For families who celebrate Easter, baskets of Easter candy aren't too far away. And for all families, getting children to avoid excess sugar is an issue. This week JP moms talk about their approaches. Deb Nam-Krane: We've learned the hard way that Pop-Tarts are not an ideal breakfast food. As with almost everything else, your children will follow your lead with candy and other sugary foods.  (Would that this were true for vegetables!)  If they see you or other people they know eating sugar, they're going to want to get in on it as well. For most children, a little candy and sugar is probably …

This week the JP Patch Moms Council argues for or against kids menus. It's in keeping with this week's "Best Of" contest: Best Restaurant for Kids. Deb Nam-Krane: I don't think any adult looks forward to paying adult prices for an adult portion for someone under 9. While I understand the argument behind getting kids to eat adult food, I don't think any adult looks forward to the idea of paying adult restaurant prices for an adult portion for someone under the age of 9.  (I can't finish the adult sized portions in many restaurants, and it's not because I'm delicate and picky.) Sharing an adult…

Last week we held a "Best Preschool" contest and the Mom's Council discussed what makes a great preschool. This week we take the other side of the coin. Add your own preschool horror stories in the comments, or ask our Mom's Council about preschool questions you may have. Deb Nam-Krane: One of our preschool teachers was drunk on the job. We started my oldest at a preschool in Brookline when she was 3.  It was in a nice location on Harvard Street right near a playground, and the staff was friendly and energetic about teaching my precocious three year old.  It also seemed like she wasn't going …

JP Parents: Add your voice or ask a question of the Moms Council in the comments section below. Phillipa Tawn: A 2-minute errand can become a 20-minute one by the time you have got three kids in and out of the car and shepherded them around a store. When I look back at my own childhood it is hard to believe, now that I’m a parent, how often my parents left me alone. By age 8 I had my own key to the house and would walk home from school and let myself in. My parents always left us alone in the car when they needed to run errands and even occasionally while they went for a drink in the local …

Each week the JP Patch Moms Council tackles a parenting topic. This week: strollers. Ask your own questions of the council in the comments section. Phillipa Tawn: My favourite stroller by far is the Maclaren Triumph. My children outgrew the need for strollers several years ago. Thank goodness. I could write a story collection about strollers — particularly about my much-hated double stroller. When my second child was born I was so anxious for her elder brother not to feel threatened by her arrival that I chose a double stroller that I knew a 2-year old would be very excited to ride in.  This …

This week's discussion is about winning and losing (or choosing not to participate in) kids' sports. JP moms Deb Nam-Krane gets the discussion going with her perspective. Ask the Moms Council questions or chime in with your own opinions in the comments section. Deb Nam-Krane: There are plenty of ways children can compete outside competitive sports. For a couple of reasons, I've chosen not to enroll my children in competitive sports. It's expensive; my children are miserable with seasonal allergies; and having always been the last person picked for dodgeball in school, I know kids can be jerks…

Each week the JP Patch Moms Council discusses a parenting topic. This week: What's your fondest Valentine's Day memory as a parent?   Carrie Fletcher: I still can't figure out how our three daughters managed to put the breakfast-in-bed together without waking us up. My husband and I got the greatest Valentine's Day gift ever last year:  a surprise, custom-made breakfast-in-bed, prepared by our three daughters (who were then 9, 7, and 4). The breakfast consisted of scrambled eggs with dill - at the time, this was the only dish my 9-year-old knew how to cook, and it was beautifully executed.  …

This week join the JP Patch Mom's Council in a discussion of parents fighting in front of the children. Deb Nam-Krane: We can use our conflicts to model how our children can handle situations when they're outside of the home. In an ideal world, we'd raise our children in a conflict-free environment and they would never hear raised voices.  Sadly, I have met few people who live in that ideal world. In the real world, conflicts happen in most homes, but it doesn't have to be damaging.  We can use our conflicts as an opportunity to model how, hopefully, our children can handle situations when …

Each week the JP Patch Moms Council tackles a parenting topic. This week we asked what these JP moms' favorite kids educational toys and books are. Casey Carey-Brown: Non-Toy Toys My daughter is always learning. From everything. I haven't found a single toy or book that could encourage her to do it more, although I do think there are toys that can discourage exploration and creativity. We have found the toys that create the play and experience for the child do a great job of discouraging interaction and exploration. Our daughter enjoys sticks, acorns and rocks. Dupos are a big favorite right …

Each week the JP Patch Moms Council tackles a parenting topic. This week we ask what these JP moms want for our neighborhood in 2012.   Amy Abair: A stronger effort to focus on youth. There are many things I would like to see for JP in 2012 but I think what is most need are more services that focus on youth. I feel this population is often the most overlooked but yet have the biggest spotlight put on them when violence occurs. When shootings occur the local message boards flair up with concerns about violence and youth. The questions always center on “what are we doing for the youth”? Why is …

