{Video} Were you a “Tiger Mom?”

It’s the year of the “Tiger Mom.”

In January, author Amy Chua released her Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother to both roaring criticism and acclaim. In the book, Amy contrasts the traditional, strict “Chinese” approach of parenting with what she calls the “Western” style of child rearing. She includes vivid anecdotes of the extreme disciplinary tactics she used raising her own children including calling her daughters names, like “lazy” or” garbage,” and even threatening to burn their stuffed animals if they performed below expectations. Some have called her parenting tactics alarming and even abusive. Others have praised her, such as Charles Murray of the American Enterprise Institute, who said that “large numbers of talented children everywhere would profit from Chua’s approach, and instead are frittering away their gifts.”

Whatever you believe, there’s no question the “tiger mom” phenom struck a chord. Here, FOF video bloggers The Boomer Broads ask their own kids, “Was I tiger mom? Should I have been?”

Tell us, were you a “Tiger Mom”?

{Quiz} Can you guess the celeb friends from the foes?

[QUIZZIN 12]


Images: Babble, Shockya, StyleFrizz, Famous People Info, Washingtonian, Fused Film, WBR.com, 50 Cent Base, Babble, BET

Sources:
Fox News, MSNBC, MSN.com, CBS News, Jet Magazine, Woman’s Day, New York Daily News, The Sun, Marie Claire, The Daily Mail, New York Magazine

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{Weekly Roundup}

Are you all caught up on your weekly blog reading? No? You better step on it….

Blue and brown…a perfect partnership?

Way better than wine charms

How to dress like an over 40 red carpet star

Investment dressing

New anti-aging cosmetic line introduced…for 8 year olds.

Fur fashion…and an FOF who pulls it off

What do you do after a day in the snow? or how to stay chic in the rain.

Return of the perm?

Wear-anywhere activewear

“You don’t have to be perfect.”

Life is the Occasion campaign uses FOF models.

Visit the world’s greatest museums…from your desk.

How an FOF foodie celebrates her birthday

Love makes the world go round!

Until Monday…

P.S. This little gadget can save your life!

Image by Katherine McPherson for FabOverFifty

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{FOF Shop} Have you created something fabulous?

Calling all FOF inventors, artists and designers…

FOF is looking for fab new products for our FOF Shop. Have you’ve created something that other FOFs would love? Send an e-mail to sara@faboverfifty describing your product or line of products by February 27, 2011. Tell us why you think it would be perfect for women over 50. Please also include your short bio (required), a photo of the product (required) and any other information about what makes it fab.

We’ll review your product and get back to you within one month, if we think it’s right for the FOF Shop.



{Quiz} Which of these WASN’T invented by an FOF?

Eureka! FOFs got it…

We know FOFs are brilliant, but often overlooked are the FOF inventors who changed the way we live. Five of these six genius inventions were created by women over fifty. Can you guess which one WASN’T the brainchild of an FOF?

[QUIZZIN 11] {Learn the fascinating stories behind these FOF inventions}

In 1934, at the age of 63, Elizabeth Kingsley published the first double-crostic puzzle (a pre-cursor to the crossword puzzle) for the Saturday Review. She went on to write puzzles for the New York Times from 1943 to 1952.

In 1979, at the age of 64, Rose Totino was granted a patent for the first freezable pizza dough. Inspired by the enormous success of the pizza shop she owned with her husband, Rose formulated the recipe for frozen pizzas that customers could heat and eat at home. She worked with Pilsbury to perfect the crust and later became Pilsbury’s first female corporate vice president. Over 300 million Totino’s pizzas are sold each year.

In 1985, AZT was patented as a treatment for HIV. Gertrude B. Elion, 77 years old at the time, worked on the drug. Gertrude was a 1988 recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. “I had no specific bent toward science until my grandfather died of cancer,” said Gertrude. “I decided nobody should suffer that much.”

In 1985, a patent was granted to 68-year-old Marion Donovan for DentaLoop, a two-ply dental floss that didn’t have to be wrapped around one’s finger . She thought of the idea while watching her husband struggle with floss each morning. Marion, a prolific inventor, was granted nearly 25 patents over the course of her life, all for household products. She is best known for the waterproof diaper. In a 1975 interview with Barbara Walters, she said she often asked herself, “What do I think will help a lot of people and most certainly will help me?”

