VeggieTales CD offer and other favorite kids’ music

By LucyB | Friday, March 12, 2010, 12:45 AM

My 4-year-old covets his older siblings’ iPods. He wants to hear “his” music, but I’m not about to pay big bucks for a high-tech gadget to appease him.

Instead, his aunt bought him an inexpensive personal CD player a few Christmases ago, and he’s actually taken very good care of it.

So periodically, we add to his music collection (no iTunes card needed!) with whatever happens our way.

His new favorites include a series of VeggieTales CDs that will be available in Chick-fil-A kids meals from March 13 to April 17. The focus of the five CDs, which also feature videos and computer games, is building self-confidence. Topics include “You are a Friend,” “You are Loved,” and “You are Important.”

(The VeggieTales program concentrates on presenting spiritual and moral lessons in a silly, kid-friendly way. So if you’re not open to Christian-themed instruction, the series will turn you off.)

My son especially likes the story of baby Moses veggie sent floating down the river (he can relate to the mean big sister!), and he loves the sing-alongs like “Boom, Boom Ain’t It Great to be Crazy?” Another of his favorites is “Pizza Angel,” which sounds vaguely like one of the teen tragedy songs from the ’60s. (When it comes to kids’ music, there’s apparently no accounting for taste.)

A road trip favorite for our entire family? “Not for Kids Only.” The late Grateful Dead singer-guitarist Jerry Garcia and mandolinist David Grisman jam on traditional tunes such as “Jenny Jenkins,” “Teddy Bears’ Picnic” and “There Ain’t No Bugs on Me.”

Another one we borrowed from the library sooooo many times I decided to just buy our own copy on Amazon. com was “The Great Dinosaur Mystery — A Musical Fossil Fantasy” by Dinorock.

If your kids are into dinosaurs — and really, what kid isn’t? — this is a fun, fascinating listen that will get many, many repeat plays. It teaches kids (and parents) all about dinosaurs and their habits, and it helps them practice their listening skills as well. The song lyrics are clever too. You’ll catch yourself humming them years later even. (I do.)

Disney has also put out several children’s CDs that have made my son’s hit parade. Jazzy “Princess and the Frog,” “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” and the super-fun “Los Lobos Goes Disney” are frequent picks. (Disney’s “Starstruck,” “High School Musical” and “Hannah Montana” CDs were all greedily snapped up by his big sis.)

One of his favorite CDs was a Christmas gift from his preschool teachers that has all their classroom songs on it. He sings along and performs the “choreography,” much to the whole family’s delight.

If you haven’t brought the joy of music into the life of your child yet, today is a good day to start!

Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment More: Helpful tips, Product review, Travel with kids

No ideal time to have kids, career

By Jill Kelley | Thursday, March 11, 2010, 08:28 AM

There was a recent survey done about working moms, asking what the “ideal” age is for women to have their first baby and have a successful career.

It was branded and released by two Web sites: TheBump.com, a Web site about pregnancy that is produced by the same company that runs the wedding site TheKnot.com, and ForbesWoman.com.

The findings? The ideal time to become a mom and retain career success is between the ages of 25 and 29.

They reasoned that because by that age, many women have gotten out of college, established careers, gained some financial security and are more ready than her younger colleagues to handle the responsibility of becoming parents.

These are certainly valid points. Whether working or not, you want to bring a baby into a stable home — both emotionally and financially.

And I took the survey for what it was: A general look at some of the ways families have found to balance all that they need and want to do in their lives. And possibly helpful to those who were planning out their futures.

It wasn’t until The Bump editor, Carley Roney, commented that I realized that there was a danger of folks taking data such as this and employing it as fact.

Roney, who said she had her first baby at 29, noted that having a baby between 25 and 29 is “the best of both worlds.”

She said: “This survey helped us find out that there is a right time.”

Now, I don’t mean to pick on Roney, who may have been pushed to declare and promote a survey victor, but it is clear that although the late 20s may work well for a great number of women, it is not necessarily the right time for everyone.

I also had my first baby at 29, although he was not planned. However, I don’t think my career or my family would have been markedly different had I waited a few years.

It also reminded me how easy it is to become structured in our modern world of information, opinion and the subsequent classification.

