Posts
All Comments
Here's what I've been doing:
"If I tell you to have a good day and (heaven forbid) tell you I love you when I drop you off and you decide to ignore me, I will most definitely roll down the window and shout, “Make good choices!” I have done it before and will do it every time. You have been warned."
I need a new camera. I've had this one for a few years, and I've loved it. The only feature it's missing is that super-fast sports mode. And since, you know, we're so sporty around here, I'm wondering if my new camera should be able to do this, so not all of my action shots look like this:
On the other hand, although I love taking pictures of my kids, I have no aspirations to be a real photographer. I can hardly keep up with a blog, much less with a dazzling photography career. In addition, don’t have any desire to have to learn about different kinds of lenses or to figure out how to focus my own lens for goodness sakes. Point and shoot, friends, I’m all about it!
But because I dropped it on the pavement for some reason, my camera isn’t working very well right now. Okay, it’s not really working at all. First, it took every picture in blurry mode. (NO, they were not action shots, but thank you for asking.) Now, the viewfinder is just black. If you click, however, it will still reward you with a fine, blurry picture. I’m thinking ahead, here, and I'm just guessing that a Christmas filled with blind, blurry photos isn’t exactly what I’m after.
And, so, the shopping begins. And I’m stumped. Do I go for something a little fancier, and get the faster sports-friendly shutter speed? Or do I stick with what I know, what fits nicely in my purse, and live with a blurry shot in the scrapbook every now & then? I think both of these cameras are cute, but I'm not sure "cute" is the best criteria for this particular purchase. Shoes, sure. Camera, not so much...
So will you help? Help! Please offer any and all opinions, so when we look back on Christmas 2008, it won’t be through the blurry lens of my broken Canon Powershot sd550!
It's not a political diatribe, I promise (don't you know me better than that by now?). I'm the contributing writer over at Midwest Parents today, which is where you can find out just what it is that I can't give up.
When my son was in the first grade, he was already an avid reader. He was zooming through the Magic Tree House series, and the A to Z Mysteries, and loving every minute of it. Because he was an early reader, we were very aware that there were books he could read, that perhaps he shouldn’t, yet.
Around that time, one of our local bookstores refused to carry the Harry Potter series on the grounds that wizardly is evil. I hadn’t read a single one, and knew magic was involved, but I didn’t know much else. I did know that before long my little boy would be asking about those books. I also knew this was a judgment my husband and I would have to make for ourselves, as I certainly wasn’t going to ban a book for my child based on someone else’s review. So I hit the library and checked out the one that started it all, The Sorcerer’s Stone. Not only did I flip through those pages as fast as I could, I found the story quite endearing. Contrary to what I’d heard, I saw good triumph over evil, children making tough, but wise, choices, and strength of character rarely explored in newer children’s literature. I was in. Both of my older boys now own the complete set. Alas, we went the more inexpensive route and purchased them in paperback, not knowing that these treasures would be read and re-read a million times. Most of the books are now broken half or thirds, and it’s still not unusual to find one of the boys perusing a tattered, partial copy. It’s high time to invest in the hardcovers, I know. Perhaps for Christmas…
Although there are plenty of witches and wizards in Harry Potter, there are no vampires. But the hot new Stephenie Meyer series aimed at tweens and teens has one front and center. If you’ve somehow missed this news (where are you living?), the series begins with the book Twilight. The story centers on a 17-year old girl, Bella who falls madly in love with the amazingly beautiful Edward Cullens. Naturally, he’s a vampire. Naturally.
Does the whole vampire thing bother me? A little, perhaps a bit more than a little, if I’m honest with myself. But what bothers me more is the sensuality, the underpinning of desire that’s the bedrock of Bella and Edward’s relationship. No, they don’t have sex. (At least not yet, anyway.) But they sure do want to. And for grown-ups who enjoy this kind of book, I say knock yourselves out. Read away. But for 12- and 13- and 14-year olds who are just on the cusp of discovering attraction for the opposite sex, I think this series has the potential to glamorize what is essential hormones and lust.
The Center for Youth/Parent Undertanding posted a link to this thoughtful and prescient article, by Jonathan McKee and David R. Smith. In it, the authors made several points that bear repeating:
Although I’m not raising girls, I’m raising the boys that three of them will marry. I’m extremely cognizant of the message about girls portrayed in books and movies and these arguments give me reason for pause. However, I like the conclusion these authors draw even more. Rather than reviewing the book and suggesting parents stick their heads in the sand, or draw the proverbial line, they have a better idea: if you feel like your kids can handle it, and they’re interested, see the movie with them. Or, if the book is what your kids are after, and you approve it, read it too. Knowledge has long been a powerful tool, and being able to discuss the heavier parts of the story with your child give you an opportunity you might otherwise miss.
So approve away if you like, just do it with your eyes wide open, not in the dark.
With names like Carmelized Pralines and Christmas Splendor, how could you not want to win one (or two!) of these candles?
But not to worry. I promise - no killing was involved. Just hot hard tack candy, cinnamon oil, red food coloring, and scissors.
Can't imagine how long the wait is when there's an economic boom. Seriously, can someone explain this to me? The irony was that the TV in the bar was simultaneously running the headline "Obama's biggest problem: the economy." 
The fall has long been my favorite season, and I love its celebratory holiday, with the Pilgrims and their hats and corn and all that old-fashioned simplicity. I’m quite certain that I’ve glossed over my own Thanksgiving memories with that pretty, fine glaze we like to apply to the past, but I when I think back they're filled with visions of family gathered around the kitchen and living room, with endless amounts of stuffing and turkey and pie. Oh yes, especially cherry pie.
