HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: kid@kibnet.kiber.vladimir.su (kid)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: I want to have a pen-friend. I'm russian girl.
Date: Thu, 10 Dec 92 18:29:49 +0300
Distribution: world
Organization: KIBER Kovrov Company
Reply-To: kid@kibnet.kiber.vladimir.su


My name is Olya Khromushkina. I am 13 years old.
I study in the 8th form. I want to know more
about such countries where people speak English.
I have a lot of questions to you: what problems
do you have in your country, your hobbies,interests,
what music do you like to listen to. As for me,
I can tell you a lot of interesting things about
Russia, about our  problems. I think that we must
improve our knowledge, and our correspondence will
help  us.
I like sports: basketball, swimming, fencing.
I also like to read books. I want to have a pen-friend.






Xref: sparky misc.kids:30502 alt.dads-rights:2952 alt.child-support:3969 soc.men:21177 soc.women:21473
From: ctopp@cup.portal.com (Carol F Topp)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: Cute Things They Say (20 month)
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 92 11:01:25 PST
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
Distribution: world

As usual, just as we were sitting down to dinner, my daughter (8 weeks)
was hungry. I picked her up, pulled up my shirt, and unhooked my
bra. I wasn't concentrating on being descreet (sp?). All of a sudden
Russell points to my boob and says "I want that!" 

He was perfectly happy with his glass of milk which had been left
in the kitchen.

Carol
From: wang@optigfx.optigfx.com (Alice Wang)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: Sign of the times
Date: 11 Dec 92 21:31:30 GMT
Followup-To: misc.kids
Distribution: usa
Organization: Optigraphics Corporation, San Diego

In article <1992Dec9.205748.6194@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> dlittle@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (David E Little) writes:
>
>  Increasingly I have noticed that many large department stores and
>shopping malls have begun to install 'baby changing stations' ( not
>sure of the official sound byte ) in men's restrooms.
>  I am pleased that they have realized that dads (most, I believe)
>are just as willing and capable as mom when it comes to this task.
>  Seems it should have been thought of before.

Oh good, one less excuse for my husband!

Just kidding, my husband is very good about helping out, much better
than my Dad, I'm sure.  My Dad never changed our diapers, probably
never fed us bottles either.  Although he's Chinese, I consider him
quite Westernized.  So did the American fathers (in the 60's) changed
diapers or is this a new phenomenon? ;-)  Maybe it's related to the
fact that most mothers work also now?


Alice Wang
Mom to Christine, 1 yo
wang@optigfx.com



From: joanne@hpcc01.corp.hp.com (Joanne Petersen)
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1992 12:08:09 GMT
Subject: Re: Welcome to Misc.kids/FAQ File Index (Updated
Organization: Hewlett-Packard PAITC Data Center
Newsgroups: misc.kids

I just want to add that I am on maternity leave and read e-mail very
infrequently (weekly at best) and misc.kids even more infrequently,
so please be patient with me when you send a request for the FAQ.
I *will* reply eventually!  (Also, I was on vacation from 11/21-12/8
so I apologize for the delay in responding to requests sent during
that period......)

Also, some addresses don't work well when using the "reply" function,
so please include your address and an alternate in your message.  I
received one message from xxxx.uucp and I don't believe the reply ever
got there -- so if you didn't get a reply to a request, send it again
and include additional information (like a phone number) so I can let
you know that I did indeed receive your request but haven't been able
to get a reply to you, and maybe we can figure out some other path.
From: hough@seismo.gps.caltech.edu (Susan Hough)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: Christmas Tree
Date: 16 Dec 1992 21:07:39 GMT
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
Distribution: na
NNTP-Posting-Host: earth.gps.caltech.edu
Summary: 2 cents (or 4 cents, or 6 cents...)

