A week after captioning a Instagram snap of her overdue baby bump, “Come out you little sh_t!”, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi welcomed her third child, a baby boy named Angelo.
“So thrilled to welcome baby Angelo into our little family!” she confirmed the news to People magazine. “He is so sweet and a spitting image of [son] Lorenzo as a baby. Jionni and I can’t wait to see how being outnumbered turns out!”
Snooki and husband Jionni LaValle are parents to 6-year old son Lorenzo Dominc and 4-year old daughter Giovanna Marie.
The couple wed in 2014. Both starred in a reboot, Snooki & JWoww, Jersey Shore: Family Vacation.
Small children usually don’t care what anyone thinks about them. If they want to sing at the top of their lungs, they sing at the top of their lungs.
If they want to wear a silly hat, mix-matched socks or gloves on a hot day, they do it – with no regard for how others might judge their eccentricities.
Somewhere along the line, though, most children long to fit in and begin to worry that their differences make them stand out – and not in a good way. So, they try to conform to what they perceive their peers or society expect from them.
“Unfortunately, in the process they begin to hide what makes them unique instead of embracing it,” says Jennifer Lynch, an educator, child advocate and author of the children’s book Livi and Grace.” “They become embarrassed or sad about their differences, maybe feel that people think they are strange, and that other kids won’t like them or won’t play with them,” adding, “and in truth, other children sometimes will bully a child who is seen as different.”
Lynch has served as an advocate for children in the court system, foster care and treatment facilities. In working with those children, many of whom are abused or neglected, she says, you often have to help them overcome their insecurities about their differences.
“It’s important for them and all children to believe in themselves,” she says. “They need to understand that different is okay. It’s our differences that make us special.”
This message is so universally important, Lynch says, that it became the theme of her children’s book, which is based on her daughters and their distinct personalities. “My two girls are so unlike one another that it’s almost shocking,” she says. “It made me think back to the children I encounter in the court system who say they dislike or even hate themselves because they feel different from their peers or their siblings.”
Lynch says some of the ways parents or other adults can help children include:
1. Remind them that differences make people special. While it’s natural for children to long to fit in with their peers, Lynch says, it’s also important for them to understand that their individuality is what makes them unique. “Differences are interesting and life enriching,” she says. “Part of the message is that you should appreciate the diverse traits in everyone you know, and also appreciate what makes you special.”
2. Talk to them about the ways in which they shine. “Kids like talking about themselves,” Lynch says. “So get them involved in a conversation about what they are good at. Maybe that is sports. Maybe it is writing. Maybe they make good grades or they are a good big brother or friend. Whatever their special talent is, explore it with them so they know that there is something they do well.”
3. Encourage them to help other kids feel good about themselves. Young people can feel empowered not only by embracing their differences, but also by providing support and being a friend to others who are different.“When you help a child pick out positive things about themselves,” Lynch says, “they begin to focus on that, not the hurtful things that weigh so heavy on their hearts and minds.”
Ali shared a tender moment celebrating her wedding anniversary last year on her Instagram account with 1.1M followers.
“You are an honorable man,” Rah captioned a photo with the two of them but featuring only his silhouette. “One of principle and character that can never be questioned. When I stand beside you and hear you speak, I feel honored. Words can’t begin to express my gratitude and appreciation for you being an amazing man and provider each and every day. Thank you for all that you do. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner in life.”
She has not revealed any other information about him and keeps private the identity of her husband.
Instacart Grocery Delivery app was a heaven sent convenient way for me to deliver nutritious food instead of pizza to the kids through their sitter while I was out of town
About 5-years ago, my sisters were babysitting my kids when the doorbell rang and there was a pizza delivery man on the other end!
Wow! One told the other, Jeneba delivered pizza to us all the way from Miami!
My husband and I were vacationing and called in the order. It wasn’t really anything special but back then, I suppose, the idea of remote ordering was foreign.
It was nothing like it is today. Since those days, a lot of apps and services have launched that allows parents, caregivers and others who are away to have all sorts of things delivered to their kids at home.
