Friday Fun: Technology

I confess that it makes me feel a little bit old when I see all the cool gadgets and electronics that our kids have now that simply did not exist when I was Anna's age. I could barely operate my mini-arcade version of Frogger, much less anything more complicated.

Circa 1983...and still kicking!

Anna, however, is a tech whiz. The other night she decided to take some pictures of the bed and of me and whatever else she saw, using my iPhone.  Some of them actually looked like they captured what was intended!

Planes, Buses and Automobiles

As you read this (thankfully written in advance) post, I'll probably be struggling to come out of a travel-induced coma of epic proportions.  Yes, brilliant as I am, I decided it would be a good idea to travel - by myself - with Anna to visit my family after the holidays.

The only crazier decision would have been to do this before the holidays, when airport crowds were even worse.

Photo from vincegolangco.com

At press time, I'm just getting ready to set off on this journey.  Anna's day care is closed, so I am off for the week with her and decided to take advantage of the opportunity to visit my parents for a few days. We haven't been since last year.

But last year, there were two big differences:  Heidi was with us, and Anna wasn't 3.

The Power of the Pen: A Follow-Up on Maggie

Yesterday, I wrote about how awesome it is that parent bloggers are starting to have the kind of voices that may influence the world around them, from what happens in the marketplace to what happens in the lives of random individuals.

Here's another example of the "power of the pen." You may remember my post about Paul Kramer's book geared to children, entitled Maggie Goes on a Diet.  If you read that post, you'll remember my wrath about the possible effects books like this, and resulting societal attitudes, can have on kids' self-esteem at increasingly earlier ages.

I learned about the book from a column written on NJ.com by Jamie Tripp Utitus. As it turns out, Jamie eventually found my post and let me know that Kramer contacted her about it and has created a revised version of the book, entitled, Maggie Eats Healthier.

Photo by Paul M. Kramer

That's pretty darn amazing.

A Mom + A Keyboard + The Internet = Power??

No, I'm not talking about myself. I just find it interesting that there are so many great parenting blogs today and am also surprised at the ways in which they can be influential.

My favorite blog, Single Dad Laughing, seems to make its mark more in the domain of advice and encouragement than anything else. The blogger shares stories, mostly about his son and family, that are funny, or thought-provoking, or really meaningful. Readers can really relate to his posts and take something from them.

Of course, there are a lot of "mommy blogs" too. Many of them also generate advice or relate anecdotes that I enjoy reading. One of my new favorite blogs is The Woven Moments, which you should really check out.

I also find that a number of mom blogs provide really creative ideas for entertaining your kid with fun projects or activities (see, for example, the melted snowmen) - very useful for those of us with toddlers who, with time on their hands, will quickly detour into mischief. Which is pretty much everyone with a toddler.

Fighting The Christmas Hangover

Hello, everyone! I hope all of you who celebrated Christmas yesterday had a wonderful day with family and friends.  For me, the best part is, of course, seeing the pure joy on Anna's face.

Christmas represents many things - for some, a religious celebration, for others a special reason for quality time with family and friends, and for others an occasion for spoiling those we love with awesome gifts.  For many of us, it may be all of the above. Whatever one's reason for celebrating, there's no doubt that Christmas is wonderful, fun, joyful, and.......totally exhausting.

Zzzzzz.......

I know what you're thinking - maybe I had a little too much Bailey's last night. I didn't, although I do enjoy the stuff.  I'm not talking about that kind of hangover. I'm talking about the tired, over-full, headachy, run over by a train feeling that often follows Christmas.

Merry Christmas to All!

I just wanted to take a moment to wish all of our readers who are celebrating Christmas the merriest and happiest of days! Despite some serious sniffles and fever, Anna managed to have a nice time - I think unwrapping presents was her favorite part! We also spent a nice day with our family and consider ourselves very blessed.

The package was almost as tall as Anna!

To all my friends and family and other loved ones with whom I couldn't celebrate today, I'm thinking of you and hoping you had a wonderful day as well. Merry Christmas!

Friday Fun: The Frog and the Princess

As most of you probably know, it can be challenging entertaining your toddler for a few straight hours on your own. So, as one might expect, the challenge doubles when you are entertaining two toddlers for a few straight hours on your own.