In article <1992Dec16.144712.24297@sq.sq.com> barb@sq.sq.com (Barbara Burrows) writes:
>
>Here's a semi-serious (I'll find out how serious on Saturday) question.
>What does one do with active toddlers around a Christmas tree.  Jordan
>is 14 months old...very curious....very stubbo...oops, persistent.  How
>do we prevent him and the tree from suffering damage?

We've just put the tree in a corner every year with presents underneath
and said, "No" a lot--none of my kids were inclined to listen to "No"
under most circumstances, but we've survived 6 Christmasses so far
with a 7 months-2 yr old child in the house.  My kids seemed to have
a sense of when they _really_ shouldn't push their limits.

>	(I'm hormonally challenged these days so I don't know whether 
>	 to laugh or cry .......how does one get through the
>	 holiday season....keeping all balls in the air....job....
>	 cleaning...extra cleaning....Christmas shopping...cooking
>	 home decorating....gingerbread cookie baking...baby pleasing...
>	 daddy pleasing.....can it be done?)  

You could...pay someone to clean your house just once, shop through
catalogs (well, maybe it's a bit late this year), resolve to let
your tidiness standards relax just a bit, encourage your husband
to take on more of the baby pleasing duties (one suggestion: send
them on a walk around the neighborhood in the evening to look
at Christmas lights).

>PS  This use to be (still is?) my favorite time of the year.....will
>    it be again.

My father (57) has seemed like a bit of a scrooge for the past few
Christmasses.  My step-mother recently told me that he admitted having
a hard time getting excited about Christmas because they would never
measure up to the years when my sibblings & I were young & Christmas
meant a family trip to Grandma's house.  He has plenty of grandkids
now, mind you, but I can see that it isn't the same for him.  Of course,
my mother was the one who took care of almost all of the details like
shopping and cooking.  But just wait until your child is old enough
to be excited about Christmas--that's when the real fun starts.

Ho, Ho, Ho!

Sue
From: remer@cwis.unomaha.edu (Lynn Remer)
Subject: Finding a Midife
Organization: University of Nebraska at Omaha
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 03:42:49 GMT


can anyone out there tell me how they found their midwife?  When i was
pregnant i called all over town and didnt' find one, i wrote the american 
college of nurse-midwives and never got a response, i did a lot of stuff 
and didn't find out anything.  Since then i think i remember hearing 
something about nebraskas first certified midwife starting a practice..
but i've not been able to track that down either (could have been a
rumour)  it may be that there just arne't any midwives in the Omaha, NE
area but I dnt' really believe that. (luckily i adore my doctor)

SO, i'd appreciate stories from all fo you who've found a midwife...especially
when you had to play hide-and-go-seed to find them.  Please e-mail me
stories since my net access is not reliable.  And if others are interested
mail me and i'll send you a summary, and post it if there is a lot of interest

thanks a lot!

lynne remer

remer@cwis.unomaha.edu
From: rollo@xylogics.com (Dena Rollo)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: AMA Calls for Ban on Infant Walkers
Date: 17 Dec 1992 11:32:49 -0600
Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway
NNTP-Posting-Host: cs.utexas.edu


Kate Gregory writes (in a post I thought was
a good response to questions about walker safety):


As for why they are banned, that is another issue. Does the danger
outweigh the benefit? Is there any benefit? Can alert parents
counteract the danger? 

************************8

Well, the only real benefit to walkers I can
see (and it's a big one) is that, at that
age (4-6 mos or so) when infants are wanting
to be more vertical, but are not sitting on
their own yet, walkers afford them a better
view of the world.

What they did at Isabel's daycare, and what we
did at home for that couple of months, was to
remove the wheels from the walker and use it
as a kind of seat (with built-in tray- great
for toys). She could slide around a bit in it
on non-carpeted floors, but couldn't really
get anywhere. As soon as she could sit on her
own, we stopped using it, and never used it
for any long stretches.

So it worked well for us like that but, that said,
I don't think there's anything wrong with
taking something with such a poor safety record
off the market - to me, it's sort of like a
product recall.

