Why You Gotta Be So Mean?: Kids and Aggression

From rough housing to name calling and everything in between, children showcase a spectrum of aggression. While it may be for fun, it can be downright vicious in certain circumstances. Babies start showing these behaviors around 8-12 months of age to express their frustrations; but it starts to diminish when they learn appropriate means to express and acquire their wants/needs. However, school-aged children can take it to another level.

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Child(ish) Reads: Article Review

Welcome to October!

We usually reserve this month for #spookyszn content. But our October calendars are looking a bitโ€ฆscary. So Child(ish) Advice will be keeping it light for this week, before heading into a much needed two-week break.

Todayโ€™s post is an article review, something we really havenโ€™t done since our first year blogging. This article came out in March, but it fit our Gen A theme/Halloween transition so perfectly. Check it out!

Kids Media Is In Its Villain Era by Katy Hershberger, Romper.com.

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Coffee Chat: Making Mom Friends

โ€œIโ€™m sorry, but you need to make mom friends.โ€

Yes, that blunt statement came right out of my MIL’s mouth following the birth of my son. As abrupt as it was, I understood what she meant. At the time, my husband and I were one of the first in our friend group to have a child.

While friendships are generally an important aspect to our overall well-being (they are one of the most important things in fighting PPD), mom friends are truly unique. Friends with children similar in age to yours are easy to relate to. They can exchange suggestions without criticism or judgment, and support one another while navigating parenthood. As more of my friends became parents, the hardships and blessings also became much more relatable. We would have playdates, hang out, talk about the new ways of living, and do it all again another time.

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Our Escape Room Playdate Review

When we first came up with doing playdate reviews, we hated that we couldnโ€™t find an escape room. For every spot in our area, the minimum age was maybe 10. Fast forward a year or two, and I get a flyer for Escapology at my girlsโ€™ field hockey practice. A new space was opening up literally 10 minutes from us. I couldโ€™ve kissed the mom (who happened to be the owner) who said that they didnโ€™t quite have a minimum age.

โ€œHow could this be?โ€, you say. KIDS MODE!

Escapology is an immersive, and always private, escape game where players are gathered inside a themed room and must complete their mission before time runs out. Stepping inside a real-life adventure, they must find hidden clues, crack codes, and solve puzzles to make an escapeโ€”all in an hour.

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Our Muddy Kids Review

Technically, this isnโ€™t a play date. I was so excited that I found a mud race that our kids could participate in. Unfortunately, it fell right on Maryโ€™s 10th wedding anniversary. Thatโ€™s fine, Iโ€™ll be a family activity review. Then the morning of the race, Z was sick with a fever. So the family outing became a Mom and Aeris day.

Muddy Kids is open to families and kids aged 5-17, so we were right at the minimum line. They also have a version called the Muddy Princess that is women only. Kids must have a parent to register, and a parent must race as well if their runner is under 16 years old.

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