Each week the Moms Council discusses a parenting topic. This week Mary Hannon gets us started talking about our families' holiday rituals.   Mary Hannon: I didn't expect to have rituals, but if the kids wanted it to be the same as the previous year, things started becoming rituals. We celebrate Christmas and for our family music and food are a big part of the holiday. We began collecting unusual Christmas albums that we play in the morning as we stumble in the pre-dawn dark. We have album covers staged above the doorway and windows in the living room where the tree is and we keep the music …

Phillipa Tawn: After saying "no" to our 10-year-old getting an iPod, he wrote a beautiful multi-page essay carefully arguing the benefits of owning an iPod touch. Every Christmas so far at least one of my children has asked for a gift that is either inappropriate or way too expensive. Over the years this list has included pets such as horses and ferrets as well as overpriced toys like the Lego Star Wars Millennium Falcon ($500) or an American girl doll bed ($178).  I am usually honest with my children and tell them that such gifts are simply too expensive either for Santa or for us. This has …

This week the JP Patch Moms Council discusses bullying — including how they've tried to keep their kids both from becoming bullies and from being the victim of bullying. Add your own thoughts or questions in the comments section.   Deb Nam-Krane: I'm seventeen years into parenting and I still can't tell you what makes a bully. Four children and 17 years into parenting — not to mention a lifetime of younger siblings under my belt — and I still can't tell you what makes a bully. Recent research indicates that low self-esteem is a factor for some. While it's tempting to say that parents can …

Deb Nam-Krane: My husband was pretty pleased when Tofurkey came out, but I could always take or leave it. I've been a vegetarian for more than 20 years.  The first few teenage years featured a lot of lasagna for holiday celebrations, Thanksgiving included.  My husband was pretty pleased when Tofurkey came out, but I could always take or leave it (and since two of my children and I developed a wheat allergy, I leave it). But that's okay — even as a meat eater, Thanksgiving was always about the stuffing, potatoes and gravy. Of all of the big deal American holidays, Thanksgiving is my favorite…

Each week the JP Patch Moms Council dicusses a parenting topic. This week: Do you like the newly renovated Brewer/Burroughs Tot Lot? The lot had long been a neighborhood favorite, despite of its need for an update. Deb Nam-Krane: If you're looking to bring your younger child, they'll have plenty of children to interact with. I took my sons to the Brewer/Burroughs Tot Lot this week. Before it was closed for renovations, I used to take them there about three times per year. Unfortunately, other than the drums and the four-way seesaw, their just wasn't much for my seven year olds.  (And my son's…

Join other JP parents in talking about this week's topic: What do you teach your child about thermostats and energy use in the winter? Amy Abair: We cuddle a lot and this helps to keep everyone warm Our son is oblivious to the fact that we control the heat in our house. When he is cold we tell him to put more layers on, and we do the same if we are cold. This is particularly obvious when it is November and we tell him to go put his pajamas on, and he comes out in a tank top and shorts. I make sure to buy a lot of warm pajamas for him (the Carter's outlet in Watertown has great fleece winter …

JP Parents -- what are your favorite places to take your kids trick-or-treating? Deb Nam-Krane: We're planning on starting out with the Centre Street Halloween Strolll. There are a lot of great areas in JP to trick or treat in.  Some of our friends live near Lamartine Street, and on years when Halloween falls on a Friday or Saturday someone does a Haunted House.  So well done, it's gross.However, I like to keep it simple and stay as close to home as possible.  We live in Forest Hills, close to Tower, Woodlawn and Wenham Streets.  That's just three streets, but they're long and many of the …

Each week the JP Patch Moms Council takes up a parenting topic. Today its advice about Halloween, which this year Halloween falls on a Monday night. Add your own thoughts or questions below and the council members will respond.   Mary Hannon: It is essential that you plan dinner early and make it easy or you’ll be miserable. I have made it through 18 Halloweens with kids. Weekdays are impossible. A night of pizza or sandwiches and we are out the door as soon as the sun sets. We always made homemade costumes and guided as much as we could. Encouraging classics like vampires, firefighters, …

This week's Moms Council topic is: What is life like when your parents, inlaws or other relatives come to visit? Erica Lewy: I used to hang all over my parents when they visited, spending every minute with them and my daughter, now 3.6.   I don’t think I consciously thought that they'd do “something wrong” but as a new mother, I probably a micro-managed things a little bit. Maybe I was a little overprotective of every step she made. Well, I’m over that. I turned out just fine, except for the general neurosis that every person has (just go with me here). I didn’t light myself on fire or cut …