One Fab Fit Mom - Weight Loss Success!

Ah, the joys of maintaining standards of excellent and self-pride in one’s work!

This morning my first grader brought to me his homework. Now, he is very much aware that half-buttocked attempts at work will result in mommy ripping up the page and having him do it again. Be that as it may, today he chose to write his sentences without any spaces between any words.

“But Mom, I’m not used to it! I can’t do it!” he whined to me when I brought his attention to this fact. Rather calmly, I went to my computer, printed out another blank handwriting page, and ripped up his first attempt.

BAM! You’d have thought the earth had been hit by an asteroid. The tears flowed, the angst erupted, and quicker than a lightning flash, I went to my knees to hug him tight to me and tell him, I believed in him and his abilities…and I KNEW that he could rise to the challenge and succeed no matter what.

It was a calculated move, I will admit…in hindsight, I can see how it might have gone either way. But when I came back to him 10 minutes later…..he had completely redone his work and was beaming with pride. “Look Mom, I calmed myself down and I finished it!!”

Wow. What an emotional roller-coaster. True, while there were spaces now between every word, there were missed capitals and the like….but I didn’t want to focus on that. Instead, I hugged him tight and reiterated how I knew he had it in him, how he should be so proud of himself for not giving up nor giving in….and what an utterly awesome kid he is.

He went to school quite happy!

Ah, the joys of showing you expect levels to maintained…and also demonstrating an undeniable belief in one’s child! I think that knowing someone believes in you is one of the most powerful gifts you can give your kids….it’s the thing that keeps them going and going and going.

You know, being a tough mom is one of the most difficult things I have to do for my kids. Staying the line, refusing to accept poor attempts, letting them cry….it can really be quite devastating. But the rewards at the end (super self-sufficient, confident magnificent kids) makes it all worthwhile.

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps - Want handwriting goodies? Consider:

ITALIC CALLIGRAPHY & HANDWRITING EXERCISES & TEXT

HANDWRITING EVIDENCE - MICHAEL MARTIN (HARDCOVER) NEW

Disputed Handwriting NEW by Jerome B. Lavay

Zaner Bloser Handwriting A Way to Self Expression Grade

Hooked On Handwriting: Learn to Print PC CD letters etc

The Handwriting Analyst’s Toolkit: Character and Pers..

HandWriting Fonts Machine Embroidery Designs CD 4″ Font

c1958 Easy Way to Better Handwriting A Doubleday Activity Book G+ - VG

Handwriting Analysis Putting It To Work For You

Daily Handwriting Practice, Modern Manuscript NEW

Modern Handwriting Beginning Manuscript (1999, Paperback)

A Reason For Handwriting, Kindergarten by Carol Ann Retzer and Rob Harrell…

Sexual Deviation Seen In Handwriting Marie Bernard book graphology cryptanalysis

Handwriting Without Tears - TEACHER’S GUIDE - 1st Grade

One of the biggest challenges parents have today is guiding their kids thru the turbulent times of growing up to become a responsible, self-confident member of society.

I vividly remember my extreme lack of confidence in my earlier years…it was soooo bad, it got the point I used to be grateful for any attention (negative or positive). It was only in my 20s that my own inner strength and spirit began to emerge…and help me become the superbly marvelous person I am today.

And that brings me to the very important point of, how are you helping to instill in your children “self-confidence”? It would be so easy if all you had to do was witness your child’s experiences as they go thru life…and see self-confidence magically grow and grow!

Alas, it just doesn’t happen that way. Kids need positive reinforcement whenever they excel…and accountability when they choose to perform under the bar. Nobody is perfect all of the time (except my parents, of course)….but every moment can be used to help your children grow along the straight and true path of self-awareness and self-confidence.

Last week I witnessed a perfect example of this. One of my kids is learning how to use the karate sais in katas and demonstrations; she was thrilled she had it under control and called to me, mom, watch me to do this (this was in at the karate dojo in front of lots of people). Well, she got about 80% right….but all I could think of at the time was my gosh, when I was that age, I’d have preferred to be frozen in carbonite compared to having people actually watch something I haven’t entirely mastered. What self-confidence she showed! I was lavish in my praise of her afterwards; she was beaming with pride as well.

How the generations can improve.

