Please Don't Help My Kids

A Patch blogger's post about not helping her children on the slide is being debated across the country.

A Patch blog from Alameda, CA, called “Please Don’t Help My Kids” has struck a nerve with readers across the country.  Posted in September, the blog has taken off over the past few weeks as it has found a second life through social media sharing. The blog has 124,000 Facebook recommendations and 833 people have tweeted the blog. The blog is an open letter to other parents at the playground. The blogger Kate Bassford Baker’s basic request is for parents to not help her daughters on the slide. She wrote that she wants her daughters to do things and learn things on their own. Learning to walk up the slide’s ladder is the first step to learning new things and overcoming obstacles, she wrote. “Because, as they grow up, the ladders will only get…

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Boston Mom: Kids, Sandy Wasn’t Easy for Everyone

From Boston’s brush with the superstorm, a lesson in gratitude.

On the morning after Hurricane Sandy, our routine rush released the kids from its boredom – their main takeaway. They returned to school toting raincoats and lunchboxes, ready for normalcy and catch-up.  But even as Sandy was still moving past us, my husband and I were already soaked in the non-stop reports of an enormous storm that had not yet finished with this continent. Here in Boston, the effects were relatively light. At no point was more than 2 percent of the city without power (though if you were kept waiting in the dark, “light” is not how you might describe it). Yet like many in Boston, we have friends up and down a certain span of the East coast. So the images and stories of the “worst ever seen” conditions for our neighbors to …

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New Mental Illness Treatment Programs Available in Boston

There are several neighborhood resources for your family, but mental health experts recommend you contact your primary physician to start.

Boston's families have new tools to deal with mental illness and stress in children, thanks in part to new federal grants. There are numerous mental health resources and services available in Boston, but the first line of prevention is the family's pediatrician, said Debby Allen, Boston Public Health Commission's Director of the Bureau of Child, Adolescent and Family Health. One new program is Project Launch, which is targeted to help very young children, who don’t have serious manifestations of serious illnesses, but are acting up, or in life situations such as being homeless, or instability, such as a having mother suffering from depression. These programs are available at three Boston sites, and employ early childhood clinicians: Boston…

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Story of Jamaica Plain's Nummy the Bunny, Saved by MBTA Employees, Goes Viral

When T workers stopped a rush-hour Orange Line train to "rescue" the stuffed bunny of a Forest Hills 3-year-old, they might not have known their act of compassion would go viral. The story has been on dozens of news outlets, including the NBC Nightly News

It started small, with a blog post by Forest Hills resident Casey Carey-Brown. She told the heartwarming story of how her daughter's favorite stuffed animal, Nummy, fell onto the tracks at Green Street Station. If you know Casey and her wife Michelle, though, you know they're not the kind to just shrug their shoulders and say "too bad." They asked T personnel if there was anything they could do. Turns out there was. Flouting the stereotype of MBTA workers as time-card punchers who don't care about their riders, an extraordinary turn of events took place. The customer service agent told the dispatcher about the stuffed animal. The dispatcher warned the train conductor. And the conductor stopped the train, during rush hour, hopped out and …

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AUDIO: The Day the T Saved a Bunny (And a Little Girl's Heart)

It looked like curtains for Nummy, 3-year-old Roozle's stuffed bunny, when it fell between the platform and the train, right onto the tracks.

Mostly, when people talk about the MBTA, it's to complain. But JP's Casey Carey-Brown has a story that might warm the heart of the most hard-bitten T rider. Each day before school, Roozle chooses a friend to go to school with her. Lately, she has been choosing Nummy, her very first stuffed animal bunny. Nummy is the first stuffed animal she ever had sleep in her crib with her. The first toy she named. A very good friend. Today, Nummy had a great day at school and just before the train arrived to pick us up at Stony Brook, Roozle told us that Nummy was a little scared of the train and she needed to tell her it was okay, trains aren’t scary. You can guess where this is going. Nummy the Bunny had a date with destiny with the tracks of the …

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Janell Fiarman

3:32 pm on Thursday, June 7, 2012

Love the behind the scenes audio.   more ›

Jamaica Plain Mom's "Fresh Fish to You" Brings Seafood to Your Door

A JP mom and a West Roxbury mom created Fresh Fish to You after struggling to put healthy meals on the table every night for their families.

Two very busy local moms want to bring Fresh Fish to You, directly to your door, when you don't have the time to fly out to the store for a filet of flounder. Launched in March Jamaica Plain's Anamaria Barron and West Roxbury's Susan Gaffney, Fresh Fish to You is a fresh seafood delivery company. "Fresh Fish to You is a great option for families because fish is healthy, quick and easy to prepare, and now we deliver it fresh to your door,"  said Gaffney.  They offer a variety of fresh fish packed with ice inside insulated boxes. The fish can be cooked during the coming days, or frozen. One way to know their product is fresh is because offerings vary weekly including cod, haddock, salmon, flounder, swordfish, tuna and scallops. Similar to …

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Spike in Interest Has Boston Public Schools Adding Classrooms, Including in Jamaica Plain

Schools that are adding classrooms in response to increased demand include Mission Hill Elementary, which is set to open in the old Agassiz building in fall 2012.

An unexpected rise in demand for kindergarten has the Boston Public Schools adding classrooms, according to the Boston Globe. Additional space is being made at several schools, including Mission Hill Elementary, which is supposed to be moving to the old Agassiz School building despite protests from parents and teachers. For the full story, please visit the Boston Globe.

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Moms Talk

Jamaica Plain Moms Give Advice About Candy

How do you help your kids grow up healthy in a world saturated with sugar?

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 going to be fine.  (If your child is diabetic or hypoglycemic, that's a whole 'nother ball of wax- do whatever your doctor tells you to.)  However, if…

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The Best Restaurant for Kids in Jamaica Plain Is...

After a week of commenting and voting, here are the winners.

And the winner of "Best Restaurant for Kids" is... JP Seafood! The recently-added-onto Centre Street institution not only won the poll, but also had the highest ranking (★★★★★). But while JP Seafood will be getting the framed certifcate, there really aren't any losers. I hope the voting and discussion, which will live on in the Patch archives, helps JP parents next time they're searching for a place where their children will be welcome and happy. Tying for second place were neighborhood staple Galway House and relative newcomer Canary Square. As one commenter said about the Galway House, whose brick exterior can mask the warm, family-friendly vibe of the dining area: "Do yourself a favor. Don't judge a book by its cover like I did. This …

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Moms Talk

Kids Menus — For and Against

Jamaica Plain moms take up a new parenting topic each Wednesday. Join them!

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 portion is usually the best option- unless, of course, your child demands something you don't want.  In that case, go ahead and get something off of …

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