Question: Chemicals are everywhere - in our foods, plastics, suncreens etc., but buying organic/non-toxic products can be really expensive. How do you keep your family safe from toxins - without breaking the bank? Answer: Anika Denise This is such a tough one. Toxins are literally in everything. Just the other day I was shocked to learn that a baby sunscreen I had been using, which touted itself as "All-Natural" has oxybenzone, a chemical that is absorbed into the skin and may affect hormones. And because many truly non-toxic sunscreens and bath products tend to be pricey, it leaves me with …

Question:Happy Belated Father's Day!  What do your kids (and you) appreciate most about dad? Answer: Tricia KellyOur weekly ‘Family Meetings’ start off with appreciations, where we go around the table and thank each family member for something specific from the week.  When we initiated these meetings, we noticed an interesting pattern emerging. One loving child would say, “Dad, thanks for cheering me on at __________ .”(Fill in the blank with the current sport or activity of the season.)  Said child would then look at me and say, “Mom, thank you for ________________ “(Fill in the blank with, …

Question: School ends next week.  How do you expect to make the transition from the structure of a school day to the open schedule of summer? Answer: Tricia KellyI’d like to be a fly in someone else’s kitchen when the glossy brochures are laid out on the table and the kids get to choose their summer activities. NOGA soccer camp? St. Andrew’s tennis?  Community sailing? ACT theater?  I imagine your kids jumping for joy at the endless possibilities; I’ve heard some kids just can’t choose.  Not our kids.  Their reaction is always:  “Do we have to?”  My kids are home-bodies, through and through…

Question: Do you give your child an allowance? Or how else do you teach your kids about money? Answer: Kristen MaterneWe do not give our children allowances, but intend to. They are 5 and 7 and I have heard (through the 7-year-old) that absolutely everyone gets an allowance and he is the only one who doesn’t.  I don’t really believe him. I am a firm believer in allowance as a means for teaching children money management.  I had an allowance as a child and the rule was that I had to save some, donate some, and could spend the rest.  I don’t remember what the exact amounts were, but I think it …

Question:With birthdays, holidays, and everyday life, children seem to accumulate toys, papers, etc. and never want to get rid of anything.  How do you encourage your children to weed out the old things to make way for the new? Answer: Amy AmesJust yesterday I was trying to do a load of laundry in my basement and tripped over three different toys.  I then got in an argument with my kids about who’s going to clean up the mess of dumped toys strewn everywhere and an idea came to me that I might just consider.  I thought that on the next nice day, I’m going to empty out all the shelves of the …

Question:Now that the warm(er) weather is here, what tricks do you have up your sleeve to manage the clothing changeover for your kids? Answer: Anike DeniseI am in no way qualified to answer this question.  I tend to have snow pants lingering on the mud room hooks in July.  A few years back I did go out and purchase a bunch of plastic bins and oversized Ziploc bags with the idea that I would finally get organized. Never happened. The only original tip I can offer on the subject (and really it was my husband's idea) is to purchase a few stand-alone hanging storage racks with with zip-up …

Question: What's the best gift your family could give you on Mother's Day? Answer: Kristen MaterneI’m not looking for stuff.  We have just done some interior work so there is stuff all over the  house and I am fully embracing the “less is more” mantra as I weed out things to donate and put the rest away. When I think of Mother’s Day, I think of enjoying being a mom.  So the perfect Mother’s Day for me will start with breakfast in bed (my daughter Beatrice has already informed me that she is planning on this), not having to clean the kitchen after breakfast in bed (My children are 5 and 7 …

Question:With the recent Easter/ Passover celebrations, many of our kids were, no doubt, told to "mind their manners." What strategies do you have to teach good manners? Answer: Kristen Materne I’ll admit it, my first reaction to this question was that I could sit back and read the responses to get some good advice.  Then I remembered that I was supposed to be giving the advice. Oops.  Then I thought about the other night when a few people told me how well-behaved my children are, and I wondered if those people knew which children were mine.  It was after that – after giving several …