I remember when I told my mom that my husband and I had decided we wanted to have two kids and have them relatively close together in age.

It was a compromise between his desire for few and my desire for many, and we took steps to make that our reality both before and after they were born.

But I quickly realized that she was highly annoyed by our cookie-cutter plan.

“What if something happened to one of them?” she asked. “What would you do then? What would happen to your plan?”

My mother had her first baby at 21, and took the other four as they came. It wasn’t always the best system, as evidenced by my brother and I being a strenuous 11 months apart, but it cannot be argued that it happened as nature intended.

And, there is much to be said about letting all those elements take their course.

What I have realized since that conversation with my mother, about 10 years down the line, is that I likely did overplan where my family was concerned.

I have often wished that my husband and I had left more wiggle room for the possibility of more children, and since found out he felt the same way.

At any rate, I would have to weigh in that there is no “ideal” time for everyone to have babies, children and career. You just have to see what works for you.

It is all part of the beauty of life. And, if managing your life was simple, there would be no need for surveys and discussions such as these.

Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment More: Mother's Daze columns

Son makes mom’s “dream come true” … sort of

By Darci Jordan | Tuesday, March 9, 2010, 01:03 PM

I am far from a perfect mother. In fact, I had a classic mommy-meltdown recently.

After telling the boys one too many times to clean up their room, I walked in to get them ready for bed and was greeted by the same piles of clothes and toys I had demanded be put away hours ago.

Apparently, I was at the breaking point by this time of the day.

My face reddened as the “lecture” began to rise in my throat but, it didn’t come out as such. “How many times have I told you to clean your room?” I hollered like a mad woman. “I am not going to do it for you! Listen to me the first time and I won’t have to yell!”

As soon as it came out of my wide open mouth I knew I had lost all composure. The boys both looked at me like I had frogs coming out of my nose.

Then, to my dismay - and theirs - I saw Noah’s prized “big boy” toy on the floor.

“What is that?” I demanded.

Noah sheepishly stared at me, knowing he was really in trouble now.

This particular item is something he had been told from day one, was to be taken care of like it was a newborn baby, yet there it was, inviting someone to step on it.

I promptly removed the item from said location and relocated it out of Noah’s possession. He was crushed, but he knew the deal.

After my eruption, we settled into our bedtime routine, forgetting momentarily about the messy room. I tucked my little men in and left them to slumber.

“Oh, why did I do that?” I said to myself immediately feeling the guilt for acting like, well, a child.

The next morning, still in the alarm-clock daze, I went in the boys’ room to wake Noah for school.

I shuffled to the bed and roused him from the top bunk.

He sat up, glanced around his room and said, “Look Mom, the floor is clean.”

I wiped the sleep out of my eyes and looked around. Sure enough, there wasn’t a toy or shirt on the floor. After my rant, Noah had snuck out of bed and cleaned the room.

“I wanted all of your dreams to come true,” Noah said in his best salesman voice.

I laughed, but also felt the knife of guilt twist in my chest. He later admitted he was also afraid I would not ever return his prized play thing.

I sucked it up and admitted to the boys I had been a little crazy the night before and should have handled things differently, not dismissing the fact that their listening skills need some improvement.

Next time I hope the consequences will be different - for us all.

Email this contributing writer at Motherhoodcolumn@yahoo.com.

Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment More: Motherhood Column

What to do with all those Easter eggs

By LucyB | Saturday, February 27, 2010, 12:04 AM

I know I’m a bit early with my Easter egg tips, but April 4 will be here before we know it, trust me.

I was inspired to share after flipping through the latest edition of Family Fun magazine, a Disney publication that I got for the amazing price of $4.29 for a year’s subscription on a tip from a favorite blogger (and friend) of mine. (Check her awesome deals and witty writing at frombottle2box.com — the title refers to her money-saving switch from expensive bottled wines to the asceptic varietal.)

How cute is this?

Anywho, back to Easter eggs. When I was cleaning out the pantry the other day, I found a Nickelodeon egg-dyeing kit (that I can’t even remember purchasing), so we are good to go on that front.

I can’t imagine not dyeing eggs! I even made Hubby do it before we had kids. Now it’s an engaging activity for us all. I just make sure we’re all wearing grubby clothes, which makes the pictures even more precious.