In 1975, a patent for the first life-like prosthetic breast was issued to a woman named Ruth Handler. Ruth was best-known for her invention of the Barbie Doll in the late 1950s and for becoming the CEO of Mattel. She was in her early 40s when the Barbie Doll debuted, but her diagnosis of breast cancer in her 50s prompted her to develop her second great innovation. After her mastectomy, Ruth was frustrated with the options for prosthetic breasts. “The people in this business are men who don’t have to wear these,” said Ruth. She developed, Nearly Me, the first realistic version of a woman’s breast made from foam and silicon. First Lady Betty Ford wore one, and Nearly Me was sold to Kimberly-Clark in 1991.

Source: FuturistSpeaker.com, smithosian.org, Encylopedia Britannica, Minnesota Inventors Hall of Fame, about.com, gsk.com, women-inventors.comAnswers.com

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{Quiz} The Sex Lives of FOFs–Test Your Knowledge!

This past November, we asked FOFs to bare all about their sex lives. Over 200 responded to questions about everything from the last time they had sex to the first time they had an orgasm.

How well do you know the sex lives of our fellow FOFs? Take our quiz and find out.
Then tell us: Were you surprised by the results?


[QUIZZIN 10]

Image via Flickr

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{Weekly Roundup}

Pretty is as pretty does. FOF pretties, did you read this week’s best posts from around the web?

“How do you feel about aging?”

Cluttered bag; cluttered mind

The Old Red Hen

Color yourself fabulous!

The classic white shirt

Oldies but goodies: Copper and Tin

“It is a reading kind of weekend”

Love or hate Helen Mirren’s new ‘do?

Chocolate crinkle cookies

Not Betty Crocker’s aprons

Sugar who? Sugarboo

One of the joys of old age: “You don’t have to worry about how you look in a bikini” – Iris Apfel

Until Monday, FOFs.

P.S. Show us your true colors.

Image via Millie Motts

{Weekly Roundup}

We’ve reached the end of the trail this week…It’s Friday! Read some great posts we discovered along the way:

Vacation packing made easy

FOFs on “how to dress more creatively

Jane Lynch says thinks turning 50 is “cool.”

Are these young grays stealing your thunder?

House of Lavande dinner party

The importance of a good night’s sleep

R.I.P. Jack LaLanne

Statement rings pack a punch

DIY Grace Kelly Hermes Bag

5 FOF Must-Haves

These FOFs love their gloves

Until Monday…

P.S. Are you an FOF Premium Member? If not, get on that this weekend!

Image via French Blue

{Senior Moments} A Google image search of “retirement.”

When we googled “retirement,” these images popped up. We couldn’t resist adding our own captions.



Images via Life Insurance Retirement, Ellis Advisory Group, Retire Early Lifestyle, L.R.C. Insurance, and John Hanlin

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{Exercise} What exercise body type do you have?


Those group exercise classes? “Forget them,” says FOF Linda Taylor, President and CEO of Taylor Wellness Arts. “They can be a waste or even harmful for most FOFs because they are not custom to our individual body types and needs.”

In response to the exercise-related injuries Linda witnessed (and experienced herself when one ended her ballet career) she created the Taylor Method, a fitness plan based on 4 unique body classifications: Military, Flat Back, Sway Back and Kyphosis-Lordosis.

Do you know what type of body you have? Find out below.

A few weeks ago, FOF Founder Geri met with Linda Taylor at her studio. Linda classified Geri as a Kyphosis-Lordosis which means she has shorter ligaments, a rounded upper back causing her head to sit forward and an arched lower back. Geri’s posture problems stem from her Kyphosis-Lordosis body type. She has turned-in knees and the puts all her weight onto her big toe joints and her quads.

Until you know your specific body type, Linda believes you can’t exercise, stretch, walk or even sit properly. Once classifying Geri as a Kyphosis-Lordosis, Linda was able to help her begin to “unlearn” some of her bad movement patterns and habits and reteach her how to sit, stand, walk and eventually exercise properly.

“For years, people thought if you were born with a certain structure that was the way you were going to die. If you had a curve in your back, you’d always have a curve in your back. To the contrary, what we have  found is movement makes structure. You can move into a bad pattern but you can also move into a good pattern.”

The first step to breaking bad movement patterns and exercising properly is knowing your body type and correcting your posture, according to Linda.

Watch a video below to discover your own body type and start correcting your posture.