Question: Kids say the most precious things! What are some of the most adorable phrases or mispronounced words you've heard so far? Answer: Tricia Kelly I meant to be the mom who wrote it all down - the one with organized baby albums, scrapbooks, and labeled boxes of homemade cards.  I meant to be the mom who didn’t miss a beat, who could nod knowingly when someone older and wiser said, “Watch out…they grow so fast.” I wasn’t going to forget any of this; how could I?  It started off OK. Each of the three kids has a 12 x 12 Creative Memories book with glossy photos, cute borders, and lists of …

Question:Homework: Educators say it's a necessary teaching tool and a way to reinforce what children are learning in the classroom.  But many parents (and kids) view it as "busy work," and when homework assignments are especially onerous, as an interference with valuable family time. What are your feelings towards your child's homework?  Should kids just buckle down and get it done or is homework an overrated and outdated mode of teaching and evaluation? Answer: Anika DeniseAAAArgh, homework!  I truly dreaded it as a child, and I must admit my feelings towards it haven't changed much as a …

Question: If you and/or a spouse travel for business, what are some strategies you use to help your kids while they remain at home? Answer: Anika Denise My spouse works in a studio 10 feet from our house as he puts it: "drawing mice with clothes on."   Before you become alarmed, let me explain: He's a children's book illustrator and a visual development artist for animated film.  Drawing critters in clothes is quite normal in his line of work.  And although the bulk of his clients are in New York or Los Angeles, he very rarely has to travel to those cities as most of his client interaction …

So many horrific events have happened in the past 10 years including 9/11, hurricane Katrina, the tsunami, Haiti earthquake, Gulf oil spill and now this earthquake and tsunami in Japan. How do you speak to your kids about the hard realities facing us today? Answer: Anika Denise  This is a question for which I would certainly defer to the experts.   The American Red Cross has tips on their website, as does the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and a host of other child and family-oriented sites.  You should listen to the experts, and probably not to me.  But, since you asked…

Question: Bringing home a new baby can leave older siblings feeling  "dethroned."  What, in  your experience, can help them adjust and accept  a new baby in the house? Answer: Catherine Winchild This is a really difficult question for me to answer, mostly because I don't think anything I did when my daughter came home from the hospital helped my son adjust or accept or feel less "dethroned" AT ALL!  I can still quote the advice from the midwives: "Have the baby give your son a gift" (Done); "Be sure to schedule daily 'mom and son' time. (We could only muster 'dad and son' time); "Remember …

How do you manage working [for pay] from home, amidst all the other responsibilities you have within your home? Moms Council members have some suggestions. Answer: Anika Denise It's an imperfect balance and I'll probably never have it 100 percent right, but I do have a few tricks up my sleeve to help me manage both work in the home, and work from home. First: I stick to a schedule.  Even though I'm not going to an office, I try to be at my desk at around the same time each day and log a few work hours.  If I honor that time and space, I feel more in control and organized, and no matter how my…

Patch invites you and your friends to help build a community of support for mothers and their families right here in Barrington. Each week Moms Talk, members of our Moms Council and other smart moms will take your questions, offer some insight and share possible solutions.  Moms Talk also will be a place to drop in for a chat about the latest parenting hot-button issue. So join the conversation today with two Moms Council members, children's author and soon to be mother of three, Anika Denise, and Amy Ames, Patch's Take It From a Mom columnist, and Barrington mom Catherine Winchild. Question…

Patch invites you and your friends to help build a community of support for mothers and their families right here in Barrington. Each week in a new feature, Moms Talk, members of our Moms Council and other smart moms will take your questions, offer some insight and share possible solutions.  Moms, dads, grandparents and the diverse families who make up the Barrington community will have a local resource for questions about raising kids, the issues they face in school and on their teams, medical care, and anything you can think of about children. Moms Talk also will be a place to drop in for a…