Being healthy and content and in control of one’s being is a great way for instilling self-confidence. Here are some resources for that:

• 12 ways to build your child’s self-confidence
• The ABCs of self-confidence
• The confident kid

What about sports and team participation and such? Many kids will benefit from the martial arts, which instills self-confidence, discipline, inner strength and more. Here are some resources for that:

• Kids, Karate Classes and more articles
• Martial Arts can be a prescription for self-confidence
• KidsWorld Karate

Always let your children know just how special and terrific they are…but also let them know when they slacked off as well. When you raise the bar for your child, quite often, their response will be to attain the new goals and levels you have set. And that is superb experience for a continued, healthy, self-confident kid to have.

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps - Brain games are a great way to build mental confidence! Look at:

CUBE 3D PUZZLE WOODEN BRAIN TEASERS

One-Minute Mysteries and Brain Teasers by Sandy Silverthorne and John Warner…

New Baseball Puzzle Wooden Brain Teasers and Good decor

FLY Fusion Pen Game Brain Teasers NEW

10p Basic level IQ Puzzle CHIENOWA Magic Trick Mind Game Brain Teasers

Geography Brain Teasers by Jodie Proctor

Leesho brain teasers 3 + 4 Layers- rubik puzzle - Sale!!!!

3 Triangle String puzzle Wooden Brain Teasers

The Everything Kids’ Riddles & Brain Teasers Book

ME VS YOU - HEAD TO HEAD BRAIN TEASERS AND PUZZLES

Yesterday in karate class I had quite the relevation. Several of our senseis are in their twenties…and as such, Tiananmen Square is the subject of history classes.

Well, back in 1989…I witnessed part of it as much as an American can. I was part of the protest march that marched upon Washington DC in protest. Not that it accomplished much (she said with the benefit of hindsight) but wow, was that an experience for me.

Tiananmen Square, back then, was referred to as the first war that was fought with email and fax. Every day new information would be snuck out over the wires and sent to faxes around the country.

I vividly remember the emotions that raged during this time. I will admit, the Chinese government handled it brilliantly for their end…they let the student leaders identify themselves via their talks and posturing and when all was set and ready, murdered them all. Whomp. One fell swoop, the rebellion was utterly crushed.

It was most bemusing to me to listen to my senseis talk about the history, while in my mind, I was remembering living through the 3rd party experience.

Here are more resources for Tiananmen Square:

Tiananmen Square protests of 1989

TankMan

Witnessing Tiananmen: Clearing the square

Memoirs

Sequence of Events

Never forget Tiananmen Square. It was an event that seared the souls of all who witnessed it…yet also showed that the human spirit will never….ever….be entirely crushed.

Barbara

ps - There are books for Tinanmen Square:

Lili: A Novel of Tiananmen by Annie Wang

3D JIGSAW PUZZLE CHINA TIANANMEN SP0097 51PCS NIB FREE SHIPPING

The Man on Mao’s Right: From Harvard Yard to Tiananmen Square, My Life Inside…

BS PHOTO afa-564 Tiananmen Square Protests 1989

Tiananmen Square man & tanks photo PICTURE poster

BS Baltimore Sun Photo Tiananmen Square Protests 1989

Tiananmen Square Protests by Marcia Amidon Lusted (2010, Hardcover)

PR China R3 普3 SC# 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 3rd Issue 1950 TianAnMen Used & Mint Set

PR China R1 R2 普1 普2 SC#12-14 16-23 TianAnMen 1950 Mint & Used Set of 11 天安门

Impact of China’s 1989 Tiananmen Massacre NEW

TIANANMEN SQUARE POSTER Fight for Freedom HOT NEW 24×36 - PRINT IMAGE PHOTO -G10

The National Flag Tiananmen Gate Beijing China Postcard

Night View of Tiananmen Gate Beijing China Old Postcard

SWISSAIR Peking 1975 First Flight Cover TIANANMEN GATE

The Power of Tiananmen by Dingxin Zhao (2001, Hardco…

One of the unique results that stem from being the all-powerful Earth Mother is that other moms will ask me to tutor their kids.

This morning I was requested to help an 11 year old memorize her 15 Wordly Wise spelling words. I first asked her, how do you study? “Well, I use flash cards and memorize them.” Apparently this was not too effective, as past grades had shown.

