Sugar Content of Foods

Today’s Interesting E-Mail 5-14-12

Sugar Content of Foods

Someone spent a lot of time taking these pictures.  Each one shows how much sugar is in the item in the photo. 

4.2 grams = 1 teaspoon of sugar = 1 cube!

 This is an interesting concept.  It would make a great science project for school.  It’s also a great visual for anyone who is trying to cut down on sugar.  Here are some more:

Why Parents go Crazy When Their Triplet Children are Teenagers

If I hadn’t gone crazy by the time my children had gotten to be teenagers, these years would put me in the funny farm.  My boys are in their senior year of high school.  This morning was one of those mornings that make me want to join a convent.  It’s a good thing Lutherans don’t have nuns.

To set the scene:  Three Speed has a paper due for his college English class this evening.  He never gets them done on the weekend.  He seems to like to get up Monday morning at 5:30 AM and do the work when the house is quiet.  He sleeps on the couch downstairs instead of his bed.  I think this is so he will get up.

I was taking my pills before I went up to bed last night.  I turned off the TV before I went upstairs.  I usually leave it on all night.  This was probably the major problem.

Mr. Impatient gets up at 4:30 AM every day.  If the TV isn’t on, he turns it on.  Then he turns on his computer, gets his breakfast and plays on the computer until the rest of us are up and ready to go to school in the morning.  We are normally ready around 7:15 AM.   He goes out about 7:00 to “start the car” and defrost it, if necessary.  Then he perseverates about why nobody else is ready to leave.

This morning, Mr. Impatient woke up Three Speed when he turned on the TV.  Three Speed got upset and turned it off.  He said it wasn’t 5:30 yet.  He was correct about that, but he is never up at 4:30 when Mr. Impatient comes down.  He said Mr. Impatient always comes down at 5:30 (incorrect statement). 

There is a problem with the remotes for the cable and the TV (different remotes – don’t ask).  Mr. Impatient can’t figure them out.  Three Speed got his stubborn up and wouldn’t fix it.  I came downstairs without my glasses, so couldn’t see the remotes well enough to fix it.  Mr. Impatient couldn’t find my glasses upstairs.  I can’t get my knees working well enough for a couple of hours after I wake up to go up and down the stairs very fast. 

I finally convinced Three Speed to turn on the TV so I could go back to bed.  Mr. Impatient didn’t need it loud, he just needed it on.  Now I can’t think straight at 2:00 PM.

Congratulations, Eagles on State Championships in Basketball!!!!!

Random Acts of Kindness

The holiday season is the time of year when we hear about people doing kind things.  Caring acts happen all year long, and are rarely recognized.  As a Mom trying to raise children, I am trying to teach them to be kind to others “just because”.  Some of the conversations we have about this can be funny.

We have an elderly woman in our neighborhood that uses wood for her heat as much as she can to save on her electric bill.  When we have a big storm, there are lots of branches that come down from the trees into our yard.  The children and I gather them up into boxes and take them to her.  It’s a lot of work.  At first they wanted to know who was going to pay us for this.  I explained that we were doing a “good deed”.  Since we didn’t live near our Grandma and Grandpa, we were doing it for someone else’s Grandma.  It took a long time for that one to sink in. 

My Mother had a neighbor who is an author.  When she and her husband were moving to assisted living, she had a lot of books that she couldn’t keep.  The local school wasn’t interested.  Our middle school had recently opened and had few books in its library.  I offered to come get the books and bring them back (two hour drive each way).  She had hundreds of books to donate.  My children carried them up and down the steps in her house and we packed my van full! 

We sorted the books on my dining room table.  Some titles had quite a few copies, some had only a few.  I had no idea how many books she had written over the years.  She had everything from children’s books to adult’s books, with the concentration on books for adolescents.  There are several series of books.  One of them had entertained my children during their elementary years.

The librarian was astonished when school started.   They distributed them throughout the school system here.  A few ended up at the local library.  My children got credit towards their community service in boy scouts.  The author got some nice letters from school children. 