All the egg in one basket

After the dyeing, hiding, finding, the problem becomes: What to do with all those boiled eggs?

Family Fun provided the answer with this article on upgrading the underappreciated deviled egg. Their creations are just too cute!

(Although AllFreeCrafts.com offers an equally adorable chickie.)

Now that I have a plan, that basket of Easter eggs will no longer taunt me each time I open the refrigerator door.

Bonus material:

— Family Fun subscription on sale for only $4.69/a year! click here

— How to make the best boiled eggs: cluck here (haha)

Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment More: Great deals, Helpful tips, Nutrition, Things to Do

Family party best present for 89th birthday

By Jill Kelley | Thursday, February 25, 2010, 07:56 AM

We had a birthday party for my great-aunt last weekend. She turns 89 today, Feb. 25, and is my oldest living relative by a good score.

My sister and I didn’t have to discuss whether we would throw her a birthday party. Between our two families and kids, everyone gets at least a little soiree each year in honor of his or her birth.

But I didn’t realize how significant the occasion might be to this birthday girl.

My great-aunt was one of four girls in her family, one of which was my grandmother. My great-aunt was always the sickly one of the group, and she said many doctors had all but written her off years ago.

She once had a case of bronchitis that the doctor told her would last for 11 years.

“And, sure enough,” she said. “The day after the 11 years was up, I stopped coughing.”

Another time she was sick, she said the doctors (who must have been a little more glib in the day) told her parents that at least if she didn’t make it, they still had three other girls at home.

Since then she has survived cancers and multiple afflictions, as well as the accompanying surgeries and treatments, to arrive at this most current point in time.

And now, of her generation in the family, she is the last.

This relative desolation was behind her decision to pick up and move from Chicago to the Dayton area in March; so she could be closer to my sister and me, and our families.

It has been a year of adjustment, for her and for us, as she settles into her new life.

Although she lives in a retirement home, my sister and I help her out as we can by doing an assortment of little tasks — changing batteries, ordering clothes, helping with mailings, etc., as well as doing her banking and grocery shopping.

We have learned many things from these chores, like that there is such a thing as canned potato salad and that Von Maur might be the last store in the world that sells girdles.

Part of the reason our intervention is as requested is that our great-aunt can’t see or hear well — although the parameters of those limitations are still negotiable.

She can’t read without her magnifying machine, but those little fuzzies in the carpet (the ones I can’t see) can drive her to distraction.

And, kind of like the short people in my house, she hears what she wants to hear a good amount of the time.

But, as my sister and I remind each other, she has lived by herself for decades and never had children, so she is used to having things a certain way.

Besides, I figured, you don’t survive an 11-year case of bronchitis without more than your fair share of moxie.

As a result, the three of us have had some difficult and often clamorous conversations about how my sister and I can best help her without neglecting our families’ needs in the meantime.

We also have been trying to focus more on the enjoyable and truly invaluable aspects of living close, like spending time together, sharing family stories and celebrating life’s milestones … such as 89th birthdays.

So Saturday night, we got everybody together, ate dinner and had a delicious “whipped cream cake” as requested. The birthday girl opened a couple of presents, all the while saying, “You shouldn’t have!”

Then she told us that it was the first birthday party she had had in 20 years.

“I thought the neighbors would bring me a cake for my 75th,” she said. “But they didn’t.”

It really brought home the contrast between her life and ours, and how lonely the last several years must have been for her.

It made me more glad that she is with us today.

It also reminded me that although family life isn’t always easy, it is still infinitely better than life without family.

Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment More: Mother's Daze columns

Cabin fever? Don’t forget your friends

By Darci Jordan | Monday, February 22, 2010, 10:03 PM

The month of February is half over and my children have been at home more than school.

I admit it, the first big snow fall of the season is exciting - even for me. But, three of them back-to-back?
The excitement has all but fizzled out.

My new mantra is simply, “I love my kids, I love my kids, I love my kids …”

Over the course of the last month I repeated this through clenched teeth while my little angels climbed the walls.

The nostalgia of the first snow day and even the second was soon replaced with “we’re bored” and “it’s too cold outside.”

So, mommy found things for them to do - like, unload the dishwasher. We watched movies, played games and even broke out the Play-doh, too.