If you do have a walker, or plan to get one, you
might consider the no-wheels approach - the baby
didn't know what she was missing, and was very
happy with it.

-Dena
From: ahelmers@umiami.ir.miami.edu
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: Sign of the times
Date: 20 Dec 92 16:53:15 EST
Distribution: usa
Organization: Univ of Miami IR

In article <1992Dec20.190413.20680@clpd.kodak.com>, staffan@ca.serum.kodak.com (Kenneth Staffan (x37507)) writes:
> In article <1992Dec18.220533.14225@umiami.ir.miami.edu> ahelmers@umiami.ir.miami.edu writes:

>>We have an equal-diaper-opportunity marriage :)  Lord knows, there's
>>opportunity enough for both of us!
> 
> Heh, heh - but how do you know that those who see it speak up! :-)  Actually,
> that's the same way that Mary and I deal with it, but occasionally we
> tease each other with "I don't smell anything - _you_ must have found
> it... :-)".


Well, one afternoon grandma handed the baby to my husband, saying "I think she
has a surprise for you".  My husband replied "[BIG sigh] No, it would be more
of a surprise if there *weren't* something in there".  :)

Newsgroups: misc.kids
From: riggle@adobe.com (Kathleen Riggle)
Subject: Re: Christmas Tree
Organization: Adobe Systems Incorporated, Mountain View
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 1992 05:35:33 GMT

In article <1992Dec16.144712.24297@sq.sq.com> barb@sq.sq.com (Barbara Burrows) writes:
>
>Here's a semi-serious (I'll find out how serious on Saturday) question.
>What does one do with active toddlers around a Christmas tree.  Jordan
>is 14 months old...very curious....very stubbo...oops, persistent.  How
>do we prevent him and the tree from suffering damage?
>
You find yourself saying "Please leave the ornaments on the tree'...a lot! :-0

Actually, when Rachel was 18 months old, we didn't have a lot of tree
problems.  I cant remember why.  I know that I didn't decorate the bottom
portion of the tree, though.

This year, what a difference!  She's always touching it and talking about
it and taking ornaments down.  I thought I hung the breakables out of her
reach, but I was wrong!  If I tried to decorate only what she couldn't reac
that would have been the top 3 inches.  :-)

It's fun watching her with it, though, and I have put ornaments down low
that she can play with and won't break if she takes them off.  

I'd rather have her defrock the tree than unwrap all the presents, though.


>	 holiday season....keeping all balls in the air....job....
>	 cleaning...extra cleaning....Christmas shopping...cooking
>	 home decorating....gingerbread cookie baking...baby pleasing...
>	 daddy pleasing.....can it be done?)  
>

No, it can't all be done...and keep your sanity to boot!  I've dropped
the things that are unimportant to me, but I thought "had" to be done
and I'm a lot calmer.  It gives me more time to enjoy the things I
do enjoy.
Last year, I cooked Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners and it was hell
on Rachel.  All she wanted was our time and we couldn't give her enough
attention on those days.  Thanksgiving this year was just as bad.  For
Christmas we are going to have a leisurely morning playing with her 
presents and then go to a friend's for dinner.  I think trying to cook
with a demanding toddler is insane (unless you can get relatives to
come early to play with the child.)


Kathie
From: hough@seismo.gps.caltech.edu (Susan Hough)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: Colic
Date: 14 Dec 1992 20:04:30 GMT
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
NNTP-Posting-Host: earth.gps.caltech.edu
Summary: baby burritos

In article <1992Dec14.183557.22316@cbnewsm.cb.att.com> cma@cbnewsm.cb.att.com (christine.m.dakes) writes:
>
>The swaddling theory is simple.....makes the baby feel as if it's
>in the womb.  And you will see newborns in the hospital bundled up
>this way, and it's recommended.  Makes them feel secure.  Gee, even I
>still like to be bundled up and wrapped up in blankets or a comforter,
>it's just a cozy, warm, secure feeling.  

