March 2008
Monthly Archive
Toast: I laughed, I cried, I blogged about it.
Posted by aunt mommy on 27 Mar 2008 | Tagged as: TOAST
[Toast! Thing Of A Something Thursday!]
Haircuts. Oh, haircuts. Even though I’ve had my painful haircuts through the years and can sympathize with the long suffering Wolfie I didn’t really talk about how we got him from tears to laughter. While a lot of it was maturation on his part and doing a lot of roleplaying and just dealing with him being shaggy sometimes for months on end, we also put together a fun haircut kit for him to play with and work through his fears of getting a haircut.
Continue Reading »
Mommas, don’t let your babies grow up to be vandals
Posted by aunt mommy on 26 Mar 2008 | Tagged as: mundaneities, works for me wednesday
It seemed like a good idea a the time. Bored kids. Rainy day. After a day out exploring in the rain, we figured we should get under cover for the deluge and to grab a snack. To keep the kids busy, I grabbed a busy bag I’d prepared, and set them loose to vandalize the place while our food was made ready.
“I’m so blogging this,” I told my companion mom. We watched the kids mark up the floor, asked them to not write on the walls; I kind of surprised her when I admitted I’d never set my little graffiti artists loose before. Of course, I wasn’t thinking it was vandalism at the time … but is it? Tell me what you think in comments. Follow the jump to see evidence from the scene of the crime.
Happy Spring!
Posted by aunt mommy on 25 Mar 2008 | Tagged as: mundaneities, pirate gardening
Hope you and yours welcomed in the season with lots of fun, whether you had rain, sleet, snow, or flowers.
Toast - If we’re ever invaded by giant lobsters, I’ll be hiding under the bed, kthx.
Posted by aunt mommy on 20 Mar 2008 | Tagged as: TOAST
[Think Of A Something Thursday!]
I know I hate some foods just by looking at them. Lobster. Squid. Crab. Desert-rat that I was, those foods just look squishy and scary to me. They don’t bother me only during the day: they’ll give me nightmares at night. When I go to lunch with some of my coworkers, I’ll choose a “bad” seat at the table just so I won’t see or be near the slimy tank-creature-ambiance. I know it’s not rational, but snakes alive, I don’t want to look at them or have them lurking behind glass too close behind me.
This also precludes me from eating them as food. There are other foods I won’t eat, based on smell or texture, but I do try. Some foods are “bad” only when raw, so I just hold my nose and try not to breathe in scent until they are cooked enough.
Of course, if I have irrational reasons not to eat some foods, why shouldn’t my kids? But I know enough (and have the experience) to find a good alternative that will keep me going. A plate of yucky looking food is more likely to elicit a request for a jelly sandwich or cookies (my children are optimists, it seems, but settle for treats like strawberries, apples, and cheese just as readily). Or the negotiation attempts will begin as the eldest tries to find out the minimum number of bites that must be taken before milk or dessert is brought out. Continue Reading »
There are two of us and two of them - and we’re still outnumbered.
Posted by aunt mommy on 19 Mar 2008 | Tagged as: family, mundaneities
I remember as a teenager hearing confirmation that an elephant’s large ears weren’t mere decoration, but part of a sophisticated communication system that allowed them to speak and hear at long distances. They exchanged complex bursts of information, much like bees dancing to give directions to new nectar sources. A few weeks ago, I found out that the cartoons I grew up with were right, too: mice do laugh.
But anyone who has spent time grouping kids together know they have their own languages and ways to transfer information. From the obvious ones we see, like shared play and story telling, to lightning fast data transfers that move faster than a Vulcan mind meld. Now that the youngest has figured out both how to defeat the baby gate and manage the stairs quietly enough that her sudden appearance where she should not be has provokes more than a few startled screams, we know we’re doomed. Continue Reading »
Toast - Dunk-a-pa-looza
Posted by aunt mommy on 13 Mar 2008 | Tagged as: TOAST
[think of a something thursday!]
Oh Wilma. What a hurricane. My first Big One. Power out for a week or more. Driving to my sibling’s house while trying to not break curfew because they have power and cousins to keep my little one busy. Realizing we are unprepared despite all the planning when hit by the real thing.
But we survived. Heck, after Andrew folks were glad each successive hurricane wasn’t Andrew. By then we were also glad it wasn’t Katrina and Rita. We drove home a few days later, hoping the power would be back soon, and ready if it wasn’t. Continue Reading »
No mom, I’m Vapor Man!
Posted by aunt mommy on 12 Mar 2008 | Tagged as: family
I wondered when this stage would arrive. I’d read my friends blogs, envious of their kids’ imaginations - imaginary friends, imaginary names … he did a little bit of that but not a lot. But his imagination is getting broader and broader; thank you Galaxy Trio!! Continue Reading »
Toast - nothing says “parent” like a pocket full of crayon crumbs
Posted by aunt mommy on 06 Mar 2008 | Tagged as: TOAST
It’s not that hard to tuck a handful of crayons into a pocket, purse, or diaper bag. Oh, and a snack. And other toy. And paper to write on, and … and … and …
Or simply plan your outings well. This place has kid-friendly free appetizers. That place has sushi and dinosaur-shaped breaded chicken crisps. They always have kid-proof cups at that steak house we like. It works out splendidly … until they change something or run out.
So I put together a smallish “emergency pack” that does triple duty: snack container, drink cup, and toy holder. We can’t use it for all three at once, but two out of three isn’t bad. Continue Reading »