Guest Blogs

So yesterday archaeo-anthropologist Timothy Taylor explained to Gizmodo that the discovery of 2.5 million-year-old chipped stone tools that are at least 300,000 years older than the oldest known homo fossils suggests that not only did humans not invent tools, tools invented humans. I know you can walk upright, but for this theory, I suggest you be sitting down:What were these tools used for?

Upright female hominins walking the savannah had a real problem: their babies couldn't cling to them the way a chimp baby could cling to its mother. Carrying an infant would have been the highest drain on energy for a hominin female - higher than lactation. So what did they do? I believe they figured out how to carry their newborns using a loop of animal tissue. Evidence of the slings hasn't survived, but in the same way that we infer lungs and organs from the bones of fossils that survive, it is from the stone tools that we can infer the bits that don't last: things made from sinew, wood, leather and grasses.That is right, we owe the entirety of human evolution and existence to baby slings.

Which might be one argument for convincing the CPSC to not ban them after all. Help us, newly announced board of the recently formed Baby Carrier Industry Alliance, you're our only hope!

Artificial Ape Man: How Technology Created Humans [gizmodo]
Baby Carrier Industry Alliance announces board and names Industry Insider as Executive Director [babycarrierindustryalliance.memberlodge.org]

greg

So Sonwun wanders into the kitchen the other day. His eyes are full of tears. He's sobbing and he's carrying his Wii wheel.

Yeah, it's been raining a lot the past week or so here in Thompson, so he's been polishing his Mario Kart skills a little more than I'd like to see. But, to be honest, the video games have given me a peek inside his little mind. And I'm fascinated.

He's sobbing because he erased his driver's licence and lost all of his medals. This is a big problem because I have no idea how he did it, or if it's fixable. So I ask him what he did. And, without missing a beat, he takes me through a series of menus in Mario Kart that ends with a button that says "Erase Licence."

I had no idea it was there and if you asked me today, I'm not sure I could find it again. But he could. Even though he can't read yet, he recognizes the shapes and colours of the different buttons and retains the patterns in his head. It is actually kind of amazing.

Anyhoo, turns out this is not fixable so he must start again. Lesson learned, I hope.

Now this got me to thinking. As a parent, I often ask this 4-year-old the typical, probably stupid, question that all parents seem to ask of their children at some point . . . "What were you thinking??"

I mean, when you hear laughter from the dining room table and enter the room to find the dog and walls covered in yogurt, what else can you say? "What were you thinking??!!"

When he winds up with his plastic baseball bat and takes careful aim at his younger brother's head, you gotta ask. When you see him walking toward the electrical outlet with a fork, you gotta ask. And when you see him hauling his tricycle to the top of the slide, and then standing on the seat at the top, you gotta ask.

But Mario has given me the answer. Sonwun is thinking the same thing he is always thinking: "What happens if . . .?"

It is his mantra, his philosophy, his raison d'être. It is the way he learns.

And you can see it in Mario Kart. While I'm content to race around the track, Sonwun is always bumping into walls, driving off the course, painting outside the lines, if you will. Why? Because he wants to know what happens if . . .

And I'll tell you what happens. He finds shortcuts, secret places and boosts that give him an edge over me. He learns, he gets better and he teaches me things.

Sonwun is teaching me, for example, that his philosophy is a good one. It makes life interesting. Honestly, how boring is your life if you stop asking the question? Is that when you stop living and start the slow march to the big dirt nap?

The world, to Sonwun, is new and fascinating. I am watching him and I can see that every day he craves new experiences, new answers to the same question. What happens if . . .?

In the adult world, in business, in the board room, in the lab, we call this Thinking Outside the Box and we revere those who are good at it. They are the business leaders, the great artists, the ones finding cures for disease. But they're only doing what my 4-year-old son is doing. What happens if . . .?

So yeah, it begins with Mario Kart. Sometimes you erase your driver's licence, sometimes you find a shortcut. But you keep trying, you keep driving where you "shouldn't," and you keep asking yourself, What happens if . . .?

It's a great philosophy.

