Linky Lou, round 2

In the comments to my post on clicking the ads to support my sponsors, Paula asked if there's any way she can contribute directly to my babysitting fund. Thank you! The best way to contribute is to tell 3-4 friends about my site and encourage them to read every day. The more traffic I get, the more ads I can sell and the higher my rate per ad. And of course, please click through the ads, including my newest ad for MaMaMade baby carriers (slings, mei tais, and wraps), natural toiletries, and clothing. (I'm surprised more of you aren't clicking the dog ad. It's an online puzzle based on maps, clues, and math, that pays $25,000 to the winner--geeks' delight!)

And now on to the cool links.

Momready.com is an online magazine with ideas and articles to "ease the everyday challenges of parenting." You can read the articles online, or sign up to get an email every day (M-F) with short informative articles. Their categories include "Boredom Busters" and "Magic Penny" (teaching kids about money), so the site is definitely worth a look.

Mombian.com bills itself as "Sustenance for Lesbian Moms," but Dana really has something to say to all parents. A nice mix of personal, political, and "none of the above," Mombian.com's snappy style and well-chosen topics make it a daily must-read.

LargerFamilies.com is a site dedicated to families with three or more kids. The founder wished for one central site with info and stories about large families, so she started the site she dreamed about. There's a daily blog (written by a bunch of different moms), an advice column, and helpful resources and links.

Meira sent me this link to a story from NPR. A researcher studied three groups of women with different parenting styles and found that there were advantages to all three styles, but there seemed to be a special advantage to a less rigid style of parenting. The study groups were tiny, and I think some of the researcher's conclusions need to be examined more rigorously, but I think the basic idea that sticking rigidly to one style of parenting or another misses out on the basic idea that you need to parent the child you have, not the one the book says you should have. I'm going to look out for more research of this nature in the future.

Finally, just in time for vacation season, I read on ParentHacks.com (You do read it, don't you? You should read me, then ParentHacks.com, then go on to your other daily reads.) that you can now sign up with the US Postal Service online to get them to hold your mail for you while you go on vacation. This could be either a major timesaver or a wicked practical joke, depending on how you use this knowledge.

Comments

[Angela]

I love your site! Thank you so much for letting us in on all of your parenting tips. I am expecting my first in September, so I am trying to soak up every bit of knowledge to stem my panic attacks at the thought of having to take care of an infant. I have many online friends with kids, and I send them here all the time (since I have no idea how to help them!)

The online site for the post office is wonderful, and it works. My family and my in laws are in the same town 4 hours away, so we spend a great deal of time and all holidays away from home. Needless to say, I have had our mail held a few times, and have never had any problems (knock on wood).

[Kayla]

Just to let you know, after reading some of your archives about naps, my 20 minute napper has now been down for a solid hour :) Now that I've said that, he'll wake up, but hey - whatever. I just posted a Rave about your site on my online playgroup message board, so, hopefully I can direct some traffic your way!

[Asha]

Thanks for the linky, Moxie! And you are naughty to suggest the practical joke angle. Who would ever do such a thing? Oh, and what's your home address again?

[Dana]

Thanks for the nice comments, Moxie. I'm glad you think Mombian offers something for all parents. I hope the site can help us celebrate the common threads of parenthood while we also learn about and embrace our differences.

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Metal Detectors In Schools Violate Students' Rights - Or vary with different security methods and you have another persuasive speech topic

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The school paddle is, is not an effective instrument to deal with bad students

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I've just been letting everything pass me by lately. Maybe tomorrow. Today was a complete loss, but that's how it is. Eh. Oh well.

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Life is designed by some sort of intelligence, God created life