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    Blog Posts by Charlene Prince Birkeland, Shine staff

    • Talkin' Teen: I'm all, and she's all...

      By Charlene Prince Birkeland, Shine staff | Parenting – Mon, Feb 25, 2008 11:08 PM EST

      Blogger Mocha Momma is the new dean of a high school and while she says she's looking for "newest Jedi Mind trick to play" on her students, I think she's just found the best one: talking like a teenager.

      In "Glass, Concrete & Stones" she writes about a recent exchange she had with two girls at her school about while she was on hall duty:

      Hey, Mrs. Mocha! I need a dolla!"

      "You ain't my child! I don't need to feed you! Plus, I seen you with them Fritos this morning so don't act like you hungry."

      I'm sure her students thought this was cool and I'm kind of jealous. I know that if I tried to talk teen to my nieces, I'd get the big, ol' eye roll.

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    • Press Play: Little dude has Britney Spears moves

      By Charlene Prince Birkeland, Shine staff | Parenting – Mon, Feb 25, 2008 9:02 PM EST

      Remember the banter about young girls playing copycat to former pop princess Britney Spears? Her first hit, "Baby One More Time," appears to be quite popular for little girls to sing in front of a video camera...sometimes with their entire pre-kindergarten class (I'm still a little confused on how a teacher could think that was an appropriate song for a performance by bunch of four- and five-year olds. Then again, my two-year-old son loves a song called, "Who Killed Rock n' Roll."

      But check out this little dude who set up a video camera in his room, does a little sing and dance number to "Baby, One More Time," and gets caught in the act by his mama. Pay close attention to his facial expressions and my favorite move, when he smacks his rump sing, "Hit me, baby, one more time!" Definitely one to include in your next trip to the dance floor.

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    • 40,000 Kindergarteners Home Alone Afterschool

      By Charlene Prince Birkeland, Shine staff | Parenting – Mon, Feb 25, 2008 8:57 PM EST

      According to mother's advocacy group, MomsRising, more than 40,000 kindergarteners are left home alone afterschool because of inadequate and unavailable childcare options when class lets out. I heard that figure the first time I watched the documentary based on their book, The Motherhood Manifesto, and I was stunned, sad and upset. Forty thousand young children, ranging in age from 4.5 years to 6-years-old, home alone for several hours after school.

      Here's a funky twist. We know though there's not enough publicly-funded childcare to get these kids in supervised settings. But the White House is proposing to cut federal afterschool funds by $300 million while creating a federal afterschool program that is voucher-based. The result, says MomsRising, is the closing of even more afterschool programs.

      What I love about MomsRising is that they make it really easy for you to share your voice on issues that matter to moms. If you want to let it be known that you believe this proposed

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