ParentWonder

Helping Parents Succeed

Adoption Changes Wrench American Parents

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Jeff and Diana Kerr fell in love with the Guatemalan baby girl the moment they saw her photograph. The Minnesota couple decorated her pink and white nursery with pictures of flowers and butterflies, but now they don't know if the 8-month-old will ever become their daughter.

The Kerrs are among thousands of Americans trying to adopt 3,700 babies who are caught in limbo as Guatemala's lawmakers debate new rules that could all but shut down a largely unregulated system that has become the speediest place in the world to finalize an adoption.

"It's an emotionally taxing process," said Jeff Kerr, a 44-year-old financial adviser from Lino Lakes, Minn. "Every day you look at her picture and wonder if you're going to bring her home."

As early as this week, the legislature is expected to debate new rules to eliminate potential fraud in Guatemala's adoption process, which until now has been run from beginning to end by notaries who work with birth mothers, determine if babies were surrendered willingly, hire foster mothers and handle all the paperwork.

These notaries charge an average of $30,000 for children delivered in about nine months — record time for international adoptions. The process is so quick that one in every 100 Guatemalan children now grow up as an adopted American.

The small Central American country sent 4,135 children to the U.S. last year, making it the largest source of babies for American families after much-bigger China.

The adoptions are a $100 million a year industry for notaries.

Full report: Adoption Changes Wrench American Parents

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Wii Is Most-Wanted Widget in Wintertime

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Each holiday season, a couple hard-to-find toys send parents hunting from store to store. And, each season, they're soon forgotten: Has your Elmo gotten any tickles lately?

But this year, it looks like the gift everybody is looking for is the same as last year: the Nintendo Wii.

A year after its launch, the small video game console sells out almost immediately when it reaches stores, even after Nintendo Co. has ramped up production several times.

"Right now, if you work at it, it's not too hard," said John Lawrence, of Fort Worth, Texas, who bought a Wii a few weeks ago for his 9-year-old grandson. It took him some online sleuthing to find one at a local GameStop.

"People have not gotten into the Christmas shopping mode. Once people get into that mindset, this is going to be an impossibility as it was last year," Lawrence said.

With the Wii, Nintendo set out make a console that would entice people who were not hardcore gamers, and it has succeeded. Janet Presti stood an hour in line at the Nintendo World Store in New York on Tuesday last week to get a Wii for her three children, but it wasn't just for them.

"I played it at my sister's house and I loved it," she said. Her household already has three game consoles: an Microsoft Xbox 360, a Sony PlayStation 2 and a Nintendo GameCube.

The Wii responds to the user moving the wand-like wireless controller, while other consoles are controlled by a confusing array of buttons and joysticks. It also comes with an array of casual, nonviolent games that appeal to adults.

Full report: Wii Is Most-Wanted Widget in Wintertime

See also…

Hot Toys And Who Is Playing With Them

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Big paycheck means less housework for married women

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The more money a married woman earns, the less housework she will do regardless of how much her spouse earns, according to a new study.

A researcher at the University of Massachusetts Amherst found that big paychecks equal less cooking and cleaning in a study of 918 women in double-income families.

Married women who made $40,000 or more a year spent nearly one hour less on housework per day than women who earned $10,000 or less, according to the findings based on data from the National Survey of Families and Households.

"Up to this point, people have thought that the important thing was how much money a woman makes compared to her husband. But the only thing that matters is how much money she earns," Sanjiv Gupta, the study's author, said in an interview.

The study, which is published in the Journal of Marriage and Family, showed that for every $7,500 in annual income a married woman earned, she performed one hour less of housework each week.

Full report: Big paycheck means less housework for married women

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Hot Toys And Who Is Playing With Them

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Toys are essential to the development of babies and children.  Play and entertainment are fundamental elements that form the foundations for reading, writing, numeracy and creativity.  Age-appropriate games and toys keep a child focused on an activity and provide them with much needed entertainment.  Over the generations, favorite toys have emerged but with each new generation, comes a new and exciting toy.  Boys and girls of all ages can always find something to play with that appeals to their personality and favorite pursuits.

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TV and Kids: How to Make it Work Once and for All

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Many experts say kids watch too much TV today. But what can you do about this?

Frankly, you can’t stop your child from watching TV totally. This is simply not practical. Being too extreme is not the way. Somehow you have to allow some entertainment time in your kid’s life.

If you agree that we should allow the kids to watch TV, read on. I will share with you a tip that can turn TV watching into a powerful life lesson for your kids.

Laying Down the Rules

But first, let’s set the limits and rules:

1)    limit the hours
2)    you watch with them
3)    you decide what they watch

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