This was my task last Saturday. I watched Anna and Izzy B while their moms went out Christmas shopping. All was well at first, as the girls played with Play Doh and then watched Dora the Explorer.

How to Do Nothing

[No, this post isn't about procrastination, although I do consider myself to be sort of an authority in that field.]

On Monday, Uncle Keith wrote about and shared a link to an interesting article describing the science behind temper tantrums. The idea is that understanding why tantrums really happen will help us figure out a more effective way to handle them.

The consensus reached is that not responding as we instinctively might is the best way to go. In other words, we shouldn't engage, but instead ride it out. We just shouldn't do anything.

But when your child is screaming, stomping his or her feet, and crying....how, exactly, does one do nothing?

Photo from thetoddlertamer.com

A Christmas Reminder

I just came across this and instantly decided it was worth sharing.  Those of you who are parents have probably already thought of this stuff, but in case you have loved ones who have trouble picking out gifts for your kids, please feel free to point them to this handy list.

It was written by Michelle Zipp and appeared today on The Stir on cafemom.com.  Please check out "8 Gifts You Should Never Get Another Person's Child."

Deep Thoughts

No, not "Deep Thoughts" by Jack Handey. ;)  I'm talking about the most fascinating of all deep thoughts:  toddler deep thoughts. Some of them are completely random. They may make no sense. They may make eerily perfect sense. They may come from a place so deep and profound inside your child that perhaps you didn't know it existed.

Wherever they come from, they sure are intriguing.

I think my deepest thoughts while I have some "uckles"

Article: The Science of Tantrums

Way back in July, yes the warm month of July... oh, sorry.  Let's try that again.  Back in July I posted a link to an article I read in Scientific American Mind about a study conducted that produced the Top 10 Most Important Parental Competencies that lead to happy, and healthy children.  If you didn't catch that post, make sure you read the post because not only is it interesting, but the discussions here spawned a series of posts by Mama T exploring each one.

Anyway, I am always on the look-out for scientific explainations or solutions/suggestions of things.. and as the perpetual "Uncle" to many, and with only the partial raising of a step-son under my belt, this type of stuff arms me with suggestions to offer others that I haven't personally tried myself.

And just in case you are thinking that I'm one of those nosy people that butt in and make suggestions to others about techniques they should use instead of what they are doing when raising their children... I am.  A little bit.  But I'm digressing again.

Friday Fun: Our Little Picasso!

One of my favorite things to do with Anna is art projects. I love watching her draw, attempt to write letters, color, paint, make collages, etc.

Recently she discovered watercolor painting for the first time. We had a blast with it!  Check out the flip book below:

Melted snowmen!

Whenever I think of snowmen, I tend to think of the demented snowmen crafted by Calvin of the comic strip Calvin and Hobbes, which is probably my all-time favorite cartoon. It's pretty obvious why I love the snowmen....

Copyrighted, by Bill Watterson

If you want to see more, check them out here.

So when I found instructions for making melted snowmen Christmas ornaments, I thought they were right up my alley and wanted to share them with you. This is one of those things I can't wait to try with Anna because I know we'll both love it and it brings out the kid in me.

Check them out here!  And if you try them with your kids, please send us pics!

Copyright by Deborah J. Stewart, photo from www.teachpreschool.org

And The Beat Goes On

Stress.  We all deal with it in one way, shape or form. Sometimes it's little annoyances, like slow drivers when we're already late for work, and sometimes it's big ones, like wondering how you'll pay a bill that month.

But if there's one thing being a parent teaches you, it's that no matter how much stress or sadness you're dealing with, life goes on. It must, no matter what.

And sometimes, that really sucks.

Heart Attack Moments

I've written before on the blog about how having a child is like having your heart walking around outside your body.  While it's the greatest love you can experience, it also produces the greatest vulnerability.

That's just par for the course, but then there are those (thankfully) rare moments, which I call "heart attack moments," where it really hits home how vulnerable you are, and how vulnerable your child is to the dangers of the world, and how much you love him or her.

In moments like these, something happens that scares you half to death and you are confronted in an immediate, very real way with your worst fears about losing your child.

