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14 Year Old To Graduate From UCLA

15 Feb

I love underdog success stories.

Move over Jeremy Lin…here comes Moshe.

Moshe Kai Cavalin doesn’t like being called a genius.

At the age of 8 he enrolled in college.

He earned his first of two Associate of Arts degrees from East Los Angeles Community College at age 9, graduating with a perfect 4.0 grade point average.

Hmm….to put this into perspective, Mo will be 8 in a few months. His favorite subject is P.E. He giggles when someone says, “Penis, Butt, or Fart“.

I’m 37. My favorite subject is twitter. I giggle when someone says, “Penis, Butt, or Fart“.

Being in college at age 8, Umm…yeah, I’d say Moshe has some genius tendencies.

He says it’s just hard work.

He says, ”People need to know you don’t really need to be a genius. You just have to work hard and you can accomplish anything.”

In his 100 page book, “We Can Do” he talks about how young people can accomplish success through simple acts like staying focused and approaching tasks with total commitment.

The book is available in Mandarin and English.

Moshe is now 14 years old. He is set to graduate from UCLA this year with a Bachelor’s Degree in Math.

He lives in on campus housing with his parents and is on scholarship at UCLA.

He hopes to go on to graduate school and later earn his Doctorate.

Moshe knows how to have fun too. He enjoys soccer, martial arts, and Jackie Chan. He says he watches 4 hours of tv a week and focuses on studying.

Hats off to this young fella.

Doogie Howser anyone?

McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets Are Gross

29 Jan

This blog almost made me puke.

The things I do to bring you guys info and entertainment…

Sooo….this chic named Stacey Irvine, a 17 year old in Britain has been scarfing down McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets all her life. No fruits. No veggies. Just nuggets.

While my 7 and 3 year old sons would enjoy the thought of this, it is actually disgusting and not good for you.

Stacey was rushed to a British hospital bc she collapsed and was struggling to breathe.

Upon examination, doctors learned since the age of 2, Stacey has never eaten fruits or veggies, only fast food fried chicken nuggets.

WTH?!

Ok, I know babies don’t come with a manual, but come on parents, THIS IS NOT GOOD!

Stacey’s mom said she tried to get her daughter to eat other foods. Stacey said once she started eating nuggets, she “loved them so much they were all I would eat.”

So, what’s in these yummy nuggets Stacey and so many others scarf down daily:

A study determined McDonald’s Chicken McNuggets are “stripped down to the bone, and then ‘ground up’ into a chicken mash, then combined with a variety of stabilizers and preservatives, pressed into familiar shapes, breaded and deep fried, freeze dried, and then shipped to a McDonald’s near you.”

Do you like cosmetic products and Silly Putty? Great, because one of the stabilizers and preservatives you are eating is dimethylpolysiloxane, a form of silicone used to make cosmetice products and Silly Pully.

YUM-OH! Let’s break out the BBQ sauce!!!

Parenting isn’t easy.

We are often trying to spread ourselves thin finding enough time in the day to get things done.

But COME ON…we have to do better than letting a fast food chain feed our kids on a regular basis.

Do my kids eat McDonald’s? Yes. But not on a regular basis.  I also make sure they eat fruits, veggies, and healthy home cooked meals in addition to the crushed eyeballs/tendons/preservatives nuggets they get at McDonald’s.

I remember growing up, an outing to a fast food joint was a TREAT. It was a reward for doing something really great like getting an “A” on a report or my mom getting a promotion.

Fast food was not the answer to dinner EVERY NIGHT.

Just like we are conscious about who our kids play with, how much tv they watch, their grades in school, their safety in public, what activities of play they do…we should also be responsible about what foods we feed them regularly.

If you have young kids, start them on good eating habits NOW. It will make your life and theirs much easier and healthier.

P. S- Someone please tell me Chick Fil-A doesn’t do any of this crap to their chicken, bc I GETS DOWN at Chick Fil-A!!!!

Read The Signs

11 Dec

Another shining example of my fine parenting skills:

Kids Can Make A Difference

7 Dec

I’m always telling my sons that they aren’t too young to make an impact or difference.

