Double Duty household items

Hey Parents. You don’t need lots of fancy toys and contraptions for your kids. Just use the stuff you have hangin’ around at home for early childhood needs in all areas of development

 

Leather Book Weight

The best and least expensive can be found at Barnes and Noble.

adults: this handy tool keeps pages in place for reading

babies: the best teether money can buy

Baby Monitor

adults: to hear the cries so you can go running, or to sit back and take in a light show with this one

kids: walkie talkie, pretend cell phone

Fly swatter

adults: killing flies, gnats, wasps

kids: practicing large motor skills, striking dust bunnies, clearing the fridge of grocery lists, photos, and magnets, knocking figurines off the bookshelf

Hand-held Mirror

adults: vanity

kids: a tool to entertain themselves by shining the reflection of bright light on the floor, the ceiling, in your eyes

Headlines from me to you

Here’s a headline for all the stay-at-home moms:

Stay-at-home mom, six-figure salary       

See? We haven’t all lost our heads.

You go, girl.

 

Fortune, and a “break” from fame

Jon and Kate takes break while family “regroups”

The show must doesn’t have to probably shouldn’t go on.

 

So, we’re trying to go to the moon again.

This is a well-timed (no doubt a well-choreographed shot in the arm for NASA) and interesting commentary by a man who has actually been to space, but I think we have too much down here we need to put our $$$ toward.

Let’s aim for Mars

First, let’s aim for health care coverage.

In the Brotherhood

It all started in the back seat.

The giggling, the snickering, and the laughing. My three-year old has usually entertained himself well in the car, but this time he had company: the 7-month old sitting on the other side.

The little baby was riding in his infant car seat, his head fully raised up, his face turned looking at his older brother as this interplay between them continued. Back and forth in conversation: more giggles, more laughs, a few small screeches, and lots and lots of grins.

I hadn’t expected this kind fun between them to begin so soon. And yet, here they were, having it.

Their daddy smiled at me. I smiled at him, and we enjoyed the rest of our ride listening to the back seat banter between our firstborn and our littlest man.

It was a great moment.

 

And to that man – the one sitting across from me - may we always have our own giggles, laughs, and smiles.  Happy Father’s Day to you. And Happy Anniversary.

Thanks for those back seat boys.

Make Yourself at Home

I’ve had company staying at my house on and off the last couple of months. Anyone who knows me well knows, I’m no Martha Stewart when it comes to home decor. I exist in a never-ending cycle of literal home improvement, but I have no desire for my house to be so completely put together that others don’t feel quite at home.

My childhood bed had covers, pillows, and a homemade quilt. No bed skirt, no decorative pillows, no silk sheets that were too pretty to sleep in. The first time I saw a lace bedspread, I hardly knew what to think.

I have been perplexed regarding many of the guest bedrooms I’ve slept in over the years. I never knew just what to do with the gorgeous pillows throned at the headboard. Crocheted, cross-stitched, trimmed with fringe, embossed with fabric paint and pearls. Was I to tuck one of these behind my back or under my head? Or was I to place them gently on the chair? I never knew.

I still don’t.

And what about those fancy towels in the bathroom? Perhaps I need to check with the etiquette rules of Emily Post, but am I to wipe my wet hands on the towel wrapped in delicate ribbon – or search for another? Was my upbringing really that uncouth – that I’m so awkward around such finery?

Or was it simply a functional childhood, where everything that had a place also had a purpose.

I have every good intention to make my house more organized, simple, clutter-free and yes, a bit more decoratively put-together. But if I ever have pristine-looking pillows on the guest bed when you come to visit, please know, you may use them however you wish.

 

image credit: Flickr photo by independentman

American Citizens Abroad

Prayers go out to the two American journalists, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, whose headline has already become difficult to find in a maze of “news” stories about celebrities, late-night talk show hosts, and reality TV.

The two are being held in North Korea, sentenced to 12 years hard labor for crime they were convicted of in a secretive court.

Prayers also go out to their families.

And a hard, hard prayer goes out to the politicians, state heads, the White House, and anyone else involved in securing the release of these women. May they not trip over themselves trying to figure out the most politically correct, diplomatic, non partisan way of securing the release of American citizens held in another country under suspicious circumstances.