How long have you been married? I have been married since September, 2002… almost 6 years.
How many children do you have? Ages? I have one boy who will be a year old in June.
How do you enjoy spending time with family? Eating dinner at my mother-in-law’s house.
What do you and your husband enjoy doing together? Watching and interacting with our son, cooking and eating.
What is your favorite vacation spot? Anywhere in California, Florida, or just home.
Who is your favorite movie or TV star? John Walsh.
How about your favorite movie? The Wedding Singer
What are three to five books that you’ll always keep on your shelf? Bible, Nursing Drug Guide, The MERCK (Manual of Medical Information), most of my nursing books from college, and several other leisure books that I probably will not get around to reading until my youngest goes to college.
What about favorite children’s books? Curious George and Dr. Seuss
How do you spend your days? Cleaning, which is never-ending, meeting my son’s needs, working at the hospital a few times a month.
What’s a job you think you might have enjoyed doing, if you had pursued a different path? Why? Parametic or Firefighter, because I like to help people in an emergency, and I am sort of an adrenaline junkie.
What do you feel truly passionate about in life? My son, husband, family, dog and nursing.
PC or Mac Lover? I have no preference.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Hip Mom's Interview with Chantel Grant
Monday, May 26, 2008
A Smell of a Memory
Ahhhh, summer. Blue skies, monkey in the middle, running through the sprinkler in the side yard. When I think back to the hot, humid summers of my childhood, all of these things come to mind, but they’re not the first memory to emerge. Before all of those thoughts, comes the earthy scent of freshly cut grass. I hear the mower, I see my Dad, I smell that distinct, just-cut grass smell. To me, that scent has always signaled freedom: freedom from school schedules and cliquey groups; freedom to play and swim; freedom to read and dream; freedom to just be.
My childhood summers, mind you, weren’t spent in one place. I didn’t have one of those childhoods where I made fast friends with a girl in kindergarten, endured the middle school years with her, then hugged her dramatically as we graduated twelve years later. I did meet a new girl in kindergarten, and another in second, and fourth, and sixth, and ninth, and however many more you want to throw into the mix. It was more of a vagabond sort of childhood, but my family was stable and sensible and we made the very best of it. And one of the things that remained constant through all of the change, through the new schools and new friends and new towns, was the grassy smell of freedom, signaling the endless days ahead, all mine for the lounging.
There are other memories, to be sure. We mostly lived in the south and I treasure the years at the beach, walking as far as I could along the shore, looking out beyond the farthest waves, considering all of the possibilities of life. In high school, my girlfriends and I would slather on the baby oil and hit the pool, at once completely sure of ourselves and completely unnerved by the coolness of everyone else. My grandparents and extended family lived in Pennsylvania, and I would go, for a week or two at a time, and spend time with family there, building priceless relationships with my cousins and aunts and uncles.
My summer memories are an amalgam of all of these things; I almost cannot separate them. And, always, when I think back, the memories are scented with that grassy smell of freedom.
-Kirsetin
For this week’s Blog Blast, the Parent Bloggers Network is asking us to share our memories of our family’s summers. To participate, click here for details. You can win prizes from Huggies Little Swimmers, including beach towels, pool toys, and of course, Huggies Little Swimmers products.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
More About Us: A Stolen Meme
When you’re tagged for a meme, for those of you who are unfamiliar with this term, there are some basic ground rules. Here they are:
- Post the rules of the game at the beginning.
- Answer the questions about yourself.
- At the end of the post, tag a few other bloggers and post their names, then go to their blogs and leave them a comment, letting them know they've been tagged and asking them to read your blog.
- Let the person who tagged you know when you've posted your answer.
So, I stole the idea for this meme from the Painted Maypole, who I found because she won—lucky girl!—SusieJ’s contest for the kid’s digital camera. We though it would be fun for both Barbie and I top answer the questions: Can you guess who is who? (See poll, at right.)
Choice A: Kirsetin OR Barbie??? Vote at Right—This should be easy for those of you who know us!