So! Instead of just ‘memorizing’ the words, I had her do the following:

1. Write down the word, stare at it.
2. Close the eyes, picture a blackboard in the mind, and then write the word mentally on the blackboard.
3. Repeat back to me what the blackboard says
4. Open the eyes, see if the recital was correct
5. Repeat twice more

I did this for each word, and then added repeating back other words at random.

It took 40 minutes, but eventually we worked thru all the words until they were down perfectly.

So we’ll see how the test goes.

This study method has proved to be extremely effective because it utilizes all sorts of learning - visual, auditory, kinesthetic, etc. I figure that at least one of those styles must adhere!

Thus, if your kids are having problems with spelling tests, try the above. You might be surprised at how useful it can be.

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps - want spelling help?

6132SPELLING BEE SUPERSTART SERIES

FRANK SCHAFFER PUBLICATIONS MGH0769652646 SPELLING GR. 4

EDUPRESS EP-111G MY SPELLING DICTIONARY 10-PK

Working Words in Spelling, Level D

Lot of 5 books SPELLING CONNECTIONS Grade “3″

Spelling Power Student Record Book by Beverly L. Adams-Gordon (1997, Paperbac…

Stori Telling~Tori Spelling~NICE!~​SOFTCOVER

Vintage Signal Corps Spelling Camp Lee Own Language Camp Lee Virginia Postcard

Spelling Workout Grade 4 (Teachers Edition)

Spelling Workout, Level D (Student Edition)

I love math.

Alas, I’m not a person to whom it is intuitive. I really have to struggle with understanding aspects of it well. That’s when when I became a mom, I promised myself my kids wouldn’t have the same handicap as do I.

I’m pretty pleased to announce I’ve achieved this goal!! My kids are in honors math and are doing superbly.

Here’s how I did it. Every day after school, I’d prepare additional MommyWork from EdHelper - this site lets you produce 100s of individualized worksheets and lessons. I’d make certain to add elements of fun by retyping up the questions with their friends names, their favorite hobbies, etc. It worked really well.

Math is embraced in our family. On our kitchen wall, I designed 4 posters for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division - all of my kids know that word problems which involve area generally mean, multiplication. “How much of each” generally means division. And so on, and so on.

Math means “fun” and “challenges” for my family. Think of the benefit my kids will have once they encounter pre-calc, Calc, diffiques, etc….it will be something into which to dive instead of something of which to fear and shun.

You can do that too for your family! Here are some excellent math resources:

• Beat the Calculator
• Math Tricks and Tips
• Math Stories
• Math Cats
• Ms. Lindquist Algebra Tutor
• Continental Math

Math is a great subject to love. Give your kids the love of math today - it will definitely help them in the future.

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps - Want math? Consider:

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Girl Scout MATH FUN Try-Its Iron On Patch

Girl Scout MATH FUN Try-Its Iron On Patch

Math Fun: Test Your Luck, Rose Wyler, Mary Elting, Good, Paperback

If You Were a Quadrilateral (Math Fun)

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1993 SMATH: The Game That Makes Math Fun - Homeschool - Complete - VGC

Morning,

You know, back before the earth’s crust cooled, and when “java” meant “beverage of life” (ie coffee), I was quite the sorry pathetic loser of a person. Zero self-confidence, zero ability to feel good about myself, etc.etc.etc. It never would occur to me to buck any trend and showcase my individuality. True, I’m an entirely different person today, but wow, how I remember my childhood.
Zoom up now to the present. My teen decided she wanted get her dark brown hair streaked with a vibrant red; I took her to the salon yesterday. After 3 (count ‘em 3!) hours (when I was told, oooooo, it will only be, hmmm, 45 minutes!), she was done; the contrast brought me up sharp. Talk about carrying a presence…my kid looks utterly awesome.

Which brings me to the point of this post! Hair color is an individual thing…and I’ve heard many parents decree, my kid will never get weird colors in their hair!

I used to think the same way. And then I realized…the ability to stand out from the crowd confidently is something I never had myself. What must it involve to say, okay, I’m going to be me!

So I changed my opinion. My kids know that no piercings shall enter our home (I can only take individuality so far!), but as far as hair color and style goes, more power to them!