When our first child was born, we had the nurses show us how they
do the hospital swaddling.  It's a lot like making a burrito--put
baby diagonally on a stretchy cotton receiving blanket, fold one
corner across baby and tuck in on other side, fold up bottom of
blanket, fold other corner across baby.  Arms get wrapped up, too.
It's helpful to have those stretchy thermal cotton blankets
so that they can be swaddled pretty snugly.
My daughter spent much of her first 6 weeks swaddled, and I thought
of her as a very contented newborn.  In retrospect she was something 
of an active, almost wirey infant (crawling at 5 1/2 months, etc), 
and probably would have seemed much more 'difficult' initially 
without the swaddling.

Of course, the next two just _hated_ to be swaddled, right from the
start.  

Sue
From: kassover@rumsey.crd.ge.com (David Kassover)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: it's happened again, or why mom's hair is turning gray
Date: 11 Dec 92 22:58:55 GMT
Organization: nope

In article <11DEC199213025674@eldyn.gsfc.nasa.gov> 
goldberg@eldyn.gsfc.nasa.gov (Patti Twigg) writes:
>Well, here it is two weeks until Christmas, and it has happened
>again. My daughter wants fake spiders from santa. Yeah, right,
>they're easy to find this time of year (not!). My son, yesterday,
>asked for a teddy bear ring.
...
>Anyway, I guess I am not looking so much for advice
>as commiseration. Does this happen to anyone else?

Well, it coulde be worse.  My daughter has consistently been
asking for Zambonis and Backhoes.



-- 
David Kassover             "Proper technique helps protect you against
uupsi!khazad!kassover	          sharp weapons and dull judges."
kassover@aule-tek.com                   F. Collins
kassover@ra.crd.ge.com
Newsgroups: misc.kids
From: frank@trout.TTI.COM (Lorraine Frank)
Subject: 4yr old b-day party
Reply-To: frank@trout.TTI.COM (Lorraine Frank)
Organization: Transaction Technology, Inc.
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 18:39:23 GMT

Hi

My daughters birthday is January 5th.  We have decided to have
a carnavil theme.  Games for the kids to play like bean bag toss,
fishing, clothes pins into bottle beam walk and coloring of the
goody bags.  

My question is since I haven't done a home party before (always
wimped out and had it somewhere else) how exactly do I handle
the order of things.  There will be between 15 and 20 kids
do I let them all "do their own thing" which would IMO cause
kaos.  Should I have enough teenagers to take say 5 at a time
around to the different areas?  HELP !!! I may be in over my
head.  The party is set for the 9th of January so please respond
quickly.

Thank you in advance

_lorraine frank
From: bill.easley@tfd.gwinnett.com (Bill Easley) 
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Pen Pal
Date: 14 Dec 92 07:39:00 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: The Fifth Dimension - Louisville, KY - 502-423-8654
Reply-To: bill.easley@tfd.gwinnett.com (Bill Easley) 

My ten-year-old daughter Rebecca ("Becca") would love to find an
electronic pen pal.  She wouldn't even mind if it's a boy, but she'd
like one around her age, please.

Please send her messages through me at

    bill.easley@tfd.gwinnet.com

Thank you.  If it's easier to use GEnie, my address there is W.Easley1
---
 . OLX 2.2 . "There Is No Such Thing As A Free Lunch." -- Heinlein
 
Newsgroups: misc.kids
From: Theresa Jarosz Alberti <sapphire@wings.micro.umn.edu>
Subject: Re: A few facts about circumcision
X-Xxdate: Thu, 17 Dec 92 17:42:31 GMT
Organization: Authors with Twins
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1.1d7
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1992 05:18:54 GMT

In article <1992Dec17.142411.20790@ll.mit.edu> Alan Yasutovich,
yasu@ll.mit.edu writes:
>	As far as the topic goes, I am circumcised.  I never knew
>	I was until I heard the topic in conversation.  Nor did
>	I understand what the difference was until I *did* look
>	in the shower.
>
>	I think it's like asking if you'd frefer being female.
>	"I never have been, so I don't know".
>
>	I've never been "uncircumcised".
>

Not wanting to state the obvious, but weren't you born "uncircumcised"?

