Winter Break - No childcare Day 1

This week is Presidents' Week - or more aptly named, Ski Week, or in working parents terms, ANOTHER WEEK WE HAVE TO FIND CHILDCARE! In an effort to offset some costs, we are not doing childcare, or camp, or anything. We are fortunate enough to be able to flex our work schedules and doing our best to be parents multitaskers. 

Here are the highlights of day one. 

Kids came to our Tax Appointment (note the offset childcare comment)- tablet and iPad in hand. After we left...

"Mom, how many laptops can you buy with $X dollars?"

"Where did you get that number..." (Oh wait, someone was listening at the tax appointment).

"A lot."

Couch Cinema double feature: The Little Rascals and Lego: The Adventures of Clutch Powers (while Mommy worked).

Played referee while the 2 boys argued over who was more "annoying" and who would not give the other access to the multitude of Lego bins. I called it. It was a tie.

Overheard iPad convo with my almost 6 year old and Siri: "I want to see big boobs."

Note: he did not get his wish.

And my personal favorite: My 9 year old son is a compulsive reader. In a fit of desperation and unbeknownst to us, he started reading a parenting book off of the "grown-up" bookshelf. Today, he told me how to properly execute a time-out and how offended he was by some of the cartoons outlining the trials of parenting.

And we got a new puppy.

10:39pm, Back to work. 

This is Poppy, Foxy, Curry, Cheeto Freeman. Poppy for short.

Lego Organization. How We Roll.

You may remember when I first approached this daunting topic, here. You know, the impossible feat of organizing organisms...well, they feel that small to me. Since Christmas, Hanukah, and a December birthday have passed, we have been hit again by the influx of yet, MORE LEGO! I think I need a support group.

Recently, I was asked about Lego organization by a flustered friend of mine and it inspired me to write this follow up post on what storage solution is working best for us (more like a work in progress). These tiny little evil bricks have caused equal amounts of joy and pain in our home. Mental and physical - the bottom of your feet will agree, and my eyeballs cannot go for more than a minute without scanning a Lego brick or mini-figure in my sight line. Legos and my boys are like peas and carrots. If you are like us, you have a Lego problem.

In all reality, the toy is fantastic. There is nothing better than watching your child sit for hours following written directions to build the monumental Death Star or Empire State Building, or use their imagination to create a masterpiece of their own. It's all educational, fun and inspiring, until it's time to clean them up. Or really, do they ever actually ALL get put away? If your answer is "yes," then I hate you. You're lying, or your kids don't love Legos the way mine do, or truthfully, maybe you're just more well adjusted and not OCD like me. This is a story about brick frustration - somewhat self-inflicted. And, continue rant...

Here is the biggest problem I have with Lego and the reason it can be the bane of my existence. Some of these more intricate Lego sets can cost in the realm of $150-$200 and up, per set. My issue is, that barring a trip to Disneyland, on nothing else would I spend this type of money for a few hours of use. My son will spend a half of a day constructing these sets, he will play with them like one would a doll house, and then what? Well, after several days, it needs to be put away. I don't have space to display every set created, and unlike many that will argue this point, I refuse to just throw them into a box with a million other sets, to never be built again as written.

I am fully aware that many parents are totally comfortable with dismantling the project and dumping it into a communal bin. This is not okay with me and it is not okay with my 8 year old. My influence? My OCD? Could be... but it really does pain me that the life span of an expensive Lego set is truncated by our ability to store it. In a perfect world, a set could be built and rebuilt again, with all of the pieces in tact. Some would argue that the communal bin inspires creativity...well, in my home, it inspires frustration and the inability to find ANYTHING! Oh, and keeping the original boxes? Not an option.

Okay, here is how we roll, and what we have discovered....

What we don't like. Don't sort by color.

Sorting by color makes it really difficult to find specifically shaped pieces. This is a common way I've heard parents say they organize, and we just think it makes pieces WAY harder to find.

Needle in a haystack.

Sort by type. We have two "types." By set, and by piece.

We found nut and bolt compartments at the hardware store which served us well in sorting the tiny and specialty pieces.

We also have some smaller sets sorted in these plastic drawers- which I hate, and they are hitting the road as soon as I can get re-organized in the new bins highlighted further down in this post.

Mini-figure/Accessories drawer

This has worked best for set-sorting

Gallon size ziploc bags work great for storing larger sets. We typically will put a set in one or two large bags and the tiny pieces in a snack or sandwich style ziploc bag.

The bags then fit nicely into a box or basket, like this one, from IKEA.

and tucked away into a shelving system like the IKEA EXPEDIT.

Lastly, OF COURSE we do have general combo bins, but we feel strongly about the preservation of some of our more special sets. Monster Fighters live with monsters and Zombies, Luke and Darth are with Jabba, and so on. Segregation is okay in the Lego community.

Good Luck. May you keep your Legos stored and your feet imprint free.

Our Holiday in Pictures

Good morning 2014. Here we are. Face to face.

I'm paralyzed in my bed not wanting to get up and ruin a resolution. I am however, posting to our blog, since I have seriously lapsed. Consider this one step in the right direction. Here are some fun and not so fun things that happened over the holidays! Happy New Year everyone! Make this one great!