When Mo’s soccer season ended he was devastated and wanted to keep playing.

He has since taken charge of an effort to start a soccer team at his school. He and a small group of friends have met with their principal to form a school team and are currently helping to raise money to buy grass for a soccer playing area.

I’m so proud of his efforts and he has a great sense of pride and responsibility in getting the ball rolling.

Our kids are never too young to make a difference. Here are some amazing kids and the contributions they are making in their community and the world.

RACHEL BECKWORTH:

The Bellevue, Wash. girl had decided to celebrate her birthday with a fundraiser instead of getting gifts. However, in July she died from injuries sustained in a car accident. She had raised $220 but was $80 short of her goal to donate to Charity: Water. Charity: water is a non-profit organization bringing clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. 100% of public donations directly fund water projects.

After her death, her birthday wish to raise money for the non-profit went viral. Countless strangers banned together to contribute over $1 million. Her mom will travel to Africa with Charity: Water to see firsthand how her daughter’s legacy has helped save many lives by providing clean water.

JEFF HANSON:

At 12 years old, he was diagnosed with an optic nerve tumor.  While undergoing chemotherapy and radiation, Jeff started to paint watercolors on notecards to lift his spirits.

As he got better he opened a lemonade stand at his house and sold his paintings and baked goods. By the end of the summer, Hanson had raised $15,000, which he donated to the Children’s Tumor Foundation to help research his diagnosis. He went on to paint more notecards as well as acrylics on canvas.

In five years, Hanson has donated more than $350,000 from the sale of his paintings to more than 50 charities, most of them devoted to children’s health.

At 17 years old, he continues to paint and contribute to charity. You can view Jeff’s work and make a donation at his website.

RACHEL WHEELER:

At 11 years old, Rachel raised  $175,000 to help build 27 concrete homes in Haiti. After the 7.2 Earthquake in Haiti, Rachel joined with Charity, Food For The Poor and helped raise funds to build a school for the village children.

Her fundraising efforts continue as she helps to provide more to the children in Haiti. You can view her progress and donate here.

EVAN MOSS:

Evan started having seizures within his first month of life. By the time he was 4-years-old, he was having 300-400 seizures a month. He underwent brain surgery, and left the hospital seizure-free, and lived seizure free for 2 years.

Now, Evan is 7 and suffers from about 3-4 seizures a month. Though, they are much fewer, they are also more intense and often require a call to 911. The family decided a seizure dog would be a good safety measure so the dog could alert his parents if he was having a seizure. However, the dog cost $13,000.

To help cover the cost of the dog as well as spread epilepsy awareness, Evan wrote and illustrated a book, My Seizure Dog. You can purchase Evan’s book here.

These are all amazing causes to support. If you’re looking for a holiday gift that keeps giving, supporting these 4 causes make great gifts! Hats off to these amazing kids!


Halloween Candy Do’s and Dont’s

31 Oct

Candy corn, Jolly Ranchers, Kit Kats, Skittles.

Enough about what I had for breakfast, lets talk about Halloween candy.

Being that I’m not the “healthiest” eater, I’m glad David Zinczenko, author of one of my fave books, Eat This Not That! For Kids! came out with a few Halloween candy guidelines.

I have referenced his book before, and I like the way he breaks things down with easy to read pictures and comparisons with everyday foods we eat. No fancy food talk about carb comparisons, food pyramids, daily calorie intake, blah blah blah. I just wanna know, YES EAT IT or HECK NAWL.

So here’s the dirty from Dave:

WORST “FUN SIZE” CANDY BAR
Butterfinger Bar (fun size bar)
100 calories
4 g fat (2 g saturated)
10 g sugars

Again, fun for whom? Your cardiologist? By calling it “fun,” food marketers are cleverly pulling your attention away from the fact that candy bars are flab-inducing logs of concentrated fats and sugars. And Butterfinger is the worst offender—there’s no quicker way to swallow 100 calories.