Thanksgiving, for me, is a less stressful holiday, even though I often end up cooking. I realize that for lots of women, the idea of cooking and baking and preparing food for so many can put them over the edge, and I get that. But for me, the cooking isn’t overwhelming in the least. Much more difficult for me are the other holidays and there is something that overwhelms me about each of them: the costumes at Halloweeen, the spiritual tension at Christmas, or the whole why-must-there-be-a-bunny discussion at Easter. These things I find overwhelming; cooking, not so much.
That said, I’m certain it hasn’t always been a sure bet that I’d end up the Thanksgiving hostess. My favorite story isn’t even mine: it’s my mom’s. When she and my dad were first married, and living far, far away from where they’d grown up, relatives came to visit the newlyweds for Thanksgiving. In anticipation of the big day, my mom prepped and cooked and stressed, I’m sure, to get it all just right. And things looked good: food ready, table set, conversation moving. But when the time came to cut the bird, something curious happened. The conversation quieted, and my sweet, young mother realized that she was supposed to take that plastic bag and its contents out before cooking… Ah, well. We all learn from our mistakes and she has become a fine turkey cook over the years. And pie, did I mention her pie?
Early in my own marriage, it looked as though the non-domestic qualities may have been passed down. When I asked my husband, on his first birthday after our wedding, what kind of cake he’d like me to make (I was trying!), I thought he’d answer with a flavor I’d select from Betty Crocker or Duncan Hines. But no. What he said, exactly, was, “I’d really like an Italian Cream Cake.”
A what?
I definitely had not seen that in the cake aisle. I furtively called his mom, and she faxed me the very complicated recipe. (Anything that involved more than adding oil and eggs was complicated for me, people. I was new at this.)
I measured and stirred and beat those eggs whites and poured the batter into the new tins we’d bought. As I slid it into the oven, it just didn’t look right. “Greg,” I called. “Something doesn’t look right about this cake.” He slid over to the oven, pulled open the door, and asked, “Did you add flour?”
Flour! Right!
But, lo, these many years later, I can bake a mean Italian Cream Cake and a delicious stuffed turkey.
I’ve come a long way, baby.
And for that, we’re all thankful.
This post was written as part of Parent Bloggers Network's blog blast. It's sponsored this week by the one and only Butterball, which always graces my Thanksgiving table.
We pause for this commercial interuption.
Edit of the day: Cakewrecks hilarious post
My favorite part is Jen's comment: "What are you guys talking about? Our education system is fine. Really."
Okay, enough editing. Here's the original post:
The Obvious Today:
Get out there and vote! Stand inside, stand outside, join the queue, take a snack for yourself, take a snack for your toddler, do whatever you have to do. Just get on over to the polls. I can’t wait!
The Less Obvious, But Very Scary and Worth Pursuing Post-Election:
The NY Times reported yesterday that “Over the past six years, the F.D.A. has managed to inspect annually an average of just 15 of the 714 Chinese drug plants that export to the United States. At its present pace, the F.D.A. would need more than 50 years to visit all of these Chinese plants. By contrast, the F.D.A. inspects domestic drug plants every 2.7 years.”
Now we all know that melamine has been found in formula manufactured in China. We’re afraid to buy potentially tainted toys made there. But we’re importing uninspected drugs by the bazillions. (Okay, that’s not the official number, but it’s close.) Does this make sense?
The upside is that because China and other countries can manufacture drugs so inexpensively, millions of people around the world have access to drugs they wouldn’t be able to afford otherwise. However, warns Gardiner Harris in his NY Times article, “without proper regulation, some of those drugs could be either ineffective or dangerous. A 2006 study found that more than half of anti-malarial drugs sold in Southeast Asia contained no active ingredients. The World Health Organization has estimated that as much as 10 percent of pharmaceuticals sold worldwide are counterfeit or contaminated. In some poor countries, the share is more than 30 percent.”
As far as I’m concerned, any percent of contaminated or counterfeit drugs is unacceptable. If Target can figure out what I bought last week without a receipt, and the Apple Store can function without cash registers, then the FDA ought to be able to get its act together, too. Why on earth are we paying taxes out the wazoo to a government that can’t use our dollars efficiently? We work hard for that money. Shouldn’t they work hard to appropriate it properly?
I’m a fan of my good friend Nyquil and his close cousin, Advil, and I hope to not have to give either up on days when my body is desperate for relief. Shouldn’t I be able to take them without fear?
This makes me a little nervous, friends. What about you?
So this weekend, I really wanted to participate in the Blog Blast at Parent Bloggers Network because we had some great costumes. Well, sure, I’m a little biased, but still, we had a lovely little carrot, Indiana Jones himself, and Granny with a baby on her back. The latter is seriously the best costume we have ever come up with (thanks familyfun.com), and more people took photos of my son on Friday than ever before. (And, yes, that did freak me out a bit.)
So, for the contest, we can enter our kids’ costumes in several different categories, and if I had a picture, darn it, I’m sure Granny would have a fighting chance at "Most Creative." But since my camera broke on Thursday morning, I have only have one lonely picture of our carrot, taken with my cell phone during his class party.
Since it's all I've got, and because it's really cute, I’m entering this one as “Cutest Costume, ages 3 and up.” Surely it has a chance, especially if the little girl who’s mom brought her to storytime in her hand-sewn, to-die-for adorable little skunk costume, isn’t a blogger. And with all that sewing to do, how could she have time? (Here’s hoping!) And here’s my sweet little carrot (the idea was all his, I promise.) Isn't he cute? Cutest? Right?