Yayoi Kusama's works attempt to give the viewer a chance to lose himself, to have his own sense of individual identity replaced with a barrage of mirrored doppelgangers, to merge completely with the disorienting environment, Of course, most of this concept assumes the viewer has a fully developed sense of self in the first place. Which may explain why this one-year-old kid attending a wedding last year in Pittsburgh has such a freakout-good time.
]
The 'Dot' Room VIDEO [sanhelsington's flickr stream via @heartasarena]
Infinity Dots Mirrored Room, 1996, by Yayoi Kusama, The Mattress Factory [mattress.org]
Previously: Baby Carriage, 1964, by Yayoi Kusama

greg

From the DT Monday Mommy Mailbag [hey!]:ByMomsForMoms just announced a little contest that I thought you might want to share with your readers, Twitter followers and Facebook fans. We've been working with Cottonwood Kids for about a year now helping to promote their Healthy Baby Bounty Bag, a breastfeeding support bag that is meant to replace those formula samples that so many moms get when they leave the hospital after giving birth.

The bags have been hugely successful. There are about 400 hospitals, birthing centers, and WIC programs who carry them now, double what the distribution was a year ago. Anyway, Cottonwood Kids wants to rename the bag, and we're helping them find suggestions from moms.How about Mommy's Milk Fun Bags? Not that anyone's asking me, of course.

greg

It always starts with something small.

I know this because I've read "Because a Little Bug Went Ka-choo!" to my boys. It starts, as expected, with a little bug sneezing. That little sneeze puts into motion a chain of events that sees, among other things, a chicken getting wet, a turtle falling into a lake, a farmer having a bucket land on his head and a boat almost sinking. It ends with that boat flying into town and disrupting a circus parade. Read it to your kids, you'll see. Good book.

And I know this because, in my first home, I tried to recaulk the bathtub. And it ended with an entire bathroom renovation, complete with a brand new toilet, as I put the hammer through the old one while removing baseboard.

Anyhoo, this time around, it began with Sonwun finding a tiny flaw in the wallpaper. He chose to make it a little less tiny. Some would say huge.

And so, while bargain hunting one Saturday morning, Neomom found a couple of gallons of the perfect colour of paint needed to replace said flawed wallpaper. Great! For about $20, we could fix this unsightly problem and life would be good.

But, as is often the case with a 60-year-old house, those that have done renovations over the years have not always had the skill, or desire to do them properly. And a little bug went ka-choo!

So we peeled off the old wallpaper. We found few flaws in the wall that, apparently, those that installed the wallpaper, were trying to hide. No big problem. Nothing a $10 bucket of drywall compound and a few hours of work couldn't fix.

Oh, and the wallpaper went behind the door trim, so we had to pull that off. It's old, it's chipped and, if we're gonna do the job right, it should be replaced. A few more dollars for new trim . . . and a bucket of white paint to paint it. (Not on sale).

And then Neomom noticed that, you know, with the new colour in the stairwell leading to the rec room, if we painted the one wall down there with the new paint (hey, we had 2 gallons, why not!) it would look so much nicer. (A new roller or two, a little tape, no big deal).

And so we did. We pulled that baseboard off the wall, in order to paint it properly, and, in the process, decided it too should be replaced. But not just on that wall. I mean it has to match the rest of the room and the previous renovators had used door casing as baseboard anyway . . . so . . . 100 feet of baseboard . . . a few more dollars. And a little bug went ka-choo!

Meanwhile, upstairs at the original wall, I had removed the door, which has 21 lovely glass panes in it, and leaned it up in the mudroom while I worked on the door frame and trim.

Now, the good news here is Sontoo did not get hurt. But he did find the door and decided it shouldn't be leaning against the mirrored closet doors in the mudroom. So he pushed it over.

More good news here. Not one of the 21 panes of glass in the door was broken. The mirrored closet doors, however, shattered as the falling door bounced up into them. Sooo . . . $200 to replace the mirrored closet doors.

Now, we're still in the middle of this little project and praying we've found the last of the surprises. My next purchase will be a little antihistamine for that freakin' bug.

I hope to put the door back in place this morning, which will, knock wood, eliminate the chances of it getting knocked through something else of value.

I also hope to paint the last of the 100 feet of baseboard in the garage today and install it in the rec room early next week.

"And that's how it happened. Believe me. It's true. Because . . . just because . . . a small bug went ka-choo!

To me, it was the most craptacular, run-down, unsightly, depressing excuse for a carnival I've ever seen.

To Sonwun and Sontoo, it was "the bestest thing ever!!"

It's all a matter of perspective.

Last night, we loaded up the mini-van o' fun and headed to the parking lot at the big mall in Thompson. The carnival was in town! Rides, games and the most unhealthy food too much money can buy! Wahooooo!