Last Summer, while my mom was watching the kids while the hubby and I were across country, we tried grocery delivery service Instacart for the first time.
After downloading the app, I got to check out several of the dozens of area stores, grocers and shops and after picking one, go virtual grocery shopping.
Within two to three clicks, groceries were ordered! It was super fast, surprisingly easy and quick!
Once our order was placed, an Instacart associate received our list, then traveled down to my local market close to home, shopped and dropped off the groceries to my waiting and hungry brood!
It was so much more cost effective and healthier than ordering pizza and wings for dinner!
My husband and I were quite pleased. There is a small and very nominal service charge and monthly fee but it is totally worth it.
Since then, I have become a fan and ardent user of Instacart and other grocery delivery services.
Media personality Amber Rose is the latest pregnant celebrity to reveal that she suffers from fom hyperemesis gravidarum, or extreme morning sickness.
The pregnancy complication is characterized by severe nausea and dehydration, with mild cases treated with dietary changes and rest, and more severe versions requiring hospitalization and IV-infused nutrition and hydration.
The SlutWalk founder told her Instagram followers in a May 2019 series of short videos that she experienced it with her pregnancy with son Sebastion, who she shares with ex-fiance Wiz Khalifa.
“For people that don’t know what it is, it’s basically extreme nausea, vomiting and dehydration, and [I’m] really, really tired,” Rose told her social media at the time. “I can eat a little bit more now because I’m in my second trimester, but not much, and I pretty much sleep all day.”
She added: “I try to, like, be cute and get my hair done, and then I just slept in it and messed it up. All in all, babies are a blessing. God bless women, man. We are resilient. We get through it. It’s really, really hard being pregnant. I’m not gonna lie.
“To all the women out there who just pop out babies like it’s nothing, God bless you guys because oh, my God, it’s a lot,” the model went on to say. “I want to be out. I want to be cute. I want to show off my belly. I can’t get off this couch. I’m just tired and want to barf all day. It’s just not fun. But it’s totally worth it. Totally, totally worth it. “
Duchess Katesuffered from hyperemesis gravidarum when she was pregnant with Prince George, Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis. Other celebrity moms, including Amy Schumer, and Kelly Clarkson have opened up about similar experiences.
As another school year comes to a close, parents of children who haven’t started even attending conventional schools yet may be wondering if it is time for them to send their little tots there in the fall.
Sending a child to school for the first time can be a difficult experience for parents – partly because it is rarely easy to watch a child move on to that next, important milestone, but also because many parents worry that they haven’t made the right decision.
Is my child really ready to attend school? Will he succeed, academically, or have I set him up for failure by asking him to achieve things he simply isn’t ready for?
Will she fit in, socially, or have I endangered her emotional well-being by expecting things she isn’t mature enough for?
Infographic by WorthingtonDirect.com
PARENTS ARE NOT ALONE
Parents are not alone in their concerns. In fact, the U.S. government’s National Education Goals Panel made school readiness a primary focus of its annual Goals Report beginning in 1995, when it listed the topic first on a list of overarching goals for the United States public education system.
In the report the NEGP – a panel of senators, representatives, governors and professionals – outlined the significance of readiness for kindergarten and elementary school and stressed the importance of access to a high-quality Pre-K program to prepare for it.
PERHAPS UNSURPRISINGLY, EDUCATORS ARE JUST AS INVESTED IN CHILD READINESS AS YOU ARE:
Elizabeth Silverstein – Educational Consultant, Academics Plus
“Establishing strong learning skills and habits early in childhood is the key to building lasting academic success. I would recommend that parents put their child in preschool as soon as they are able. Research shows that birth to 5 years is the time when you can impact your child and their learning the most. Being in a structured learning environment from a young age exposes children not only to early academic skills, but also to skills for classroom behavior and social interaction.
“Academically, being involved in a structured activity will help children develop crucial skills for the classroom such as stamina for learning, attention, and self-regulation. These skills help children to become ‘teachable’ and ready to absorb whatever is presented in the classroom.”
