A 'conversation' with TheBoy

TheBoy: Pine-apple, pine-apple, pineapple, pineapple, pineapple. Pine-apple, pine-apple. Pine. Apple. Pineapple, pineapple, pineapple.



TheFishmonger: What are you talking about?



TheBoy: [gesturing at the fruit on top of the microwave oven] That. Pineapple, pineapple, pineapple.



TheFishmonger: Those are pears.



TheBoy: [shaking his head in denial] No.



TheFishmonger: Yep. Those are pears.



TheBoy: [pauses for a moment,then: ]Pears, pears, pears. PEARS! Pears. Pears, pears, pears, pears, pears....

Utlimate Gift for Parents

Just stumbled across this new remote control, which might be the best ever gift for parents, if only it worked. Check out the button labels in the pics at left. There are specialized ones like "say thank you," "don't answer back", and "tidy room", and general use buttons like"stop that", "play" and "no smoking" for day-to-day use. At only $8.75 plys S&H (from Spoon Sisters) I've got to get one of these!



PS: Check out some of their other parenting items, too! The book "How to Con Your Kids" looks like a winner, as does "The Wheel of Responsibility"- a wheel of fortune for deciding whose turn it is to do those obnoxious parenting chores like diaper changing, or driving the kid to practice. Best of all, the all-time best baby name book: "Sci-Fi baby names" featuring all time favorites like Klaatu and Barbarella. excellent! Wish I'd had this before the younguns had been monickered. TheWife fought off Kazimir and Lars, but she'd have been powerless against Klaatu or Aeon!

Kefir for Kids

Lifeway Foods has started to come out with individual seving sized kefir, and even has a great new sip pack of kefir for kids! They call it Probug, hence the bug-themed packaging. TheGirl and TheBoy both love the stuff, especially the berry flavor. As an added bonus, the spout has helped TheBoy figure out the whole straw thing. It's about midway between a straw and a bottle nipple (there's a little valve inside to keep the stuff from leaking out), so it was an easy transition. It took TheGirl forever to figure out the straw thing, so this is a major plus, IMHO.

If you're not familiar with kefir (wiki definition here), it's a cultured milk product, with a flavor similar to,but distinct from yogurt. It's a little thinner than modern yogurt, too, so it's more of a drinkable product. And Lifeway sells it in a bunch of flavored versions that are delish!

PS: Lifeway is based in Morton Grove, IL, but I won't hold it against them.

Child Rearing Tips

Barats and Bereta have a great new video up! Want to give your child that extra edge in their life? Better start early!
0


(This one's for Sean!)

Is there a Santa Claus

I just came across this explanation of Santa Claus in a book of Christmas Stories. It's written by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

“Ma!” she cried. “There is a Santa Claus, isn’t there?”

“Of course there’s a Santa Claus,” said Ma. She set the iron on the stove to heat again. “The older you are, the more you know about Santa Claus,” she said. “You are so big now, you know he can’t be just one man, don’t you? You know he is everywhere on Christmas Eve. He is in the Big Woods, and in Indian Territory, and far away in York State, and here. He comes down all the chimneys at the same time. You know that, don’t you?”

“Yes, Ma,” said Mary and Laura.

“Well,” said Ma. “Then you see –“

“I guess he is like angels,” Mary said, slowly. And Laura could see that, just as well as Mary could.

Then Ma told them something else about Santa Claus. He was everywhere, and besides that, he was all the time.

Wherever anyone was unselfish, that was Santa Claus.

Christmas Eve was the time when everybody was unselfish. On that one night, Santa Claus was everywhere, because everybody, all together, stopped being selfish and wanted other people to be happy. And in the morning, you saw what that had done.”

I love that. Thanks, Ms. Wilder.

New header picture!

Yeah, I finally replaced the beach glass picture which I had placed in the header apropos of absolutely nothing. The new pic is The Boy modelling a delightful piece of fashion given him by Viola Zupppppppa, as a zeroth birthday present. He's finally big enough for it to fit into it, and he looks dashing, I'd say. I'll also swap in another onesie that he finally fits into, which reads "My Dad is a Geek". That one (along with another reading "My Mom is a Genius") was presented to the boy by RADO, Daver and the boys. I can't argue with any of the sentiments expressed. Thanks, one and all!