Chicago Moms Blog

The Naked Truth About Swimming in PE Class

Back in the 1950s when my dad  was a student in a Chicago Public School, the naked truth was that the boys went swimming in the buff during PE class. As Mark Brown described in a recent column in the Chicago Sun-Times, "This was an organized school activity where gym teachers would order their students to take off their clothes and get in the pool for swimming instruction."

I remember my father telling my brother and I such things every time we drove past Lane Tech on the North Side. As a modest child, skinny dipping sounded odd enough, but swimming naked alongside your classmates? Unthinkable.

Congressman Joe Wilson- A Role Model for My Son?

There is a bully in my son's class who apparently thinks my kid is something of an easy mark. And why wouldn't he be? My son is responsible, respectful and well-behaved. He is a model citizen at school.

In group activities, my boy doesn't fight to be the autocratic leader like many of his classmates. His approach is thoughtful and though, like many, he might be partial to his own ideas, he would like everyone in the group to weigh in with their opinions in order to develop the best plan. Needless to say he often gets shouted down.

I wonder if my husband and I have placed too much emphasis on respect and following rules. Lately, I've been talking about the need my son to toughen up, to make himself heard and not stand for bullying. And now I can point him toward a new role model: Congressman Joe Wilson, (R-SC) the man who heckled the President of the United States of America during his health care talk.

Another birthday without health care reform

I know, I know. The SVMoms group already held a health care topic day and today we're talking about the American Cancer Society's brilliant birthday campaign, but bear with me, because without health care reform an awful lot of Americans are going to miss an awful lot of birthdays.

Take, for example, my friend whose husband lost his job last November. They couldn't afford COBRA after he was let go, so she and her husband are currently uninsured. She told me she's skipping all her wellness exams and ignoring odd aches and pains not because she can't budget for a trip to a doctor or clinic, but because she's afraid of having a problem she can't afford to treat. Not only that, she's afraid of getting diagnosed with a condition that will be deemed "pre-existing" and not be covered when she has medical insurance once again.

Although my insurance situation is slightly better than my friend's, I share her fear of pre-existing conditions. Hoping that our insurance situation will improve when my currently unemployed husband finds full-time work, I'm ignoring aches and pains. I'm holding off on scheduled blood tests and annual exams. I can only hope that my attempt to save a few pennies, or possibly our entire bank account, now will not cost me extra birthdays down the line.

Kim blogs at Hormone-colored Days and earns money, but alas, not health insurance, consulting with companies on momblogger outreach.

Health Care Reform Needed: Different Year, Same Story

I knew I'd have something to say for the SVMoms Health Care Reform Topic Day, but it didn't take me long to realize I'd already said it. In June of 2008, I met with Consumers' Union Cover America Tour crew and was interviewed about a past health insurance horror story. (In my defense the interview took place about an hour before we left on a cross-country road trip. Maybe I should have taken a minute to put on a bit of makeup?)

One year later, not much has changed regarding health care in the United States. As for my family, my husband lost his job last Fall, and though we were able to find private insurance, it sucks. We only found one company that would issue a policy to me because I have rheumatoid arthritis.

Though I have coverage, I was warned I'd have a "special" deductible related to my arthritis. Okay, fine. I get my meds on the cheap at Costco and only require a couple of doctor visits and blood test or two a year; we can cover that. However, you could have knocked me over with a feather when I learned that this special deductible came with a price tag of $65,000!

 It's not the arthritic condition itself that keeps me awake at night, it's the fear of developing a condition related to my meds- a liver problem or something worse- that could send us tumbling into bankruptcy. Let's hope by next year, we've got a new story when it comes to health care in our country.
Original post to Chicago Moms Blog.

My Condolences, Congresswoman Shakowsky

On doesn't have to read US magazine to know the celebrities are just like the rest of the population. As my mom would say, even famous folks, members of the royal family, business leaders and politicians put on their pants one leg at a time, just like the rest of us.

To me, Congresswoman Jan Shakowsky has always felt like a real person beyond her political role - a mom, a grandma, a smiling face in each summer's Independence day parade. In fact, I've even seen her at the local pool with her grandchildren. (Yes, this post was about her.)

