Stealing From Children (Again)

I'm pretty regular with stealing from my kids.  Usually its limited to Halloween and Easter candy, but never "original content".  As I've struggled with time to write here, I had the good fortune of Henry coming home with a story he wrote at school about his Thanksgiving.  It got even easier when he decided to type it on the computer so he could print multiple copies for his family, especially his cousin Alison who's coming to visit.
So here's a look at our Thanksgiving, courtesy of Henry Z. Monroe.

On thanksgiving I went to my friends house. We played dojjball and every budy thot that I shud stay goaley. We won mostley. Then I had a fruit cobob. And then I played football my team had to inersepshins. And then some other friends came over. And we played on the playgrond. Then wen it got dark we played tag. And we ate. After diner we cep playing tag. Then we chect if the desert was redy. But it was not redy. So we cep playing. Then we had to put the chikins oway. And then we ate desert                                             BY  HENRY MONROE

The next writing Monroe

Full Circle at the Symphony

Like any great couple, Laura and I disagree all the time.  And even when we agree, we tend to disagree.

Take music for example.  I like a very wide range of nefarious and brilliant and crazy musicians and bands, while Laura has her own tastes and flavors and rarely, if ever do those roads intersect. 

But early in our relationship, we learned that we both love classical music.
She has a much deeper education of music as she took various musical theory classes and sang and played throughout her life.  I took two or three music appreciation classes as I liked the music and I thought it would be an easy grade.  It wasn't, but I still loved the classes and almost like my other genres of music, tend to fall back on the same guys I've been listening to for 30 years: Mozart, more Mozart, Beethoven, Chopin and a few others, but really a lot of Mozart.
In any event, after a few years of living here, Laura was asked to join the board of our local symphony which is a wonderful amalgamation of professional musicians, university students and university faculty.
Coming from New York, we were very skeptical at first of the quality of the product having witnessed the horror of travelling Broadway shows and musicals performed at local theaters and were beyond thrilled that our homegrown symphony was just as good as anything we saw in New York.
And since they only perform 5 times a year, getting season tickets was a no brainer.  Its five built in date nights, prices are very reasonable and its 10 minutes from home.  Just perfect. So we were thrilled to go and really happy Laura could contribute to the organization while serving on the board.

But like everything else in life, it became woven into the fabric of our past year dealing with cancer and in ways we couldn't imagine.
The night after Laura's diagnosis was a symphony night and we debated going as we were worried about telling our friends that now go and sit with us at each performance.  We said to hell with it, we went, told our friends over chicken tikka masala and after the ensuing awkwardness had an amazing experience at the symphony.  The music was thrilling and liberating and of upmost importance, hopeful.  The evening, while clouded in doom, was filled with hope.

As the treatments began, that little bit of magic found that night at the symphony joined us at the infusion center.  It turns out that the Maestra (feminine of Maestro) plays harp for cancer patients at the hospital while they receive their chemotherapy.  And in a delicious twist, no one had any idea she was the leader of the symphony and had studied under Leonard Bernstein. She was just "the nice woman who played the harp".
As soothing as it was for Laura, it was borderline life saving for me.  During Laura's last few treatments, they switched medicines and gave her benadryl to help deal with possible reactions.  This usually put her to sleep and I would watch her sleep.  Then in would come Kate and she would play to my sleeping beauty and we would talk.  Sometimes about music, sometimes about Laura, and sometimes just about life.

We went to the symphony later that spring as Laura mustered up the energy and sported a ravishing purple wig.  It was during the dark times, but we both needed that musical escape and I was so proud to have her on my arm.
The summer came and went as the symphony doesn't perform then.  This fall's first performance found Laura too debilitated from radiation to attend, but I went anyway.  It was one of those moments where I didn't want the disease to win and Laura encouraged me to attend without her.  Plus, I'd be joining friends and it was a great way to get away for two hours.

