Big Kid Buzz

There've been times when I've had the urge to use a taser on my son. Oh, have there.

Like last night when I told him to go to his room after he batted his sister in the head with a light saber and he matter-of-factly said, "No. No, thank you, not happening," cloaked in that irritating 6 year old attitude of his ...

But I can't imagine I would ever really do that ... or even ask a police officer to!

An Arkansas mom did! Last week, on Veteran's Day, she called police after her 11 year old daughter refused to take a shower. She gave the responding officer permission to "tase" the unruly girl if necessary, according to a report in the Huffington Post.

The officer did tase the 11 year old girl -- a quick pop on her back -- but only after the girl kicked him in the groin when he tried to take her into custody.

I know what a lot of you will be doing tonight! The Twilight Saga: New Moon opens in theaters today. They say Thanksgiving is the worst travel day of the year, but I'd say this is the night to stear clear of the areas of town that have movie theaters.

Lots of CafeMoms love Twilight as much -- or even more! -- than their kids and have been making plans for today for a while. I hope you were lucky enough to get a ticket for tonight or this weekend. Will your tween or teen be joining you?

Photo by lilysmommy8503

Every year for both Thanksgiving and Christmas, my mom would dress my sister and I up in what she called our "special holiday dresses."

Oh how I hated that. I was such a little tomboy and the idea of putting on itchy tights and a bow that never stayed in place made me quite the holiday Grinch (at least until it was time to eat Thanksgiving dinner or open presents). 

Photo by  RAZmom88

It's hard enough raising one teen -- but three?! Welcome to RAZmom88's wild and wonderful life. Check back every Thursday to find out what drama or joy she encountered this week.

Fighting Siblings

My teens usually get along fairly well. A few times I've heard name calling, which I hate. They are all my babies and I don't  like when they hurt each other. So on Saturday, Andrea and Zack were really going at each other.

Andrea turned off the video game while Zack was out of the room. He came back and threw a punch at her, and she did a good job of blocking it. I was completely stunned.

Zack went in his room and Andrea in hers. I went in and talked to each of them. Andrea knew Zack would be mad that she turned off the game (it was a football game and it took him hours to get where he was).

Photo by Emily_Dollface

Oh, great. It's not enough that this working mom already feels guilty about not spending enough time with my kids. Now here's another bit of info I'm going to stash away and hopefully never use ...

Being a working mom is not looked on too favorably by the courts during custody battles. No one likes to think about divorce and I don't wish it on any of us. But according to a report in Working Mother magazine, more fathers, stay-at-home dads particularly, are fighting for primary custody of their children -- and winning.

Photo by JustinaLynn

Another week and college students everywhere will be taking to car, train and plane to travel home for Thanksgiving break. Or will they? Some kids who attend colleges across the country don't make the trek home for a mere few days -- the expense of the ticket just isn't worth it.

Others might be skipping the tradition at home for the first time to spend it with their new boyfriend or girlfriend's family -- boo-hoo. I remember the first time I missed my family's big turkey event to spend at a boyfriend's house. My mom is still holding that grudge.

But they're growing up -- what can we do?

Photo by Emmy_Dollface

My 6 year old still calls me "Mommy" most of the time, but randomly now he'll stick in the generic "Mom," and I think, wow, that just sounds so grown up.

My 30-something friend still refers to and addresses her mother as "Mommy" and to me it doesn't seem to fit.

My father will sometimes use the term in third person -- "Go ask Mommy what she wants to do about dinner" -- and I guess that sounds okay because he still considers me his little girl, plus it makes me feel young.

Photo by JSVDP

Experts are always sending me stuff hoping for a spot in the Daily Buzz, and I usually just ignore them because the advice I get from the moms here is so much better.

But I recently came across this little "how-to" from Kansas State University child development expert Chuck Smith that I thought was pretty good.

He suggests three simple ways to teach your kids to be thankful. With Thanksgiving and the holidays coming up, I know this is on all our minds. (I, for one, am really tired of reminding my 6 year old to say thank you after a nice gesture or when someone gives him a gift. Is there a point when autopilot kicks in?)

As we all know, telling kids to be thankful just doesn't work. You have to show them, and hope your good modeling rubs off. I liked Smith's three simple and real suggestions on how to do that ...

Photo by Nadine254

If my house had a hallway like this, it would be my son in this picture. I have to be careful not to let him see this on the computer because he'll definitely get ideas.

Nadine254 snapped this shot of her 5 year old son, Jordan.

And then, look what her 3 year old Jayden did ...

Photo by 3boyz1princess

A big boat of a car.

Florida bound.

My mom and dad in the front seat, my brother and grandmother and I all crammed in the back.

Every year when I was around 9, our family would drive from New England to Tampa to visit my grandmother's sister. It was a looong trip, especially with zero legroom. My dad insisted on putting his 24-quart hard plastic cooler with enough sodas for a week on the floor behind the driver's seat. That just so happened to be the side of the car I was assigned.

My parents decided my brother needed the rear right passenger seat because he was younger and needed the floor space to play with his Army men (no car seats or seat belt rules back then). My grandmother got the middle seat to separate the two of us, and that left me with scrunched up legs the whole trip.