My son, Matt, starts high school today. What a grand adventure! There will be glorious days, days that feel like torture, lifelong friendships forged, challenges to meet…

As I was thinking about what advice I’d like to share with him as he begins this phase of life, I came across an inspiring post, over on a favorite blog, Marc and Angel Hack Life – Practical Tips for Productive Living: “18 Things I Wish Someone Had Told Me When I Was 18.”

In the post, Marc looks back, as an adult, and thinks about all “the things I would love to tell myself if I could travel back in time to give my 18-year-old self some advice about life.”

It works. Wish he had been around to write this for me when I was 18. Or, heck — 14. Happily, Matt can benefit from his wise words.

Thanks, Marc. Happy to share this with my readers here.

Readers, what advice of your own would you add?

I’m so happy to be able to share a terrific guest post today. Keira, who is 16, is the sibling of one of the 8th graders who was promoted at our local middle school on Tuesday night. This is in response to yesterday’s post on that event. (Let’s just say it prompted an interesting discussion!) I think she has a great perspective — and a heck of a lot of maturity. (I also think if every high school student in our town was as articulate as Keira, our English teachers would we thrilled.) Take it away, Keira…

As a 16-year-old girl who was there at promotion, I must agree with you. It’s disgusting. My year was even worse. I don’t understand how the parents of these girls let them walk out of the house looking like that.

I would never let my own daughter display herself in such an inappropriate fashion, nor would I ever feel okay dressing myself that way. Ever. It doesn’t matter if you’re thin and cute and want to show off, or if you’re not-so-thin and still feel like you need to show it all or fit in or whatever. It’s simply not okay.

The women in my life have shown me how to be modest and that one attracts people with how they dress. Obviously, we should not judge people by how they look. I’m not advocating that at all. I’m just saying that the girls who dress like they want a certain kind of attention will get it.

And for a 14-year-old  girl fresh out of junior high, that’s never good.

Last night we attended our son’s promotion from middle school. It was a wonderful evening, and we loved seeing so many kids that we’ve known for years — some since they were in diapers.

With 380+ kids in the 8th grade class, we saw a little bit of everything when it came to fashion. And let me be very clear, given what I’m about to say: The vast majority of kids followed the dress code that was distributed to parents on three different occasions.

But — and I’m not exaggerating here — about 10 percent of the girls looked like Vegas hookers, complete with stripper heels. We’re talking skin-tight dresses (with spandex to make them even more revealing), some strapless, at a length that barely covered their assets.

What are these parents thinking? Have they abdicated all authority over what their children do? Are they afraid to say no? Are some of the moms so hell-bent on having a daughter who’s part of the in crowd that they allow (or even encourage) her to dress like she’s about to slither around a pole at a sleazy bar?

These girls are FOURTEEN.

I don’t get it.

And another thing: As the mom of a 14-year-old boy, I’m working hard to teach my son to respect girls. It would be a whole lot easier to do that if some of these girls had a bit more respect for themselves.

Talk back: What do you think? Am I out of line here? What are you seeing in your community? And if you’re a parent who thinks this kind of dressing for an 8th grader is fine and dandy, would you please tell us why?

Yes, I’ll admit it: I’m monolingual. Took Spanish in high school, but that was a looong time ago. And now that my son is taking Spanish in middle school, I’m not much help, I’m afraid.

That’s why I was so intrigued by a terrific book, 7 Steps to Raising a Bilingual Child, by Naomi Steiner, M.D. with Susan Hayes. Steiner is a developmental-behavior pediatrician who works with bilingual families at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, and Hayes is a writer and editor whose work has appeared in Parent & Child, Parenting, Woman’s Day and other publications.

There are so many potential advantages for our kids if they know a second language:

°    It’s a huge advantage in competing for and succeeding in jobs in our ever-shrinking world.

°    It provides a more complex understanding of other countries and cultures.

°    It makes travel to other countries easier and more enriching.

There is evidence that learning a second language early in life offers advantages for brain development, too:

°    More cognitive firepower is devoted to language.

°    The child is better able to deal with distractions.

°    Learning a second language makes it easier to learn a third language.

°    Knowing more than one language helps improve the memory and leads to more creative use of language.

Really, there’s no downside to raising a bilingual child. But where do you start, especially if you speak only one language yourself?

This book answers every question I could think of — and then some. You’ll learn about common myths about bilingualism, how to define your language goals for your child, how to decide which parent will speak which language to a child in a bilingual home, making the most of family and community resources, reading and writing in a second language and much more.

If you’re even thinking about raising your child to speak more than one language, you’ll want to check out this book. For more information, click here.

Ciao!

It seems like not that long ago, my main concerns for my son were potty training and preschool. Suddenly, he’s in middle school, and time is marching forward faster than I can say “SATs, anyone?”