What was I doing 10 years ago? Ten years ago my tween was a sweet one-year old, just learning to walk, and I was basking in the glow of motherhood. Having emerged from the horrendously difficult first three months, we had settled into a lovely rhythm. I had recently quit my job and was doing free-lance work from home, a compromise that fit me perfectly: still earning some cash, still getting some professional validation, but no sitters or nannies needed. I was freezing my tail off living in Green Bay, WI, but trying hard to make the best of it. I was making friends with Holly and Janet, which turned out to be a smart move, since they have now been good friends of mine for ten years!
What are five things on my "to do" list today? Drop off 5-yr old carpool kids at school, get groceries (again), go to lunch at a Mexican Restaurant with my Spanish class and speak only Spanish (big challenge, here, folks!), fold laundry (again), pick up 11-year old child & carpool buddy from school, make dinner, help 9-year old with homework (didn’t really need me), drop 11-year old off at soccer, pick up 12-year old Labrador meds at vet. Okay, I know that’s more than 5, but I’ve always had a bit of trouble following directions.
Snacks I enjoy: Hmmmm…the key word here is “enjoy,” not “eat on a regular basis: almost any kind of fruit—berries, kiwi, and Granny Smith apples top the list; jalapeño potato chips; sharp cheddar cheese; plain yogurt with granola; and did I mention jalapeño potato chips?
Things I would do if I were a billionaire: For starters, I might switch out my rusty mini-van, with the doors you still have to close manually, for something that smells a little fresher. Then I’d take a big chunk of the funds and set up some sort of fancy trust to offer continued support to our favorite charities. I’d fund our kids’ college accounts, pay off the mortgage, do a few other practical things. And last but not least, I’d pull my kids out of school & let them learn from life: travel, travel, travel.
Places I have lived: Florida (2ce), Pennsylvania (3x; 4 if you count college separately), North Carolina (2ce), Virginia (3x), Austria (semester abroad), Connecticut, California (2x), Washington, Wisconsin, Michigan. Whew!
Bad Habits: Ooohhhh, must I? Let’s see…not really a morning person and everyone who lives with me knows it; don’t always work well with others (thank goodness for free-lancing), tendency to completely blow things out of proportion (think parenting issues, here); tendency to think I know what’s best, for me and everyone else, too; texting while driving (really, I’ve cut this out—very dangerous); crackmail addict.
Choice B: Kirsetin OR Barbie??? Vote at Right—This should be easy for those of you who know us!
What was I doing 10 years ago? I was reading to a three year old and chasing a 1 year old. I was pulling wagons, pushing swings and changing diapers. I was spending far too much time in toddler-like conversation!
What are five things on my "to do" list today? Catch up on Laundry (every day), frame pictures (on list for months and not completed), sweep out the garage, coordinate school parties, and exercise.
Snacks I enjoy: Homemade granola with fruit and yogurt, crisp apples, pistachios, popcorn and an occasional Twix bar.
Things I would do if I were a billionaire: Give more to charity, travel throughout Europe with my family, hire a chef, and try to live a humble life.
Places I have lived: Grand Rapids & East Lansing, MI - great places to live in the spring, summer and fall... winter is another story. That's the time to travel to warmer climates.
Bad Habits: chewing gum like a horse, interrupting (when I'm excited about a conversation), and cracking my knuckles.
We’ll tag Mayberry, Cool Zebras, The Bloggess and SusieJ for this one. If you want to participate, too, just steal away & leave us a comment so we know where to look.