After intermission, they performed Swan Lake and there was such passion and energy in the performance, everyone sitting around me were borderline stunned at the performance.  The wonderful elderly woman who sits to my left claimed it was one of the best she's seen and she's been attending the symphony for literally decades.
As I left, I ran into the director of the symphony society and she gave me a big hug and told me that she had a quiet moment with the Maestra before the performance and they said the nights concert was dedicated to Laura. Her husband had died from cancer and the moment was equally poignant and moving and overwhelming.

Finally, we come to this past November 17th.

With a full heart, a full head of hair and no drugs in her body, Laura returned to the symphony.  We sat with friends, hugs all around and eagerly awaited Beethoven's 7th.  I don't know his symphonies by number (nor any composers for that matter), but I usually recognize the music or at least one of the movements from a few composers.  Most likely from a movie, but it makes the music no less magnanimous.
Every now and then if you are a music lover, you will be at a live performance and without knowing it, the band or singer or ensemble will play exactly what you want to hear even before you knew you wanted to hear it.  And its magic.
This was one of those nights and I had no idea that it was the 2nd movement of Beethoven's 7th Symphony that is one of my all time favorites and one you will all recognize.  Its sublime and has strong undercurrents of foreboding and great pathos, yet is beautiful in its simplicity.
As we left the hall on an incredibly cathartic high, we ran into the director who nearly tackled Laura with a tear welling up, who then took us down to see the Maestra.  Hugs and kisses and congratulations abound.  At that point I was spellbound and can't remember everything that was said, but that feeling, that's one I'd like to bottle up and save for a very rainy day.

Guest Post - How to know you're getting the best deal when holiday shopping

How to know you're getting the best deal when holiday shopping

Its That Time of Year

The holidays may be merry and bright, but shopping for gifts can cast a pall over the season. Fortunately, stores offer tons of sales and promotions since they know the shopping public will be out in force. Still, shopping tends to be a great deal more fun when you know you’re getting a good deal. Keep a few tips in mind to ensure that you don’t overspend.

Black Friday Isn’t the Only Time to Get Sales

The day after Thanksgiving has become the official first shopping day of the holiday season. Every year, millions of shoppers flood the stores, sometimes early in the morning, in an attempt to cash in on great bargains.

Joining the Black Friday rush can be a frustrating experience. Don’t despair if you can’t make yourself go shopping on this day. The reality is that stores offer deals throughout the season, not just on Black Friday.

Use Common Sense When Shopping Online

In recent years, doing holiday shopping online has become an increasingly popular method. This is a great way to shop around at a number of retailers without having to drive from store to store or wear out your feet. If possible, stick to online retailers with which you are familiar. Online stores that you know and trust will provide you with good customer service and reliable products. Beware of websites you haven’t shopped with or even heard of before. Some of them may be offering deals that sound too good to be true. Look for security and privacy seals on the website to test their reliability. Also, check out their rating at BizRate.com to benefit from the experience of other shoppers. That once-in-a-lifetime offer may just be a scam. Shopping with retailers you trust lets you spend your money wisely.


Start Early

You don’t have to wait until after Thanksgiving to start your holiday shopping. Great deals are available throughout the year. Even if you do choose to wait until December, don’t put it off until the last minute. Shoppers who procrastinate often get stuck with fewer choices and frequently end up paying a great deal more than they would have if they had given themselves time to shop around. Start early so that you have plenty of time to compare the offerings of several retailers.

Look for Deals Online Everyday

Right around Thanksgiving, many major retailers start running sales on their websites. They may offer a percentage off an entire purchase, free shipping or discounts on certain items. Well-known websites like Amazon and Target in particular are known for having smashing deals that change by the day. If you know what you’re looking for and which web retailers carry the item, it will take only a moment or two each day to see if that item has special pricing that day.