College costs are marching along, too—upward. And parents need to be prepared, says Ron Goldner, a fee-based financial planner with Wealth Strategies Group, Inc. in Memphis, Tennessee.

A 529 plan can help, he says. And while these are tough financial times, even a $25- or $50-per-month contribution can add up to a nice college nest egg over the years, thanks to compounding of interest.

Looking for an easy-to-understand guide to 529 plans? Check out my article over at MetroFamily magazine. To write this piece, I had to make sure I understood this whole thing myself. So I brought it down to the basics. It’s really not as intimidating as the boring term “529 Plan” would make it seem. Check it out, then pick the plan that’s right for your family. Happy saving!

We parents always hope for that picture-perfect shot of our little ones with Santa — but it doesn’t always work out that way… And you know, those funny photos often make the best memories.

The editors over at Lowcountry Parent magazine came up with a terrific idea: a photo gallery where parents can upload their favorite “scared-of-Santa” pics. This one is my favorite from the gallery so far. I’ll be stopping by often this holiday season to check out the latest photos.

Do you have a funny photo of your child on Santa’s lap? Submit it!

Tired of giving apple stationery, apple earrings and “#1 teacher” sweatshirts to your children’s teachers every holiday season? Imagine how the teachers feel! Here are some parent- and teacher-tested gift ideas that will really make the grade.

°    Think Outside The Classroom. “I like giving something that conveys that you know the teacher is human, too — not just a teacher,” says Lake Forest, California mom Joy Bat. Think sports memorabilia (if you know the teacher’s favorite team), an addition to a favorite collection of bears, dolls, snow globes… The list can be endless if you or your child just happen to listen up when the teacher mentions favorite hobbies and activities.

°    Consider a Gift For the Classroom. As school budgets are increasingly cut, teachers are often asked to supply certain classroom items. So when her child was in kindergarten, Dorothy Foltz-Gray of Knoxville, Tennessee asked what classroom game the kids needed. “The teacher responded as if I were a saint!” she says. Another time, she gave a monetary gift, again to be used for classroom supplies. Jennifer Vena of Manhattan Beach, California gives goody bags full of classroom supplies — dry-erase markers, paper clips, post-its, overhead markers, etc. With many teachers spending their own money on these items, this is a welcome gift. (more…)

I've been reading lately that some schools are banning roller sneakers and Crocs. According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, roller sneakers contributed to about 1,600 kids' ER visits in 2006 (the most recent data available on this) and school officials say Crocs can easily slip off and injure kids when they run at recess or play games in gym class.

Another item that is getting the evil eye in some schools is wheeled book bags/wheeled backbacks. Children often struggle to maneuver them through crowded school hallways, and other kids may trip over them, causing them to be banned.

Banning Crocs and roller sneakers? I can understand that. But I always thought of wheeled book bags as a good thing, as opposed to often-overloaded backpacks that can be too heavy for young kids. In fact I've written health-column items on backpacks in the past, and several doctors have said they prefer to see kids with the wheeled version. (Granted, it's best if the kids don't mow each other down in the hallways with them!)

What's on the banned list at your school? And what are your thoughts on Crocs, wheeled backpacks and roller sneakers?

Backpacks and notebooks and clothes, oh my! It's that time of year, and wallets are being stretched thin all across the land. I was happy to hear about a terrific post on back-to-school shopping, aimed at Canadian parents, over at parentcentral.ca.

Staff reporter Madhavi Acharya-Tom Yew offers these tips for keeping the budget under control when you hit the stores:

°    If you shop with your kids, get them involved.
Have them help make the list and determine the budget. Then show them
that to stick to it, you need to make some choices along the way.

°    Put down cash, instead of credit. If you must
use a credit card, the stick to just one. “That’s really going to curb
your ability to spend,” says said Jeffrey Schwartz, executive director of Consolidated Credit Counseling Services of Canada. “If you’ve got five credit cards
in your pocket, you have more opportunity to spend.”

°    Spend no more than what you can pay off within a month or two, if you must use credit.
Many consumers still don’t realize that by slapping that purchase on a
credit card and only paying the minimum, you may end up paying as much
as three times what it actually cost.

Check out the post for many more great tips. Then wander around this website for lots of great parenting information. Good stuff here.

I don't talk about many products on this blog, but I was in Portland, Oregon yesterday, at a wonderful weekly crafts fair called the Portland Saturday Market and I met a talented — and fun — artist that I have to tell you about.

Through his company, Antic, Isaac Bauman's artwork is available on t-shirts, hoodies, scarves, hats and more. I love his "The Boogie Monster" and "These are Kooties" designs. (Yep, I know, it's usually spelled "Cooties." But Isaac does things his way, as you'll see when you visit his website. Just don't get his started on the subject of bananas…)

Got a tween or teen who is tough to buy for? Keep these tees and hoodies in mind for back-to-school shopping (and the holidays).