Let it Glo... Finally, Great Customer Service!

For the record, I am not good at returning things. I have friends that return about as many items as they purchase. I am not the run-in-and-a-grab-a-few-in-a-couple-different-sizes-and-bring-back-what-doesn't work, Mom. Oh, and if it is a mail order return...consider that a wash. So, when I received my Night-Light order from one of the many "Sale" sites I subscribe to, and a part was broken, I became stressed. This came not too long after my Amazon Operation game debacle, so needless to say, I was having one of those "WHY CAN'T ANYONE GET ANYTHING RIGHT" moments. What makes matters even worse, is when your kids are extremely PSYCHED about the impending delivery.  

Now that I have 2 kids, I have to order many "cool" things in duplicate. When the charger for my Brontosaurus night light was shipped broken, I entertained the idea of just using the T-Rex charger for both lights and not bothering with the "return" that was destined to wear on my patience for the next several days weeks month. I knew that there was no way I could have opened these awesome gifts in front of them, to only disappoint one child by stuffing one back into the box to return it....so I waited.

Mommy, I LOVE these!

These fantastic lights came from Kinderglo. They come in different characters, change colors and have a nifty timer. They are TOTALLY safe, and never get hot (Hay Hay sleeps with his T-Rex under his arm). The Boogie-Man does not have a chance in our house with such illumination! Kinderglo has a fair 90 day warranty on their products, of which I was destined to fed-ex my return on day 89. I finally caved, and this past Saturday, I took some screen shots of my receipt as well as a pic of my Fed-ex shipment date as proof of my timeline. I also included some photos of the damaged charger. I explained how it was delivered broken and how I would have to pry it from the white-knuckled grasp of my child in order to send it back- if they would even take it. Important! Keep in mind the part about me contacting them on a Saturday. 

In ONE HOUR AND ONE MINUTE, I received this email (slightly edited, but you get the gist!)....

Hello,

I am sorry to hear that you are having a problem with our KinderGlo night light.  The factory sometimes sneaks some of these in on us. We will get you a new charger sent out. The newest have slightly longer contacts so the both should charge fine.

All the best

Angela

Did I need to box mine up and send back the WHOLE THING? NO! Did I need to beg and plead for them to believe me, or do something about it? NO! Did I need to even wait more than an hour and one minute on a Saturday? Um...NO!

All I can say is WOW! Please buy this product from Angela & Jon at Kinderglo. They rock and you will too when you buy these because your kids might just love you a little bit more - at least for a day. 

This has been a Public Service Announcement.

The Letter of the Day is "M" for MESS!

I will say it right now. I LOVE SESAME STREET. Who doesn't need a Sunny Day, Sweeping the Clouds Away? The show is EDUCATIONAL right? My all time favorite Street Muppet is Cookie Monster. I was elated when Hay Hay began to show the same admiration for the blue, cookie-eating, raspy voiced character. Unfortunately, there's a hitch. Here is what my child has taken away from all of the Sesame-Ed with which he has been tutored... 

This has been going on for a LONG LONG time. I give up. It's hard to ask funny to stop.

Here's the real deal. See if you can tell the difference. My vacuum and I sure can't.

Twenty Minus One. My Tooth Fell Out Today.

A few days ago I came home and Ryder told me he hit his tooth with a fork and that it was now loose. After some consoling from our nanny and a slew of "I Lost My Tooth" YouTube videos on her iPhone, he soon became excited about the idea of losing a tooth. He's been singing a song from one of the YouTube Videos -that I can't find- and we've been hearing "My Tooth...Fell Out...Today..." for several days now.

Well, at dinner tonight, he bit into a pancake (Yes you heard me correctly... Dinner... Pancake...) and then started screaming. No, the pancakes were not rock-hard (they were microwaved perfectly), but somehow he bit it in such a way that the tooth became even more loose. There was quite a bit of blood so I sent him into the bathroom to rinse. Finally he stopped crying and I suggested he try to pull it out. He did!

 

"Mommy! Take a picture of my Tooth!" Is it just me or does it look like he has an odd number of bottom teeth?

 

"Here's my envelope!" Mommy drew the tooth how she thought I might draw it, but I wrote the rest.

 "I hope the Tooth Fairy gives me 5 bucks!"

(not sure we'll be setting that precedence).

This is What They Call The Muppet Show!

