LilSugar

TV Middle School Moments

LilSugar — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 13:00:00 PDT

From first crushes to moral dilemmas and social hierarchies to embarrassing moments, middle school has enough fodder for seasons worth of TV shows. Some networks have hit gold capitalizing on the situations to which everyone can relate! As your tween heads back to school, check out some of my favorites.

Mad Men: Betty Draper Avoids Touchy Subjects, Do You?

LilSugar — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 07:00:02 PDT

Betty Draper talks to everyone but her daughter about touchy issues. In last night's episode of Mad Men, the tight-lipped mom flipped (and consulted a psychiatrist) when she found out Sally had been exploring her body. Being a parent can put even the most open-minded person into embarrassing situations. When issues arise, do you chat them out with your child or avoid the awkwardness altogether?
Photos courtesy of AMC

Wrinkle in Time: Would You Let Your Daughter Get Botox?

LilSugar — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 13:30:00 PDT

Girls just wanna grow up and look young! Tweens and teens are getting Botox? According to a recent report, though the FDA has approved the drug for people age 18 to 65, some plastic surgeons are willing to use it on those underage. It said:

Looking at these numbers again, Ashton points out that Botox is "tremendously popular when you look at how it breaks down - 0.2 percent of those who had Botox were actually in the 13 to 19-year-old age group - obviously, outside the FDA indication."

Concerned with their daughters' body image, some moms pay for their girls to attend weight-loss camps, get a nose job, or have their boobs done. Is Botox any different - especially if mom already gets it?

Hidden World of Girls Project Lets Parents Peek Inside

LilSugar — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 13:00:42 PDT

Dear Diary...lots of girls keep their thoughts under lock and key. It's said that many girls grow up believing they can do anything and then become tweens and lose that confidence. The Hidden World of Girls Project gives parents some insight into the minds of their daughters. NPR's initiative asks women to take a picture of a diary page of their youth and upload it to Flickr in an effort to "form a comprehensive tapestry - from elation to depression - of life experiences." The entries thus far include crayon doodles and poetry, an elaborate boy rating system, and records of every day life. Add yours! Or share your best tween kept secrets with your daughter.

Interview With Rosalind Wiseman: Avoid Raising a Mean Kid

LilSugar — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 15:00:37 PDT

Nobody wants to be the parents of the mean kid. In fact, most moms and dads don't think they are going to be! I recently had the chance to chat via phone with Rosalind Wiseman, the author who made "mean girls" a household name when Tina Fey turned her book Queen Bees and Wannabes into a movie starring Rachel McAdams and Lindsay Lohan. Wiseman is an expert on the topic so I was interested in hearing what she had to say on ways mothers and fathers can avoid this situation by raising kind kids. Do you agree with her tip and do you keep the communication lines open in your home?

More Kids Are Coming Out in Middle School

TresSugar — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 14:00:00 PDT

The middle-school version of ourselves probably had a blurry idea of the adults we would become, but some kids are proving that we knew a lot more about our identities than we thought. With no doubt about who they are attracted to, more and more kids are coming out as gay or bisexual before they make it to high school.

An article in this weekend's New York Times Magazine examines the trend and reveals that many of these kid are coming out before they've ever dated or kissed anyone of either sex. They just know they don't want to date the opposite sex.

The piece profiles Austin, a gay 13-year-old from Oklahoma. To hear what Austin thinks about tweens and teens coming out and the reactions they get,

read more. Austin's experience went something like this:

Austin doesn’t have to play "the pretend game," as he calls it, anymore. At his middle school, he has come out to his close friends, who have been supportive. A few of his female friends responded that they were bisexual. "Half the girls I know are bisexual,” he said. He hadn’t planned on coming out to his mom yet, but she found out a week before the dance. “I told my cousin, my cousin told this other girl, she told her mother, her mother told my mom and then my mom told me," Austin explained. "The only person who really has a problem with it is my older sister, who keeps saying: 'It’s just a phase! It’s just a phase!'"

"It's just a phase" is probably a common reaction to the idea of middle schoolers coming out. But since we would never question a heterosexual adolescent who announces that he or she likes the opposite sex, should we question those who say they're attracted to the same sex? What do you make of all this?

Would You Have Your Son Get the HPV Vaccine?

LilSugar — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 07:00:00 PDT

Lots of mothers have given permission for their daughters to get the Gardasil vaccine, but it may soon be available for their sons. The human papillomavirus (HPV) has become so widespread that many pediatricians are administering the preventative shots (given in three doses within six months) to their patients. According to one report:

A Food and Drug Administration advisory committee voted Wednesday to recommend that the vaccine be made available to boys and young men aged 9 to 26 for protection against genital warts caused by HPV.

The vaccine protects against four types of HPV, and two of those are believed to be responsible for 70 percent of cervical and anal cancers, and HPV-associated penile and throat-and-neck cancers. The other two cause 90 percent of genital warts cases, researchers say.

Would get your son vaccinated?

Parent/Child Contracts Put It All Down in Writing

LilSugar — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 10:00:00 PDT

Sign on the dotted line please. We sign contracts for our homes, our jobs, and even for our child care providers, but will signing one with our children help keep them in line?

Some parents use parent/child contracts to keep the communication path more open, while others see it as a way to keep order in their household. The contract can serve as a visible way to ensure that kids are aware of the house rules and the consequences of disobeying them. They also help children understand what their parents' roles are in helping them achieve their goals.

For families looking to put things in writing, this pad of contracts ($10) will help get the process started with 30 fill-in-the-blank sheets that outline the terms of the agreement and penalties for breaking them.

What's your opinion of drafting contracts with your kids?

Vanessa Williams Gives Beauty Tips to Her Daughters

LilSugar — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 05:00:03 PDT

Last week our girl Bella interviewed Ugly Betty beauty, Vanessa Williams. They had a chance to chat about how the singer and actress maintains the good looks Mother Nature gave her and what beauty tips she doles out to her older daughters. When asked how she encourages a good self-image in her youngest child, the mother of four - Melanie, Jillian, Devin and Sasha - said:

The youngest one is eating right. She’s an athlete, she dances, she swims, she does basketball, softball. So my big push is eating the proper food that will fuel her body. You know, it’s a struggle because kids love gummy bears and fruit roll ups and yogurt with sugar in it - the quick snack foods. Trying to force them to eat vegetables and be conscious of eating living food like a piece of fruit as opposed to going for a bag of chips. I’m currently trying to focus her on making sure that she fuels her body with delicious, healthy food. And also staying active which she has no problem doing.

Tweens Can Rock Disney Duds As They Head Back to School

LilSugar — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:35:24 PDT

If you have school aged children, especially tweens, the Mouse has probably taken over your television set and CD player. Now, prepare for The Jonas Brothers and The Wizards of Waverly Place to take over your kiddo's closet. Yesterday, Disney debuted it's back to school line of Ivy League and Boho Chic duds inspired by the popular shows. There are also school supplies and accessories to fill up your youngster's desk or locker. The reasonably priced items hit shelves this month at JC Penney, Kmart, Sears, Walmart, Target and DisneyStore.com.

To check out more shots from the runway show and the full line of apparel, read more.

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