About this column:
Medford mom Adrienne Szafranski talks about her experiences parenting and the resources available for parents in the city. Szafranski is a mother of two boys and a former middle school english teacher.The soccer mom stereotype involves a minivan, a sweater draped nattily over the shoulders, and a focus on the kids. A real soccer mom has mud on her cleats and buys Aleve in bulk. She's probably not as fast as she was before the kids, but she's a smarter player. She's relieved that her kids' games are on Saturdays, so she won't miss her Sunday kick-off. Moms play soccer too! Massachusetts, blessedly, has great opportunities for recreational sports at all levels. This includes moms who played high school or college soccer, or just became interested when their kids started playing. The Eastern …
You get so used to your children’s quirks that you forget how they appear to others. This was driven home for me this week, as the kids and I went away to their grandparents’ house. I know what four foods they eat and what combinations are allowed and disallowed, but when my parents tried to feed them, it didn’t always go well. So let me offer this caveat: I am absolutely unqualified to tell you how to solve your problems with picky eaters. (Just as I am unqualified to write a “How to potty train your child by age four” column.) I have two superlatively picky eaters. Some of this is my …
Many a parent has resorted to putting a cranky child in the car and just driving. The motion and monotony work their magic, and voila! You have a sleeping or rested child. Driving aimlessly works. I never had to resort to this when they were babies; in fact, we didn’t need this until they had given up naps. When they give up naps, they sure don’t give up crankiness, and what are you going to do? Driving aimlessly works, but driving with a destination is better for the adults involved. 40-Minute Drives Work For You And Them I’ve discovered two road trips that take about 40 minutes, one way. …
The summer Medford Family Network newsletter is out, and it is a handy resource for summer. The link to the right has what you need to plan outings, playdates, and educational fun. The Network is operating on summer hours, and its offerings are leaner than the rest of the year, but it has more than made up for it by compiling great offerings from around the region. First up, the Medford Family Network has its Summer Concert Series. The family concerts will be at Wright's Pond from 6 p.m. to sunset, and this year there will be a free continuous shuttle bus to and from Flynn Rink, Wright's Pond…
I admit, I imagined the life of a stay-at-home dad was more like a monogamous James Bond doing housework. I asked Aldo Masciave, a local stay-at-home dad whom I've known through playgroups and school, about his experience and he set me straight. His wife Sarah works during the week and Aldo works on the weekends. A clear-headed look at their situation led them to this arrangement. “At that time, Sarah had been with her company for 5 years, and she was doing great! There was stability, room to move up, and it was in a field that directly related to her degree. I was in Real Estate, which was…
If you have students in Medford Public Schools, you should be worried about the state of technology there. If you have children who will grow to be students in MPS, you should be worried. If your kids are off to college in the fall, I'll let you off the hook. On June 6, the MPS Technology Committee will update the School Committee at their regular meeting at 7 p.m. at Medford City Hall. While your presence isn’t necessary, your feedback is vital. The administration is moving forward on this; they need your help to keep the momentum going and plan implementation. Begin by acquainting yourself …
Two things have been game-changers since our family got our special needs diagnosis: hiring an advocate, and discovering EMARC. Many of you special needs families already know about EMARC. After all, they serve 800 people in this area. They service “adults and children of all abilities”, including support groups for caregivers over 60, case management and IEP clinics, and recreationally-based programs for siblings. Their mission “is to provide and promote services and supports for persons with disabilities and their families.” According to Chenine Peloquin, Director of Education for EMARC, …
Technically, I'm an apostate. Realistically, the Pope gave me my walking papers when he said you could not be Catholic AND pro-choice. Potato, potah-to. Fast forward to having young kids who know more about other cultures than how their mother spent Lent and Easter as a child. Life without religion is harder than I expected it to be. Try explaining the concept of a limitless invisible being to children with no grounding in religion. Explain the concept of death without an afterlife. If you were a disaffected teen who hated going to weekly services, then you too may have become a parent …
Most people, when it comes to charitable giving, donate either time, or money, or energy. Nancy Campobasso gives all three in a great model of community and business collaboration. Schools and businesses can strengthen each other, and Nancy has found a way to do it. Nancy is a hair stylist. She's also a mom who identified a need in the community. Nancy found a way to promote her business and contritibute to the Parent Teacher Organization at the Roberts school. At the beginning of the school year, Nancy gave the school coupons that went home with the students. These coupons, aside from…
There are many reasons someone you know may decide to become vegetarian: animal welfare, health, and environmentalism are just a few. But it's very likely one of your family's circle is or will become a vegetarian, and if you're doing the cooking, panic may ensue. The key to feeding a vegetarian is understanding his or her brand of vegetarianism. Vegetarian is someone who doesn't eat meat (but may eat some animal proteins) Lacto-ovo vegetarians eat no animal flesh, but do eat dairy and eggs Pescetarians eat no land animals or birds, but do eat fish and shellfish. Ask about eggs and milk. …