Use Coupons

Whether they are online or in the newspapers, coupons can give you a significant discount on just about anything. Get the Sunday paper every week. In it, you’ll discover a veritable treasure trove of savings just waiting for a pair of scissors. Online searches for coupons can also render valuable savings on the most wanted gifts. Some are redeemed electronically when you make a purchase online. Others you can print and take to the store. Before you buy anything, search for a coupon to get great savings.

Don’t Forget About Price Matching

Everyone has had the enormously frustrating experience of buying an item only to see it advertised at a lower price at a different store the next day. Before you buy, check out the retailer’s price match policy. Many retailers will now match the prices of their competitors in an effort to remain competitive. Usually, all you’ll need is your receipt and an advertisement from the competing store. Take these items to the customer service counter, and the store will refund the difference to you.

Consider Value

A cheap item may be inexpensive, but if the quality is poor it’s not a good investment of your money. Look for a good balance between quality and price to get the most out of your hard-earned dollar.

Author Bio

Kathleen Martins is a blogger for Torchbrowser.com the best internet browser and online youtube video downloader,offering many benefits you do not want to be missing out on!

Daddy's Cancer Shorts - Prologue

(Writer's note - I'm halfway through a book about the past year and am publishing some excerpts here.  Some of my readers confused my last excerpt for 'real time', when in fact it was from the spring.  As of this writing, we are through with treatment, Wifey is back to Superwoman and all that's left is reconstructive surgery in the spring.  Obviously, we have a lot to be thankful for here.  Please enjoy the prologue to the book Daddy's Cancer Shorts.)

Prologue:

“So who are we seeing today?”

“Someone or something called a rad-con?”

“Wait, what?”

“At this point, I have no idea, I think its radiology, but I can’t be sure”. 

And with this Laura and I enter yet another lovely, brand new office at Martha Jefferson Hospital.  They really are lovely.  The hospital is brand new and everything is painted in calming earth tones – beige's and hunter greens.  Perhaps to match the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains, whatever the reason it is a million more times calming than the usual sterile white hospital you remember from your youth, or perhaps from a recent visit to a sick friend or loved one.  And when you are 6 days into a cancer diagnosis, you will take all the calm you can get.

“Hi, I’m D. S. and I’ll be your radiation oncologist for your treatment, should you choose this to go this route”.

“Oh, so you’re the zapper with the ray gun?” Ever the comic book comedian trying to lighten the mood I proclaim. 

“Yes, that’s me.  So I see you’ve seen Dr. Jones, that’s good. Lets look what else we have here.  Ok, you’ve had multiple MRI’s, CT scans, a bone scan, batteries of blood tests, but you don’t have an oncologist yet, did you know that?”

“Honestly, we were diagnosed less than a week ago and it’s been full bore ever since, please tell us who the oncologist is and we’ll make an appointment.  I assume he’s the chemo guy right?”

“Yes, but don’t worry, Chemotherapy isn’t nearly as bad as you think (famous last words).  We have come a long way and there are so many new great anti-nausea meds out there, it’s not nearly as bad as you think.  In fact, my father was an oncologist and he’d have patients that hadn’t seen him in 10 years notice him in the supermarket or at the movies and throw up right on the spot just from the association.  That never happens anymore.”

HOLY SHIT (get used to this phrase, it will come up a lot)

“Well, we weren’t even sure about chemo, we are still just in a whirlwind of meeting doctors and taking tests, we haven’t exactly decided on our course of treatment yet.  But since you brought it up, what is your opinion?”

Poor Laura.  She’s just sitting there scared out of her mind hearing this woman and I decide her fate over the next year.  Usually, when she’s nervous, my wife is very chatty as a basic defense mechanism, but at this point, she’s just numb from all the visits, tests and benzodiazepams she’s taking due to all of the meetings and tests. 

“Well, you have a few options, first you can –

“I’m sorry to interrupt you doctor, but we’ve heard a lot of options.  My understanding is at this point we should be staged, she has breast cancer in one breast, but not the other, but there are also traces of the cancer in her lymph nodes and based purely on the data, there should be a ‘best option’ for us.  Or the way I see it is, if this was you, your mother or daughter, what would you  recommend?”