Eat This, Instead!
3 Musketeers (fun size bar)
63 calories
2 g fat (1.5 g saturated)
10 g sugars

♥Ohhhh-kaaaaay….That would be strike 1 for Nora. I’m sorry, but 3 Muskateers is the nastiest candy bar ever made. It tastes like mush flavored mush. All you health conscious people can send your Butterfingers to me!!!!

WORST FRUITY CANDY
Brach’s Airheads (3 pieces)
140 calories
1.5 g fat (1 g saturated)
19 g sugars

Here’s the basic formula for an Airhead: Sugar and filler carbohydrates, artificial colors and flavors, and partially hydrogenated oils—a source of trans fat. Don’t get me wrong. It’s not like our Eat This Instead, Dum Dums, are nutritional paragons, but they do have two noteworthy advantages over Airheads: They have no heart-wrecking oils, and they’re hard candy. That means they dissolve slowly on your tongue, letting you enjoy the sweetness over time.

Eat This, Instead!
Spangler Dum Dum Pops (3 pops)
77 calories
0 g fat
105 g sugars

♥Ohhhh-kaaaaay….That would be strike 1 for Mo. Is there any kid that doesn’t loooove Air Heads? This is like the modern day Now and Later. The only way I can get him to eat a Lunchable at school (surely that’s on Dave’s list of “Not That”) is bc of the the Air Head in it. Ahhh well. What else ya got Dave?

WORST MINIATURE CANDY BARS
Twix Miniatures (3 pieces)
150 calories
8 g fat (6 g saturated)
15 g sugars

Twix has the worst saturated fat profile of any candy in your kid’s trick-or-treat bag. Think about it like this: Each one of these bite-sized candies carries 10 percent of the saturated fat you should consume in an entire day. Switch to Tootsie Rolls and you’ll cut your calories by more than half and trim your total fat intake by a whopping 81 percent.

Eat This Instead!
Tootsie Roll (3 pieces)
70 calories
1.5 g fat (0.5 g saturated)
9.5 g sugars

♥Ding ding ding! We have a winner… I shall heed Dave’s advice here. I don’t really care for Twix or Tootsie Rolls. These were usually thrown in the bag of candy my dad took into work the day after Halloween. Right after the 3 MUSHkateers. YUCK!

WORST CHEWY CANDY
Brach’s Milk Maid Caramels (4 pieces)
160 calories
4.5 g fat (3.5 g saturated)
16 g sugars

“Milk Maid” sounds a lot like “Milk Made,” doesn’t it? Very clever, Brach’s! This candy contains a couple milk derivatives (whey and “lipolyzed butter fat”), but it hardly constitutes a dairy product. Plus, 90 percent of the fat is saturated. That’s bad news for your heart. If you enjoy the challenge of fighting chewy candy out of your teeth, switch over to Now and Later and save more than 100 calories per serving.

Eat This, Instead!
Now and Later (4 pieces)
53 calories
0.5 g fat (0 g saturated)
10 g sugars

♥Are you SERIOUS?! Marry me Dave!!!! You’re saying I can eat Now and Laters and ditch those disgusting chewy caramels that only old people with their porch lights off hand out? Awesome!!! OMG pineapple and banana Now and Laters are THE BEST.

Make sure you check out Dave’s full article for Halloween survival tips and more eat this not that suggestions.

I don’t let my kids eat candy regularly, but for Halloween, it’s just part of being a kid. I let them eat a certain number of treats the night of the festivities, then later that night, the Halloween Monster (A.K.A Mommy) comes and takes all the candy away (hides it all in my nightstand). Yum yum yum yum yum!!!!

Be safe. Happy Halloween. Don’t forget to send me those Butterfingers!!!!

Mariah, Nick, Roc, and Roe

22 Oct

It is no secret that I am goo goo ga ga for my imaginary BFF Mariah Carey.

When she callled me announced that the world would meet the twins on a 20/20 interview with Barbara Walters, I felt like a Grandma waiting to meet her grandkids for the 1st time.

