Rick Riordan Speaks With Tweens in D.C. About His Newest Book, "The Red Pyramid"

We wrote about Rick Riordan's book talk and signing in Washington here. The author graciously signed more than 1400 books for more than four hours last night at Politics and Prose and answered tweens' questions about his characters, the Percy Jackson movie, and more.

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Mother-Daughter Tween Journaling: A How-To

We had the opportunity to meet mother-daughter author team Meredith and Sophie Jacobs, authors of "Just Between Us: A No-Stress, No-Rules Journal For Girls and Their Moms" at their book signing last night. Check out our coverage here. Their new book is a great how-to for journaling in a unique way.

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Tween Celebs at the White House Correspondents' Dinner

Check out our coverage of all the tween celebrities (including Justin Bieber, Demi Lovato and all three Jonas Brothers) who were in Washington, D.C. this weekend for the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner - every word of it is on our Examiner DC Tweens column.

You can also follow our minute-by-minute coverage via our Twitter feed using the #WHCD hashtag.

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Today Was National Lemonade Stand Day! Did You Support a Kid Biz?

We just learned about a cool movement to promote entrepreneurship in tweens called  Lemonade Day. The idea is to promote business skills and financial learning among kids through the classic summertime activity: hosting a lemonade stand.

Our tweens were thrilled with an excuse to break out the juicer before Memorial Day, and the weather in D.C. was definitely summer-like - I think it hit 80+ degrees today. We decided to do the lemonade stand, but this time, the kids took charge: they had to figure out how much to charge, how much to make, the amount of groceries to buy, make the posters - everything - by themselves (mom had to supervise only).

So, they got out their pencils and calculators and figured out their initial investment for lemons, sugar, and paper cups. From there, they determined their price and made their store "signage"/marketing materials:

Then they got down to squeezing and mixing (Note: a key ingredient missing from posted lemonade recipes: elbow grease):

THEN, finally, they got to set up their lemonade stand:

Phew! That was a lot of hard work!
But they had a great time and learned A LOT: they learned about the cost of goods sold (packaging - i.e. cups - counts as a real cost), inventory management (when they ran out of cups midway and had to make a run to the corner market), customer service (good service yields tips), pricing (bundling brownies with lemonade results in more of both items sold), etc.

They're still figuring out how much was profit (due to an error in counting the starting change), but they did make a profit - no small feat in this lingering recession. Donald Trump, watch out - our tweens got a taste of business and want to franchise!
(Now if you'll excuse me, mom has to go remove the gazillion lemon seeds spackled to the kitchen counter.)

Did your family host a lemonade stand this weekend? Please share your stories - we'd love to hear how your tweens enjoyed the process!

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Tweens and Make-up: a Rising Trend?

The New York Times today ran an article about tweens wearing more make-up "Graduating From LipSmackers?"  It profiled a few mothers discussing their views on make-up and how they've changed over the years - in the past, middle school was considered far too young for eye make-up and lip gloss was only emerging. Fast forward to today, and there are major cosmetic companies targeting tween girls. Neutrogena and Dylan's Candy Bar were cited as examples (Neutrogena recently launched its Teen line of acne clearing make-up), but if you walk into any of Beauty 360 CVS concept stores (an off-shoot of the drugstore giant focused exclusively on upscale make-up and skincare lines) or Sephora, you'll see younger-oriented packaging and labeling of many lines.

While hardly as insidious as Joe Camel, it does make one wonder if girls are in fact being explicitly groomed at younger ages by cosmetic companies in order to gain lifetime loyal customers. Girls have been raiding their mother's vanity drawers for ages, and it's nothing new for girls to aspire to look pretty, but is it inappropriate for companies to tailor make-up lines to girls? Is it adding fuel to the image fire, or is it a good thing for girls to have alternatives to the overly made-up images of adult cosmetic labels? Could a company create a line of make-up for tweens that focused on fun, inner beauty and teaching that didn't run a afoul of the very legitimate charge of making girls grow up too fast? Alyssa Pometta, the 11-year old tween profiled in the the NYTimes article seems to say yes: when "asked if there was a particular celebrity or fashion icon she tried to emulate when putting on makeup, [she] said: 'I don’t take a picture of a celebrity and try to make myself look like them. I try to make myself look like me.'"

And that's a great thing.

So, readers, where do you come out on this topic of make-up and tweens? At what age is it okay to migrate from Lip Smackers to want lip gloss and beyond? Is eye make-up ever okay before the age of 16? What about spa days - do those encourage a premature use of product, or are they good hygiene?