 

Selfishly, we have introduced our 5 year old to the Muppet Show. I say this because WE LOVE US SOME GOOD OLE JIM HENSON FUN! Sadly, Mr. Amazing, Jim Henson, has left us far too early, but his incredibly enjoyable legacy remains. 

This morning, Ryder asked to watch one of the first season episodes that we borrowed from the library...

"I want to watch the one with Peter Ustinov."

Right.

Oh, and then he asked if I could "sew" him a Mummenschanz outfit.

I'll get right on that.

We will not be turning the car seat back around...

BECAUSE YOU ARE TWO! HAPPY APRIL FOOLS BIRTHDAY HAY HAY!

So, here we go again. Being a parent totally takes a toll on your neurosis. Every time you think you have done something right, some article quoting the American Academy of Pediatrics (this one about rear-facing car seats) comes out and debunks what you THOUGHT was right. Now, while we don't dismiss these well-researched conclusions, based upon years of quantitative analysis, we can't help but feel that this list of ever-changing threats makes us a little nuts. No peanut butter until 1 year, then 2, and now it's 3 years; formula is bad; vaccinations cause autism...etc. Click. That is the sound of us tuning out. Why? Because today, our insanely cute, full-of-personality, hair-never-cut boy turns 2! AND THAT MEANS, WE DON'T HAVE TO TURN THE CAR SEAT AROUND.

What we DO need to do, is to tell you all of the things we love so far about little Hay Hay. This is as close to a baby book as we have. We will narrow this down to a few favorites.

1. The Hair. We have not cut your curly, golden locks. We can't. We are afraid. Even though your older brother was coiffed at 1 year, we are at the 2 year mark and we are going strong. It can tuck behind your ears now, so you can see again. That should buy Mommy & Daddy some more time to adjust to the reality of the first hair-cut.
2. The Dancing. You have this amazing move that involves only one arm in the shape of a chicken-dance wing. It flaps while you skip in circles. Maybe you once saw a chicken after a stroke, but you have this look on your face that tells me you are waiting for the laugh. Your go-to dance favorite right now is, They Might Be Giants', "HOT DOG" song.
3. The Language. What comes out of your mouth is not only funny, but well-timed and delivered with a cute little voice with a slight hint of rasp. Your word choices are what I find most endearing. My current favorite is the term "Happy Boy" which is code for Apple Bar. I am sad that you will soon progress past this amazing phase where complete sentences are brand new and nothing evil has come out of  your mouth yet. You have always had me at "Piggy, Paci, Mommy."
4. How Much Light is In You. You are ALWAYS happy from the moment you wake up, to the moment you close your eyes and say "Gooh Nigh" and give us a fake snore with your eyes squinting shut. You recently had a stomach virus and in between "episodes" you still remained happy - so happy in fact, that Mommy & Daddy were still laughing at 2am, 3:30am, 5am and so on.
5. You Have Cute Tantrums. Because you are our second child, we have a different take on your tantrums than with child number one. We definitely are seasoned pros and there are a lot less child development book-checks happening post trauma. For some reason, these outbursts are not only brief in nature (oh please stay short) , but somehow, a little bit cute. It's not that we are insensitive parents, but we don't know a single soul who wouldn't smirk at the sight of a miffed Cherub...which is what you resemble most.
6. Your Smile. The best. No words. And constant.

Granted...you may look like an Angel, but you are quite mischievous, and we're on to you. We will see beyond the cheeks and the hair and the constant phrase "Meewlk Please" at some point. Until then, we will remain what Mommy likes to call "Obliviously Aware" (What does that mean? Who knows, it's 1:45am). You do make us a little ticked when you throw food, head butt us (or the floor), and want to run "Ousside" every chance you get. Still, it's all a part of who you are. We love every minute of it.  

 One last important mention, your quick birth story- without the yucky parts. Mommy started having contractions at 5am on your due date, April 1. This date is a very special day in our family, as it also your Great Grandma Rena's birthday, who is turning 104 on this very day! By 8:30am (yup 3 1/2 hours from the first contraction), you made us a family of 4. Also noteworthy, is that your Centenarian Great Grandmother was chosen as one of Willard Scott's birthday wishes on the TODAY show that day, which happened to air, coincidentally, at 8:30am. Hmmm....

As Daddy & I finish this, we realize there are a million more things we need to write down. It is impossible to capture your essence in a measly blog post.  We will just have to enjoy you in person and cherish the indelible imprint you have already made, and continue to leave on our hearts.