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
Potty-training tidbits (from moms in the trenches)
Potty-training brings out the advice-givers in all of us who’ve been through it, and thank goodness!, because other moms love to hear these ideas. Since we’ve had a couple more suggestions on potty training that were e-mailed after our post, I want to pass them along for those of you still in the throes of toddler-hood. If you have other ideas, please continue to leave them in the ‘comments’ section, so you can help other moms who are desperate to ditch the diapers. Here’s what our friends had to say:
When my third child was ready to potty train, it was simple. His oldest sister, Brittany, looked at me and said," Why don't you just tell Timothy you don't have any more diapers?" And then she took them and hid them under Bethany's bed. That was it. Done. Simple. Just thinking about it brought me a smile. (Rena)
We bought Caleb a fishing pole and told him when he didn't go in his diaper for 3 days, he could open it and play with it. He eyed it with anticipation and it was a few weeks later when he started letting us know when he had to go (thanks to Elmo's "stop what you're doing and go" slogan). When I had realized it had been 2 days since going in his diaper, we put on his big boy underwear and he graduated that day. That was over 2 weeks ago and he's only had 2 accidents (both times when we were busy and not reminding him). We also have transitioned from jelly bellies to pennies in the piggy bank as a reward. (Erin)
Today I’m also posting over at Midwest Parents, where you can read about my wanderlust and my admiration for the Granger family, who took a plunge few other families ever will.
-Kirsetin
Sunday, May 18, 2008
A Lovely Gift from Grandma
Ha, ha, ha! The Blog Blast for this week is oh, so interesting. They’ve challenged us to write about gift-giving grandparents. They want us to dish the dirt on grandparents who give noisy toys, shirts with dinosaurs, and hideous plastic nonsense. They’d like us to share how we handle this dilemma and guide them towards wooden blocks and designer duds. I’m sure you know what I mean. So here are my thoughts:
I will admit that when my children were younger (okay, occasionally this still happens), I dreaded the shirt with the _____ (insert any type of figure here). Anyone who ever looked at the clothes my toddlers wore could plainly see that I favored overalls, preferably plaid or khaki. My children didn’t wear sweatpants around town and certainly not shirts with dinosaurs on them.
Until they got some, that is, as a gift from grandma. Thanks, Grandma, I really appreciate that.
The children, however, loved them!
When my kids’ faces lit up and they put on those shirts I realized that their gifts aren’t about me at all. (I can be a bit slow that way.) Grandma isn’t buying what I like, she’s buying what they like. And I can’t fault her there. Isn’t that what gift-givers are supposed to do?
Now does this mean I hope for shirts with decals, noisy instruments or big, plastic randomness? Oh, no, I still selfishly dream away.
But I love that my kids’ grandparents love them enough to buy what they’d like and that they expect me to be big enough to deal with it.
Thanks for all the gifts, grandmas, and even more, the love that comes with them.
Check out the Grandkids Gift Guide for all sorts of gift-giving ideas. To read what other bloggers have to say about gift-giving grandparents, peruse the posts at the Parent Bloggers Network.
Friday, May 16, 2008
You’ve heard it before…they won’t go to high school in diapers!
A friend of mine with younger children asked me about potty training the other day. When should they start? Her little boy wasn’t interested. She’d heard she should put Cheerios in the potty and that grossed her out. (Me too, come to think of it.) And she was a bit anxious, stressed out, worried about asking, as if I would judge the whole of her parenting by the fact that her toddler’s still in diapers.
He’s a toddler. You’re fine! He’s fine!
But “don’t worry about it” isn’t very welcome parenting advice. When people ask you a question, they want an answer, not some wishy-washy “when they’re ready” kind of response, right?
But because I really do think they have to be ready, I asked Barbie what she did with her kids. And she asked a bunch of others. So now, my friend can have my namby-pamby advice, and get some real answers from other moms. Here’s what we all had to say:
I waited until my kids were 3 and we went cold turkey. No pull-ups, just brand-new fun big boy underwear. It was totally fine – only took a couple of days. One of the boys wet the bed off & on for a couple of months, but that wasn’t as big of a hassle as I thought it would be. The others basically trained themselves – Chase just started taking his diaper off & using the potty at 2 ½ so he was a littler earlier but only because he did it on his own. Kids don’t know any different: if you tell them that 3-year olds go on the potty, they generally do! (Kirsetin)
With Brooke, I read potty-training books and watched "once upon a potty" to begin the process. Then, I bought a gumball machine, and gave her pennies when she would use the potty. We learned how to chew it for a little bit and then spit it out (rather than swallowing it) at a young age. I was an overly anxious parent at that point and began the process at age 2, and it took about 6 months to a year before she was totally trained.