But it's about the kids, right? They haven't seen too many carnivals (thank goodness) so the lights, the rides and the cotton candy all came together in a sugar-fuelled evening of spectacular fun.


The boats, at least, looked like boats!

We started off small, with the Boat Ride. You know, a dozen little boats on a track that the young-uns sit in and pretend to steer while going in circles. They enjoyed it, and it only cost me three tickets per child ($5.10 in total).

Roller coaster fun!

And then it was the mini roller-coaster. Bigger fun, more tickets. ($6.80 total). They really liked that one. Sure, it was depressing to me. I mean, the little cars looked like they were made in metal shop at the high school, about 50 years ago. Not kidding. I mean, the carnivals I've been to in the past at least try to make the mini-coaster look like something . . . a dragon, clown cars . . . SOMETHING.



But these things were little metal boxes, powered by a visible electric motor, tethered by an electric cord to a power source in the middle of the circuit.

Did the boys care? Hell no! It was a ride, it went up and down, it went "fast" and it lasted long enough for the carny to enjoy a full cigarette. It was awesomeness incarnate.


The Swing! Sonwun said it was the most fun!

The sights! The sounds! The smells! We wandered about for a while, carefully dodging the puke piles on the pavement, that no one seemed too concerned about cleaning up. We stopped to watch as a carny splashed several buckets of water into the "Salt and Pepper Shaker" ride, to wash out the puke left by a rather green rider.

We bought a couple of slushies, some candy apples, a dozen mini donuts and a bag of cotton candy. The supper of champions!

All in all, the boys had a blast! And the smiles were more than worth the roughly $60 I dropped for this entertainment.

But all good things must come to an end. And so, still vibrating on the sugar-filled festivities, we headed back to the mini van o' fun . . . only to discover someone (not mentioning any names Neomom) had locked the keys inside.

No big deal, the boys had enough sugar on board to walk to Winnipeg. Home is much closer.

So we walked home and discovered we'd locked it up tight, necessitating a little break-and-enter: a perfect end to a night of fun in Thompson!

"The bestest thing ever!"

I haven't been posting blogs here for a few reasons, mainly because Facebook is SO much quicker and easier (although you can't really put out the whole story there) plus I actually think I might be growing up a little! I have been feeling more mature and less vulgar and spiteful lately and haven't really felt the need/urge to let some of those verbal bombs off......until tonight. We had a little experience/incident today that has motivated me to dust off my little corner of the 'net and go off on someone.

So this is your fair warning: If you want to keep your thoughts about me positive and you hold me in any kind of regard whatsoever, please go to another site as I'm about to get REALLY negative.

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Ok, you've been warned:

A few days ago, Ian asked me what ventriloquism was. How it came up, I REALLY don't know..but I explained it to him about how it was somebody controlling a puppet, using their voice to make them talk and told him how cool it was. Sure as shit, the very next day I saw in the paper that a library in a neighboring town was having a ventriloquist/puppet show geared towards kids this week. I told him about it and he was really excited as we were JUST talking about it. So off we go, in our happy little world, to see a ventriloquist in the children's section of a library. JUST TO MAKE THAT CLEAR: We were going to see a puppet show in the CHILDREN'S SECTION of a library.

We arrive in the children's part of this particular library, which is a place I used to take Ian for story time and crafts when he was little. As expected, it was the same children's librarian that has been there for probably 30 years. I think her official title is "Fundamental And Topmost Bookkeeper In The Children's Headquarters" of the library. But as you can see that is WAY too long...so to keep it short (and for my amusement) I'll just refer to her from here on out by her acronym: the FAT BITCH of the libarary.

We walk in and there are probably 50 kids there eating dixie cups of free ice cream provided by the FAT BITCH. She sees & recognizes me, comes right up and says hello, asks me where we've been, why we haven't been going there, etc, and then gives the kids ice cream as she moves on. What a hostess! She makes sure that all the kids has some ice cream (this is key!)

After everyone has eaten their treats she takes the microphone and tells everyone to settle down and that the show is about to begin. The show starts and the ventriloquists first act involves an old lady puppet talking about the difficulty in naming her women's group from the town of Suffering Heights. Really? What the fuck? Like I said, there are like 50 kids in the audience, 95% of which are under 9 years old. This bit goes on for no less than 5 minutes, all the while the FAT BITCH is in the back cackling it up at the jokes.