Growing up. It’s a hero’s journey.

Barbara

ps - hair color can come in many different packages! Just look:

3 Clairol Loving Care Hair Color Medium Golden Brown 78 | Fresh-Manufactu​red ‘10

Loreal Frost & Design Dramatic Hair Color H45 Pecan Kit

Black Rose Herbal Henna Kali Mehandi Hair Color 50 Gm (5 x 10Gm Pack)

FS Takara Licca Chan Hair Color Change Doll Outfit Also For Blythe Dal Pullip

ISO HAIR COLOR 2 OZ NEW ASST COLORS

Tomy Takara Licca Emily Hair Color Change Outfit Also For Blythe Dal Pullip

LOREAL PARIS SUBLIME MOUSSE HAIR COLOR-#41 ICED DARK BROWN-NEW IN BOX

NEW Zach’s Wax Temporary Hair Color Extreme Color for a Cause Gel Blue

Goldwell Colorance DEMI COLORATION Hair Color (BlueCan) 3.8 oz

New Colorly Advanced Formula Hair Color Blonde 10TN

1 LOREAL MAJIREL HAIR COLOR1.7 OZ TUBE 5.12 5BV NIB

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NUDE SEXY Blonde with hand in Hair color postcard

1968 Print Ad Miss Clairol hair color blonde pretty lady cute boy girl tent fire

LOREAL COMPOSITE PLUS HAIR COLOR 1.7 OZ NEW

Morning,

Last Sunday, I had the unmitigated thrill of taking my family to Sesame Place. Now, for those who are currently living in Alpha Centuri, Sesame Place is a tribute towards Sesame Street and most importantly, Elmo The Wonder (as known by my kids).

The challenges with any theme part nowadays is finding online discounts to assist your wallet! So here’s what I did.

I went to Google and searched for:

Sesame Place discount

And I found:

Optimum Awards

which offered:

Sesame Place Discount
Good through October 27, 2007
Check out these great discounts!

Splash and spin. Slide and ride. Or Dine with a furry friend. Sesame Place is over 14 acres of fantastic family rides - from dry rides that fly to wet, water attractions. Plus, your favorite characters and dining with Big Bird and friends. All this and more make Sesame Place the place for kids and the kid in all of us.

# Save $10 on single-day admission to Sesame Place on any operating day from May 5, 2007 through June 15, 2007 and weekends only from September 4, 2007 through October 27, 2007
# Save $6 on single day admission to Sesame Place on any operating day from June 16, 2007 through September 3, 2007

The discount code was “sesamecablevision” …. and guess what, it worked! I was able to take off $10 for each ticket price.

You can apply this technique to uncover discounts on just about anything! Some useful discount sites online are:

• Current Codes
• Senior Discounts
• Mouse Savers

And don’t forget cool searches like:

• six flags coupon code
• hershey coupon code
• busch gardens coupon code

I ended up saving over $30 by using the above techniques - woohoo, I had money to buy gas!

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps - What’s that? You want more discounts? Consider:

Fatal error: Class ‘expKrc’ not found in /home/ling1/domains/fabfitmom.com/public_html/php-bin/eBay_cls.php on line 138

I’m a big believer in knowing what’s going on in my kids’ lives with regards to the Internet. Like I tell them, they might be sincere online…but that doesn’t mean 98% of the people they might encounter are the same way!

Here are some Internet acronyms every parent should know, taken from Net.Lingo:

1. POS - Parent Over Shoulder

2. PIR - Parent In Room

3. P911 - Parent Alert

4. PAW - Parents Are Watching

5. PAL - Parents Are Listening

6. ASL - Age/Sex/Location

7. MorF - Male or Female

8. SorG - Straight or Gay

9. LMIRL - Let’s Meet In Real Life

10. KPC - Keeping Parents Clueless

11. TDTM - Talk Dirty To Me

12. IWSN - I Want Sex Now

13. NIFOC - Nude In Front Of Computer

14. GYPO - Get Your Pants Off

15. ADR or addy - Address

16. WYCM - Will You Call Me?

17. KFY - Kiss For You

18. MOOS - Member(s) Of the Opposite Sex

19. MOSS or MOTSS - Member(s) Of The Same Sex

20. NALOPKT - Not A Lot Of People Know That

Utterly amazing. And to think, when I was “that age”, folks instead focused on things like The Cow Shed.