With Sam, we waited until he was three, and then gave him cool superhero underwear, and he was trained in a day. It was extra easy because it was spring time, and he loved to pee outside. Since we live in the woods, it wasn't a big deal. We only had one incident where he decided to pee outdoors at a friends house, because he thought it was just fine... I mean, I'd been clapping for him when he went outside at home! We just needed to fill him in on the privacy issue, and then he was good to go!
With Janie, I did absolutely nothing. She wanted to be like Brooke and Sam, so she trained herself. We did clap when she would sit on the potty, but that's it! As a matter of fact, with her, I kinda preferred the pull-ups, because I despised using public restrooms when we were out and about. :) That's pretty bad.... I did buy a set of plastic mattress covers for each of them, just so a nighttime accident wasn't a big deal. (Barbie)
We are in the midst of potty training boot camp this week. Anne is a prime example of a child who would not consider it until she was darn good and ready. Finally, last week, she said she wanted to wear her Dora panties. My strategies are: a fun sticker chart, Skittles (I could NOT go with M&M's b/c I'm in love with them), and strictly big girl underpants. I told her all of the diapers in her size are gone. We're staying home all week (God help me), and so far she's doing really well. I'm no expert, as this is my first time through it and Anne is 3. (Sara)
Hi- I don't think you want my advice because I bribed with candy! Worked like a charm. (Michelle)
Nor do you want my advice. My child begs to go potty on the toilet and I tell her to just go in her diaper. Awful. (Although, she mostly wants to go 'potty' so she has a chance at running around naked...her favorite thing to do) (Brenda)
Don't force the issue until they are ready...I learned that lesson! (Veronica)
I don't think I have any GREAT ideas, however, one thing that I did was consistently put them on the potty every 15 minutes the first day for a while until they went on it and figured it out. Sometimes we'd sit and read books while they were on it until they went. (Jodi)
Both of my kids did potty train really early, but I think it was them and not me. I did start having them sit on the potty at bath-time early on ( 14 to 18 months) and when they got consistent, we did the two days of naked with the potty in the family room.
Aiden was done at 20 months and Katie just before she turned two. I wasn't quite ready when Katie was ready. Of course we made a big deal about buying big boy and girl panties and just went for it, not turning back once we started. (Laura)
If you read through these and think we’re all nuts, check out this article by Barbara Howard, M.D., a pediatrician and behavior and development expert at Duke Children's Hospital. She has good advice—and she’s a doctor!—including waiting until your child is ready (didn’t I say that?) and looking for signs of readiness.
Good luck. Let us know if you’ve discovered what really works.
-Kirsetin
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Hip Mom Interview with Olya Skripak, from the Ukraine
How long have you been married? For almost 9 years which seems unbelievable for people like my husband and I!!
How many children do you have? Elisabeth is 3. Herman is 2. Martha is 1 month old.
How do you enjoy spending time with family? Doing anything outside of the house.
What do you and your husband enjoy doing together? It is getting more difficult to find common interests after 9 years of marriage. We both like to just walk around the old part of town or travel together.
What is your favorite vacation spot? I love it when it is new every time.
Who is your favorite movie or TV star? Julia Roberts
How about your favorite movie? “Beautiful Mind”
What are three to five books that you’ll always keep on your shelf?
- “Idiot” F. Dostoyevsky
- “Aphorisms” Schopenhauer
- The Bible
What about favorite children’s books?
- Poems by R. Stevenson
- Old Russian fairytales
How do you spend your days? Cooking, cleaning and entertaining kids. Working on translation when it is possible.
What’s a job you think you might have enjoyed doing, if you had pursued a different path? Why? I always wanted to become an actress to live so many lives. Since I studied to be a translator I would love to work as a translator for the Government or for an International Organization like UNO, NATO. I wish I could travel for a job.
What do you feel truly passionate about in life? To continue my education and to use gifts and talents given by God to help others and spread His Kingdom.
PC or Mac Lover? I wish I could try Mac and see if I like it.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Prairie-style nightgowns?
