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• Quit Biting!

  I overeat. I talk too loud. I’m insecure. I think I snore. But if I could change one thing about me, it might be this: I wish I didn’t bite my nails. Read More... Posted Sep 13 2007, 09:45 AM by Madeline Holler with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: therapy, The Netherlands, bad habits, fingernails, nail biting

• Crazy Couple Dines While Kid Swelters in Car

  This story just makes me sick. Apparently a Tennessee couple didn't want to be bothered while dining with their 6-year-old, so they strapped the boy in a car on an 80-degree day and went back to their meal. "He was sitting up in between the two front seats and he was crying," (police Sgt. John) Gass said. "He had a rope tied to one of his ankles. The child was just sweating, just soaking."  The couple, Rachel "Idiot" Gilchrist, 35, and her companion, Raymond "Moron" Minchew, 61, said the boy misbehaved, while their fellow diners had a different story -- claiming the boy was an angel. Either way, it doesn't matter. This is just disgusting. And you know why? Because they were eating at Cracker Barrel. I can totally understand if they were out at Per Se or somewhere nice. At least somewhere with a Michelin star or two. But Cracker Barrel? There's a special place in hell reserved for these parents. Posted Jun 13 2007, 07:32 AM by Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: bad parenting, bad parents, bad habits

• TV Dinners Bad for More Than Your Brain

  Plopping the fam in front of the TV during dinner time does more than dull any type of conversation. It can actually make your kids unhealthy. A recent health survey shows kids who eat with their families in front of the television eat fewer fruits and vegetables. Turn off the tube, however, the veggie intake soars. And here I thought dinner-time TV was a bad idea because the only thing on at the time is usually umimportant things like the news. In short, the survey of 1,300 families with preschoolers showed that family dinner time = good -- while family dinner time + TV = bad. Just wait till the World Series and we'll see how quickly that equation changes. Posted Apr 12 2007, 10:31 AM by Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) with | with no comments Filed under: family dinners, dinner, study, bad habits, family activities

• Stopping a Nose-Picker From Picking

  When my daughter was about two I tried to get creative and find ways to keep her from her newest habit, the one where her hand was suspended in front of her face, dangling by one finger firmly planted in a nostril.  "What do you have in there?" I teased, "Ponies?"  That got a smile which I could still glimpse, hidden as it was behind the hand, still dangling by that lone finger, digging.  Okay, so subtle didn't work.  What next?  "Could I have some of that?" I joked.  Always obliging and amazingly generous for a two-year-old, she removed the finger long enough to offer me what was on it. Read More... Posted Apr 10 2007, 07:27 AM by Karen Murphy with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: children, kids, bad habits, nose picking

• YouTube Goodness: Kermit's Downward Spiral

  I'll admit it - the idea of combining the post-metal/industrial sound of Trent Reznor's band with the chipper vocal stylings of everyone's favorite frog seems like a ridiculous idea. But we who grew up with Kermit forgot that it' s really not that easy being green (and we finally have an explanation for Kermit's impossibly skinny arms and legs; apparently you can see needle tracks in the hi-res Quicktime version). Miss Piggy, you ought to be ASHAMED. Look at what your wicked ways have wrought. Posted Mar 30 2007, 11:36 AM by JasonAvant with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: drinking, methamphetamine, addiction, video, drugs, satire, death, bad habits, methadone, drug addiction, muppets, Kermit, Hurt, Nine Inch Nails

• Easy Sleep Now Only Means Pain Later

  When Emmeline was about five months old, I performed the usual bedtime routine -- bath, massage, bottle, book -- then hoisted in her in her crib, turned off the light and let her fend for herself. Dana had to work through the night and into the early morning, and so I was the only one around the hear Emme cry. Maybe it was cruel. Maybe it was mean. It certainly broke my heart every time she woke up and I sat on my hands. But she sleeps like a drunken rock star now, so I'm not complaining. I'm not advocating the cry-it-out method, despite the aptly chosen moniker above this post. It worked for us -- but it may not work for you. Still, I was reading a column by family psychologist John Rosemond, and I started to see he had a point: Taking the easy way out will only haunt you later. Read More... Posted Mar 01 2007, 08:06 AM by Mike Adamick (Cry It Out!) with | with 22 comment(s) Filed under: babies, sleep deprived, Cry it Out, sleep, bedtime, psychology, bad habits

• Teeth Grinding in Kids: I Need Help and You're the Only One I Can Ask

  I'm at my wit's end here and I figure I'm in the right place, I mean, you're pretty much most of you parents, right?  And I know you have opinions.  So please, please, share yours with me now.  This post of Stefania's about the world's worst sounds has got me thinking.  I know, I know, she's all about the "poo-splosion" and certainly the whining, and I have to give her those, but I gotta tell you, I think my three-year old is going to drive me to drink, or to get gray hairs, to to an early grave.  Wait!  Two out of three already!  See?? Read More... Posted Feb 16 2007, 08:16 AM by Karen Murphy with | with 7 comment(s) Filed under: children, health, teeth, annoying sounds, grinding teeth, bad habits