Hay Hay, we LOVE you! Have the BEST 2nd birthday ever!


Love,


Daddy, Mommy, Ry Ry, Sierra, and Otis

Tim Burton Ate My Son...and then SPIT HIM OUT.

We feel so used.

So,  there is this popular book out right now for Moms of Girls. I mean, I think it is geared toward girls since it's called Cinderella Ate My Daughter, but I have seen my sons don a dress from time to time. The book discusses the firestorm of the Princess-Obsessed Culture many Moms of Girls are experiencing today. Circle back to last summer's Disneyland trip - I believe the Happiest Place on Earth is also the place where many little girls are converted to Princesses and Fairies. My son was enamored by Jack Skellington of the Nightmare before Christmas Fame. We, as parents of boys, were not immune from immersing ourselves in an obsession.

Halloween kicked-off our Jack fascination as Ryder transformed himself (well with my help) into Jack. Now, one thing I HAVE to mention is that before he could qualify himself as Jack, I felt he was to understand what part he was playing. This clearly a repercussion of my Thespian days, and of course the imparted skill of "Method Acting." Without doing any research, I let him watch the film...and left the room (I guess that's a no-no.).  I need to tell all of you that THIS MOVIE IS NOT MEANT FOR 5 YEARS OLDS! You probably already knew that...but I of course, did not. I have heard from other parents since then, that they would NEVER let their kids watch this movie. I will say that my son actually enjoyed the DVD extras even more than the film. He watched a 2 hour "How it was made" and the "Tour of the Haunted Mansion at Disneyland" several times by choice, beyond the film itself.


Thankfully, my son did not spook - even though they try to kidnap Santa Claus and say they want to "chop him into bits." Yup, they say that. I will tag this post with "Awesome Mom."  I am sure you are seeing a trend by now...and I have enough posts regarding my awesome mothering, that we now have a "series."

Back to Halloween...I had to buy an adult size costume and break out my 2 year-old-brand-new sewing machine to make it happen! I cut a men's size 42 jacket down to a 4T. My handy-work below...

CD Label

As his birthday approached and the theme was a no-brainer, we made sure to encourage his love for Tim Burton's Nightamare, by purchasing everything we could possibly find that was Jack (see above for just SOME of it)...including the Soundtrack on iTunes. Since we have historically given mix CDs as party favors, I felt that this was going to be perfect.  I downloaded the album, and guess what? After listening to a bit of Marilyn Manson and choruses that included lyrics like "Kidnap the Sandy Claws, beat him with a stick, lock him up for ninety years, see what makes him tick," ONLY 2 SONGS WERE SUITABLE FOR OUR MIX CD. At this point, I was starting to wonder if we would get a lot of "No" RSVPs due to the theme. My son would not budge...this was it.

The party was held at a Bounce House Party Place - basically that was the criteria. He wanted a Jack Skellington party at Bounce-U. That is what he got. From Jack cupcakes at school, made by yours truly, to Jack clothes, a Jack Cake, Jack invites & favors, and a Jack pinata - lovingly made by his Nanny/BFF, Ana, I think it was awesome. We won't talk about how he vomited that morning before the party...another story in itself.

 

What did we learn? Well, honestly, my husband and I were thrilled in so many ways that our son found a love for Tim Burton. The man has created so many incredible, whimsical and creative- despite dark- accomplishments. Who are we to squelch our sons innate interest for the macabre animated arts. We have opted as parents to do damage control, rather than to censor his creativity. Ryder is no worse for wear from this experience and continues to be his amazingly creative and cerebral self, who is now 5 years old and on to the next big thing. Tim Burton has temporarily been replaced by Captain Underpants (not appropriate, but found in an older cousin's room - again...damage control) and a daily barage of joke telling. He really wants nothing to do with most of the Jack things we bought him at this point - which is a bummer on a financial front, but normal in the timeline of childhood obsession. I am surprised by him every day and will close off this birthday recap with something his teacher said at our parent / teacher conference that will stay with me always:

"I am so glad that I get to be a part of Ryder's life, because he is going to do something great someday. I can say I played a part in that." Makes me cry every time. I believe her.

I'm almost Tattwoo!

 

I am going to be two next Friday, on April 1, NO JOKE. Mommy got me some sweet Tattoos, because I am almost Tattwoo (note the Mum & Dad Tat on my belly!). To answer you other Mommies out there, no, I am not already potty trained. Yes, I will kill you Mommy when I am older for posting this picture of me on the Interwebs, but I am sure you have a good reason.

