MichaelF

2,806 reputation

312

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	location	Massachusetts
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visits	member for	2 years, 1 month
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I am a parent of two boys who are 5 years apart, they get along well and play as well as kids can with that age gap. They are half-Chinese and are growing up learning English and Chinese, reading, writing and speaking for both languages. What I want to get out of this site are more ideas on raising my boys, giving them more opportunities for learning and growth as well as more ideas on how to educate them and get them to try new things.

	2,806 reputation	bio	website		visits	member for	2 years, 1 month
312 badges		location	Massachusetts		seen	yesterday

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150 Comments

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Jul 18	comment	What TV shows are wholesome for primary-schoolers? You can be sure, someone is making money out of it. Like I said, up to a certain age I don't have a problem with it, but only YOU know what that certain age is for your kids. Mine, I know has maybe a year or two left for this sort of thing, then he's going to end up restricted from certain movies because of this. Being a parent is a 7/24 job and its not a popularity contest, you have to make had choices if you want your kids to grow up the way you want.
Jul 16	comment	Why does my baby have bubbles around the mouth? Love this...I do the same with my boys.
Jul 15	comment	What TV shows are wholesome for primary-schoolers? "kids films now have adult innuendo all plumbed in" an interesting observation but I think in many ways that is done to keep adults interested when taking kids to the movies. With young kids most of that goes over their heads anyway, up to a certain age I don't have a problem with it.
Jul 15	comment	What TV shows are wholesome for primary-schoolers? Agreed, Muppet Show is awesome, I am going to look for that in the library.
Jul 15	comment	At what age should I expect my daughter to talk? Agreed, my two sons are living in an English/Mandarin speaking household and were slow to start talking.
Jul 8	comment	What are the pros and cons of adopted children taking their adoptive parents' name? I wonder how the last names will work with my kids then, my wife kept her Chinese name (considering my last name is longer than her's written in English). One son has her last name, the other has mine, so at least we have some connection though as brothers they will have different last names.
Jul 7	comment	How do you discipline someone else's child? Agree with the first comment, guests like that don't stay long nor are they ever invited to return.
Jul 1	comment	How do I get my daughter to spend less time at the computer? +1 for Library, I'd offer this as a suggestion regardless.
Jul 1	comment	Is my infant boy's scrotum too large? I'd concur with others, if you don't feel comfy with your doctor ask for a second opinion. It never hurts, and unless others are medical professionals they are just stating their observations.
Jun 28	comment	How to react to “cruelty” of a toddler? He may not really empathize yet, so he may not really see it as more a game to play with you for attention, although it may be the start of behavior you probably do not want to continue. Good for you for not escalating it, best to nip this sort of thing from the start.
Jun 27	comment	What should we pack when going camping with an infant? Can you use bug repellant on an infant? Especially one still nursing? In the US I've often seen warnings to not use the repellant on infants, which has made it hard for us to bring our youngest out for bike rides or let him outside at dusk when we gets lots of mosquitos.
Jun 23	comment	How can the god-parent obtain legal custody of children when single parent is comatose? Agreed, custodial issues without a will in place always requires a lawyer. If that has not started now, then you are wasting time.
Jun 23	comment	How can I bathe my baby in the shower? That folding one looks pretty cool!
Jun 21	comment	How should we address stuttering in a toddler? I looked at the comment part differently than HedgeMage, comments to a child's speech aren't a hinderence to development if done right. You can lead in a comment and get them to talk more, I've done it with my son when I can tell he just wants to talk and know I have heard him.
Jun 20	comment	What games are good for teaching math? What sort of mathematics are you trying to teach? Just simple counting or addition or something more complicated? Counting games I think are covered by nGinius, but if you want anything different can you explain more about what you are trying to achieve?
Jun 20	comment	What games are good for teaching math? Some of these are good, Trouble is one I've used to get my son used to counting. As well as Mouse Trap, plus he loves the building angle in the game, although any dice game is helpful for counting.
Jun 17	comment	What are the psychological impacts of a split-religion household? Agreed, my wife is raising our son to be a Buddhist. We don't go to temple all the time, but for the major festivals and there are a lot of Buddha stories to learn. Never hurts to look around, I include some Christian stories when they come up.
Jun 16	comment	Is it ok for my baby to sleep in his swing? 7 weeks seems young to me to fall asleep in anything other than a crib, although most of my concern comes from my wife's wheedling about shaking babies. She's overboard on what constitutes shaking, but until our kids sat upright if they fell asleep they always got moved to the crib. Now at 14 months our youngest takes lots of naps in the swing.
Jun 16	comment	Should we use a smiley chart to reward/punish our toddler? I never found our 2 year old to really understand these concepts, maybe yours is advanced enough to and if so that's great. I'd worry more about the child understanding what the smiley and frowny faces represent rather than just having them there.
Jun 15	comment	What are the psychological impacts of a split-religion household? I don't want to get more into this, because this is bordering on something that should be brough to chat but my view is it is only as divided as you make it. Religion is an emotional topic to many, but it does have its benefits. I don't think you'd find many studies on this because its a polarizing subject and again this is only as divisive as you let it. When the kids get older, and more curious, they may be more receptive to information you have that changed your mind.