I don’t blame the new parents for keeping the 1st six months of parenthood and photos of their twins, Moroccan and Monroe (A.K.A Roc and Roe) out of the public eye.

The world has seen Mimi the entertainer, but this was our 1st glimpse at Mommy Mariah.

I loved it!

My favorite moment was seeing Mariah sing her smash hit We Belong Together to son Roc. (P.S- Bronson’s middle name is Rocco…Mmm hmm…IJS). Anyway, the look her son gives her as she serenades him is one of those moments of parenthood that stays with you forever.

Oh, and I was soooo happy to see MC and NC took my advice got the twins the book, Freight Train by Donald Crews.  It is one Mo and B’s favorite books.

The proud parents also revealed that they have started a website to offer “a glimpse of our personal family photo album” .

Their new site, Dembabies.com helps support the Fresh Air Fund’s Camp Mariah. Anyone interested in publishing the Moroccan and Monroe photos must do so through wireimage.com, with proceeds going to Camp Mariah.

“We are so elated to finally be able to show you some pictures of the beloved additions to our family.

They are Ms. MONROE CANNON & Mr. MOROCCAN SCOTT CANNON aka Roc & Roe. We deliberated for so long about how to reveal the first pictures of our babies to the world. We just didn’t want to do the typical thing and display them in a tabloid.”

They add, “We decided to share this beautiful experience with you in a special intimate portrait of our family.”

Nick and Mariah share, “To us it’s amazing to see their personalities shine through. They’re such loving beautiful people already.”

Mariah and Nick say that “Parenthood is absolutely the most life changing experience we could ever have imagined. The love we feel for these babies is above and beyond anything we’d ever dreamed of.”

I love the website idea. It’s not only a great way to share with their fans and give back to a great cause, an online site is a wonderful way to preserve the memories.

I did one for Mo and B when they were babies. Baby Jelly Beans has so many templates and themes to create your child’s website in just minutes.

All you do is upload photos and add text. I had soooo much fun doing this.

Instead of sending mass emails to friends and family, everyone would just regularly visit the website I designed for my boys.

It costs $59 for a year and you also get a keepsake CD of your personal site.

Now your kids can be like Dem Babies!!!

Congratulations again to Nick and Mariah on their beautiful family. I can’t wait to babysit :)

I’m Not Paying My Kids For Good Grades

4 Oct

Mo: Mom, Johnny told me that he gets $5 for every “A” he makes on his report card.

Me: Good for Johnny.

Mo: How much do I get?

Me: You get a roof over your head and food to eat.

Mo: Oh…

So many times I hear stories how kids get paid to get good grades.

ARE YOU SERIOUS?!

Parents are actually paying their kids to do well in school?! What’s next paying your child to BREATHE?

Cash for grades is ridiculous and setting kids up for failure.

It is depriving them of an innate drive to do well in school; the will to succeed; pride at being intelligent.

I grew up in a house where good grades and intellect weren’t rewarded, it was expected.

This created a competitive edge in me to do well in school. All my friends were straight A students and I could never be outdone.

My parents didn’t have to chew me out if I got bad grade. I was hard enough on myself that when I dropped to any grade below an A, I would beat myself up over it.

Yes, call me a nerd or a geek, but I was an honor roll student most of my life. I graduated college with honors.

I’m not ashamed of this. I am very proud of my academic accomplishments.

No one gave me a crisp Lincoln every time I excelled in school, nor did I expect it.

For this I am grateful. It gave me a great appreciation for education and a deep respect for teachers.

In lieu of money, we would sometimes go out for a celebratory dinner at a restaurant of my choosing. This was great bc it facilitated a family bond and sense of togetherness. It was more about celebrating my achievement and less about bribing me with an incentive to work hard and be smart.

Rewarding kids for good grades is a dangerous precedent to set.

How are you gonna keep upping the stakes every year? By they time they’re in high school, you’re gonna be giving out a Bentley for every A.