The Missing Piece(s)

The Missing Piece by Shel "oh so awesome" Silverstein. This picture depicts my day pretty well.

Today was off. In soooo many ways, today was off. It started out okay...Ry was READY for school on time, we were NOT going to be late. Then, I accidentally gave our beloved nanny a set of keys to take with her, that included my car key. We were now going to be late.

After that crisis was averted, child safely at school, me gainfully in possession of one Subaru key, I got home, only to find an Amazon.com package on my front porch (Normal daily fare). I thought, YES! It's Ryder's OPERATION game. But, damn, this box felt waaaay too light for the Operation I remember from yesteryear. I mean, I know plastic has evolved and toys have cheapened up, but this felt crazily light.... Because....

Yes. You are seeing it correctly, IT'S FREAKIN EMPTY! 

Impatient and pissed that I had to follow up on one more damaged item from the mail order Gods, I logged onto Amazon and went straight to Customer Service Chat. I was really unclear on how I was going to return NOTHING. Luckily, my overseas chat pal said he would just go ahead and send another! No questions asked! I'd like to think it's because I am a Prime customer, but really they could care less about my $16 shipping-gratis-purchase. Amazon gets giant props for their customer service today. Amazon dot Bomb!

On a smaller note. Ry's boxed Lemonade was missing a straw from the plastic wrap today. When I picked him up from school, he was pretty sad about it. The off day, had legs. More missing pieces.

Yay for tomorrow. I wish Family Ties were on.

This Message Was Brought To You By the ABC Television Network

So, my one innate ability growing up - or Superpower - as I once called it, was my ability to memorize almost ANYTHING by sight or sound. As I got older, there was clearly kryptonite in my high school, as I seemed to have lost my special power. Like athletes have muscle memory, I have been fortunate enough to retain a small chunk of my ability in the form of remembering the words to possibly every commercial or sitcom theme from the 70s and 80s. Some of the major standouts were the ABC snippits in between Saturday morning cartoons, like Schoolhouse Rock, the Bod Squad and Time-for-Timer, "Look a wagon wheel!"

Recently, a friend of mine posted one on Facebook, and a light bulb went off in my head. "Holy Cow, I can watch my kids can benefit from the aweseomeness that was Saturday morning "educational" TV via You Tube!

My almost 2 year old obsesses over YUCK MOUTH, while my 5 year old loves Time-for-Timer's songs of "Hanker for a Hunk-of-Cheese" and "You are what you eat, from your head down to your feet.."

and I get to sing-a-long. Magic. I'm going to watch Family Ties now.

Love, Todd

When your child is in the thick of the proverbial terrible twos threes fours you wishfully think about what the future might hold, and how this is just a phase and things will inevitably improve. Sometimes, all that defines a 5 year old tantrum from a  2 year old tantrum, is some intense reasoning and a sprinkle of disrespect. As bath approached, I quickly shuffled Hay Hay to the tub (he is always pumped to bathe) and gave Ryder a post-dinner-test...

Me:  Ry, I am going to the tub, why don't you surprise me by putting your dishes in the kitchen, getting undressed and coming to the bath.

Moments later...thump thump thump, and a giant smile on a naked body emerges through the bathroom door and climbs into the tub...

Me: Wow!

Ry: Mommy I just started being good, right now!

Me: Hey Ry...why can't you ALWAYS be good?

Ry:  Mommy, sometimes, I'm good...sometimes I'm not so good...that is what makes me different.

Love, Todd Ryder

PLUG!

Title, lovingly hijacked from Todd Parr, an awesome Childrens Author/Illustrator who has graced our shelves for years with his thoughtful books, like, The Feelings Book, It's Okay To Be Different, and Underwear Dos and Don'ts.  He always ends his books with "Love, Todd." In the back of one of our books we noticed a photo with him and his dog, "Bully." Andy (see awesome husband & father) contacted him to hopefully contribute some artwork to one of our favorite charities, Rocket Dog Rescue. Todd Parr responded in record time...a whole 2-3 hours...with an emphatic YES! He is truly a gift to not only children, but our four-legged friends. Support this amazing rescue organization by purchasing a t-shirt, mug, apron, etc. etc. at their online store.  Oh, and a side note on the Awesome Andy... he donated his own time, fueled by his love for dogs, and created their online store. #Winning.