And what's so darn wrong with the way you were born?

My husband is circumcised but wishes he wasn't.  He feels pretty strongly
that circumcision is unnecessary and most often done without thought 
("oh, everybody is circumcised, so my son will be too").  His experiences
in locker rooms showed that it really wasn't abnormal to be
uncircumcised-- many guys hadn't been circumcised.  I think it's funny
that of the mothers I talk to, their main reason for circumcising their
sons is that they want them to be like everyone else.  

We did not have our son circumcised.  When he asks why his penis looks
different from daddy's, I'm sure we'll tell him that we didn't want him
to go through this painful procedure, and that we think his body is just
fine the way it was when he was born!

--Theresa Jarosz Alberti
From: oispeggy@ubvmsd.cc.buffalo.edu (Peggy Brown)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: "my wife and I are pregnant" - NO WAY
Date: 16 Dec 92 22:24:00 GMT
Organization: University at Buffalo
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41

In article <1go2r9INNri8@gazette.bcm.tmc.edu>, pburch@bcm.tmc.edu (Paula Burch) writes...
> 
>In article <869.9212161848@bonzo.xylogics.com>, rollo@xylogics.com 
>(Dena Rollo) writes:
> 
>|> A recent post contained the statememt: "My
>|> wife and I are pregnant..." There's no point
>|> in naming the poster, as this is something I
>|> read/hear quite often. 
> 

IMO you should worry about your own husband and quit worrying 
about how other husband's express themselves.  If the couple is 
comfortable using this expression, its none of your concern.

- Peggy -
From: dhardin@bbn.com (Dawn Hardin)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: how to take baby out in snow without a car? SUMMARY
Date: 17 Dec 1992 16:22:09 GMT
NNTP-Posting-Host: bbn.com

If I don't post this now, I won't get to it before New Years, so I'll go
ahead and do it now.

It looks like what I'm going to end up doing is taking a cab when the
snow and ice are very bad, and using the same front carrier that I used
last year for those days when the sidewalks are clean enough to walk
on but not clean enough to push a stroller on.  I've done this for the
past few days and it's not nearly as bad on my back as I thought it
might be.  It definately needs to be a high quality carrier though to
minimize the back strain.

People who are familiar with the back carrier told me that it did
throw off their balance, and that there is a risk of the baby hitting
her head on the sidewalk even if I managed not to land on her.  Someone
suggested a walking stick to compensate for the balance problem, but that
won't work very well on icy concrete.  Several people mentioned jogging
strollers with large wheels, but no one who wrote me had actually used
one in these conditions.  I wonder if it would really be able to plow
over one of those gross piles of snow that the snowplow leaves behind,
and since they are expensive, I don't think I'll make the investment
to find out.  Several people also mentioned sleds. I'm not sure if
a sled would go up and down curbs with any ease at all, and it would
also be a problem on the sidewalks that were shovelled.  But it did 
sound like fun, even if I couldn't use it to take her to daycare.  I
think I'll keep my eyes open for one.  There's also the alternative of
using the stroller and carrying it over snowdrifts.  I tried it once
and it was miserable.  Maybe if the snow was almost all melted and there
was just one or two patches left.

Thanks to everybody who mailed me with suggestions.