“You are right.  Your wife is a stage 2 patient, meaning the cancer has shown the proclivity to spread.  If it were me, I would have a few weeks of chemotherapy (readers – remember that word few), followed by a mastectomy and then radiation treatment. “

“Ok, now we have a plan”. 

At this point, Laura sort of snaps out of it and quietly asks, “Who has the kids?”

“Lisa”.

“Lisa who?”

Shit, are they at Lisa K.'s or Lisa G.’s.  Its 3:30 p.m, do you know where your kids are?

-------------------------------------------

“Daddy, what are cancer shorts?”

“It’s the name of my book.”

“What do shorts have to do with a book? Can shorts give you cancer?”

“No silly.  Instead of a long book, I’m going to have to write a series of short stories, thus ‘shorts’”.

“Well, why can’t you write a long book?”

“You should know the answer to that.  I’m too busy, making you breakfast and lunch, cleaning the house, going to the dr. with mommy, coaching you in soccer, trying not to go insane, making dinner and then if I’m lucky, getting some sleep. So as you can see, my time is limited.”

“Well what is the book about? Is it about mommy?”

“Yes and no.  You know how daddy says to choose your words wisely? Well, this book is about the power of words.  Especially the word Power itself.  The power of love, the power of fear, the power of the unknown, the power of the known, the power of kindness and the power of expectations not met.  The power of joy and of sorrow.  Loss and renewal. And other powerful words like: malignant, spreading, aggressive treatment.  This book is about fighting and trying your hardest, but also knowing when to rest up to fight another day. Make any sense to you?”

“Sort of, not really."

"Let me put it this way.  You know how people keep giving mommy books about dealing with her tumor?"

"Yes."

"Well, nobody has given daddy a book about how to deal with a wife who has a tumor, so I'm writing this for all the other mommy and daddies who have to take care of someone with a tumor. Does that make sense?"

"Yes, that makes more sense.  Can we have dessert now?”

“You betcha.”

Guest Post - Why Wait For Christmas Must Do Surprises For Your Sweetheart

The holidays are fast approaching and you've been racking your brain trying to think of ideas to surprise your honey. You don't have to wait until Christmas day to surprise her, though! Here are some great ideas to surprise your sweetheart this holiday season:

Ice Skating

It doesn't matter if you live in New York or Arizona, most cities have some sort of ice rink available; either an ice skating rink or an artificial one, which is equally fun. If she's a little clumsy you can snuggle up close to her and hold her hand while she gets the hang of things. 

Romantic Bouquet of Red Roses

Red roses show her that you care and love her. So why not shower her with love this holiday with a nice bouquet of Christmas flowers from FTD.com. The bright colors and wonderful aroma will have your lovebug feeling happy, appreciated and in the holiday spirit.

Look at Christmas Lights

One of the easiest things to do in December is to go hunting for Christmas lights. There are always those neighborhoods that go all out; prepare for the holiday season all year, allowing strangers to take a tour of their magical light display even inside their homes! You can keep your sweetie warm while walking down the street, looking at lights. You can make it a romantic night by wrapping her up in a blanket and bringing some hot cocoa.

Christmas Movie Marathon

Watch both old and new movies to make an unforgettable movie date. "A Christmas Story," "The Holiday," "Miracle on 34th Street," "It's a Wonderful Life," "Elf" and "Rudolf, the Red- Nosed Reindeer" are all perfect contenders. Have plenty of snacks available: hot cocoa, popcorn, candy canes, and chocolate.

Only 6 weeks away....

Breakfast in Bed

Many couples like to take a few weeks during the holidays and take a vacation somewhere to a bed and breakfast. But why not surprise her with the luxuries of a bed and breakfast from the comforts of her own home? Decorate the house with fine holiday decor and pamper her with her every desire. If she wants a spa day, give her a nice back massage with warm lotion and a nice pedicure. In the morning, serve her breakfast in bed, complete with a small gift. It will be something she will remember forever.