A year older

Ryder turned 8. That seems old to me. I have a second grader. It was just yesterday I was going to Taco Bell after diving practice, listening to Def Leppard in my VW. Yesterday. *Sigh*

He also has a huge love of optical illusion pics. I'm sure there's more to come in this area. Stay tuned.

Artsy Fartsy

"Mom, do I look like a Picasso?"

Yes.

Rite of Passage

So, as we were packing for our trek to the Mountains, this happened. A wooden tree swing with a big brother on it, with pass interference by Hayden, equals 3 staples. A rite of passage. Ryder had three in the same spot when he was 5. Boys. Did I mention we were packing to leave?

Family Christmastime

We went to the mountains for our usual Christmas break family bonanza. This year, we had no snow, but we did have a great time with family.

My sister-in-law Katy Schneiderman took this next series of pics. Check out her site here. If you are in the L.A. Area, you MUST check out her services.

We made bird feeders, and Hayden found out he liked peanut butter. YES! One more food for the short list!

Playtime

Quality time my brother and his RIDICULOUSLY ADORABLE family... 

Well I think so. Cousins are awesome.

Cousin lunch.

Daddy Adventures

Winter Fishing at Pinecrest Lake with friends.

A boy-only trek to find some good sled runs. Ryder took the longest run of his life, Andy says, "five football fields" long.

New Obsessions

Ryder was glued to Diary of a Wimpy Kid. We were so excited to watch him tote this book everywhere. Keep it up, Ryder. You just finished your first New York Times Best Seller. Note the clip-on reading light. Santa knows what's up. ;-)

Lots of Crochet

I crocheted a lot of gifts, finished a long overdue baby blanket and channeled my inner geek. See below. Patterns linked when applicable.

Yoda. Ear pattern by Mamachee.

Viking hat. Pattern by Mamchee (braids by me)

Long overdue baby blanket for little Charlie Girl. Missoni inspired.

Creeper hat for my Minecraft junkie.

Tessa hat from Mamachee.

Happy Dog Walks

Photo Cards - Shout Out!

Lastly, a massive shoutout to Picaboo. We ordered our holiday cards through this company this year and I found their user interface to be awesomely customizable and slick. In full disclosure, the two founders are friends of mine from college, but if you know how picky Andy and I are about these types of things, please note that we would NEVER endorse something subpar in this area. They also do school yearbooks, photo books and more. Plus, I expedited the shipping and had them sent to the mountains and they STILL arrived on the due date as promised, which doesn't always happen at the cabin. Check them out!

I did them relatively last minute, as usual, and under-ordered. We have not sent cards since 2010, due to terminal lameness and inexcusable "I'm just too busy" justifications. We apologize profusely if you were expecting to hear from us, and did not. I guess I have another resolution to make.

Happy New Year Y'all!

Why Whole Foods Makes Me A Better Parent

It's not for the reason you think.

April has been insanely busy. Why? Well, I think most of my time was spent trying to bake Hayden's three birthday requests - including the not-so-perfect, perfect cake. Hayden's birthday post is going to be delayed due to my wanting perfect photos. Perfect photos that will be edited perfectly by my perfectionist, Artist husband. This is perfectly fine. Our lives are always perfect online. We post family awesomeness on Facebook and Instagram, and somehow even the funny moments look great in photos, but the actual real-time experience may be oh-so-imperfect.

I read a blog post today about being an imperfect parent, and it told me (yes, she was speaking to me) that I am probably doing a better job than I think. You can read about me it here. I was the epitome of this at Whole Foods today - a place where I somehow feel the need to turn on the extra sensitive, gentle parenting persona. I think the broken window theory extends well beyond destruction and devastation in my case.

The broken window theory in basic terms, suggests that a small amount of damage can result in a snowball effect of greater destruction over time. I have always used Whole Foods vs. Walmart as a basic analogy. While Whole Foods has staff constantly restocking shelves and building perfectly crafted pyramids of apples, our local Walmart, which I avoid like the plague, has items strewn about, things rolling on the floor, open boxes, you get the picture. A spill on the floor of Whole Foods is quietly whisked away, ala Disneyland, while Walmart's could fester for an undetermined amount of time. Am I exaggerating? Maybe. But this has been my experience in the locations I have visited. Bottom line is, I drop an apple at Whole Foods, I pick it up. I drop an apple at Walmart, it's 50/50 (the apple was made in China anyway).

Today, I found myself at Whole Foods with 2 young kids that were having different issues. One was cranky and one was dissatisfied. The common thread was that they would both not stop "touching" each other, causing us to take up the width of two carts in the aisle, which we know at Whole Foods after 5pm becomes excessively aggravating to EVERYONE. I found myself trying extra hard to choose my words and control my tone. My surroundings were to blame for my "better" behavior. But it made me think. Why would this place, this clean, above averagely priced place, curb my instinctual poor parenting efforts? Remove the fact that there is someone I know around every turn, and I realized that this perfectly perfect grocery store was influencing me. This was the real problem.