Photo of the Week: Cuddle Time

As I mentioned yesterday, Anna and I had an awesome time visiting Uncle Keith last weekend. So this week's photo of the week is an adorable moment we captured, showing Anna enjoying a snuggle and a movie with Uncle Keith. :)

Are We There Yet?

Happy Monday!  Anna and I are coming off of a very fun weekend. We took a road trip to visit Uncle Keith and had a fabulous time! I just wanted to send him a big "thank you" for having us visit and for being patient with a certain super energetic three-year-old.

One interesting thing I've noticed is that with every trip we take, a theme for the weekend seems to emerge. Perhaps this is because Anna's growth and development is moving faster and becoming more pronounced....or maybe it's just random, who knows.

Look out, everyone! Here she comes!

Friday Fun: Unleash Your Inner Geek

Those of you who know me know that I'm pretty much a nerd. I enjoy putting together photo albums and scrapbooks. I like crafts and puppets and Play-Doh art...you get the picture.

Then I came across this article, which puts my geeky efforts to shame.

Photo of the Week: Toddlerology

This week's Photo of the Week comes to us courtesy of my awesome friend Brenda, who, as you may recall, wrote a wonderful post for us about family literacy which you should check out here if you haven't already.

When you carefully examine this diagram of the toddler brain, which is dead-on, many things will make sense to you, and you'll laugh too.

Enjoy!

The Season of Giving

Here we are again, that magical time every year when many of us spend extra time with our loved ones and buy each other gifts in the spirit of giving, of making each other happy however we can.

Sometimes, though, it's hard to keep a "giving" perspective when the holiday season also brings with it various stresses. So if you're having a hard time getting into the holiday spirit, as I am right now, please read this post from Single Dad Laughing, called "Paying It Forward This Christmas." 

It's all about giving back, helping others, and remembering that our dramas and stresses pale in comparison to those that others may be facing - others who would trade anything to have our dramas and stresses.  It's a healthy dose of perspective and a touching story.

Check it out. Consider giving - to these people, to other people, to people in your community. Remember what this wonderful season is supposed to be about.

Photo from www.qt.com.au

Follow-up: Brad and Angelina, Shrek and Fiona

One thing I want to start doing on the blog is following up on earlier pieces when the same or related issues come up later, as is often the case. For example, you may recall my piece on why marriage matters to kids, "If It's Good Enough for Brad and Angelina...".

In that post, I discussed the famous couple's initial commitment not to marry until marriage is legal for everyone, which they apparently (and understandably) considered revisiting when their kids expressed an interest in having married parents. I explained the intangibles, the feeling and the status conferred by the word "marriage," and how that impacts children, regardless of who their parents are.

Photo by Eric Ryan/ Getty Images

More Gems

I've been gradually compiling another list of Anna-isms to share with you. One thing I'm noticing is that her thought processes are getting much more elaborate.

The stories she comes up with, which you can tell she is inventing as she goes, are remarkable. ("...And one time, there was a cayman, and he swam all the way around the river until he got to the blocks and he couldn't go across but we saw him and we yelled, "Monster!" and we ran and ran until we got back to school and put away our telescopes and ate popcorn.")

Or something like that.

I've got LOTS to say....

Clutter? What Clutter?

Those of you who know me know that I'm a neat freak. Okay, these days maybe I'm more of a lapsed neat freak, but you get the point. I like cleanliness. I hate clutter.

So, this weekend, I went on a cleaning binge at home.  Imagine my delight when my little helper Anna decided to keep me company. She decided - spontaneously, with no coercion from me - to clean her room. What a proud moment!  Anna was pretty proud of herself too.

Photo of the Week: Snowmen

As has been evident, I've had to take a sort of hiatus from blogging this week, but I did want to find an amusing Photo of the Week to share with you.

Given that winter is fast approaching, I thought this was appropriate:

"Snowmen protest global warming" (credit unknown)

The only thing that could improve this photo is if the snowmen were the kind of snowmen created by Calvin in my favorite cartoon strip of all time, Calvin and Hobbes.

Hope everyone is having a great week and we'll be back with more on MLWP as soon as we can!