So I was especially saddened to read that during a family vacation- the kind that involves several generations of family together on one place relaxing, playing and creating memories a lifetime of memories, her son-in-law, 38-year-old Michael McLaughlin died in a snorkeling accident.

Please join me in offering condolences to Congresswoman Shakowsky and her family at this difficult time.

Original post to Chicago Moms Blog.

Kim Moldofsky blogs at Hormone-colored Days, and writes about marketing to with mommybloggers at Positive Impact. She writes about educational family travel experiences for TravelingMom.com.

Social Media Overload

I love blogs and blogging, Twitter and Tweeting. I enjoy the ability to connect online in a variety of different networks, but I'm waving my white flag. I've hit the wall. I'm suffering from social media overload.

Unlike the proverbial wall runners hit prior to a rush of endorphins, this one feels more like a dead end. I used to think I spent a lot of time reading and responding to email, and that was back when I received a scant 50 or so messages each day. Now, although I ruthlessly delete anything irrelevant, the number of messages building up in my inbox seems to grow exponentially each week.

But it's no longer just my email inbox that's daunting me, it's those inane Facebook invitations to play this game or take that quiz, or "friend" a person I've never met.Oh, and don't get me started on the daily requests to become a fan of this company or that blog.

Bloggers Who Brunch

My husband often refers to my Internet peeps and blogging buddies as my imaginary friends, so when Chicago Moms Blogger Cindy Fey asked me to co-host a brunch for our group, I jumped at the chance. It's always fun to get an IRL view of virtual friends. And speaking of view, Cindy provided a fabulous downtown venue for our gathering.

As Caitlin noted, for most of us the day started out like any other with chores and family obligations, but turned into something much more special once we gathered together.

Our brunch was fabulous. The food, the penthouse setting, the women and, of course, the food. Local purveyor of fine foods, Pastoral Artisan provided us with a cheese tray so delicious that even the pregnant among us could not resist the temptation of the selection of soft cheeses from Midwestern farms. (Cough *Carrie*)

Failing as a Parent

Every mom feels "mommy guilt" now and then- we let our kids have too much screen time, we forget to pack the bathing suit on swim day, we miss teacher conferences. Oversights, mishaps and occasional lazy parenting, can be forgiven and maybe even laughed over once time has passed.
But lately my mommy guilt is above 11. It's Beyond. And I'm hearing the same thing from my friends.
We are smart educated middle and upper middle class women who have failed--or are teetering on the brink of failure, staring down its dark unforgiving maw.
We have broken promises to our children. Because of the recession.

Sweet Day at the All Candy Expo

Just hours after asking my blog sistahs to share their thoughts on responsible blogging, I attended the All Candy Expo and made a complete blogwhore of myself. Oh, the sweet, delicious, chocolate-covered irony. As my friends were digging into their souls, I was grabbing handfuls of chocolate at every turn.

Actually, the slim, smiling salespeople offered me tastes and free samples at nearly every booth. The moment someone asked me if I wanted some chocolate-covered chocolate, I knew there was no holding back at this event. The fact is, I attended the expo not just to eat my fill of chocolate, but to uncover industry trends and find the latest new candies to share with my kids readers.

I sampled Jelly Belly's craziest new "BeanBoozled" flavors--dog food and centipede, Peanut butter and jam M &Ms, the 85-calorie Fling from Mars in its pink girly wrapper, Lindt's not yet released Sea Salt Chocolate, lollipops that taste like bacon, cassava chips and more. I met the women behind Give Me Some Sugar, a Chicago-based organization that offers at-home cooking classes and parties. And, yes, I Iearned about industry trends thanks to my press kit. What I read was every bit as eyebrow raising as my centipede-flavored jelly bean.

It's Never too Early to Advocate

When my son entered kindergarten, I gave a head's up about my special son to his very experienced teacher. She ignored me. Whenever I asked how he was doing, she told me he was just fine.

Fine, I've since learned, means your child is not causing problems. Fine means your child behaves reasonably well. Is compliant. Fine does not mean your child is happy, growing academically, or making friends.

Indeed, by first grade, it was clear that none of these things were happening. My son grew increasingly anxious and depressed about going to school.