is at 2445 S. Peoria. Kids are free and adults are $5. After school today from 4 to 5 at the Hardesty Regional Library, kids ages 5 and up are invited to a Very Fancy... |
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Betty Casey started editing TulsaKids when her youngest child was 3 years old. That daughter is now a freshman in college. Her son is 24 and her middle daughter is 21. TulsaKids and her children literally grew up together (and she lived to tell about it)! Betty's blog ranges from commenting on current parenting issues and upcoming articles to personal reflections about being the mom of three children, who are now wonderful young adults.