Bake Some Tasty Cupcakes

If you need help finding some amazing Christmas cookies or cupcakes, have no fear. There are plenty of online sites like Pinterest and AllRecipes.com to show you the way. A woman loves a man who knows his way around the kitchen, so take charge and show her your baking skills. Baking the cookies is almost as fun as eating them, and it will allow the both of you to share a romantic story. I recommend making a pumpkin cupcake with cream cheese frosting, which are easy to decorate with frosting, sprinkles and candy! Turn those cookies into Santa, bells, reindeer or snowmen.

Daddy's Cancer Shorts - Excerpt - Who Wants To Shave Mommy's Head

In preparation for losing her hair, Laura cut her hair short as a way of easing into it.  Snappy and fun, it was the only time I'd ever seen her with short hair, other than those slightly embarrasing high school pictures.

I think Lynette and Allison came over the weekend, which day I'm not sure, but what I'm sure of is that Laura had a full head of hair when they got here and none when she left. 

When Laura lost her hair, it wasn't a gradual thing.  On Monday that week, I found her bawling in the shower with clumps of hair in her hand.

It was absolutely heart wrenching.  Her she was with her body starting to literally come apart at the seems and there is NOTHING I can do to help.

Denial is a wonderful tool when used properly.   And over the course of the next 8 months (yes at this point our treatment plan had gone from 6 months to 8 months - not necessarily more treatments, just scheduling time in between and such) I used this tool effectively.

However, when your wife is standing in the shower naked, bawling and holding clumps of her hair, there is nothing denial can do to help you then.  She may as well been holding a huge flashing sign that says "I have Cancer and there's nothing we can do to stop it".  In fact its the chemotherapy that causes the hair loss, but no cancer, no chemo.

After calming down and getting out of the shower, she cleaned up and got ready for work.

Trying to sound optimistic, I noted, "From here you can't tell any difference."   After receiving a rather unpleasant look, I realized I should probably just not comment at all.

The day was a pleasant one and somehow life seemed manageable.  Lynette and Alison played with the kids and cooked cookies and I managed the house and tried to get my mind off of things and continue to look for a therapist.

At this point, Lynette was my de facto therapist, but I needed one that didn't live in Chicago and wasn't a relative.

Laura came home from work, tired, but happy to have the house full of family.  She comes from a large family and wishes she could see them more, but they are scattered and never visit. Usually we see them over the summer on vacation, but its nice to catch up with family without the hassle of travel. 

Tuesday morning was Monday morning all over, but on a much bigger scale.  Laura again was bawling and now there was hair everywhere.  Having learned my lesson from yesterday, I try to stay quiet, but she bursts out, "You need to get the plunger or something, the hair is clogging up the bath tub drain."

I keep my head down and go get this little plastic toothed snake device that our contractor gave us and is perfect for removing hair from drains. 

Boy was there a lot of hair.  Had it not been so gut wrenchingly sad, it would have been incredibly gross.  Just clump after clump coming out of the drain.

Fortunately the kids were at school during these morning sessions, so they didn't have to see mommy so upset. 

But who knows, maybe thats why she was able to get so upset. I'm sure she's been incredibly scared and worried, but has to keep her happy mommy face on in front of the kids.   And since she works and I'm home with them, from the minute she gets home from work, the kids want nothing to do with daddy, its mommy, mommy, and more mommy.

And during these morning sessions, Lynette is wise enough just to stay in her room and read and Alison, ever the college student, sleeps through everything and doesn't stir till 9:30 or 10, long after the morning storm has blown through and gone to work.

Tuesday night, we decided to take the kids out for frozen yogurt.  And by frozen yogurt, they may as well be serving crack. 

There is a new chain in town that has a wall of frozen yogurts to choose from and they are all "pro-biotic! gluten free! source of calcium!"  and all these other motivational healthy signs give you a million reasons to try their tasty yogurt. 