The ventriloquist puts that mess away and begins talking about how she travels the world and has been asked to bring a new puppet when she goes to Romania later this year. I'm fucking lucky if Ian can find the right part of the toilet bowl when he takes a piss and she's talking about Romania...you think Romania is on these kids' radar??? Not only that, but she goes on to talk about this particular puppet...and then says "but you'll see her later. Right now you'll meet...." and starts talking about another puppet. Why fucking bring it up at that point in the show then?? Ugh. Sure enough, sitting there in the back is the FAT BITCH clapping and being all proud of herself for putting this shit-show together.

Ok, enough about the ventriloquist. Let's get to the meat and potatoes of this thing and talk about the stupid fucking FAT BITCH. Any parent worth their salt would not be surprised that after about 15 minutes of this crap some of the kids started getting antsy. Why? For those who don't have kids (or who may not be worth their weight in salt) A)a lot of this material was WAY over their heads, so they were bored and B)Theey were all fuckin' sugared up!

Some kids started wiggling around, some started talking to each other (or to themselves or even to no one in particular!), and some, heaven forbid, got bored and walked away. *GASP*! The HORROR! Well, FAT BITCH would have NONE of this! She started going around fucking shushing anything and anybody that wasn't perfectly still. Telling the kids to "settle down" and "pay attention to the show".

Twins less than a year old in a stroller behind us got an evil look. A one year old on my friend's shoulders who was talking to himself got the finger to the lips and a "SHHHHH" from the FAT BITCH. AND She even had the nuts to go up to kids who went off to the corner of the library to play (because they were bored) and shush them and told them to go back and sit down to watch the show! Really, lady? Really? How fucking engrossed in yourself are you?? You're that big of a fucking spotlight whore that you need everyone to suck in and suffer through this craptacular that you planned and put together? These kids (who were our friend's daughter and friend) did the right thing by getting up and walking away since they weren't interested...and you fucking drag them back into your arena?

And that's not even the worst of it! At the same time all of this was going on, Ian also got bored (the puppet was talking about the theory of relativity, or some other kid-friendly topic) so he asked if he could try to go and find Star Wars books. I figured there was no harm in that, since the other option was to have him sit there and be bored....and most likely cause a disturbance to those around him. So off he goes scanning the shelves QUIETLY for something that interests him.

Well, if you know Ian, you know he isn't the most coordinated kid around and tends to get tunnel vision when he's focused on something. As he was searching the back of the library for the books, he tripped on the power supply to the ventriloquists equipment and shut off her microphone. It was actually pretty damn comical: I was watching him and he was walking along the shelves not looking at the floor. All of a sudden you hear him go "oooph!", see him disappear behind the bookcases that were between us and then hear the ventriloquists mic go out. She turns around to see what happened and Ian pops up, looks around and just blurts out "Sorry...i'm just looking for Star Wars books!" Classic Ian!

Well, that really set FAT BITCH off! She goes up to him, grabs his hand and as she is leading him back she tells him that he shouldn't be looking at books while the show is going on.


She brings him back to me and I let her know it's not his fault, that I gave him permission to go look at books...she fucking tells me that he can't do that because the library is closed during performances!

YOU CRUSTY, OLD, IRRELEVANT GARGOYLE! In this day and age, you should be jumping for freaking JOY that they are there in your library! If these KIDS (your customers) stopped coming to the KIDS section of the library, your dinosaur ass would be unemployed! And lets be honest here, it's not like you're booking top talent on David Letterman.

And in case I haven't made it obvious, these are KIDS! They wouldn't even sit still and be quiet for a GOOD show....especially after eating ice cream that YOU gave them! Way to fucking set them up like that, you douchenozzle.

Don't get me wrong, I get it that there was a "performance" going on and she was trying to keep order. That's not lost on me. What I DON'T get is her high expectations in this instance: It was a free show for kids of all ages in a public building. If people had to pay for tickets, I'd get it. If it was advertised for kids "10 and up" or "appropriate for 4th graders and older" and I was the jackass that brought my 3 year old and 1st grader thinking they could handle it, no problem. But getting that worked up for what it was? I think it's time to put that FAT BITCH's cranky old ass out to pasture.

You know what, I take that back....I think it's time to put MY fat, cranky old ass out to pasture. Today some lady hushes kids during story time and I spend 3 hours writing a blog about it. FML.

