Things to Make - The Penny Game

Despite receiving MORE THAN ENOUGH gifts from Santa, by the end of winter break the kids started complaining of boredom. Luckily, the discontent began while I was camped on the couch reading US Magazine, which contained an advertisement for Cougar Town's newest season. So I immediately thought "PENNY CAN!!!" Yet how to stretch a game of penny can over a whole afternoon? Make it into a craft project!!

Here's the scoop:

1. Cut used three paper towel rolls into two, try to make all the tubes various different sizes (so you have six tubes total).

2. Find a piece of thick used cardboard and cut it into a rectangle large enough to hold all six tubes.

3. Ask the children to paint everything.

4. Let dry.

5. Write numbers on all of the tubes (ideally the higher tubes should have higher numbers, but T had his own ideas regarding tube order).

6. Use glue dots to attach the tubes to the cardboard rectangle.

7. Find all the pennies you can find and gather them into one container.

8. Toss!!

As silly as the penny game appears (and, yes, I know that it appears rather silly), it's actually quite addictive. Seriously. T and I have now spent three afternoons tossing penny after penny. We can't stop. Even Dan admitted that penny toss was more fun than it looked. And don't worry too much about keeping score, just getting one cent into any of the tubes is hard enough.

Things to Do - Let Six Year Olds Determine Your New Year's Resolution

The other day, on a car ride home from the Building Museum, one of P's friends, L, announced (in that random way 6 year olds have of just telling you information for no particular reason), "my older sister is skinny and I'm not." This, of course, broke my heart. The girl's sister is one of those tall lanky kids, whom everybody will probably call beanpole for a few years before her supermodel career begins, whereas P's friend is of average size, not too big and not too small, 100% adorable.

I yelled from the front seat, "but L, you look great." And L yelled back, "Of course, I look great, I'm healthy. I just don't look like my sister" (which is true).

The three girls then preceded to have a conversation about what it means to be skinny. F proclaimed that, like L, she is healthy, but not skinny (which is true). Then they discussed our dog's thinness, (sometimes you can see her ribs) even though she eats all the time.

Sheepishly, P stated "you guys, I think I am sort of skinny, but that's okay, right?" L and F contemplated and then asked me "there's nothing wrong with being skinny, is there? As long as you're healthy?"

"Of course", I replied.

Basically this whole conversation, yet again, taught me how much I can learn from my children and their friends. Whereas I see "skinny" as a magic word - one that makes me both jealous and insecure, the girls see it only as an adjective.

So, since it's a whole new year, rather then list a ton of resolutions that I'll fail to accomplish, I'm going to try and stick to one simple goal - healthiness. I'm not sure exactly what this means, but I know it means less time on the scale counting calories and more time evaluating my general happiness and well-being. Less time looking at the food info on the back of boxes and more time making meals using farmer's quality ingredients. More time at yoga and less guilt over my cookie-eating habit.

We will see how this turns out. Or maybe we won't see. Because I will be spending less time evaluating myself and more time appreciating myself. Thus, I may be gigantic by December and if so, then I will try a new experiment next year - probably one that involves "skinniness."

What about everyone else? Any goals?

Things to Read - Five Parenting Articles From Around the Web

* The New Republic has an interesting, albeit depressing, article on "How Older Parenthood Will Upend Society." The author takes somewhat of a doomsday approach, but still poses interesting questions about the effect of older sperm and eggs, Clomid, and assisted reproductive technologies. According to the article, "Fertility doctors do a lot of things to sperm and eggs that have not been rigorously tested, including keeping them in liquids (“culture media,” they’re called) teeming with chemicals that may or may not scramble an embryo’s development—no one knows for sure. There just isn’t a lot of data to work with: The fertility industry, which is notoriously under-regulated, does not give the government reports on what happens to the children it produces. As Wendy Chavkin, a professor of obstetrics and population studies at Columbia University’s school of public health, says, “We keep pulling off these technological marvels without the sober tracking of data you’d want to see before these things become widespread all over the world.”

