iBeth

Best Resolutions Site Ever

Got New Year's resolutions?  Check out SparkPeople.  You'll find more goal-achievement tools there than you could possibly use (especially if your goals include eating right and exercising more).  My exercise streak is now 24 days and counting . . . .

Sometimes You Can Fool Daddy

Daddy woke up and then woke the girls.  He disappeared into the bathroom, then re-emerged to check on their progress.  Emma was dressing, but he could see a suspicious, Amelia-sized lump under her blankets.

"Amelia, I told you to get up!" he said.  "You need to get up. Now!"  No response from the lump, so he spoke more sternly.  "Come on now, don't hide under the covers!  You need to get up and get ready!  Emma is already dressing!  We don't have time for you to lay around!" etc. 

Still no response from the lump.  But a small, indignant voice from the kitchen exclaimed, "I *am* up!" 

He had been scolding a pillow.

Kid Political Humor

Just in time for the delegate-less Florida primary:

Q: Why did Hillary Clinton sell all her chickens?

A: Because they kept saying, "Barack, barack, barack."

My girls made that one up (though they were inspired by a classic).  I think maybe they are watching too much MSNBC.

There Is Such a Thing as the Fifth Amendment, Daddy

Amelia requested cheese, and her dad happily provided a slice.  She crumbled it into bitty orange shards; typical, so daddy did not object.  But then he noticed her fiddling with a toy.

"Amelia," he asked.  "Are you putting cheese inside your bug vaccuum?"

She started guiltily, looked up, paused, then said,  "I don't want to tell you."

There is such a thing as the Fifth Amendment, Daddy.

Show me your yo-yo!

What goes up must come down, but what goes down doesn't always come up . . . at least not when you are yo-yoing.  But apparently the skill is like bicycling in that once you've learned, you never completely forget.  Or at least I could still yo-yo passably after a break of at least 30 years.

Today, we joined hundreds of other kids, college students, parents, and grandparents for an attempt to win the Guinness World Record for the most people yo-yoing simultaneously.  Emma could make her yo-yo go up and down twice, and sometimes three times!  Amelia couldn't get her yo-yo to work, but she had fun walking underneath my yo-yo while it spun up and down.  The Duncan company sent expert yo-yoers to demonstrate their artistry, because, after all, "If it isn't Duncan, it isn't a yo-yo."  Turns out that today's demonstrator was my husband's former student!  (Students: teach enough and wherever you go, there they are.)  The student was absolutely thronged with admirers so we didn't get close enough to say hello, but the girls were impressed with his over-the-head, around-his-back, double yo-yoing.

Before the Big Event, we toured a really fun exhibit of classic toys . . . with plenty of opportunities for hands-on play with legos, magic 8 balls, twister, slinky, colorforms, hot rod race cars, etch-a-sketch, those faces that you put beards and mustaches on with magnets and metal shavings (I *cannot* remember what those things are called!) . . . really, any classic toy you've had, we saw at the exhibit.  Daddy was thrilled to see his exact wood burning set (do they still sell wood-burning sets?) and the original game of Life (the new version is apparently markedly inferior).  I learned that Barbie's last name was Roberts, that the most popular Crayola crayon is blue, and that Raggedy Ann was published, in part, as a memorial to the author's dying daughter (who died from a bad batch of smallpox vaccine; tragic).

And--as if a yo-yo weren't cool enough, it turns out that the yo-yo is the world's second-oldest toy, second only to dolls.   

I hope this is a day that our kids remember. 

We Love Alcatraz

Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians, that is.  One great perk of parenthood is getting to read your kid's books!  Emma loves books that are funny and Alcatraz does not disappoint.  She materializes at my elbow every few pages to read me another delicious bit of humor (such as when Alcatraz tries to say "Hello" but is interrupted after the first syllable by his grandfather, who admonishes him not to swear.  Or when Alcatraz tries to act "stoopid" and lapses into misspellings).  I'm hoping to find her some funny books that have female protagonists, just to mix it up a bit.  Suggestions welcome.

I also just finished The Merchant's War by Charles Stross.  Love the series!  Hate the fact that the latest book in the series is a cliffhanger.  Grr!  Now I need to wait until 2009 to find out what happens next.  I try not to read newly published series to avoid just this situation, but when the books are as good as these, well, I just can't resist.

BTW, the Merchant Princes series involves characters who start in our universe and travel to others.  What is the name of this subgenre?  Charles de Lint books do this too, plus many others whose names escape me at the moment. 

Santa Comes Through

This past Christmas Eve, Santa discovered a note crumpled up inside the toe of Amelia's stocking.  She had written it on her own and rather than asking a parent to mail it, she figured that Santa would receive it when he came to our house.

"To Santa, Snoopy Toy with Chikelet Blle [Chocolate Balls], From Amelia."

She was referring to a Snoopy toy sort of like this one.

Unfortunately, Santa couldn't find one of those toys this year.  Fortunately, he did have a Woodstock toy with chocolate balls left from last year.  Whew!

Santa On Vacation

Emma felt that Santa deserved a motivational picture along with his milk and cookies this year.

Moms Can Be Dense

Sometimes what looks to a mom like a disorganized mess is really meticulously organized, as I learned when I ordered Emma to clean up before bedtime.  Near tears, she protested that she had just finished organizing her toys the way she wanted them. 

"Really?" I asked.  "Explain the organization to me," and she did.  This set of dolls (lying under the telescope) was one family.  The next set of dolls was in their house (an overturned chair).  A third group of dolls was obviously a family--they were all Incredibles.  That pile was actually a little girl walking her dogs.  And so on.

I relented and agreed that Emma could leave the organized toys alone and just pick up the others.  She scurried around while I issued helpful instructions.  What about that dirty sock?  That jacket doesn't belong there.  Where does the slinky go?  Those dress-up clothes belong in the dress-up box.  And move that birdhouse (a craft project).

"Mom!" she said, scandalized.  "That's not a birdhouse!  That's a BUS!  Can't you see it's a BUS?  It has DOLLS in it!"

Oh.  I try hard, but sometimes I need things explained to me. 

Amelia Loves Scat

The sounds of elephant jazz drift through the house as Amelia plays her newest favorite cd: Ella Elephant: Scats Like That.  She shuts the doors and sings at the top of her lungs.  Scoobie Dooten doobie dat.  I wonder if she thinks we can't hear her?