Then on the other side of the store is the toppings counter.  They have every type of topping you can think of: oreos, heath bars, gummy worms, sprinkles, cookie dough, m and m's, reeces, chocolate covered pretzels, marshmallow topping, hot fudge, caramel, butterscotch, hot caramel (in case room temperature caramel wasn't enough), etc.... Hello, if you put top a zero calorie dessert with 879,453 grams of sugar, its not good for you. 

It's like people who go straight from church to the craps table.  Well I went to church, so I'm good to go gamble my weeks pay check.  Well, since I'm eating yogurt and not ice cream, I can put an enitre grocery store's worth of toppings on it and still feel great.

Author's admission, I love the place. A) I have a massive sweet tooth.  B) I think its an incredibly effective marketing gimmick, so I give them props on how they've packaged their crack.

But this night, I was not enjoying the sugar high of my kids and fellow patrons. 

Initially, I was happy to see Laura buy a little mango sorbet and watch her eat it. As she was unable to eat anywhere near the way she used to, it was nice for her to enjoy desert out with the kids and her sister in-law and niece.

But she was eating her mango sorbet with a scarf on her head.  And I just got caught in a wave of emotion from seeing her wispy hair under the scarf and the phrase "Your wife has cancer, your wife has cancer, your wife has cancer, YOUR WIFE HAS CANCER" would not stop ringing in my ears and I had to leave.

I said I needed from fresh air and I just went outside, walked up and down the sidewalk of the strip mall and just prayed I could fight back the tears and not ruin the moment for anyone else.

***************************

"Who wants to shave mommy's head?"

Wednesday morning, same as the two previous, but with a hair less drama (pardon the pun).  At this point, we discuss that she should just shave it off.

"Its gone. I'm not fooling anyone.  I'm wearing a scarf at work, people are starting to freak out when they see me. I need to just shave it off and make it official."

"Do you want to go to a salon and do it?"

"No, we can just use the clippers at home.  Maybe the kids will want to be involved."

"It might be scary for them."

"Yeah, but it might be fun."

"Do you want me to shave my head too?"

"You, with your head? No, you'd look like an idiot. No I don't want our whole world to be about cancer."

"But it is right now."

"No its not, it is our world, we just happend to have cancer in it right now and then it will be gone."

There's my steely wife peeping out from behind the clouds.  And then I realize its been 5 days since her infusion and she's starting to feel a little better.  So lets ride this new found wave while we can.

Finally, the big night was here.  My wife was going bald. 

She has a good head for it.  And she's a beautiful woman, but bald at 43, didn't see that in the cards.  Yes, I know its temporary, but bald is bald.  And while its not a huge deal, its something she has to live with every day.  Running into people on the street who still don't know, playing with the kids in the neighborhood who may be scared, so its actually quite a big step. 

After school and after homework and after dinner, she pops the question: "Who wants to shave Mommy's head?"

"I do I do I do".  Of course Turner does.  Henry, looks nervous, but excited.  Its the face you make as you start clanging up the hill on a roller coaster.  I know this will be fun and exciting, but its pretty scary right now face.

"Hey, does anyone else want to shave their head to be like Mommy? Henry, do you want to shave your head?"

"No." Short and sweet.

"Turner?"

"I want a mohawk!"

"A mohawk, huh?"

"Yep," he said confidently and assuredly.

"I think we can handle that, but we may have to get someone to help us with that project.  Maybe Ms. Stern can do it since Adam has a mohawk."

"Tonight?"

"I'll call her tonight, but we probably won't get to it till later in the week or the weekend."

Neither Lynette nor I wanted to be the one to start shaving Laura, but Alison had no qualms shaving her aunt's head.  Its funny, after all the injuries and surgeries and other random acts of bodily damage, I'm pretty immune to a lot, but I still refuse to pull a loose tooth and I sure as heck wasn't going to shave my wife's head unless she made me.