For further reading on the issue, I found this DC Urban Moms discussion thread on advanced maternal age and babies a thoughtful take on the topic and not very snarky, at least in the beginning, though at the end it breaks down into a huge fight over abortion and downs syndrome (also worth a read).

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* Shannon wrote a great blog post about the whole boy/girl marketing scam. The post is best read in its entirety, but here's a snippet -

"All of these girl versus boy stereotypes are really antiquated, if you ask me. And they seem to be based on two really disgusting assumptions:

1) Sexism: That a boy acting like a girl is something bad. We don't get upset when girls are tomboys, or when girls want to wear blue, or play with a truck. But for some reason, we shouldn't allow our boys to take on any feminine qualities.
2) Homophobia: That by allowing our boys to like pink, or play with dolls, or whatever the "girly" activity, that they will inevitably steer to the "dark side" - that they will become gay, and that there is something inherently wrong with that."

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* In "Are Babies Born Good?" the Smithsonian magazine documents new research indicating that children MAY have an innate moral compass.

“Eighteen-month-old children . . . help across . . . different situations, and do it very spontaneously. . . . They are clever helpers. It is not something that’s been trained, and they readily come to help without prompting or without being rewarded.”

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* According to Slate Magazine parents need not stress over children who are picky eaters.

"[I]t’s normal for children to be wary of unfamiliar foods. The technical term for this behavior, which peaks between the ages of 2 and 6, is food neophobia, and it may actually be a relic of an evolutionary survival tactic: Animals old enough to forage for food alone but too inexperienced to know what’s safe are less likely to accidentally poison themselves if they are cautious about trying new foods. (Young chimpanzees and rats behave this way, for instance.) And unless a fussy child’s weight-for-age percentile is quickly dropping, he or she is probably not in any health danger from eating only bagels for a few weeks, says Lucy Cooke, a psychologist and public-health scientist at University College London. Kids can get enough nutrients from just a handful of foods, and hey, there are always vitamin supplements."

I personally found this interesting because once F turned 7, she began trying EVERYTHING we put in front of her, with no bribes. Whereas T still won't touch about 50% of the foods we eat.

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* The Washington Post published a short article on atheist parents talking to children about death that I found interesting, especially because we've had similar conversations in our own home (though I prefer to think of us as agnostic)."

According to one parent interviewed "“I’ve explained to them [in the past] that some people believe God is waiting for them, but I don’t believe that. I believe when you die, it’s over and you live on in the memory of people you love and who love you. I can’t offer them the comfort of a better place. Despite all the evils and problems in the world, this is the heaven — we’re living in the heaven and it’s the one we work to make. It’s not a paradise.”

Things to Do - Christmas 2012

We spent the days leading up to Christmas at the house of Dan's parents outside of Richmond. In the mornings we'd lounge about - reading on the couch and playing games of Dominion. Then in the afternoons everyone "dressed up" for various special events - the Nutcracker, Madeline's Christmas, and Unitarian church, after which we'd return for huge dinner feasts. The cousins played and played while the adults drank wine and champagne - a wonderful way to spend some time. These last few weeks I've felt incredibly grateful for everything in my life.



Dan's mom wasn't exactly thrilled about Coco's visit, but luckily the dog behaved wonderfully and our extended family is starting to adjust to their newest relative.



All T wanted for Christmas was a musketeer costume. It all started when the girls forced him to watch Barbie and the Three Musketeers (it's hard to be a baby brother), then we finally bought him Mickey and the Three Musketeers (movie and book) and now he's somewhat obsessed. At least the outfit is adorable, especially when he wears the hat.



The greatest gift of all!

Places to Go (Vacation) - Disney World 2012 - Part V - Epcot

We spent our final full-day at Disney World in Epcot. As I've stated before, I'm not a huge fan of Epcot, so originally I planned on skipping the whole park. But then my neighbor mentioned how much her children enjoy Soarin'. Further, a man we met told us about Epcot's Holidays Around the World Festival, featuring storytellers from all of Epcot's countries. So I decided to give Epcot another chance. And fortunately, we really enjoyed it this time, partially because the lack of shade isn't a problem on a 75 degree overcast day.

