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| Parenting via an online connection Posted: 05 Apr 2010 09:01 AM PDT When Rachael Olbeter's son, Alex, was diagnosed with a genetic disorder, she wasn't satisfied with the information the doctors gave her. "I started Googling like crazy. It scared me to death," says Olbeter, 29, of Greensburg. She sought out numerous Web sites for medical information and contact with other moms whose children had neurofibromatosis -- a genetic disorder that causes tumor growths. " I was so needing to find someone to talk to." For many parents, the online world has become a main source of information about parenting. Moms often seek information about everything from child health, safety and behavioral issues to product information through parenting Web sites -- informative sites, blogs, and social networking sites, including pages on Facebook. Moms also seek to meet other moms online for support, help and friendship. Heather Prentice, 33, of Richland, seeks information about homeschooling through the Internet, and about behavioral issues. She also connects with many other moms online. Her Mothers of Preschoolers (MOPS) group, held at Dorseyville Alliance Church in Indiana Township, is listed in an online parenting directory. Prentice says her favorite Web sites include parenting.com and raisingolives.com, and that using the Internet has been helpful for her. "I think it's given me a lot more information easily," Prentice says. Her children are Hope, 5, Erica, 4, Addison, 3, and Katelyn, 3 months. "It keeps you much more up to date and current." When in doubt about a Web site's credibility, though, Prentice checks with the pediatrician. Olbeter -- mother of Alex, 3, and Hannah, 5 months -- panicked when she read online that the "Elephant Man," with his disfigurement, had a rare case of neurofibromatosis. But she realized that she shouldn't overreact. "I think that the thing you have to be really careful about ... is what's credible and what's not." In many ways, virtual parenting has helped parents become better informed about their kids and better connected to others, experts and parents say. Yet the Internet has a downside: much of the information found may not be credible, particularly about health issues, says Dr. Sonika Bhatnagar. She is a pediatrician in the division of general academic pediatrics at Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC, with her office in Oakland. "The Internet is a fundamental part of the daily life of many adults at this point, so it can really serve as a great source of information," Bhatnagar says. "It's important to keep in mind that it can also have a lot of misinformation. It's important to say to parents that while it can be a great resource, they need to take a critical review ... and also need to discuss it with the pediatrician." Even a source that is thought to be credible may have some misinformation, based on a child's specific case and situation, she says. That is why it is important for parents to check any health and safety facts learned online with their children's pediatricians, Bhatnagar says. Cara Rolinson, 33, of Coraopolis, loves networking with other moms online, and learning about her hobbies like crafts, cooking and decorating. The stay-at-home mom enjoys the fellowship, even if the friendships don't go offline; however, Rolinson -- who uses Facebook, Twitter, and Web sites such as thenest.com -- says she has met many of her virtual friends and has had play dates. "Being a stay-at-home mom, there's a lot of isolation that comes with it, especially in the winter," Rolinson says. Her children are Maxwell, 3, and Andrew, 2. "Having that connection at your dining room table laptop -- that has kind of helped me at least to have an adult conversation, even though I'm still hanging out with my kids, reading to them and taking care of them. It's my connection to the outside world." Rita Ditch, of New Castle, Lawrence County, started seeking out parenting Web sites when she was pregnant with her first child -- Edward, now 5. She was seeking information about topics including cloth diapers and organic foods. Then, after he was born, Ditch sought out more help and information from Web sites, as well as online friendships with other moms, most of whom are local. Ditch says her Internet use is helping her raise Edward and her other two kids, John, 3, and Patrick, 7 months. The feedback from other moms is helpful, she says. "Edward was having breastfeeding problems, so I ... was looking for a lot of help from people online to help fix our problems," says Ditch. 32. Dr. Sonika Bhatnagar, an Oakland pediatrician, recommends the following Web sites as credible sources of information about children's health. But, always check with your pediatrician. • www.healthychildren.org (run by the American Academy of Pediatrics, www.aap.org) • www.chp.edu (Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh) • www.cdc.gov/family (The U.S. government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) The Internet is full of parenting Web sites and blogs. One site, www.parentingwebsites.org, is a directory of sites. Another list is available at www.responsiblekids.net/parenting.htm. Thousands of other Web sites and directories will come up with an Internet search.
Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
| Irem Shrine Circus: Getting ready to roar Posted: 04 Apr 2010 10:13 PM PDT Irem Shrine Circus: Getting ready to roarThe Irem Shrine Circus opens its annual run today, offering three rings of fun and excitement all week long.
By Steve Mocarsky smocarsky@timesleader.com WILKES-BARRE – While many families spent Sunday morning having egg hunts and Easter brunches, folks gathered inside the 109th Field Artillery Armory began the day by hanging nets, preparing a cannon and assembling the wheel of death. 
