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Showing posts from August, 2011

What I Learned at the Playground

1.  Once kids reach about the age of 8, parents evidently feel that they no longer need any sort of supervision and let them wander the neighborhood alone all evening long. 2.  There isn't much that is productive for kids ages 8-15 to do on a playground. 3.  If you are the first to fall off of the monkey bars, you are a "punk-ass white boy". 4.  If the white lady glares at you when you say racist comments, you will, instead of understanding the intent of the glare, change your statement to: "punk-ass mexican". 5.  That pre-teen girls come to the playground to flirt with pre-teen boys. 6.  That it makes my stomach hurt to have to go to the playground when it is filled with the big kids. 7.  That practicing swear words while climibing the jungle gym makes you seem really tough to all of your friends. 8.  That I will, at some point, want to punch somebody's kid in the head.  That kid won't be mine.  I won't know whose kid it is, because I

The Newseum

We live near and are members of the largest children's museum in the world (who knew?  I guess there really is more than corn in Indiana).  We visit at least a couple of times a month.  The Nugget loves it, and I can motivate her to do almost anything as long as she knows that it will be followed by a trip to "the newseum". Once a month, the newseum has a special event for members where kids can come and play late on Friday nights.  I recently decided to take advantage of this evening.  The Nugget and I spend every other Friday on a date alone due to The Mister's work schedule and I thought this sounded like a fun one.  The Nugget can act like a wild child all she wants, Mommy can sit back and relax and coast until bed time. Or not. The first sign I had that this late night at the newseum would not be a total success was when I arrived to pick The Nugget up from daycare.  She was taking a nap.  I know I have celebrated this fact in the past , but that was becau

Shhhh....it's Saturday

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High heels and overalls - what other dancing attire is there?

I've been Liebstered!

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"The Liebster Blog Award is designed to bring additional recognition to those bloggers with less than 200 followers. If you receive the award, you should link back to the blogger that nominated you and nominate five more blogs. Also, don’t forget to let them know that you nominated them." I'd like to thank The Academy, my mom, all of my managers and producers and, most importantly, Jennie at Fond of Blond  (who, really, is the only one who had anything to do with my getting such an award). Jennie is an awesome, honest mom to three beautiful boys and one cuddly puppy.  She writes about her triumphs and struggles as a mom, about her thoughts on lots of interesting topics and about her love of writing.  She also posts some really awesome fiction sometimes!  You should definitely check her out. Now for my five nominees (this is so fun!): 1.   think.stew Stew never fails to crack. me. up.  He is, in his own words , " a dad, a hubby, a hot fat-guy, an educator an

Shhhh....it's Saturday

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"Mommy, I wanna color markers!"  

Why I am pretty sure the cashier is trying to kill me

So, The Nugget and I went food shopping the other day.   I generally try to be super organized when we do this because I can only hold off her irritation for so long.  I always know exactly what we need and where we are going so I can bang through the shopping and get out of there.  We were doing great.  Until we reached the checkout stand. I rapidly scanned the various aisles and decided on one where there was one full cart and one half cart in front of us.  It seemed the best we could do.  I was confident that we would move right along. *Cue ominous music* When you have a two year old, you really can't just relax and read the magazines while you leisurely wait on the line to move forward.  Standing in line equates to a million requests for all of the various things that are surrounding the aisle.  "I want lipstick!" "I want cookies!" "I'm hungry!" "I want a balloon!" And then, of course, the invariable anger that follows

You do not know

Today a co-worker of mine shared with me some tragic news.  She had just attended a funeral for a baby of about 2 years old.  The baby had been visiting her father's house when she wandered out and fell into the pool and drowned.  My heart broke for this baby and her family.  I don't know them, but when you have suffered the loss of a child, you become part of a family of sorts.  I can tell you when I walk into work who among us has lost children, and we all speak a bit more kindly to one another.  We give knowing smiles and nods.  We know what others do not, cannot, should not.  And for that, we are gentler souls.  I have sent notes to people whom I have never and will never meet, just to try and let them know that it is possible to survive such an unbelievable tragedy.  That they are not alone. The co-worker who shared the news of the child's death took an unexpected turn in conversation when she said, "It took me a long time at the funeral to figure out who the

Listograpyh - Kids Movies

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Go over to Kate Takes 5  to check out more awesome lists.  Kate always comes up with great ideas that I just can't resist diving into.  So, without further ado, my top 5 favorite kids' movies: 1.   Labyrinth  - This movie has stood the test of time, in my humble opinion.  David Bowie in tights?  Maybe not so much.  But Jennifer Connelly?  I just knew she was destined for greatness.  I still quote this movie all of the time (though others may not realize it).  It is a truly magical adventure and one of my favorites from childhood.  I recently showed it to my niece who agreed that it is still cool (perhaps she was humoring me, but still).  On a side note, I was sure I would wear a dress JUST LIKE the one Sarah wore in the scene after she is poisoned by Hoggle.  Which, ask anyone, is pretty much the polar opposite of exactly what happened! 2.   Finding Nemo  - What is not to love about this movie (other than the fact that there is a lot of overwhelming sadness that takes pla