Someone on Twitter called the 2006 show titled, "Musical Language" the single best episode of Radiolab ever. I don't know about that, but it is certainly very awesome.

And from a parent's perspective it is a must-listen. There's a bit about why every human in the world uses that sing-songy language to talk to babies. And then there's the part about how our kids could all have perfect pitch if only they were exposed at ages 6-12 months to a tonal language, like, say, Mandarin: Here we have a faculty that had been thought to be confined to a few rare individuals who were thought to just be extraordinarily gifted, that might, in fact, be available to any individual, provided they're given the right exposure, at a critical period. And that raises the question of what other sorts of abilities could be brought out if we only knew just what to do. There may be much more human potential than we realized.When cultural historians trace the origins of Tribeca's Chinese-speaking nanny trend, they will find Jad Abumrad sitting there waiting for them with a Confucius-like smile on his face.

Radiolab | Musical Language, April 21, 2006 [wnyc, via, I remember now, it was tom carmody, sitting in for jason kottke]

greg

Some parenting, kid, pregnancy, science, and education headlines from all over to freak you out and ruin your weekend:

• Despite August not being a good month for launching a new product recall, the CPSC recalled 3,700 Zooper Tango double strollers [above] sold in 2007-8 after receiving 185 reports of the frame collapsing when it hits the curb. [cpsc]


• Another tainted formula scandal in China, as at least three infants reportedly developed breasts after drinking Synutra formula. Which is made with milk powder imported from New Zealand's dairy giant, Fonterra. [chinadaily and wsj via scocca]


• A new MSU/NCSU study finds that being born a couple of days before the kindergarten cutoff date is a good way to boost your kid's chances of being diagnosed with ADHD. [ncsu and eurekalert via waxy]


• Researchers have discovered that iPads cure autism, and by researchers, I mean parents, and by cures, I mean, helps a bit. [sfweekly]


• A CDC researcher presented unpublished data at an AIDS conference showing the US circumcision rate has, like many tiny penises themselves, been chopped nearly in half [from 56% in 2007 to 32% in 2009]. [nyt via choire]


• On the bright [?] side, the CDC also reports that there were no reported total penile amputations related to infant circumcision between 2007-9, and only three partial amputations! [abstract: aids2010.org]


• Thanks to Dadcentric, Rebel Dad and Matt Lauer [!] for smacking down Marie Claire's lame Trophy Husbands article so I don't have to.


• A study found that 26 4yo kids in Bangkok were more likely to eat spinach when it's associated with Popeye. These are the last known 4yo's in the world who even know who Popeye is. [popeye]


• Doing well in kindergarten will earn your kid a $1000 later, but it won't necessarily get him into Harvard, says a Harvard study. [eurekalert]


• Arizona is beginning a study to improve preschool reading comprehension, says principal Joe Arpaio, who recently invited all the state's anchor babies onto a dark-windowed "school bus." [eurekalert]


• BPA harms sperm count and motility, say environmental health researchers at the University of Michigan, who then said, "Can you hear me NOW?" [eurekalert]


• 2010 is turning out to be a record year for kids dying in the backseat of cars, says an organization which has updated the news section of its website once in three years. [khou, kidsandcars.org]

greg

We were at the store today and Leah saw bouquets of flowers for sale. Her eyes lit up, she gasped and said "ooooooooh flowers! How pretty! Daddy, we should buy them for mommy!"

I replied "That's a great idea, honey. I'm sure she would love it, but she is visiting her friends and won't be home for a few days...so she wouldn't see them while they are still fresh and pretty. So I don't think we're going to get them."

I shit you not, she didn't miss even half a beat when she came back with "well, we can get them for me then!" while giving me that "will-he-go-for-this?" look.

She had everyone within earshot in stiches. I have no problems saying no to her when she asks for things, and don't get rattled by her crying...but that was too damn funny and worth the money. (Don't worry honey, we were at Aldi's so it's not going to break the bank!)

The thing is...I'm not sure if I'm seriously amused or seriously embarrassed by the fact that I have NO flippin' idea where we keep the flower vases in our house. I've been looking for 10 minutes and still can't find them. Huh....maybe that means Allison should get flowers more often.

...or we need to keep the vases in a more obvious place.

My favorite new video from one of my favorite bands has a lot to love: rivalry, violence, a beautiful woman, rock stars, great music, not to mention yet another reminder of what a bad example kids can set for their...