A crew sets up the framework for the Circle of Death on Sunday at the 109th Field Artillery Armory. The Irem Shrine Circus begins today and shows continue through Saturday. DON CAREY/THE TIMES LEADER 
Circus workers on Sunday prepare the big gun for the human cannonball's performances this week at the 109th Field Artillery Armory in Wilkes-Barre. The annual Irem Shrine Circus begins today and shows continue through Saturday. IF YOU GOWhat: The Irem Shrine Circus Where: 109th Field Artillery Armory, Market Street, Wilkes-Barre When: Show times are 7:15 p.m. today through Saturday; 1:30 p.m. today, Tuesday and Saturday; 10 a.m. Wednesday through Friday; and 9:30 a.m. Saturday. Price: $6 general admission; reserved seating $10, $11, $14 and $18. Call 714-0783 for reservations, to volunteer or more information. Roustabouts and performers were busy readying the rings – all three of them – for the 61st annual Irem Shrine Circus, which begins today and continues through Saturday. "We always start it on Easter Monday because the schools are off and we get a lot of kids come in." But on Wednesday through Friday, many schools from throughout the Wyoming Valley have circus trips for students," said Noel Conrad, the Shriners' circus chairman. Conrad, 67, of Edwardsville, has been a Shriner for more than 20 years and has participated in the circus project in most of them, the last three as chairman. "It's all for the kids, that's what it's all about," he said, noting that all proceeds are distributed to the Shriners' various units to fund community projects, most of which benefit children. And while there was work to be done setting up for today's first show, children were milling about the armory's back parking lot waiting for their parents to finish cooking Easter dinners in the campers and recreational vehicles parked there or wind up their work inside the armory. "We go to (Kirby Park) when it's nice weather. If it's rainy and nasty, we come in and do the egg hunt in here. We try to give the kids a normal holiday," said Jim Hamid Jr., the man the Shriners hire each year to secure the circus acts and coordinate the show. Despite the old stories about people who "run off to join the circus," Hamid, 40, of Atlantic City, said much of the circus crowd is made up of families who pass on acts from generation to generation. And they travel year-round with their spouses and children. The wife of the ringmaster is a retired teacher and administers homeschooling courses to performers' children in makeshift classrooms at each circus site, Hamid said. "Occasionally, you'll get somebody who wants to go and they'll pack their bags and jump in a truck and go to work. But they don't last too long, maybe like five weeks, if that. It's a lot of hard work and it's a lot of traveling. You really don't get a day off. Your days off, you're driving to the next town. We're home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, that's about it," Hamid said. Shane Hansen, 36, of Sarasota, Fla., is the show manager and will be performing a juggling act. Often, he and his wife, Alecia, 32, perform aerial acts, but Alecia just gave birth about three weeks ago to Ella, the couple's third daughter. There's also Madison, 4, and Olivia, 6, who were looking forward to the egg hunt on Sunday. Hansen said he's been in the circus all his life. "My family was in show business and I was brought up in it. It's not boring, let's put it that way. It keeps you on your toes. You travel a lot. And I have my wife and my kids with me on the road. … It's very unique. We get to travel all over the world, see a lot of different things. And a couple months a year, we go back to our home in Florida," he said. Hansen said he got to know Alecia growing up as a child because her family, who had a trapeze act, lived four miles away. He estimated that about 85 percent of circus performers marry other circus performers when they eventually tie the knot. "It's very rare that a show guy or a show girl will get together with somebody from a town because show people don't want to stay home and people that stay home don't want to go on the road," he said. Dog trainer Neecha Braun, 33, originally from Laval, France, and now living in Nokomis, Fla., said she and her family are enjoying their first trip to the area, noting that she loved the architecture and view from the Market Street Bridge. Braun said audiences should expect her act "to be different than anything they've ever seen." She'll be performing with four Dobermans, a miniature pinscher and a long-haired Chihuahua. She chose Dobermans "just to be different, really, just to do something new. Poodles are so typically seen in the business and I wanted to do something totally unique, and (Dobermans) are a lot of fun to work with. They're just real energetic, happy-to-please-you kind of dogs." Animal lovers will also get a thrill from a dozen tigers and an African lion, which trainer Juergen Nerger said is the largest number of circus cats in an act in the United States. Three baby tigers, age 6 to 10 months and lounging in a half-shaded cage behind the armory on Sunday, will not be performing, Nerger said, because they are still getting used to the circus atmosphere. "So when they start training, they're more relaxed. They're not scared. When they go inside the arena, it's fun. They know it's playtime inside," said Nerger, 53, a native of Berlin, Germany, who has been working in the United States with his wife, Judit, for about eight years after training animals in Germany for about 30 years. Hansen said the circus is "packing a lot of good acts into a pretty small building here. It's very rare that you'll see a show that has a cannon act, tigers, elephants, a big flying trapeze act, another big aerial act over on the side." "There's a big variety of things, something for everybody, young and old. A lot of people like animals, a lot of people like people flying through the air, so you get it all here," he said. Steve Mocarsky, a Times leader staff writer, may be reached at 970-7311. Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction. |
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