What did I get out of all of this?  I got a feeling that I had improved my community and taught my kids how to volunteer.  We kept the rest of the books in the series that we hadn’t finished.  I also got a lovely note from the author about how she appreciated the work I had done.          

Triplet Stuff 2 - Same Classroom or Not?

This is a dilemma that is faced by every parent who has multiple children entering the same grade.  Do you put your children in the same classroom or not?

I think the answer varies from family to family and from child to child.  It also varied for us from year to year and from child to child.  So, for me, the answer is a big maybe.  Here are some of the reasons why.

1.     One of my sons is autistic.   When he was small, most of his learning was in a special education environment.  He needed to be separated from his brothers so they did not feel the need to “care” for him. 

2.     When my boys were very small (preschool), they seemed to need to be near each other.  Besides:

3.     There was only one preschool classroom for the 3 year olds, 4 year olds, etc.  By necessity, they had to be in the same class.  When the kids entered regular school, there were multiple classrooms of the same age children. We could then decide.

4.     Some schools have a policy about twins and more.  Ours did not.  I would use that as a guideline.  If you feel that you need to do something different for your children, push to do what’s best.  I have always done this for my kids.  I call it “being a Mom”.

5.     When my boys were in kindergarten, one of them was much more advanced at reading.  The other was much more advanced in math.  Evidently they made a pact between the two of them that one of them would do the reading and the other would do the math.  This is when we decided that perhaps it would be a good idea to separate them for a while.  They weren’t too happy.  I think they had become too dependent on each other. 

6.     Another issue can be jealousy or competition.  Some children do not do well if one of the others is better at something.  While they do need to learn to deal with this, it can be better to have them in separate classrooms for a while for parent sanity.  The only insane part of this was having the same spelling list three weeks in a row.  Of course, running through the same spelling list with three children the same week wasn’t much better!

7.     Remember that the school counselors, teachers and administration have probably “been there” before.  Most of the time they are willing to help you work it out if you go in with a positive attitude that we are all there to help the children.

8.     As the children advance in school, there will be classes that are only offered once a day.  For example, there is only one section of marching band. (Go, Eagles!) Two of them are in the band.   Since they have opted to play different instruments, they don’t sit next to each other.  The other one and I are the cheering section.  Mr. Lasermed is president of Band Boosters this year.  I think he lives in the concession stand.

The moral of this whole story is that it is important to be flexible and to do what feels right for your children.  What worked for my kids might not work for yours.  It’s also helpful to take advice from other moms and from educators.  Listen to your kids, too.  The whole goal is to get them the best education that we can with the least amount of stress for everyone. 

Breast Cancer Awareness, High School Football Style

At the football game Friday night, our players all wore pink socks. 

The cheerleaders all had pink bows in their hair.

They gave out pink ribbons to stick to your outfit.

There were pink balloons everywhere.

And my pink baby blanket – that got plenty of material added on – fit right in. 

The Triplet Pile On

          The first day of school has me going down memory lane.  When my boys were little, I would come home to an enthusiastic greeting.  Three toddlers would wobble across the room as fast as their little legs could carry them.  It became a “hug Mom” fest. 

          Then it became a “climb Mom” fest.  I had little bruises all over my legs and torso from where their toes dug into my flesh.  I quickly learned to sit down on the floor.

          We had “pile on Mom”.  It came with lots of giggles, hugs and tickles.  I loved it. 

          I miss it now.  But the boys are all taller than I am.  Giggles are now baritone and bass.  I still get hugs.  Sometimes they are group hugs.  Now if I could just get them to use that baby lotion again.  Aahhh, that lovely baby smell…..

What parents should know

Sometimes other people say it well.  Besides, this was the last day of band practice, and I had a performance to attend.  Go Eagles Band.  This article, entitled "What I wish parents knew" is great advice for parents with school age kids.

http://shine.yahoo.com/event/momentsofmotherhood/quot-what-i-wish-parents-knew-quot-doctors-teachers-therapists-and-more-weigh-in-2521640/