Most people are familiar with the birth control pill, but there are also other birth control options like implants and intrauterine devices. There is also a birth control shot. The shot uses Depo-Provera which is the brand name for medroxyprogesterone. It must be given once every three months. It prevents pregnancy by preventing ovulation. It also causes your cervical mucus to thicken which helps keep sperm from reaching an egg. Here are some things you might need to know about this shot if you're considering using it for birth control. 1. According to Planned Parenthood, the birth control shot is over 99 percent effective when it's used correctly, but in reality, it's closer to 94 percent because women often forget to get the shot. So that means about 6 out of every 100 people using the shot will get pregnant every year. So if you're thinking about going on the shot, you need to remember to make appointments with your doctor regularly to make sure you don't miss a shot. It's a good…
Parents love their children. They want to protect the young ones from everything that can harm them and teach their adorable little humans everything they need to know to become responsible, self-sufficient adults. Parents teach the child the proper way to do things and then they have to give that same child space to practice on their own. That means that in some situations the child has to be left alone to find his/her own solutions to increasingly more difficult problems, based on what they have already learned. While it may involve the child feeling discomfort and instinctively seeking the help of the adult he/she learned to depend on, the parent must resist the urge to swoop in and save the day because that would defeat the whole purpose of the exercise: teaching the child to act on his own. These situations are a simulation of what they are going to face later in life, as adults. Animals do it. They teach their offspring the skills needed for survival in a playful manner. What the…
It is interesting to me to look back at what I have been through and reflect on what I have learned. Maybe I can pass some of it on to you! And, perhaps if you are going through anything close to what I went through this will help ease the pain a bit and give you some ideas as well. I hope so. I got a divorce when my daughter was two and a half. Too young to understand, only young enough to know something wasn't right. Kids are incredibly intuitive, don't sell them short. Her mother was a severe alcoholic. Incredibly beautiful, (as in runner-up to Miss………. (State) of the Miss America pageant), and she knew how to use it to get what she wanted. She had an addiction problem, and when I realized it, I went to a counselor. My ex-went with me one time and halfway through the session ran out. The counselor sat me down and said that I was in a tight spot. That unless she wanted to change nothing else would and that there was at least the possibility that she would use the child against me, even…
Dreams realized usually create new dreams. It is hard therefore to accept that a dream is not very far from a nightmare. Nor a nightmare far from a dream! To say I love my daughter is an understatement. To say I understood what I was getting into is a gross understatement. Parenting is different than wanting to be a parent. My daughter is smart, intelligent, sassy, good-looking, organized and controlling. Children of alcoholics often feel that their life is out of control and that they have no stability. In my daughter’s case that was the issue. Her mother was gone from time to time for days on end. As a very young girl, she was forced to fend for herself. That is why I cooked with her, did her homework with her, and read to her on the phone on a regular basis. I was trying to provide some stability. The issue becomes apparent when the child, as a teenager, in the effort to become an adult, having had little security and therefore wanting to create it for herself tries to take over a…
Growing up in Japan, I am pretty familiar with Hayao Miyazaki’s anime films. So many Japanese and people around the world are the fans of his films. Still, some of you have never watched or known any of his movies. That’s totally fine because there are so many good movies I don’t know their existences of or have not watched yet. Nevertheless, I really hate some children are missing these fun and loving Miyazaki’s films. Parents and grandparents, please consider these movies I recommend below for your kids and grandkids. I promise both you and they will love it. Must Watch for Kids
My Neighbor Totoro (1988)
This is a must see. The very best for elementary age kids, but everyone, younger, older or adults will love it too. So this is best for a family movie night. The Totoro characters including Totoro and cat bus are so adorable, once you see Totoro, you will not forget it. My 2-year old niece has watched multiple times already. She knows its song and of course recognizes Totoro. If you…