Dawn

Joseph Campbell gave me hope and now I have been saved.
"Folk Song" by Bongwater
Newsgroups: misc.kids
From: ashley@osc.edu (Ashley Burns)
Subject: Eye Problems in 4-mo-old
Organization: The Ohio Supercomputer Center
Date: Sat, 12 Dec 1992 00:36:35 GMT

Our 4-month-old, Austin, went to the opthalmologist this week
and was diagnosed as follows:

o he sees in a V-pattern (gaze crosses when he looks down and
widens as he looks up)
o he is a cross-fixator (when he looks across his nose at 
something, the eye closest to the thing doesn't move much)
o nybismus (this is split in two different conditions; when 
he looks left his eyes "bounce"; when he looks right they "roll")

We had noticed for awhile that he didn't seem to be looking 
at us when he interacted. Of course the cross eyes when 
looking down was obvious. We are supposed to alternate holding 
him for feeding, etc.  in different arms and to cover either 
eye while playing with him (he doesn't like that much).

Does anyone have experience with any of these conditions (or
similar ones)? Could you tell us if they sometimes go away?
At what point do they start treating kids? 

Finally, does this have an effect on how eye-hand coordination?
We've noticed that Austin rarely succeeds in grasping things
he is looking at, but that may be perfectly normal for
a 4-month-old.

--Ashley Burns, ashley@osc.edu or ashley@oar.net
From: dabay@morse.cns.vt.edu (Marian Dabay)
Newsgroups: misc.kids
Subject: Re: CHRISTMAS TOY SUGGESTIONS FOR 3 YO
Date: 11 Dec 92 21:12:39 GMT
Organization: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA

In article <Dec08.003501.41786@yuma.ACNS.ColoState.EDU> bh437292@lance.colostate.edu writes:
>Hi, 
>
>We have yet to buy our 2 3/4 yo daughter any Christmas presents
>and we are starting to hear the clock ticking.
>We are thinking of a wagon, puzzles and some books.
>I would like to get opinions from the net on what kind of toys
>seemed to be particularly enjoyable for a 3 yo.  Is it time
>for us to invest in that Nintendo craze ? are there any items
>that are absolutely great that she SHOULD have ?
>We intend to spend in the neighborhood of about $100-150
>for her since we don't have much family here and she is probably
>not going to get much from others.
>Your suggestions would be welcome,

We have a 3 year old son who really loves "artsy" type toys.
Right now his favorite is stickers.  For his birthday (in Oct)
my sister bought him a "Little Mermaid" sticker book that
came with about 50 stickers.  Well, he went though those the
first day.  Now every time we go to the store, he bugs me
to buy more stickers.  Another favorite are rubber stamps.  He
has a few that have different animals on them.  We use a washable
ink stamp pad with them so it doesn't make so much mess.  He
just loves getting them all out and lining them up just so,
and then making pictures with them.  He even sends them to
Granny sometimes!!  Another thing he enjoys is play-do.  He has
a couple of "molds" that he can press the play-do into and make
little figures.  The nice thing about these types of toys is
that they are fairly inexpensive.  

Marian

Newsgroups: misc.kids
From: casper@tsoft.sf-bay.org (Johanne Kaminski)
Subject: Re: Stocking stuffers
Organization: The TSoft BBS and Public Access Unix, +1 415 969 7958
Date: Mon, 14 Dec 1992 21:19:22 GMT

In article <1992Dec12.224512.11808@leela.cs.orst.edu> uttla@ (Laura Utt) writes:
>I just have a simple question about stocking stuffers. What kinds
>of things do you put in an 8 month old's stocking? I have 2 little
>key ring teethers, but what kinds of other things could go into it?
>-Laura (Mommy to 8 month old Elizabeth)

So long as it fits in it, anything can be put in a stocking.
How about teething biscuits/cookies, an extra cute pair of socks or
booties, a ball (big enough not to fit in her mouth, but small enough
to fit in the stocking), a little stuffed animal or sqeeky toy, a small
bath book or cardboard book (a good bookstore should have lots of them),
a child's fork/spoon set etc. etc.

Good Luck!
Johanne

Newsgroups: misc.kids