Why French Kids Don't Have ADHD

Here's a very interesting article about why less than .5% of French children have ADHD while 9% of U.S. kids do.  The difference, the article finds, is that in France ADHD is treated as a psychological problem, whereas in the U.S. it's considered a biological problem and is treated with medicine and prescriptions.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/suffer-the-children/201203/why-french-kids-dont-have-adhd

The whole thing is reminiscent of this book which my wife purchased and neither one of us ever read.  I really need to pick it up again (find it first) because we're getting to the point when our son is expressing his opinions, usually in the form of crying out.  This link is for the audiobook, which could be the solution to my never having a chance to read.

Sending your kids outside to play

This is a very interesting article entitled "The Convincing Case for Sending Your Kids Outside to Play."  When I was a kid I spent countless hours outside by myself or with friends riding bikes, following streams, and exploring the seemingly endless woods of the local parks.

These days people worry about disappearances and abductions and any number of horrible things that can happen in the big, modern world.  Read this article and be at ease:

http://www.inhabitots.com/the-convincing-case-for-sending-your-kids-outside-to-play-alone/

Baby's First Time at the New England Aquarium

Last week we took our son to the New England Aquarium for the first time, and although the central tank was closed for renovation he had a great time.  It was a little bit sad to see the tank empty and all the fish in the penguin area, not to mention the fiberglass smell that permeated the place, but I know we'll be back many times in the coming years, so I'm not too sad.  Except for the poor fish who I'm sure were stressed by the move.

They warned us before we purchased tickets that the tank was under construction, and my wife had seen it on the website, so we knew what we were getting into.  Because we went just after the marathon bombing there was a bag and stroller check before the line to purchase tickets; there weren't many people there that day.

The parking garage at the aquarium is always an issue.  The garage that is closest to the aquarium, the one that shares its entrance, is NOT the one the aquarium validates for (unless you're an aquarium member).  There is another garage to the south that the aquarium does validate for, and I know I've parked there before, but when the time comes I always forget which garage it is.  Since my wife is a teacher and our son is under 3 they both got in for free, so we only had to pay for my ticket.  And the $35 parking.  If you are thinking of going I recommend you either take the T or know which garage you're parking in.  There is a Parking Options at New England Aquarium page with the most current information.  Take the T.

Toddlers addicted to iPads and technology

This is quite an interesting article from The Telegraph, a UK newspaper: Toddlers becoming so addicted to iPads they require therapy.  Children in the UK are seeing therapists at a very young age because of their addiction to iPads and similar technology.

The youngest child was four years old, and was inconsolable when the iPad was taken away from her.  The child was using the iPad three to four hours a day and would get upset when it was taken away.  The doctor goes on to say that the child was exhibiting the same symptoms as alcoholics or heroin addicts, but I don't know if I'd go quite that far.  I'll believe it when I see a physiological reaction taking place in the brain similar to what happens in chemical addiction, but of course it's possible.

Some parents in the UK pay up to £16,000 (almost $25,000 at the current rate) for a 28-day detox for their kid.  It's a sad commentary on society, but at least they're willing to get help for their child (if not do some parenting themselves).

I know our son pretends to talk on the phone with objects around the apartment like the TV remote, the camera, a toy sea horse, and anything about that size.  I'm sure it's from seeing us on our phones, although we don't use the phones for internet at home because we have computers.  He does come over  and try to hit the keys whenever we use a computer within his reach, and we quickly move the computer to a table or shelf.

I've posted before about not allowing our child to watch TV, at least for the beginning of his life.  I posted about it and included a TED talk that convinced me: Media and Children.

At the Boston Marathon

Today we took baby to the Boston Marathon.  We left soon after his morning nap, and drove to where we used to live near Coolidge Corner in Brookline.  We went to the same spot last year, when he was only a few weeks old.

Before baby came along we'd walk down to the finish line and enjoy the positive energy of the marathon.  Unlike adversarial sports like baseball, football, and most other sports, at a marathon you cheer for everyone participating.  There is no opposing or visiting team.  Everyone is there to cheer the runners on.

We got to the marathon route at around 11:30, and I had baby in his Kiddy backpack.  The first time we approached the crowd he started to cry; we think he doesn't like the loud noise of the crowd.  Thinking he was hungry, we went to Rami's for delicious falafel sandwiches.  He ate some cheese and asparagus we had for him.

We went back to the route after lunch, but he started crying again.  I didn't want to give up, so we went back to the car and switched him into his stroller.  We went back again, but he cried again.  We'll have to try and make him more comfortable around crowds, and I'm going to have to research how to do that exactly.

In a way we were lucky he was acting up.  If we had followed the plan and walked to the finish line, who knows, we could have been there when this attack happened.  Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone effected by this tragedy.

Reflections on Baby's first year

Our son had his first birthday almost a month ago, but I thought it might be nice to reflect on what I've learned and what I should try to do better on next time.  It's amazing how the time has gone both quickly and slowly; one year is such a short amount of time but the growth and change we've seen have been astounding.

One of the most valuable things we've done since the beginning is keep a daily journal of his activities and achievements.  How that he's one, as I write each day's entry I look back and see what we were doing one year ago today.  At the beginning I missed a few days, but now I'm in a pretty good rhythm. The trick is to never go more than two days without writing in it.  And not to get upset when your spouse stops making entries and the entire thing falls to you.

He's had the flu twice.  At least one ear infection.  The stomach flu.  He went to the ER four times (if you include our return to the NICU when he was 4 days old).  I couldn't guess how many times we took him to the doctor.

It's all worth it, what a great first year!

1st Birthday Party

This morning Watching Baby passed the 10,000 view mark.  Thank you so much for visiting, and coming back!  There are so many topics I want to cover, but it's been hard to make time to really go into depth about things we do like cloth diapering, making his baby food, and living without daycare.  My saving grace is the diary I've kept since baby was born, and while I missed a few days here and there at the beginning for several months I've written in it every day paying special attention to milestones and behaviors as they develop.

Baby turned one this week, and we had two birthday parties to celebrate.  The first with my wife's family in NJ last weekend, and we tried something new when traveling there.  It's about a 4 hour ride depending on the traffic, and it can be much worse when there's a lot of construction in Connecticut.  We packed the car after work and treated it like a regular evening, feeding him and getting him ready for bed at around 6:30 or 7pm.  Instead of putting him to bed we got right into the car and left.  He only drank about half of his bedtime bottle, so he was able to finish it in the car.  He opened his eyes occasionally during the ride, but slept for most of it; when we arrived, however, he was wide awake and wanted to show off his walking ability to his grandparents.  He stayed up about an hour then went down sometime in the 11pm hour.  My wife read that at around 1 year old a child will start to show separation anxiety, especially around bedtime.  He's definitely been putting up more of a fight going to bed for my wife, but he goes down for his naps for me with no problem.  I try not to take it personally.

The next day we had his actual birthday party; his grandparents and uncles with their significant others were there.  My wife and I had talked about making a special cake with less sugar and fewer ingredients for baby, but we didn't have time in the end to make it.  He ended up eating the same funfetti cake that we all had, although we took away most of the frosting after he had a little taste.  We've heard of people making a smash cake; a cake that is just for the child, as the name suggests, to smash and throw all around to their heart's content.  We'd rather start teaching him right away that certain behaviors aren't acceptable when eating, and smashing up your food and throwing it around is one of them.  That said, he still gets to eat with his hands and have a little fun, but only because it's a special occasion and if he had gotten out of control we probably would have taken it away.