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New Study Finds Strong Link Between R-Rated Movies, Underage Drinking and Tweens

I guess this is a bit self-serving, but here's further reinforcement for me for my "strict mom schtick": a new study from Dartmouth finds that middle schoolers whose parents forbid them from watching R-rated movies are far less likely to start drinking early - and the study took in account other parenting decisions. According to the study, "the movie effect is the over-and-above-effect" over parenting style when it comes to middle-schoolers who tried drinking versus the "barely 3% who tried a drink". Notably, it appears to be the repeated exposure to R-rated movies that causes these outcomes, not the once-time viewing.

Phew! It's nice to have some positive backing for our unpopular (at times, but not always - secretly, we think our tweens like having us as an "out") parenting stance (or, as my tweens put it, "zero-tolerance on R"). And it's tough - a lot of the movies that our tween daughters' friends regularly discuss during lunch or afterschool are R-rated (Kick-Ass stars tween superheros, The Runaways features Twilight star Kristen Stewart and child actress Dakota Fanning, and the new Twilight movie Eclipse could very well be R-rated too - and this is just a sampling based on what's out this week).

What amazes me is that even in the same all-girls school that our tweens attend, parenting views on what is permissable for tweens to watch vary SO WIDELY. Certainly, every family has its own values, but when I see an R-rating, that means that the movie theatre requires the parent to accompany the minor into the theatre - so it means that parents are walking their middle school age daughter into see The Runaways because she's a Kristen Stewart fan. Are tweens really ready to digest/process the very mature themes of addiction and sexual exploration even if this film provides an accurate and riveting portrayal of the glam rock movement in the 70's? In other words, aside from how valuable/worthy a story the film tells, some content is still inappropriate even for middle-schoolers.

Lest I come across as a prudish tyrant, despite our stated "zero tolerance" policy, I'd like to think that should a certain film REALLY be worth viewing before later their teen years (and I'm going to pull a Justice Stewart: "I'll-know-it-when-I-see-it here), we'd at least consider it allowing it (full disclosure: in our case, we permit the girls to see Bend It Like Beckham when we wield the Mute button and in some VERY heavily edited instances, Glee).

With sleepovers and group outings to the mall rampant during the middle school years, I'm not so naive as to believe that I have total control over what my girls view/hear/witness. Far from it. But, as their independence grows, I'd like to think that I'm recording that little voice in their heads letting them know that somethings may not yet be appropriate for them - and that that little voice gives them pause to consider their choices with a bit more analysis than pure peer pressure.

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London Department Store Hammered For Hyping Bra to Young Girls

The over-sexualization of young girls and tweens sadly continues: London department store Primark has been selling padded bikini bra tops for girls as young as 5 years old (original story here). Under intense pressure from advocacy groups, the store pulled this item off the shelves, issued an apology, and stated that all profits from its sale would be donated to a children's charity.


We applaud Primark for its swift response to this issue but are saddened that it made it past buyers, merchandisers and store management alike in the first place. Aren't young girls under enough pressure already? Does it really have to start at age 5?!?

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Get Tweens Involved With World Water Week in D.C.

In coordination with Earth Day (April 22)  and the release of the new Disney Oceans movie, families and tweens in D.C. can learn more about Earth's most precious natural resource, water, at a free screening and bottle-swap on Monday, April 19th at Busboys and Poets. The cafe will be showing the new documentary Tapped about downside of drinking bottled water, and everyone who brings a bottle of water can swap it for a free Klean Kanteen water bottle. What a great way to learn about this crucial issue, support the environment, and help your tween to get involved!

Bottle-swap is at 5pm; screening is at 6 pm at Busboys and Poets at 2021 14th Street NW (between U and V Streets, NW).

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Happy Birthday Beverly Cleary!

You can celebrate this iconic author's birthday at the special Ramona event at Hooray For Books, an independent bookstore located in Old Towne Alexandria. Tweens can make Beverly Cleary themed crafts and test their Ramona facts. Prizes include free Ramona and Beezus backpacks (and we can't wait for the Ramona and Beezus movie starring Selena Gomez in July).

April 14th from 4-5pm at Hooray For Books, 1555 King Street, Alexandria, V

What: Bookworms (ages 7 and up) can make crafts and test their knowledge of beloved author Beverly (“Ramona”) Cleary’s tales in celebration of her birthday.
Why: Twenty lucky kids will score free Ramona and Beezus backpacks during the event.
When: Wed., 4-5 p.m.

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National Licorice Day!

Yum! It's National Licorice Day! We love licorice scottie dogs, Good-and-Plentys, colorful fruit licorice from I.M. Good, and Red Vines.

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