Kindergarten and first-grade teachers agree – children who have attended preschool show a markedly better ability to adjust to the various social, academic and behavioral expectations of elementary school. In particular, children gain exposure to concepts like lining up, cooperating with others, and using items unique to classrooms such as group seating rugs and cubby storage systems. However, with Pre-K entry ages as low as three and with kindergarten entry ages hovering around five, how can you tell your child is ready for the very preschool program that is to prepare him for kindergarten?
Add Olympic Gold Medalist Allyson Felix to the chorus of world class American runners endorsed by Nike to come forward to complain about the company’s treatment of women who become mothers.
Felix, who welcomed daughter Camryn last winter published her own Op/Ed in The New York Times that was inspired by and comes on the heels of pieces published by fellow moms Alysia Montaño and Kara Goucher in that newspaper.
“They told stories we athletes know are true, but have been too scared to tell publicly,” Felix wrote of Montaño and Goucher in her op-ed published last week, on May 22. “If we have children, we risk pay cuts from our sponsors during pregnancy and afterward.”
“Thank you @alysiamontano@karagoucher for starting such an important conversation. ‘As. you can’t change anything with silence.’ This is my story. #dreammaternity , “ she captioned an Instagram photo of herself running in between photos of men running a similar race.
She shared her own post-birth experience in the newspaper.
After severe pre-eclampsia that put her baby’s life at risk caused her to have to have giving birth and having to undergo an emergency C-section at 32, she alleged that Nike pressured her to return to training as soon as possible.
Then, the company wanted to pay her 70 percent less than before.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BxGLOTfh5yy/
Felix pushed back, and essentially demanded that the athletic apparel brand change its policies.
“If that’s what they think I’m worth now, I accept that,” she admitted. “What I’m not willing to accept is the enduring status quo around maternity. I asked Nike to contractually guarantee that I wouldn’t be punished if I didn’t perform at my best in the months surrounding childbirth. I wanted to set a new standard. If I, one of Nike’s most widely marketed athletes, couldn’t secure these protections, who could?”
Nike didn’t accept her demands.
“My disappointment is not just with Nike, but with how the sports apparel industry at large treats female athletes,” she explained in the op-ed. “This isn’t just about pregnancy. We may stand behind the brands we endorse, but we also need to hold them accountable when they are marketing us to appeal to the next generation of athletes and consumers.”
Right before Montano and Goucher came forward, according to an article in The Wall Street Journal, Nike announced iot would change its maternity policy.
Sports Illustrated reported the changes will include protection in its contracts, while brands such as Brooks, Altra and Nuun pledged to also guarantee contractual support of female athletes through pregnancy moving forward.
Now to wait to see what those changes are.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BxxbG1ynQlH/
“I look forward to specifics, from Nike and the rest of the industry who has yet to commit to contractually protecting women,” Felix concluded.
Bravo!
Meanwhile, Nike athlete and star of its female empowerment campaign Serena Williams
“I understand that Nike has been really lately supporting women a lot, and it started with making a statement with me, and they said they want to make a change,” Williams said Monday after defeating Vitalia Diatchenko in the first round of the French Open. “They want to support women that want to have families and that want to be moms. I’m glad that statement was made, and I know that therefore and going forward, they’re doing better.”
“When DINOSAURS go to bed” is a beautiful and timelessly illustrated children’s bedtime story is about dinosaurs and how they get ready for bed. Composed of familiar bedtime scenes, this is the perfect book to read before your child goes to sleep. At the same time, you will teach your child the names of popular dinosaurs while having a few laughs!”
Another Bravo TVcelebrity from its Real Housewives franchise, Joanna Krupa, is expecting her first child.
The 40-year old Real Housewives of Miami alum and her husband since August last year Douglas Nunes, will welcome their first child later this year.
The couple married in Krupa’s native Poland, and she shared with fans that she froze her eggs to make it easier to conceive.
While on RHOM, Krupa married Romain Zago despite a very tumultuous relationship as shown on the show, but the couple split in 2016.