Thursday, May 8, 2008
PARENTAL ADVISORY: EXPLICIT LYRICS FOUND HERE
Dear Friends,
I’ve known some of you for many years, others for just a short time. Regardless, I know that you love your children as dearly as I love mine. I’ve realized, during the past eleven+ years of parenting, that each of us brings our own experiences, values, and desires to the parenting table. One way doesn’t work for all of us, and it shouldn’t.
That said, many of you also know the trouble I have with lyrics to some of the songs that are topping the charts right now. During a recent conversation with a friend, I realized that some of you probably think I’m nuts. Oh, her. She’s the crazy one. Lyrics Nazi.
But I am not crazy, I promise. I’m not even that easily offended. I am simply informed and disturbed by the constant repetition of these lyrics straight from their iPods into our childrens’ heads. Over and over again.
So if you are easily offended—or ignorant of these lyrics and wish to remain so—please stop reading now. You can click here to read a happier post.
For those of hardier stock, forge on.
Song 1: Low by Flo Rida (Guest rapper T-Pain)
This song is all over the radio and very catchy. I found myself singing along to the chorus one day, after driving for 7 hours and hearing it 700 times. When I returned home, I asked my 11-year old if he was familiar with it. Yes, of course, because he’s the only one who doesn’t have it on his iPod. My fault, again. I am not winning big points here. Thank goodness parenting isn’t about winning points or I’d be in serious trouble.
Partial Lyrics (for full lyrics, click here)
Hey
Shawty what I gotta do to get you home
My jeans full of gwap
…
…One stack (come on)
Two stacks (come on)
Three stacks (come on, now that’s three grand)
What you think I’m playin baby girl
I’m the man, I’ll bend the rubber bands
That’s what I told her, her legs on my shoulder
I knew it was ova, that Henny and Cola
Got me like a Soldier
She ready for Rover, I couldn’t control her
So lucky oo me, I was just like a clover
Shorty was hot like a toaster
Sorry but I had to fold her,
Like a pornography poster
…
Yea she was worth the money
Lil mama took my cash,
and I ain’t want it back,
The way she bit that rag,
got her them paper stacks,
Tattoo Above her crack,
I had to handle that…
I’ll leave the translation to you. If you don’t have any idea what it’s about, you can e-mail me. Here’s a hint: He’s paying her for sex. If you care to peek at the video, here it is. I find less offensive than the lyrics, which isn’t saying much.
/p>
Song 2: Lollipop by Lil Wayne
Currently #1 on the charts. This is a catchy tune that kids love.
Partial Lyrics ( for full lyrics, click here)
I say he so sweet make her wanna lick the wrapper
So I let her lick da rapper.
She say I’m l-l-l-l-l-l-like a lollipop (yeah)
She say I’m l-l-l-l-l-l-like a lollipop (yeah) …
…Shawty wanna hump
You know I like to touch
Ya lovely lady lumps
(She lick me like a lollipop)
…Shawty wanna hump
You know I like to touch
Ya lovely lady lumps
Ok lil mama had a swagga like mine
She even wear her hair down her back like mine
I make her feel right when its wrong like lyin
Man she ain’t never had a luv like mine
But man I ain’t never seen a ass like hers
Dat pussy in my mouth had me lost for words
So I told her back it up like burp burp
And I made dat ass jump like jurp jurp
And dats when she
Say I’m l-l-l-l-l-l-like a lollipop (yeah)
If you didn’t catch it the first time around, this one’s about a guy getting a blow job.
See the video here:
Yes, there are “clean” versions of these types of songs. But the “clean” versions simply delete the expletives. Does it really matter if a song says “ass,” when he’s talking about her “pussy in [his] mouth"?
Contrary to what our kids would like us to believe, the lyrics matter, my friends. It's not just about the beat. What our kids listen to day after day, on bus rides, soccer trips, and hanging out with their buddies, matters. Because each of our families function differently, I’m not telling you to ban this music. But I am asking you to pay attention. Know what your kids like to listen to & talk to them about what they’re hearing. Think about, please, whether you want this drivel filling your kids’ heads, regardless of what everyone else is listening to.
And let’s not even get into the grammar…