My surroundings and being in public influenced my parenting choices more than the want and need to do what is best for my children. To be clear, I don't come home and beat my kids to a pulp, but I do yell, I do firmly hold them and I don't always frame poignant teaching moments or use the best choice of words. I also know, that no one always does the right thing, and if they tell you they do, they are full of it... or they are lying that they even HAVE children.

So my epiphany here is this, if I can think of better ways to handle these kids in public - and in varying degrees based on my surroundings, then why can't I be the same parent at home? Now, I can't control my personal variables. I can't always be happy, or stress-free, or have peace and quiet during a Giant's game, but what I realized, is that I am capable. It's not about being perfect. It's about being capable.

From now on, I am going to pretend I am at Whole Foods.

Birthday Part Deux - The Classroom

School birthdays are the best. This is primarily true in our home because my poor, late-August-birthday husband still complains about how he never got to celebrate his birthday at school. This was of course, back in the day when schools began after Labor Day weekend. I comfort him by explaining that if he were a child today, he would not have had the pleasure of the "spanking machine," a dead tradition.

Side note: Do you remember the Spanking Machine? It was a line of kids with their legs straddled that you would crawl through and get whacked on the bottom... When did this fine tradition end? Call CPS.

Hayden's school birthday began with this beautifully illuminated sign that he was very excited about. Next, he turned his focus to "when is it going to be snack-time" so he could get his much-requested Cake Pop.

It's been 2 years since I made cake pops. I think after Ry's Ninja party, I was ready to retire the cake pop pan. Yes, another shortcut. I use box cake and a made-for-tv cake pop pan. It works great. You definitely need to add an extra egg, a box of instant pudding and use half of the liquid that the recipe requires in order to dense them up. At any rate, Hayden requested them, and it WAS his turn.

My candy melts were not cooperating, I think I needed to add shortening (see yesterday's post about me not taking the time to do things right). The plus side was that I ended up only coating the pops halfway which I am sure the preschool teachers appreciated. The kids only went half-crazy.

The Cake Pop is a great idea for school. It's a few bites as opposed to a sugar bomb cupcake with a mountain of frosting. The only setback is, as they get older you will run out of space to put the candles. Hay Hay's skilled teacher successfully stuck the little pop with 4 candles, which then resembled some kind of illegal 4th-of-July looking firework. The flaming pop-torch was a hit. Hay loved it! So did the others, because as I was walking out, they swarmed me in the play yard like an army of "walkers" from the Walking Dead. I HAD to make sure I referenced this AMC masterpiece somehow. I. Love. That. Show!

Two down, one party to go, and I owe you my Fodantacide post.

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First Day of School and Then Some...

Remember, when you read this...today is yesterday.

Today marked a monumental day of firsts. It was the first day of school for BOTH of our kids - translation- Hayden is no longer a baby. This made today sting a little bit more. To add insult to injury, today was Ry's first day of 1st grade. There is something about a grade level with a number in front of it that brings a reality to light that your child is "growing up."

"Kindergarten" is a cute word in itself. I mean, what is more adorable than a German garden full of kids? Today, I needed a Biergarten (this doesn't need translation...and if it does... Sound. It. Out.). I know many parents who are weepy at the first Preschool and Kinder drop offs. I get it. The baby stage is over. It's overwhelming. This little human is now a person. I know this to be true because my little guy now has a cubby, snack sign-up responsibilities, and a pick up time punctuated by a lot of forms that regulate who can remove my child from the premises. This is the real deal.

We had not been great parents this summer when it came to bed time. We planned accordingly for today though, by getting the kids to bed earlier the night before school started...that's enough time to regulate them, right? Thankfully, the first day excitement trumped (I use that word a lot...I know...it's good) any amount of tiredness that could have ensued. I awoke the mini-humans with my best rendition of the acclaimed Imagination Movers diddy, First Day of School. Our kids think it's the "jam."

The excitement in our house came in two forms. One, Hayden was finally going to get to join his brother at the same school. He had a new Spiderman lunchbox, Spidey thermos, shiny blue Kleen Kanteen and a new Spiderman shirt. He was supercharged and his enormous grin said it all. Today rocked. Today, "I'm BIG." Ry's excitement came from a place of feeling like he was "BIG" too. A lot of bragging commenced about things he gets to do that Nursery Students don't get to. All in all, the love for their school was apparent and seeing how it is September 11th and many kids in the area have been back now for a month, they were ready to get out of the house.

Our summer break is incredibly long compared to others, it almost feels purposeful on our school's part, to make sure that kids are extremely ready and willing to jump back into the classroom. The negative is that there is not a whole lot for kids to do at the end of August and early September, but the plus is, that it gives families a nice week to travel to any popular kid-friendly attraction, as there is no one around. Like when we went here.

Anyhow, today was a great day...until 3pm. But I'll write about that one tomorrow... Right now, I just want to relish in the fact that my kids sprung out of bed excited about the next chapter of their lives. Ry even got to spend his first after-school day slurping down rootbeer floats with a good friend.

Meanwhile... Hayden lay waiting...

To be continued...

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