As she approached 40, she shared in an interview she sought a fertility specialist to freeze her eggs just in case, and to encourage friends, fans and followers who also may want to carry their own biological child one day.
“Thank goodness I froze my eggs. I would honestly be freaking out right now if I didn’t,” she said at the time. “You don’t want to wake up one day and be like, ‘My God, what was I thinking?’ I decided a few years ago to freeze them so I would be safe.”
Most people’s homes can become cluttered from time to time. Whether it’s last night’s takeaway box or the countless pet toys that make their way around your home, it’s easy for it to build up. There are several detrimental health effects that have been associated with the amount of clutter in your home.
Blindshut conducted a survey to find out how clutter is affecting Brits, how they deal with clutter and is it a major factor in their lives. Some of the results were shocking.
The results could easily translate to American homes as well!
Clutter
bombards our minds when it surrounds us. It causes our senses to work in
overdrive and when this begins to build, stress can begin interfering with your ability to lead a normal life. You
might begin to feel fatigued, irritable and find it hard to concentrate on the
smallest of things. Nearly 1 in 5 Brits told us that clutter is almost always
increasing their stress levels.
According to Cath Hiddle, an organizer and decluttering expert from Clear the Clutter, “clutter isn’t often recognized as a source of stress, but it can make a major impact on our health and well being:
As well as overtaking our physical space, clutter can overtake our minds as it causes our senses to work overtime to try to process what needs to be done.
Following on from this, it is then difficult to focus on tasks as clutter is distracting.
It can cause frustration when items can’t be located quickly or easily.
Clutter creates anxiety when people feel that they are unable to get on top of it or get to the bottom of the pile.”
Clutter can lead to you feeling overwhelmed. Over 82% of Brits’ mood is affected by clutter in some way. If clutter is allowed to pile up, it can often feel like it’s impossible to clear it on your own, so the problem becomes worse as the pile builds. A messy room sends signals to your brain to take action, but it’s up to you to act on those signals.
Coral Sapphire, an English Teacher from Newcastle upon Tyne with OCD experienced the effects of clutter on her mood, telling us “it creates a feeling of suffocation and I am unable to sleep in cluttered rooms. It heightens any underlying feelings of worry.”
Over 47% of the public have thought twice about inviting someone to their house because of the amount of clutter. This is often because clutter is seen as a negative or embarrassing thing, but it’s easy to end up with a cluttered home if you don’t keep on top of it.
Researchers at Yale School of Medicine found that people who are hesitant to throw out their junk show increased brain activity in two parts of the brain responsible for cravings, conflict and pain.
Ben Edwards, a self-confidence expert and relationship coach, tells us “Our environment reflects our state of mind, which impacts our relationships, work life and productivity. You can tell a lot about a person from their home; if they have a minimalist, clean house, this often means that they like to keep their thoughts organised too.
However, it could mean the opposite! This could mean they have a lot going on in their head, and this is a way of counterbalancing that. Meanwhile, people who may feel they haven’t got a lot going on in their lives might hoard as a distraction technique”.
According to a recent Pew Research poll, sharing the household task of clearing clutter and doing chores is the third most important factor in a successful marriage. Clutter can become a regular topic of disagreements with the people you live with.
In the survey Blindshut conducted, 66.5% of people admitted to arguing over clutter with a cohabitant, with over 10% of people arguing about clutter frequently.
The main benefits of decluttering are clear. Ben Edwards adds “There is also a correlation between clutter in the home and relationship difficulties, more specifically, arguments. It’s not surprising that statistically, most arguments occur in the kitchen, for this is where the majority of household mess accumulates. One person’s expectations of cleanliness may be vastly different to another’s and it is the discrepancies in these expectations that can give rise to arguments, so it’s important to establish a clear understanding of how the house will be kept tidy to maintain harmony!”
Household
chores are an essential part of keeping your home clutter-free. By completing them regularly, it will help you stay
on top of your clutter. Over a quarter of Brits says that washing the dishes
causes the most friction in their home. A recent study by esure insurance showed that British couples
spend around 40 minutes every day arguing about household chores. Arguing with
your partner causes your stress levels to skyrocket and your heartbeat increases considerably.