Just as kids can learn to take pride in scoring the winning basket, having the prettiest girlfriend, or be excited to show off new shoes, they can learn to take pride in academic success.

This must start early.

Parents need to emphasize the importance of studying, doing your best, and performing well in school. If you tolerate and make excuses for laziness and C’s and D’s then your child is prolly gonna continue to get mediocre grades.

Don’t use a “mean teacher” or “he doesn’t like that subject” as a scapegoat. Use that as an opportunity to instill work ethic and going the extra mile to succeed.

So much emphasis is placed on instant gratification and monetary reward with kids, but then we are the 1st to complain that this generation is spoiled and lazy.

What ever happened to a child appreciating a hug and knowing your parents are proud of you????

Getting Boys To Read

30 Sep

I’ve always been a reader.

I can remember being a little girl and when I was really good, my dad would “reward” me by taking me on a trip to the public library.

It was such a treat…being surrounded by words.

It would always take me an hour or so to narrow down my book selections to the alloted number I could check out.

So…I have always wanted to pass along my love of reading to my kids.

I read to Mo when he was in my belly. By the time he was born, I had purchased more children’s books for him than new outfits.

Nighttime reading was part of our bedtime routine since he was a toddler.

But, for some reason, as he got older, he didn’t seem to LOVE reading. He would sit still for a few moments, but seconds later he would beg to go play basketball.

I tried to take him to the library, but he was more interested in running sprints up and down the book aisles than checking out books.

I started to wonder if a joy for reading was a learned behavior or innate one.

Did I need to put as much effort into teaching Mo to read as I did teaching him to shoot a basketball, clean up his room, and say “please” and “thank you”?

I grew really frustrated at his lack of zeal for the written word.

Our house was filled with books, but his passion and time was dedicated to sports.

I wanted him to read bc he chose to and enjoyed it, not bc I MADE him.

I decided to incorporate his love of sports with reading. I bought some sports oriented books and that seemed to help. However, it always took major coaxing from me to pick a book up and put down his basketball/baseball/soccer ball.

Another thing that really inspired him was reading to his brother. He loved sitting with B before his bedtime and reading book after book. I sort of think part of this was just a ploy to stay up later, but hey….whatever works!

Mo reading to B at night became a daily ritual. All 3 of us enjoyed it!

James Patterson recently wrote a great article for CNN regarding reading and boys. Here are some of my fave points that might help you and your little reader:

First, try to understand that boys can be a little squirrelly when it comes to reading, and what’s squirrelly about them needs to be praised and encouraged.

Boys should be made to feel all squishy inside about reading graphic novels, comics, pop-ups, joke books, and general-information tomes — especially the last. GuysRead.com has categories such as “Robots,” “How to Build Stuff,” “Outer Space, but with Aliens,” and “At Least One Explosion.” It’s a wonderful site for finding books that will turn boys on to reading.

Teachers and school administrators might want to consider this: in many schools, there’s a tendency not to reward boys for reading books like “Guinness World Records” or “Sports Illustrated Almanac” or “The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll.”Too often, boy-appealing books are disproportionately overlooked on recommended reading lists.

Big mistake. Tragic mistake. Avoidable mistake. It’s all about attitude. If your kids’ school library isn’t a boy magnet, the school probably needs to check its attitude.

The best way to get kids reading more is to give them books that they’ll gobble up — and that will make them ask for another. Yes, it’s that simple. 1 + 1 = 2. Kids say the No. 1 reason they don’t read more is that they can’t find books they like. Freedom of choice is a key to getting them motivated and excited. Vampire sagas, comics, manga, books of sports statistics — terrific! — as long as kids are reading. Should they read on e-tablets? Sure, why not? How about rereading a book? Definitely. And don’t tell them a book is too hard or too easy. “Great Expectations”? Absolutely. “Finnegans Wake”?Well, maybe not. And remember, books can be borrowed free at libraries.