The times, they have a’changed. :-/

Barbara

ps - did you know you can get keystroke loggers online? Consider:

Repair Part Black Keystroke Keyboard for Nokia 5730

Keystroke One

Graphing Calculator Keystroke Guide: Discovery and Vis

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Gigabyte Aivia World Wide 1st Gaming Keystroke Keyboard GK-K8100 Red

Gigabyte Aivia World Wide 1st Gaming Keystroke Keyboard GK-K8100 Yellow

HER SPACE HOLIDAY KEYSTROKE 3 TRACK PROMO CD SINGLE 2Jf

Game Console Keystroke Keypad For Sony PSP PSP 2000

Repair Part Black Keystroke Keyboard for Nokia 5730

Morning,

Kids are getting fatter again. Here’s the latest:….

ST. LOUIS - Heavy children who lost weight kept the pounds off better through weight maintenance follow-up, but even that wasn’t terribly successful over two years, researchers reported.

The less-than-perfect results underscore the challenge in fighting the nation’s obesity epidemic. About 34 percent of American children are overweight.

A team led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis found that obese children who lost weight kept it off if they were in a maintenance program, but its effectiveness waned over time…. MORE …..

Like all parents, I’m concerned with my kids’ overall health and fitness as well. One thing I found that works really well is giving them Dance Dance Revolution - they can easily burn up tons of calories while having a blast at the same time! It truly is a godsend for children who don’t like participating in team sports.

There’s even a great site for parents who want to get fit via DDR too!

One of the dieting gurus who really walks the walk concerning children is Richard Simmons. Last year, Richard went to Washington DC to promote getting PE back into school…what a great cause! He writes:

… Somebody asked me what my legacy is. And I said one thing I want to do while on this earth is to get our children more fit. There are so many schools in the United States that have no PE. Some have it once a day for 15 minutes and this is just wrong. Our kids are overweight. They’re out of shape. They’re diabetic. They’re taking medication for antidepressants.

So what I did was I created a questionnaire that you could fill out if you were a parent, a teacher, a superintendent. I collected almost 60,000 that everybody around the country sent in to me…..MORE….

Walking the walk….it’s a great thing.

Some other great resources for getting and keeping your kids healthy are:

• Obesity in Children
• Obesity Prevention
• Kids and Exercise
• Exercise for Children

Remember, kids being kids, they might need some pushing and prodding. Do your job as a parent and make certain they DON’T sit on their rears every moment at home playing on the computer….get them up and moving. They’ll thank you for it later.

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps - some great DDR things are:

Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party 2 (Game & Dance Pad) (Wii, 2008)

Dance Dance Revolution Konamix (Sony PlayStation 1,…

Dance Dance Revolution Extreme (game & dance pad) (Sony PlayStation 2, 2004)

Dance Dance Revolution Extreme (Sony PlayStation 2, 2004)

PS2 Dance Dance Revolution Dance Pad Controller TESTED

Dance Dance Revolution SuperNOVA 2 (Sony PlayStation 2, 2007)

Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party 3 (Wii, 2009)

Dance Dance Revolution Disney Channel PlayStation 2

Dance Dance Revolution 3rd Mix + Dancing Stage

Morning,

A few weeks ago there was this rather thought-provoking article over at TheStar.com. It read:

….. `Our objective,” says the marketing exec at Dove Canada, “is to take your breath away.”

Well, they’ve done that, all right.

In its latest viral assault on the cultural distortions around what constitutes “beauty,” the soap company has just launched a rapid-fire Internet video that, says Dove’s Alison Leung, packs a lifetime’s worth of societal pressure emanating from the gazillion-dollar beauty industry into a mere minute (and 14 seconds).

It’s called, appropriately, Onslaught, and with the force of rifle fire rains down the nipped, tucked, botoxed, firmer, thinner, softer, tighter imagery that bombards young women from pre-adolescence through their whole darned lives….MORE….

Here’s the clip in question.

What do you think? It’s really quite breathtakingly done.

Barbara

ps - Personally, I prefer *this* kind of beauty:

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