Friction caused over household chores and clutter can lead to you feeling down and affect your mental health. Coral Sapphire told us that “I would say that an improved mental state actually helps you to declutter. When I’m not feeling mentally well, although clutter makes me feel worse, I find it hard to let things go or have the motivation to get rid of things.”
One in 10 of the British public wait months before dealing with clutter. Depending on how long you let clutter build in your home, the health effects can become more substantial. A 2017 study found that a cluttered home can promote overeating or binge eating. It can also cause more accidents as the chances of tripping over clutter increases as it builds up.
One of the reasons that clutter builds is because it can be hard to let go of an object. Over 25% of people surveyed said that an item can be unused for years before throwing it away. This leads to a constant build-up of clutter in a quarter of British homes. Excessive clutter can adversely affect air quality and lead to a pest infestation, both of which have a detrimental impact on health.
As well as the exercise you get from cleaning your home regularly, a study at Indiana University recently found that cleaning your home lowers stress and fatigue levels as when you live in a messy home, you are subconsciously reminded of work that needs to be finished. Work surfaces that are regularly cleaned can help lessen the spread of germs, with the kitchen being the prime target because of the amount of food and liquid in the area.
Over 7% of Brits admitted to cleaning their home yearly. A clean home also helps to alleviate allergy and asthma symptoms.
A
cluttered home can also make it difficult to fall asleep, according to Cath
Hindle. “Interestingly, several studies have shown that seeing clutter sends a
signal to our brains that our work or tasks are unfinished which in turn makes
it difficult to relax or fall asleep. A cluttered space makes you feel
restless. People with a cluttered bedside table are likely to have a more interrupted sleep, go to sleep later and
wake up earlier.
Clutter’s impact on our senses makes it difficult for us to focus on important or difficult tasks and can invade both our physical and mental space, which stops us thinking creatively and productively.”’
In a
cluttered home, it can be hard to find the objects you’re looking for. This can
cause anxiety if you’re late for work or can’t find what you need for a certain
activity. Over 86% of survey participants told us that they struggle to find
objects around their home, with over a quarter of Brits occasionally finding
objects hard to find.
“Clutter
can impact your ability to focus on daily tasks and sap your creativity and
productivity levels. Think about the areas of your home that you use for work
or general admin and planning – perhaps a home office, kitchen table or a
corner of your living space – are these areas kept clean, tidy and well
organised?
Clutter in your home is also a hindrance to relaxation and can impact the quality of your sleep. This is particularly true for clutter and mess in the bedroom, so decluttering here will help you create a peaceful ’sanctuary space”, says Alexandra Lees, co-founder of Wu Wei Wisdom.
Your
wardrobe is perhaps the best example of the kind of life you lead when it comes
to clutter. Clothes tick all the boxes when it comes for reasons to keep hold
of them: they can be sentimental, you might be able to fit back into them in
the future, the item is barely worn and is seen as a waste of money, they suit
a certain event or occasion, you’re keeping the item “just in case” or an item
was a gift and you feel guilty about throwing it away. Nearly a quarter of
Brits told us that they have only worn a few (less than 25%) of the clothes in
their wardrobe in the past year. Recent research suggested that Britons keep
£10bn worth of unused clothes in their wardrobes.
If
you’re thinking about beginning to declutter, Cath Hiddle suggests “As with
most projects, it’s probably a good idea to start off small. Pick a drawer or
cupboard and start with that to ascertain how easy you find it to sort through
your belongings and decide what is important and whether you can sort and
organise them in a logical way that works for you.
One of the main reasons that Clear the Clutter’s clients get in touch is when they feel that a decluttering project is too big to be faced alone or there is a strong emotional attachment to objects and belongings that people feel controlled by. Having an independent opinion or somebody to support decision making often gives clients the legitimacy to let go of things that have been weighing them down or holding them back.