First we boarded Ellen's Energy Adventure, which was a little blah and dated, I spent most of the ride whispering to Dan "wow, she looks so young" and he kept looking at me like "what does that have to do with anything?"

Then we decided to check out Spaceship Earth, which Epcot has updated since we last rode it 8 or so years ago. Anyways, the girls LOVED the ride, especially the end where you can take a quiz which results in a "personalized" video about your sustainable future. F enjoyed it so much that we rode twice (another benefit of no lines).

We then meandered over to Soarin' (where we needed fast passes, which Dan and T got as soon as we arrived, while the girls and I stood in line for chipmunk photos). Claustrophobia usually keeps me from enjoying virtual reality-type rides, but there is something sort of amazing with having your feet hang in the air as you "glide" through Imax images of the world around us. So far, Epcot was looking better (though it will always be my least favorite park).

Next stop . . . the WORLD!!



But first we needed a random swordfight.



First country - Norway, where we picked up a secret agent phone that took us on various missions throughout the grounds. F found this part of the trip nothing short of "awesome." We'd just point the phone at a specified object and bravo something amazing would happen - for example an ordinary troll turns into a robot. I never quite figured out how the whole "mission" came together, but does it really matter? The phone created magic and that's good enough.



The Monkey King told stories of Chinese New Year. I didn't follow the whole plot, but his antics entertained us.



In Germany, Helga spoke of Christmas traditions and the Nutcracker while Dan and I drank various alcoholic beverages. Turns out Epcot can be quite pleasant on a 75 degree day. I think Dan sampled beer from almost every country. We're so cultured.



T fell in love with the soldiers. Obviously.



Free origami in Japan, which made my kids love the whole country. And, of course, more secret agent missions.



Morocco was quite a success, thanks to drums and dancing with Taarji.




Unfortunately we missed the end of the world, as the kids grew exhausted and the rain started to fall. Dan asked "well, I guess, we finally pushed them to the limit?" To which I replied "is there any other way to go?" I love this place.

On our final morning, we spent a few hours at the Magic Kingdom (I NEEDED to tour the Haunted Mansion and T couldn't leave without flying over Neverland) and then drove to the airport for our flight home (beware - security at the Orlando airport takes forever. As in HOURS!).

Here's our trip in summary (for what it's worth):

LEAST FAVORITE RIDES:

F (age 7) - Space Mountain

P (age 6) - Space Mountain

T (age 3) - "I like all the rides" [this is a lie, he cried during a lot of them, especially tramatic were - The Great Movie Ride, Pirates of the Caribbean, Ellen's Energy Adventure (the dinosaurs terrified T), Star Tours, Soarin' (which he seemed to love during the ride, then he cried for 20 minutes after it ended), and the Kali River Rapids

Dan (age 35) - The Great Movie Ride (we couldn't understand the gangster that guided our tour) and the new Ariel ride

Me (age 36) - Ellen's Energy Adventure (long and boring) and The Studio Backlot Tour

FAVORITE RIDES:

F (age 7) - Pirates of the Caribbean, Spaceship Earth, Soarin', Storytime with Belle, Epcot's Secret Agent Phones, and Toy Story

P (age 6) - Storytime with Belle, Toy Story, Buzz Lightyear, and the Haunted Mansion

T (age 3) - Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, Playhouse Disney Live, and the Triceratops Spin

Dan (age 35) - Toy Story, The Lion King, and the Kilimanjaro Safari

Me (age 36) - The Haunted Mansion, the Lion King, Mickey's Philharmonic, Star Tours, Epcot's Storytimes Throughout the World, and the Kilimanjaro Safari

I hope you all had a good holiday week, thanks for reading about our trip. Next week, back to random life in Arlington (where it even snows sometimes :)!! HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND!!