Quietly, without fanfare, the Medford Family Network (MFN), Medford Special Education Parent Advisory Council (SEPAC), Special Education Department, and parents came together. If you were paying close attention, you'd have seen the new "Similarly Different" Special Needs Support Group come together for parents under the auspices of the Medford Family Network. You'd have seen the MFN join with Somerville and Tufts special education services. You'd have seen SEPAC bring increased programming to educate parents. But you'd have had to look closely, and you needed to know where to look. For …
While older kids have sleep-away camps, sports camps, and special interest camps, what do you do with kids whose only special interest is Thomas the Tank Engine or Dora the Explorer? There ARE options for kids from 3-6, and here are some of them. Many thanks to the "Fulton Street Irregulars" who contributed to this list, and to reader Nancy Quinn for posing the question. If your child has special needs, he or she can play too! Much of this list comes from parents of special needs children. While not specifically special needs programs, these may work for you if you first meet with the …
A couple of times a year, this nuclear family undergoes fission. The kids and I are tied to the Medford Public School schedule, and my husband is tied to his work schedule. My parents have a great vacation home in a southern clime: what would you do? Don't get me wrong--more vacations with my husband would be something we'd all enjoy. But that's not something we can have right now, so we do this instead. It's important that the family is together for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and our July 4 anniversary. It's important to be together for birthdays. Is it important that I stay in Medford…
Trying too hard? Yeah, before the recent New England-style heat wave, it's been a hard winter all around. But what are you gonna do? (No, not you with the plane tickets to Florida, the other one.) Perception is everything, and I'm trying to shift mine. Let's look at this winter as an exercise in character-building. This has been winter that will drive home the Yankee values of hard work, ingenuity, and persistence. Yup, this winter has made true New Englanders of our children (or Southerners...no, wrong perception). Hard work: Northerners aren't afraid of it. Anyone who has shoveled …
Maybe all your teen wants to do is play video games. Maybe the only books your daughter has picked up in the last year have featured vampires. Maybe your son struggles with reading. How can you improve your teen's literacy? This is where a Teen Librarian comes in handy. Rebecca Meehan, Teen Librarian at Robbins Library in Arlington, knows her stuff and wants to help. Specifically serving the 6th grade through high school population, Rebecca knows what's out there and how to get a book you'll want to read in your hands. And for kids who struggle just picking out a book, she's willing to…
If you were stuck at home and listened to the news in between episodes of Curious George, as I did, you learned that Monday, January 17 was "Blue Monday." If you are stuck at home for yet another snow day and doing internet searches for Blue Monday, as I am, you'll find out that it may be Monday, January 24th. Regardless, Blue Monday is the result of a dubious mathematical formula that takes into account weather, salary, debt, time since Christmas, motivation levels, and broken resolutions, and determines that either the 17th or 24th is the most depressing day of the year. I certainly …
Think Disney is off the table because the parks could never accommodate your special needs? Not necessarily so. Disney wants you, and it is willing to cater to your needs in ways you may not have foreseen. Medford's Disney expert, Julie Cave, is herself mobility challenged and shares her tips. We wrap up our 3-part Disney series with Disney and Special Needs. First Stop: Guest Assistance Card For non-visible special needs, Julie recommends a Guest Assistance Card. You obtain this card by going to Guest Services at the front gate at all the parks. They won't require a note from your …
Note: Read Part One of this column here. Planning, planning, planning: this will separate you from the other thousands of people who will show up at Disney on any day. Don't stop when you've booked your vacation. With your family, sit down and find out what is really important about this trip. Is it princesses? Splash Mountain? Meeting Mickey? The Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique? (Really. I couldn't make that one up if I tried.) Once you know exactly what you want to get out of your trip, you can sit down with a map and plan it out. Disney has maps you can print out at home, or they can be …
Julie Cave knows more than you or I will ever know about planning a Disney vacation. I discovered this when I was bemoaning the $312 price tag for one day at one park for a family of 4. Julie was able to bring a family of 3, with air fare, meals, and accommodation with 7-day multi-park passes for $1200. Clearly, she knew something I didn't, and she was willing to let me pick her brain. Julie's daughter is in my son's preschool class. She weighed in with her wisdom when I told the other preschool parents that I didn't see how families could afford to go to Disney. Her family goes to …
I was writing Christmas cards to my sons' teachers and kept pausing to wipe away tears. Yes, I've become on of them: a cry-er. This was not always the case. My younger sister will attest to my ruthless, bloodthirsty, and decidedly unsentimental nature. But like most people, I've always had a soft spot. After I had kids, that soft spot grew. Inconveniently. For instance, I love a good murder mystery. After my son was born, I couldn't watch anyone kill anyone else: they were all someone's children. A whole genre, out the window. I recently posted to Facebook about tearing up at …