Here are some great reading resources and sites to even get FREE BOOKS:

ReadKiddoRead.com, GuysRead.com, and Oprah.com’s Kids Reading List are excellent resources. The American Library Association and the Young Adult Library Services Association have recommendations for terrific books, easily found by searching “ALA reading lists.”DropEverythingandRead.com has a “Favorite D.E.A.R. Books” tab on its home page. Free or low-cost books for schools are available (while supplies last) at ReadKiddoRead.com, FirstBook.org, andReadertoReader.org.

Let’s get our boys reading!!!

College Prep In Kindergarten

26 Sep

New Haven is on its way to become the first city in Connecticut and  one of the first in the nation to adopt a comprehensive pre-K to 12th grade college-going curriculum.

Emily Byrne, director of the the college scholarship program, New Haven Promise is trying to instill college going ambitions at all ages.

The New Haven Promise aims to be a catalyst for reduction in high school dropouts, crime, and incarceration; an increase in high school graduates, quality of life, and homeownership; and a culture of college- and career-readiness, high expectations, and hope for  young people and the city of New Haven.

The programs aim to complement New Haven Promise, which will offer up to a free ride to in-state colleges for New Haven public school kids who keep up good behavior and grades. The program, backed by Yale and the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, issued 110 partial scholarships last year.

New Haven’s pre-K to 12 program is being paid for by private donations, including $2 million from Yale-New Haven Hospital and $300,000 from Wells Fargo Bank. The money supports College Summit’s contract with the school district, which was $290,000 in the first year and up to $650,000 in future years.

Students in every pre-K to 8th-grade classroom will start a college-going journal this month, in which they will keep notes on a series of college-themed activities over the year. Also, teachers are encouraged to arrange a visit to college campuses for even the pre-K to 3rd grade group. Kindergarteners will take virtual tours of college campuses.

I applaud the efforts to get young kids excited about continuing education and better opportunities.

But is this too much too soon? I don’t remember much from Preschool or Kindergarten, but it seems like at this age, kids should be more focused on finger painting and farting.

I am all for encouraging kids to pursue higher education. However, must college prep activities be shoved down the youths’ throats so early?

Don’t they have 12 years to harvest and encourage an interest in college life?

Hey, I know…instead of making the kids watch boring virtual campus tours, how bout  re-playing the butt whipping LSU gave Oregon in the Cowboys Classic football game?!

Or start teaching the kids college fight songs!

Really, it doesn’t take much to excite children about college. Wait till they’re in like 10th grade and do a college simulation day. Allow students to sleep in, eat pizza for breakfast, chat and socialize with friends, and party all night.

After that, I guarantee the high school sophomores will be signing up left and right to take the SATs.

I had a great college experience.

My boys are surrounded by subtle hints of my college experience such as my incessant LSU chants, merchandise, LSU is the greatest school in the land speeches, and SEC football on Saturdays.

And of course, I am a shining example of the benefits of a college education :)

Remembering September 11 With The Kids

9 Sep

It’s hard to believe the 10th Anniversary of the September 11, 2001 terror attack is upon us.

This event changed our Nation and our World in many ways.

It gave new meaning to the term 9-11.

Please take a moment this weekend to reflect and  teach your kids about 9/11.

Though, it was a day of mourning and loss for our country, there are many lessons of courage, unity, love, and strength that came from this historic day as well.

My kids were born after 9/11. I’ve been looking for information on how to explain it to kids. Here are a few resources I came across:

National Geographic: Info associated with the Natural Geographic Channel’s “Remembering 9/11″ series.  In addition to an episode guide, the website has photos and video clips.

YouTube: Launched by Google and the New York Times, this is the official “9/11″ YouTube channel.  It contains archived broadcasts from September 2001 as well as unique content from the New York Times. In addition, people are invited to submit personal stories that are available for viewing and sharing.

Front Page: See newspaper front page headlines from around the world dated September 12, 2001.

USA Today: Guide to tv specials for 9/11 Anniversary.

AmericaAttacked 911: Website dedicated to the men, women and children who lost their lives; those brave people who gave their lives, and the Heroes that responded to the emergency.

Edudemic: Ultimate resource guide to teaching children about 9/11.

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