From DT reader Eric comes this video of YouTube user drchelpka's expressive 3-yo son reciting "Litany," by former US Poet Laureate and apparent Outback Steakhouse fan ["You are still the bread and the knife"? Amiright? Am I the only one whose kid calls it the Brown Bread Restaurant?], Billy Collins:

Previously: 4-yo Joshua Socca does Kurt Russell's Herb Brooks speech from Miracle:

And Anyone teaching any 2-yo to recite Hamlet.

Clearly, what your kid memorizes is limited only by your own imagination and capacity for amusement.

greg

I think I'm going to whip up a batch of these. With the two-color screenprinting, they'll probably be $20, plus a couple of dollars shipping.

You can order either a onesie or a toddler t-shirt via Kickstarter. The Kickstarter project will end on Sept. 18, and then I'll print the entire batch of shirts and onesies at once. Expect delivery around October 16.

I have no idea how many to make. Unfortunately, the number I have in my head today is much smaller than the number I imagined a couple of weeks ago when I the idea came to me. I'd like to be wrong, though.

I [Heart] NY Onesies and Toddler T's project at Kickstarter ends Sept. 18 [kickstarter]
Related: a bit of background on the design and the idea

greg

Sean Connery and Romeo Void taught me something a long time ago: Never Say Never. Well, in Sean's case it was Never Say Never Again, but you get the point. You're smart. I think I need to clarify a bit...

Well as it always seems to happen in the summer I was away from my Blog a little bit.  Between my summer school (Microbiology UGH!) and of course summer activities I hardly had time to breath much alone sit and type anything out.

So where to go from here?

Monday the 16th

The first day of school for the kids as well as my middle guys 6th Birthday!  I can not believe he is 6 years old and in 1st grade.  He is a very YOUNG 1st grader seeing as the cutoff for school was September 1st.  One of his friends is actually 11 months older than him.  His first day at school was a little emotional for him with it his birthday and many of his friends from his last class are with different teachers.  Tuesday went well for him but it has been a long week for him.

Back from Vacation

Last week we were on Vacation.  We rent a cabin in the Northwoods of Wisconsin and spend the week actually relaxing.  We spent time biking, swimming, fishing and just relaxing.  The kids absolutely love the cabin and the beach.  This year was one of the hottest years up there so we all spent a ton of time in the water.  There are many families up there that come each ear so we see a lot of the same people.

• Swimming -There is a nice raft and the little kids started playing king of the raft, then the older kids got involved then the High School/College kids got involved then I got involved.  I was able to hold my own against a group of 18-23 year olds that are in a LOT better shape then me, that being said I paid for time as KING the next day…OUCH!
• Fishing – I got my own gear and everything this year since my 10yo really enjoyed fishing and the 6yo was getting started.  Well 10yo after about an hour of fishing stopped wanting to fish. (Great) 6yo on the other hand had a blast fishing off the pier and catching pan fish.  He caught over 100 fish easily!  5 perch and the rest Blue Gill.  I had a Small Mouth Bass, 5 Perch and a ton of blue gill.  I had a 2 foot Northern Break free at the pier as well a a large Walleye.  Would have loved to bring in the Northern, but less then a couple feet away it splashed free from the hook!
• Swimmers Ear- I came back from vacation with swimmers ear.  Not fun at all… I felt like my ears were going to pop!  4th day on drops and it is now under control.  I have a new respect for the little ones when they get ear infections!

Broken Washer

Sunday after getting most of the laundry done the Washer Broke!  Motor went.  We thought about replacing, but will just fix for now.  The cost to fix is better then replacing it and we really do not want to have to RUSH out and buy a washer.  Now we can take our time and find a Washer and Dryer we want at a time when we want!

Quiet…Too Quiet!

The house is so quiet now that the two older boys are in school.  2.5yo and I are getting into our own routine, which will change when I start my job at the Hospital in a month.  For now he and I are enjoying a little piece!

The 5

1. Lego Harry Potter - What a blast of a game to play.  10yo and I have been playing it a lot together and apart.  Fun family game!
2. Clash of the Titans – Watched the remake this week.  Fun movie, but rather different then the original.  The FX were amazing and the cast was really good, but it was a little short on the story telling.
3. Ready for Work – I am starting to prepare myself for the over nights.  Will be a big shock at first to be on that schedule, but am looking forward to it.  Work and still be home with the boys!
4. Housework – I need to get the spring cleaning done… Before FALL!!
5. School! – I start classes again soon.  Will be an interesting time getting through class and a new work schedule.  Might be a balance of time I am not used to.  Granted Summer school was a tough balance this semester should be a breeze!