But my boys are full of energy and sibling rivalry - accompanied by incessant tattling - soon grated on my nerves.

“Mmooomm! Nicky hit me!”

“Mmoooomm! Noah said butt!”

“I love my kids, I love my kids, I love my kids …”

Finally at my wits end, I went where nary a mom braves to go (voluntarily, anyways).

“Saddle up, fellas! We’re going to Chuck E. Cheese.”

I wasn’t about to do this alone, after all my sanity was at stake, so I recruited two of my best friends to go with me. And yes, so desperate to get out of their houses, they showed up.

One even showed up childless (this has to be quite unusual at said location) to enjoy some afternoon “adult time,” if you can call it that.

The social time was much needed and the energy was well burned. But soon the walls were closing in again and that brought us to Valentine’s Day. The day of love that no longer holds any romantic value for exhausted parents.

So once again, we planned an afternoon with friends and children. This time at the bowling alley.

Frankly, it was one of the best Valentine’s Days I can remember. The kids played, the adults laughed (a lot) and no one cared whether there would be candles on the dinner table.

We all felt a little better, a little more relaxed, and though not quite ready for the next snow storm to shut us in again, we had warmed up a cold day with friends of all ages.

Thank God for good friends - and good kids - this dreary winter.

Email this contributing writer at Motherhoodcolumn@yahoo.com.

Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment More: Motherhood Column

Why don’t some kids want to grow up?

By Jill Kelley | Thursday, February 18, 2010, 07:48 AM

It has nothing to do with the toy store, but I am afraid too many kids have adopted the credo professed in the catchy jingle: “I don’t want to grow up, I’m a Toys R Us kid.”

I don’t know whether it is because they are paying too much attention to the toiling adults around them, if they just have it too good at home or if it is something else entirely, but I know many kids today — from ages 10 to 18 — who say they would much rather stay a kid than become a grown-up.

Their reasoning? Because being a kid is fun, and being an adult, well, not so much.

My oldest son is one of those kids. The 10-year-old told me he thinks being a kid is far better than being an adult, “because you get to do what you want to do more — play sports, watch TV, play video games.”

While, he added, as an adult, “you have to pay bills, clean the house, go to work.”

Of course, some of this is true; there are far more responsibilities for grown-ups.

But what I found interesting was that he thinks he has more freedom than his parents, because he rarely gets to do anything unconditionally.

He and his brother have far more limits than I did growing up. They aren’t allowed to have a TV in their room and can only watch after their homework is done, have strict limits on video games, can’t watch most of the movies they want to see, and aren’t allowed to roam about the neighborhood without supervision.

They have been able to play most sports they want, although we do plan to pull back a little on that this year.

In contrast, I grew up virtually without limits on TV and video games, no rules about what movies I could see, and spent hours playing sports and with my friends all over the neighborhood.

Yet, I couldn’t wait to grow up, move out, go to college, travel, meet new people and explore what my life would hold — on my own terms.

And it just hit me that maybe one reason for that is because I was allowed to think for myself. Maybe my son is so restrained in our modern, protective parenting that he doesn’t even deign to make those decisions and projections for himself.

Maybe he and his brother are so swaddled in good intentions that they don’t feel the need to break free.

Also it seems likely that, as a result and without realizing it, my husband and I have made other aspects of our kids’ lives too pleasant: In place of freedom, we have given them comfort.

For example, although they have weekly chores, this week was the first time that we made our kids help shovel snow. The older one, the one clinging to kid-dom, complained throughout the process.

The younger one, whose life is inherently less comfortable since he gets bossed around by his brother, amiably did what he was told.

Then there is the possibility that, in a generational sense, it’s just their turn to feel this way. The baby boomers, as also noted in an earlier column, famously fought getting older.

I bet if I had told my mom that I didn’t want to grow up, she would say one of two things:

“Neither do I.”

Or, more likely, “Tough.”

Maybe that’s just what I should tell my son. That and things like: “Do the dishes,” and then, “Go out and play for a while.”

Maybe these will be the first few steps that will help him learn that there is much more to life than what he has now.

And, pretty soon, maybe he will want more than just a Toys R Us kid.

Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment More: Mother's Daze columns