How to Start a Mother-Daughter Book Club

by Christine Duval
Have you ever thought about starting a Mother/Daughter book club? Mother/Daughter book clubs are a great way to get your daughter and her friends to begin thinking more critically about what they are reading. They are also just plain fun and a terrific excuse to get together with friends to discuss a shared topic.

Here are some tips for making your Mother/Daughter book club successful. First, you should come up with some ground rules for how you want the club to run. For instance, how will you choose the book (by vote, picking a title out of a hat, or by choosing the featured girlmogul.com book pick). How often will your club meet and where? Some book clubs rotate from house to house, others meet at the library, and still others opt to meet at a local book store. Second, you should make sure that the club is not run by the moms. Let the girls have a say in what food is going to be served, what questions are going to be asked and encourage them to participate in each discussion.

Once you’ve found committed members and have your club rules, get creative. Sure it’s easy to sit around a table talking about what each person liked or didn’t like about a book. But, there are other ways to make the experience more enjoyable. You could serve food that is in keeping with the theme of the book. If the book was made into a movie you could all watch the movie together and then discuss the differences of the two. Another idea is to play a game. Stick the names of characters from the book onto the backs of members as they come in without them being able to see who they are supposed to be. Then encourage everyone to give clues to each other while mingling (you may want to cover up any mirrors for this). The first person who figures out which character they are wins.

There are lots of ways to make a Mother/Daughter book club fun and chances are your daughters will come up with some very clever ideas. And, if you are unable to get enough people to join because of scheduling conflicts or lack of interest, don’t be afraid to form a Mother/Daughter book club between you and your daughter. After all, sharing a book is a great way to stay connected.

Check out the new Wizarding World of Harry Potter

We posted about this for the tweens at GirlMogul.com, but we though moms would like a sneak peak at the new Harry Potter World too.

The magical transformation continues. Although still very much a work in progress, the magnificence of Hogwarts castle is beginning to take shape above Hogsmeade as work continues on The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Hogwarts will be the home of a thrilling, new, state-of-the-art attraction – Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey – that uses ground-breaking technology to bring the magic, characters and stories of Harry Potter to life in ways never before experienced. Set to open in Spring 2010 only at Universal Orlando Resort, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter will feature multiple themed attractions, shops and a restaurant.

Is Your Tween Spending Too Much Time Online? Conduct Your Own Study

By Christine Duval

A recent poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation study shows the average kid between the ages of 8 and 18 spends 7.5 hours a day online. Struck by the numbers, I decided to conduct my own “study” to see just how much time my tween daughter spends in front of a screen — – be it a computer, Ipod or TV on a typical weekend day.

It’s no secret that kids love their Wii, Nintendo DS, virtual communities and games like Club Penguin and Wizard 101 — and my kids are no exception. Before conducting my own personal study, I would have estimated that they probably spent about three to four hours on interactive media on the weekend. Boy was I wrong. Granted this was a weekend when the weather wasn’t great and we didn’t have tons of errands to run. But, I think the results are noteworthy and going forward I know I am going to put limits on screen time. Here’s how my 9-year-old’s rainy Sunday went:

8:30 am – 10am: Woke up, came downstairs and turned on the TV. Watched The Suite Life of Zach and Cody On Demand followed by Tru Jackson On Demand, followed by iCarly On Demand while eating French toast sticks.

10am – 12pm: With television still on, pulls the laptop out and begins emailing friends, checking her Kidzui account, culminating in a game of Wizard 101 for an hour.

12 – 1pm: Finally (with much coaxing from Mom) leaves the couch, gets out of PJ’s, makes bed.

1pm -1:30pm: Pokes around the house, has lunch.

1:30 – 3:00pm: Plays with little brother.

3:00 – 5:00pm: Turns television on again and grabs laptop. Interactively plays Club Penguin with her brother who is on the other computer while also watching Disney Channel.

5:00pm – 6:00pm: Plays Wii Fitness (at least now she’s off the couch).

6:00pm – 6:30pm: Has dinner with family.

6:30pm – 8:00pm: Watches iCarly and Tru Jackson.

8:00pm – 8:45pm: Goes up to bed, changes and reads a book.

In the 12 ½ hours my daughter was awake, she was online in one form or another for 8 hours! That’s six hours longer than what is recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics and five hours more than I feel good about. Next weekend I’m pulling out the kitchen timer and setting some limits!

Calling all (future) children’s writer’s

The KidLit Blog, which is a blog written by real-life agent for childrens’ books is sponsoring a writing contest – you can check it out all the details at KidLit.com but basically you can submit up to 500 words of your manuscript. The best entries get the opportunity for a full critique from a real-live Literary Agent – good luck!

Should Tweens Spend Time Away From the Family?

If you have an older tween, you’re probably noticing that she wants little or nothing to do with you. She’d rather stick pins in her eyes than hang out with you – this despite the fact that she complains she’s bored. She won’t help with chores, cooking, or go on errands. Even with nothing to do she’d rather hang around the house and complain. Or find excuses to while away time with her friends.

Naturally you’ve probably concluded that it’s best to let her go her own way. But that’s not always the best strategy -tweens, even the older ones who are primed for an friend-facing focus, still want and need to spend time with their families – their parents especially. But for the most part, they’d never admit it – it would be terribly uncool to do that.

So how can you combat that – start to like their activities. Yup. It may be time to figure out how to skateboard. Ok, maybe not, but perhaps you want to start watching the x-games and figuring out who her heroes are. She may not have much interest in long heart to heart to chats, but try a common movie or game night, complete with tween friendly snacks (think sugar and salt) and you can have a whole evening of stress free interaction.

See if you can get your tween involved your favorite hobby or if possible, have them help out at work – this works if you’re have your own. What happens if there is no common interests – time to develop one – and you may have to the bigger person and take up a hobby just for the sake of tween bonding.

Good luck – and let us know what activities work best for you to have some together time with your tween.