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    • Jul

    17

    Is Your Child ODD?

    Filed Under humor, pop culture, rants | 3 Comments

    So today I was browsing the mommy boards when I came across a post by a woman who works in a children’s hospital. The topic was the rampant diagnoses of children with psychiatric problems like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Well, this woman remarked on the latest dubious psychiatric label: “Oppositional Defiant Disorder” - which she termed as: “You need your a$$ whooped!” I didn’t even believe that she was serious (and I don’t condone corporal punishment) but sure enough … from the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (emphasis mine):

    Children With Oppositional Defiant Disorder

    No. 72; Updated December 1999

    All children are oppositional from time to time, particularly when tired, hungry, stressed or upset. They may argue, talk back, disobey, and defy parents, teachers, and other adults.   Oppositional behavior is often a normal part of development for two to three year olds and early adolescents.  However, openly uncooperative and hostile behavior becomes a serious concern when it is so frequent and consistent that it stands out when compared with other children of the same age and developmental level and when it affects the child’s social, family, and academic life.

    In children with Oppositional Defiant Disorder (ODD), there is an ongoing pattern of uncooperative, defiant, and hostile behavior toward authority figures that seriously interferes with the youngster’s day to day functioning.  Symptoms of ODD may include:

    • frequent temper tantrums
    • excessive arguing with adults
    • active defiance and refusal to comply with adult requests and rules
    • deliberate attempts to annoy or upset people
    • blaming others for his or her mistakes or misbehavior
    • often being touchy or easily annoyed by others
    • frequent anger and resentment
    • mean and hateful talking when upset
    • seeking revenge

    The symptoms are usually seen in multiple settings, but may be more noticeable at home or at school.  Five to fifteen percent of all school‑age children have ODD.  The causes of ODD are unknown, but many parents report that their child with ODD was more rigid and demanding than the child’s siblings from an early age.  Biological and environmental factors may have a role.

    Click on link above for more, including the possible “treatments” - which mainly seem to be GOOD PARENTING. Seriously … what will it be next? And those percentages seems very high! And wow - “biological and environmental factors may have a role?” Ya think? I mean, what ELSE would have a role if not one or both of those things?

    **flabbergasted**

    Popularity: 50% [?]

    Feb

    10

    Best Five Minutes and a Cultural Divide

    Filed Under anecdotes, pop culture | 6 Comments

    How awesome. I got to see Carole King introduce an award. She’s 66?! I hope I look that youthful and happy at 66. Then some nice Canadian woman sang a pretty song about Teenage Hopes, and then Keelie Smith sang with Kid Rock as Dave Koz played saxophone right next to them. That was catchy, even though I normally hate Kid Rock. And I got to see an audience shot of Bonnie Raitt! Then the Foo Fighters won an award for something! I suspect this has to be the best five minutes of the Grammy’s I’ve seen in ten years, so I should probably turn off the tv now.

    Oh. my. God. The LH made a comment about one of the presenters, saying, “he must not be able to see the teleprompter very well.” I was like, “That’s STEVIE WONDER!” His response: “Oh, is it?” I definitely did not marry a black man.

    *appalled*

    Popularity: 29% [?]

    Nov

    28

    To Tree or Not to Tree?

    Filed Under being creative, lil things, plans, pop culture | 5 Comments

    After carefully reading this MSN article (sent by my friend Sabby) about whether fake trees are the “green” choice, I am really in a quandary. This was going to be the first year I had a Christmas/Winter tree* and I was planning on getting a fake one. Reasons: 1) I have no idea how to take care of a live tree - I’ve never lived in a household where Christmas was celebrated; 2) I don’t have a vehicle large enough to go get one, unless it’s tiny, 3) I don’t want to deal with having to discard/dispose of the tree.

    I didn’t consider it a more “green” option simply because I live in the Pacific NW, land of the Douglas Fir, and I’ve seen enough fir tree farms to know that those commercials depicting rosy cheeked families tramping off into the wilderness with an ax and a 4-wheel drive is not how most Christmas trees are born.

    Sooo … what do I do? I was kind of looking forward to a tree. The Winter tree idea I read about from a co-blogger several years ago. She and her kids had a Winter tree that they decorate - not with shiny balls and santa clauses (not that there’s anything wrong with that), but with things they’d collected from the outside - you know, things that are from the winter. This blogger is a homeschooler and she’d take the kids on little nature runs and the tree would be decorated with their finds. I thought that was awesome, and I *have* been trying to get more into celebrating the seasons.

    Unfortunately, I suck at celebrations. I’ve given up on Kwanzaa for the time being (that’s a long story). And now that I’m thrown for a loop what kind of tree - if any - to get, I feel in limbo.

    I lack any kind of imagination about these sorts of things.

    Popularity: 22% [?]

    Oct

    29

    A Dozen Kids Say the Darndest Things

    Filed Under humor, media, pop culture | 2 Comments

    One of the few channels I can get on this old television is TLC. I think the show I’m watching is “Kids by the Dozen,” which is a show about families with twelve or more kids. It’s not clear to me yet whether this is a horror movie or a disaster movie, but according to the little write-up I saw online, it’s supposed to be inspiring.

    I’m inspired to continue birth control of some form or another until I die.

    p.s. The family does seem loving and happy, and at least they live on some land. I just never want to be as tired as that mom seems. She’s running a full-time business 24/7. Plus, when you get that many kids that look alike in the same space my sense of children as alien creatures becomes more pronounced.

    Popularity: 29% [?]

    Oct

    6

    Movies, Race, and My Puerile Joke of the Day

    Filed Under friends, humor, lil things, movies, pop culture | 3 Comments

    For her birthday, the LH and I decided to buy our friend - a Russian immigrant - some of the movies that we grew up with as kids of the 80s and early 90s.  She was raised in the US, but her family was very religious and she never watched television or movies until she went off to university. When we went to Disneyland earlier this year with her, she didn’t know who any of the characters were, except Mickey Mouse.

    So, as part of our American Childhood Pop Culture “Starter-Kit” we picked up The Goonies, The Princess Bride, Mary Poppins, The Muppet Movie (the LH’s choice), and ET. (We also wanted A Neverending Story, but the store didn’t have it.)

    The LH started quoting the Princess Bride, and then became concerned that some of the verbal humor will fly right over her head.  I pointed out that we enjoyed those jokes as adolescents and so very likely she’ll get them too. Movies that made us laugh (or cry) as kids should definitely be broad enough to register on her radar. He said okay. Then we started talking about the silly jokes that kids tell each other, and he related this one to me:

    Q: What do you get when you cross an elephant with a rhino?

    A: Elef-ino!

    That just cracked me up. He says it’s a common joke, but I never heard it!

    Depending on the success of this movie sampler, I think that for Christmas I want to get her a collection of movies about people of color in the US. There’s an HBO movie version of Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, and I wonder if it’s any good. I’m thinking  specifically of when she told me that she would “LOVE” to be an Indian because “they get everything for free.”  The LH says we should also get her Roots.

    Popularity: 34% [?]

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