But not Alison.  With the 'who cares' attitude only possessed by teenagers and college students, she had her shaved clean in about five minutes. 

Et Voila, my wife was beautiful again. Bald was strong.  Bald was beautiful.  Bald said I'm not hiding from you with my scarf.  Bald held an almost sacred dignity that the cancer and chemotherapy couldn't touch. 

She was free and liberated and I was overjoyed to see my wife in this whole new shiny head light. 

The whispy hair, not so subtly hidden by expensive scarves still said 'I'm sick, I'm trying to hide from cancer'.  But not bald. 

Bald is bold.

Bald is good.

Bald is very, very good.

And now we had a lucky Buddha in the house who we could rub for good luck.

Now I felt like celebrating.  For a change, the anticipation was actually worse than the real thing.

With an air of refreshment and the promise of a mohawk, we all laughed and took pictures and took turn rubbing and kissing mommies head. 

Wednesday was a good day. 

Guest Post: Securities that will reassure you your children are doing their homework when online

Securities that will reassure you your children are doing their homework when online

Your kids tell you they're working on their homework during their hours spent online each night. But how do you know all that time is really invested in school work and not spent idly chatting with friends in insecure chat rooms with potentially dangerous predators?

A recent article appearing in The New York Times questions whether parents keeping tight controls over their children's online activities is an acceptable practice or overkill. Today, there are a variety of programs and applications that aid parents in keeping tabs on their kids' activities, especially when those activities could be dangerous to themselves or others.

The need for continuous monitoring of kids' activities is compounded by the number of devices the average family uses to access the Internet. Smartphones, tablet PCs, desktops and laptops are all a window to the universe that is the World Wide Web. When it comes to making sure your kids are really doing their homework and not using it as an excuse to participate in questionable online activities, you have a few options.

iTunes Stopwatch app offers real-time constraints

iTunes offers a Homework Stopwatch HD app that allows you to set a time limit on reading or homework, giving kids an appropriate timeframe to be online while also setting real-world limits to prepare them for test taking or professional constraints. This app is only available for the iPad, and there are some downsides, primarily that it doesn't offer any monitoring capabilities beyond being a fancy stopwatch.

Homework tool or Pandora's Box?

The myHomework app helps both kids and parents keep track of assignments

myHomework is an app, also available for iPads and iPhones, which enables students to keep track of classes and assignments. Synching this app to myHomeworkApp.com will allow parents to also monitor assignment progress, noting any overdue and upcoming assignments to help you keep your kids on-task.

iStudiez Pro helps parents monitor children's needs

Yet another iPhone/iPad application, iStudiez Pro allows both parents and educators to help children keep track of their upcoming assignments and also provides insight into current grade-point average and whether children may need additional help for upcoming tests and assignments.

There are dozens of apps similar to these that allow parents to keep tabs on their children's homework assignments, test scores and overall grades. When it comes to tracking specific online activities during scheduled study times, there are also applications that will notify parents via email or another alert method when their kids have visited an inappropriate Website.

Screen Retriever

Screen Retriever is one such application that enables live monitoring on a parent's screen while kids are supposed to be completing homework. If you don't choose to monitor their activities live, another option is to quickly scan through hours of the time spent online in a matter of minutes, picking up on cues that indicate your kids have gone off task. Parents can choose to check in as little or as often as they like, so children are more likely to stay on task knowing that mom or dad could be checking in on them at any time.

In addition to having security measures in place, such as parental controls, the best way to monitor your children's homework progress is to stay actively involved. Ask what assignments your kids have coming up, what tests they should be studying for and ask for evidence of their progress. Your kids may give you grief for being nosy, but it's precisely these activities that show you care and keep children from wandering into unchartered and possibly dangerous online territory.

Author Bio

Fergal Glynn is the Director of Product Marketing at Veracode, an award-winning application security company specializing in the prevention of sql injection attacks and other security breaches with effective risk assessment tools and web application security testing from Veracode.