Child Drowns in Pond

The niece of my brother's friend drowned the other day in a pond while swimming with friends at a friend's house. She was 12 years old. I don't even want to imagine what these parents are going through. I also can't imagine what these young kids will have to remember for the rest of their lives - seeing their friend pulled from the pond too late.

My kids are taking swimming lessons but none of them are good swimmers yet. My 12-year-old daughter has more confidence than she is ready for I think when she's in the deep end of the pool. Even though there is a lifeguard at the pool, I still watch and hover in the background. I'm not quite ready to trust the safety of my children to a stranger. When accidents like this child drowning happens, you realize how quickly and unexpectedly you can lose your child. I was supposed to start working out while my kids went to open swim and trust the lifeguard at the Y, but after this happened, I'm not sure I want to not be a second supervisor while they're swimming.

Hug your children!

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Nursing Shortage

I have several siblings and friends who work in the medical field. I wish I'd had the stomach for it as it is a great field to be in. In today's economy, there will still be a need for doctors and nurses.

A former classmate of mine just posted pictures of a spine surgery she took part in on their Facebook page and I thought I was going to get ill. I seriously have no stomach for it but you have to respect the women who put on women's lab coats day after day and deal with life and death all the time.

According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, we are in the middle of a nursing shortage and that is expected to get worse as baby boomers require more medical care in the future as they age. It's definitely worth looking into if you're looking for a career in a field that is going to be needed for a long time, as opposed to the up and down automotive industry that is struggling right now.

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Parents, do you type your child's school reports?

I'm curious.

Hypothetical (if you don't have high school aged kids):

Your child is in high school and has reports due throughout the year. Do you type them for him or her, fixing all their punctuation, grammar, etc. or do you have them type them completely themselves (looking up grammar, punctuation, etc.)?

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Avoiding Power Struggle Over Your Childrens Clothing

I was a busy mom this morning. I attacked two of my girls' room this morning. I hadn't organized anything so they still had all their winter clothes in the drawers and closets and their summer clothes were piled up on toy boxes. The toddler bed was completely buried underneath piles of clothes. I finally organized the childrens clothing, putting winter clothes away, organizing dresser drawers and closet shelves. Yeah for mom!

One tip to avoid those morning tantrums with your kids over what to wear:

• Match up their outfits for them ahead of time (when you're putting their clothes away after laundry) and then let them pick from the matched sets. You don't need to worry about the kids running out the door looking like dad dressed them! (My husband doesn't match anything when he dresses the kids.) It gives the kids the power to choose their outfit for the day but still makes mom happy.

It's not like I have a nanny who can take care of that for me...or six of them if you are the Jolie-Pitt family! I had to come up with something to stop the morning tantrums and power struggles.

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