Blog Posts by Charlene Prince Birkeland, Team Mom

I'm sorry, did you just say I'm too young for so much grey hair?Parents are careful about what they say to their kids. They even pay attention to questions they might pose to their childfree friends. But sometimes, when comfort levels are high around mom friends -- or people forget to think before they speak -- folks can get careless with their comments. A simple remark by a well-meaning friend to a new mom could hurt her self-confidence. Or a casual comment to a mom with a "spirited child" may do more harm than you'd imagine.

Related: What stay-at-home moms want you to know

Team Mom asked the experts about the impact that eight comments could have on a mom. Here's what they had to say:

"You're so dressed up!"
Your mom friend is wearing casual clothes or a little makeup instead of the yoga gear and ponytail you may normally see her sporting. Psychologist and mom of two, Elizabeth Lombardo, Ph.D., tells Team Mom on Shine that the mom could interpret your statement as: "You always look like a slob. Nice of you to finally put some makeup on. What is

Can we really have gender-neutral sports?Imagine if a girl were the only female on a co-ed basketball team and nobody tried to force her to stop playing, or even cared. What if a teenage boy tried out for an all-female cheerleading squad and it went unnoticed? Could gender truly be removed from the equation? It's unlikely. In the U.S., a girl being kicked off a baseball team because of her gender -- or a boy being allowed on a girls' swim team despite his gender -- makes national headlines. And in Sweden, attempts to create a more gender-equal -- or even gender-neutral -- country are causing a stir.

Related: What does your family sacrifice so your kids can play sports?

In an effort to support gender neutrality, Sweden recently added a gender-neutral pronoun, "hen," to the country's National Encyclopedia. Slate reports that several preschools in Sweden have stopped making references to the gender of their students. Instead of calling children "boys and girls," teachers are referring to students as "buddies." One school even

From chugging large volumes of water to stuffing their faces with full-sized marshmallows, tweens and teens are playing risky games with dangerous consequences. Parents are fighting back, but the first step is awareness. Do you know what so-called games are popular with kids?

Running shoes for kidsMy youngest son is part of a track club and I'm convinced it will forever be the most inexpensive team experience we'll encounter in his athletic life.

The only required gear? Good running shoes.

There is no uniform for this particular team, only a club t-shirt that the coach provides after participants attend the second practice. The kids can wear whatever they want and their outfits usually consist of shorts or athletic pants, t-shirts and baseball caps to block the sun. If it's raining, they might wear jackets but usually opt for a fun soak as the water pours down.

But for now, every six months we spend about US$50 on a pair of New Balance Kids running shoes. (We opt for this brand because they sell wide shoes with good arch support and slip-on options without Velcro straps.) If our kid didn't have wide feet, we could probably snag a pair of running shoes for under fifty bucks.

This particular expense is paltry compared to what we could be spending if he were playing youth

Stay out of the Easter egg hunt, Mom and Dad.When your kids scramble to find brightly-colored, candy-filled plastic eggs this weekend at local Easter egg hunts, do them a big favor: stay out of it.


Associated Press reports that an annual Easter egg hunt in Colorado Springs, Colo. was cancelled because of "aggressive parents who swarmed into the tiny park last year, determined that their kids get an egg." Parents had crossed over a rope that was set up to allow only kids into the grassy area. Within seconds, the eggs were gone, kids were cranky and the hunt was over. (Although we're pretty sure that the cranky part happens at every Easter egg hunt.)



Ron Alsop, author of "The Trophy Kids Grow Up," told Associated Press that the parents jumping the rope at the egg hunt was "the perfect metaphor for millennial children. They (parents) can't stay out of their children's lives. They don't give their children enough chances to learn from hard knocks, mistakes."



Team Mom tip: If you're an over-competitive parent, you just might want to stay

Mom for the Win!In my pre-kid days, multitasking consisted of listening to a conference call at my desk while I pounded out a story or responded to emails. When I became a mom, it didn't take long to realize that multitasking with a newborn and later, a newborn and a toddler, would take my skills to an entirely new level.

The ability to juggle many hats wasn't the only thing that developed; I also became a master at changing diapers and later on, getting grass stains out of white baseball pants. And my patience, compassion and ability to love without bounds grew in ways I'd never imagined.

We learn so much when we become moms, with enough physical and emotional categories to create our own Mom Olympics. I'd include: Diaper Changing, Diaper Changing on the Road, Bag Packing, School Lunch Making, Finding Lost Items, Quieting a Tantrum, Snuggling, Story Telling, Saying No without using the word "No," and The Mom Look (e.g., the look that gets the kids to stop what their doing, no words required).

The 2012 Summer Olympics in London are set to begin in July. Along with the opening ceremony, we plan on watching several competitions. The sports of choice? Volleyball, track, swimming and basketball are family favorites, but we'll also keep an keen eye on fencing and table tennis because these two sports fascinate my kids.

Besides being pure fun, kids can learn so many life lessons from watching the Summer Olympics:

• Teamwork and Sportsmanship. Watching a team sport is an awesome way to show kids how players work together -- and work hard -- for a common goal. As for individual sports, it's also an opportunity to talk about how solo sports are cool, too. Individual athletes are supporting their entire country's team and cheer each other on. Don't forget how solo athletes work with their own team to even get to the Olympics. You can also show your kids good (and bad) examples of how players treat other teammates and competitors. Lessons are always more memorable when you can see

A sheep who likes to gloat about his soccer skills causes trouble for the team.As kids begin to dip their feet in the waters of youth sports, parents can utilize children's books to teach sports -- and life -- lessons that kids use every day. Young children can easily understand the situations put forth, especially when those stories are paired with beautiful illustrations. And older kids may identify with the more complicated social and emotional struggles of book characters.

Whether you're looking to make nighttime reading more fun or to just add sports-related books to your child's library, check out these Team Mom favorite. Added bonus? Well-known athletes author several of them.

For preschoolers through third grade:

Shawn Sheep the Soccer Star by Erin Mirabella.
Shawn the sheep has serious soccer skills. The problem is that Shawn knows it...and he likes to talk about it. A lot. So Shawn has to learn a big lesson about being a team player and sportsmanship. This cute story is paired with adorable illustrations. The author, Erin Mirabella, is a world