Parenting at best is a no-win situation in the present and a winning situation if you are lucky in the long-run. Life teaches hard lessons and as a parent, just because you teach the hard lesson is no guarantee of the right outcome. I've seen great parents have troubled kids, and seemingly lousy parents have incredible kids. I have no answers. I could only do what I thought was right for my daughter and me and my family. I tried to teach honesty, trust, helpfulness, kindness, thoughtfulness, openness, and a certain amount of thoughtful irreverence. Most of all I wanted to give her a sense of personal responsibility. I don't believe you can be "friends" with your child. "Friendly," yes. Friends, no. The reason is simple. Sooner or later you are going to have to teach your child something it is easier not to teach. ‘Friends" take the easy route. They don't say "No." When that happens too often, there is a breach in the friendship. As a parent, you must have rules, strict lines in the…
My wife and I had planned on being the typical American couple. We’d get married, work for a couple of years (to earn some stability and get to know one another) and then start our family. We had seen our friends follow this same agenda and it seemed simple enough. We learned it was not always so simple… Finally, after a decade of trying and reaching the ripe-old age of thirty-eight, we realized that having a baby just wasn’t going to happen the “old-fashioned way.” So, we sought help. Only to find that “help” to be very expensive. The process of IVF (in-vitro fertilization) and subsequent pregnancy and birth would cost tens of thousands of dollars, which we didn’t have. But, we did have our house. Years of scrimping, saving, used cars and brown-bag lunches had allowed us to pay off our school debts and save just enough for a down payment on a small three-bedroom, two-bath house on the outskirts of town. Vickie and I both worked full time, living in tiny apartments in bad neighborhoods to…
Penguin Pete here, and today I'm going to venture far astray from my usual topics. No horror movies or Linux distro geeking. Today, we're going to talk about cooking. You must be asking, "By what authority do I have a license to lecture about cooking?" By having raised a household of four kids, that's how. During which time about 90% of our meals were all homemade, both Mrs. Penguin and I took turns cooking, and we weren't the richest household on the block so we mastered the art of cooking economically. During which time, in the life of a freelance writer, I also had to learn to cook lighter on the calorie side lest I balloon to 400 pounds from a career of sitting in a chair typing all day. But I'm not here to dispense recipes or techniques, at least not much. Instead, these are going to be my "kitchen hacks" if you will. Gadgets you wouldn't think to keep around a kitchen, or at least aren't the first thing you see in your average kitchen, but have come in handy enough over the years…
https://pixabay.com/photos/back-to-school-home-of-apple-4373777/ I pulled my son out of public school As my son showed signs of being unable to emotionally cope with the bullying in his elementary school and lack of support from the staff, I pulled him out of public school. Terrified by all of the myths about home-schooling and the children that come from home-schooling, I had to plug forward for the sake of my baby. The myths can terrify any parent who is not a teacher. This is understandable but don't give up hope or write off home-schooling as an option for your child. The benefits I will offer will shine a new light no the subject. Terrified of messing up my child's education, chances for college, loss of social interaction, the list goes on forever. I began researching everything immediately because the decision was made in one day. I had no time to prepare. Everyone I talked to had nothing nice to say about home-schooling They kept reinforcing my fears asking how I could do this to my…
Stay-At-Home mom life is extremely difficult, isolating, and much more complicated than it sounds. Many of these moms do not get the credit they deserve. Caring for children all day is extremely taxing on the mind and body. Many stay-at-home moms crave a taste of freedom and desire for their children to begin a curriculum early in life. This is why many desperate mothers place their pre-school aged child in a program that claims to prepare children for kindergarten. However, more and more mothers are realizing that these programs are nothing more than glorified daycares. My StoryI am a stay-at-home mom with three kids under three years old. About a year ago, I enrolled my then two-year-old twins in a pre-school program at a local facility. They went to their program two days a week for a half of a day, and I got a small amount of time to do the things that needed to be done without my toddler’s “help.” However, it did not take long for me to realize that my kids were not learning…