I'll be honest.  It really irritates me when people talk relentlessly about how little Jimmy is the best at every single sport he plays or how two year old Jane is Ivy League material. I don't know why, but it just irks me.  There's nothing wrong with being proud of your kids, but there's a fine line between being proud and being boastful.

Sure, if you look at my Facebook status updates, you'll note that quite a few of my updates are kid related. Well, I've got a kid. She's the source of many writing topics. Who are we kidding? Parenting makes for plenty of blog fodder.  The good, the bad, and the not so pretty sides of parenting.

Of course, I think my four year old is funny, sweet, compassionate, and smart. However, you will never catch me saying, "Oh my gosh! [insert Little One's real name here] is the smartest kid in her school. She excels in every single activity she participates in. She's way more intelligent than even some adults!" Oh, no! I would never say that. 1) I have no idea if those are true and 2) That is just really annoying. Who on earth says things like that anyway?

The things I do talk about?

• How Little One saved me after I nearly severed my finger with my Cutco. I am deathly afraid of the sight of gushing blood (especially my own), and was weaving in and out of consciousness. Hubby was in the barn and my four year old shook me by the shoulders, slapped my face and said, "Mommy! MOMMY! Stay with me! Do you hear me?" (I did make sure to remind her that this situation was the only time she could shake her Mama or slap her Mama in the face. We never do that to people. Ever.)
• I talk about how Little One loves ballet and told through muffled tears that her ballet teacher was going to be very mad at us because we weren't taking her to ballet. Incidentally, we had a heavy snowfall and the road conditions were treacherous.
• I talk about how Little One is small but mighty. The kid is a little string bean, but eats like a grown-up man. I received a note in her school agenda today saying, "[insert Little One's real name here] must be growing. She ate all of her lunch during first break." This amazes me. For her lunch I had packed beef stew, sliced cucumber, sliced pear, 1 Mini Baby Bell cheese, 1 pack of Strawberry Pocky, and her Thermos filled with water. That to me seems like a sizable lunch for a tiny four year old! Wow. 

I guess I'm trying to say that of course parents talk about their kids. How can we not? There's a difference between talking about  your kids and bragging about them though. The latter is super annoying.

Since CEO and Founder of PTPA, Sharon Vinderine is part of @HLNTV's new show #RaisingAmerica with @KyraLHN, I've been watching the videos online and keeping up to date on Twitter and Facebook. It's so great that viewers can join in on the convo via social media.

The show is amazing because Kyra and her contributors talk about topics that parents are interested in. They're things that impact real families. The topics are so gripping. I just caught up on Webcam helps nap abusive nanny, having the talk about the birds and the bees (Julie Cole is in this segment and I adore her), parents judging parents and Sesame Street talking about divorce.

Here's the segment with @Dooce and @TheMoms on Bragging about kids:


#RaisingAmerica Contributors 
Heather Armstrong, @dooce
Charlie Capen, @HowToBeADad
Tom Matlack, @Tmatlack
 Lisa Hickey, @lisahickey
Krystel Spell, @Armywives101
Julie Cole, @juliecole
Jill Smokler, @ScaryMommy
Denise Albert  and Melissa Musen Gerstein, @themoms
Sharon Vinderine, @PTPASharon
Lamar and Ronnie Tyler, @blackandmarried
Lindsay Ferrier, @SuburbanTurmoil
Liz Gumbinner, @CoolMomPicks

Weekdays on HLN at noon.