I am Back Taking It One Day At a Time!

So The New York Times reports that city families are seeking out non-English-speaking nannies to teach their kids a foreign language. Or I should say second language, since the whole point of New York is that there's no such thing as a foreign language.

The whole thing is premised on the conventional wisdom, which is basically based on research, that it's easier to learn two languages early. So there's that "wanting to give my kid an edge" argument.

But then the private school folks weigh in, and warn that bilingual doesn't help your kid get into preschool, and if anything, the associated verbal development delays may actually hurt your kid's test scores. Yikes!

And anyway, Mandarin's the hot "get a jump on Harvard" language, but almost all the parents in the Times story want Spanish-speaking nannies. Because it turns out to be a Roots thing. If parents are asking West Indian nannies to speak to their kids only in Creole now, it didn't make the article. Wouldn't that help on the kid's Lycee application?

This is what happens when the NY/Region section tries to take on a Style section topic. I can just imagine the eyerolling at Babble and New York Magazine right now. Meanwhile, hats off to Skip*Hop for the sweet product placement of their urban chic playmat.

Wanted - Baby Sitters With Foreign Language Skills [nyt]
image: Taco Bell talking dog plush toy, $14.95+s/h [ebay]

greg

Trying to parent while fully loaded down with zoo ambivalence is hard enough on its own. It's only made worse by living a block away from two of them [National Zoo in DC, Central Park Zoo in NYC]. Which gives the kid a chance to visit the zoo and see the psychotic polar bear, or the crippled kangaroo every week.

Still, I've managed to keep my zoo gripes in check around the kid. So when I explained what the coloring book the hyper-friendly PETA ladies' were handing out was about, she sprang to the zoos' defense.

"Animals Belong In The Jungle" is pretty hard to argue with, though. And to their credit, the PETA book delivers its propaganda in a very reasonable way.

But as the kid's been reading and coloring her way through it--well, that's just the point: she's reading it. And asking questions about mean elephant trainers in the circus. What I'd picked up for my own ironic, parental amusement is now entering my kid's head in a way a "My mom's a MILF" onesie never could. The kid's onto me; the jig is up.

greg

The only photos in his flickr stream are from May, so I am assuming that Scooter Trash did not, in fact, end up sacrificing his wife's new kitchen for this rather fine-looking 1964 Chevrolet Bel Air Wagon.

1964 Bel Air Wagon [flickr via andy]

greg

A bass-heavy day care memory.

“Wow, Dad, you’re being really nice to me,” my son bubbled as he placed an item on the growing pile, and I immediately diagnosed him as suffering from some kind of Stockholm Syndrome. Thanking me? For school supplies? A good dad would have screamed, “Run for your life boy! Seventh Grade will not claim another Nichols child as long as I am up and taking nourishment!”

Instead I asked him if he needed a protractor.

I guess that as a boy, I too got excited about buying school supplies. I was nerdy about mechanical pencils and binders and backpacks. Was. Am. I wasn’t any better than Bubba at recognizing the tools of my own oppression. I cruised up and down the aisles at the Kmart and marveled at the lack of push-back I got from my mom each time I produced a new ultra-fine pen and matching pocket protector (yes, I wore them). Maybe she felt a twinge of guilt as well.

As I was working the Staples, so tarted up with garishly colored and patterned school supplies as to be unidentifiable as an office products store, I realized that my kids had been deprived of this ritual in the past. The one mitigating moment in the onrush of the school year had been stolen by our local elementary school booster club. At our elementary school, the students arrive at school on the first day and begin to unpack the hermetically sealed and identical crates of school supplies that the parents had paid for the previous spring.

I know that there are good practical reasons for pre-bundled school gear. Like uniforms (which our school should look into), standardized supply decks keep the super rich from lording their junior Mont Blancs over the merely wealthy and their pathetic Cross ballpoints. The common kit assures will have the precise supplies that the teacher knows that he or she wants. And it does spare busy parents one more trip in an already hectic time of year.

Still. Bubba sweated over exactly what packets of pens to select, fussed over what kind of pockets and brads were the best, and generally managed to work up some enthusiasm over going back to school. Perhaps a little self expression is called for in school supplies, even if it means the return of the pocket protector.