06.24.07
Carnival of Family Life - June 25 2007
Thank you for the sixty wonderful submissions. I’d had a little trouble thinking of interesting things to say lately and you’ve given me weeks of things to respond to. If your links not quite right let me know and I’ll fix it - I had a 30 second crash and lost posts in the middle. I blame all mistakes on it. (What are host services for anyway?)
Adoptees, pets, fathers were all popular this week. Pour the coffee and enjoy!
Stories
Did Kailani hit a popular topic this week! - Girlie Girl has her first crush. Reminiscing with the crowd is the best part - I still remember Jeff Crawford carrying my books home from Grace Park in third grade.
I don’t think Peter’s mother (Peter was the brother of a friend of mine) fully considered all the implications when she married Mr. Abbott and he adopted her children.* Chaos Theory brings you another instance of naming fun when she brought home presents.
*Would you have said your child’s new name 3 times quickly?
Girls growing up- where does the time go? Mud Puppy is from The Common Room.
A fun haircut story from Health and Fitness - Fact or Fiction . Much better than the stories in my family that start with the need for hair for a doll and end with younger siblings going to Jackie the Expensive (& Good) to repair the disaster.
Wired For Noise brings a chuckle in trying to figure out just what that mysterious request was really for.
After looking at my husband’s mowing job (Israelis understand desert - not lawns) and reading Diary of 1’s submission on goat milk, I wonder if my New Jersey town is zoned for goats. (Not likely since they outlaw clothes lines, but somebody might have overlooked an ordinance.)
Stone washed jeans have nothing on diapers as rags (think dry the crystal with the softest, possible cloth that has absolutely no lint) so I was very taken with this from Activist Mommy. Actually my first reaction was “Are diaper services dead?”
From Jenny, last week’s hostess, at The So Called Me - musings on the pet to get. (Although after the news report on one town’s approach to living green - maybe she should consider earthworms. - The town was encouraging workers to bring worms to work to process the food wastes from lunch - just hold the ranch dressing and bologna.)
Speaking of pets - Perfurr remembers getting her kitten from the RSPCA.
Life set to music from Live the Power.
A Saturday off in Skipping Work to be a Mom posted at Sandier Pastures.
Fathers Day
I am very honored to post this Father’s Day reflection - a reprint (and update) of Jack Yoest’s 1999 article on wars’ costs and purpose and obligations of fathers and sons. I would rank it on par with the NY Post’s letter to Virginia on the existence of Santa Claus. USS Bonefish Lost: A Remembrance 18 June posted at Reasoned Audacity. (And I’m not exactly on the same page politically.)
A quick reminder from INNside Innkeeping in Montana of all the times Dad is right plus a scrumptious-looking recipe for blueberry pancakes. It’s somewhere in the middle of their yogurt/fruit all-is-healthy mode and their sausages & cheese/calories-really-do-taste-good mode. As an added bonus you get to find out the best time to put in the fruit in the pancake batter. (I had always subscribed to the “whenever my son pours it in school” - but there’s good reason for the right order.)
I found the Father’s Day reflections involving Dads in the military fascinating. Sheppard at Salter Blog gives us his memories at his Father’s Day post. (My father and uncles served in the Royal Air Force so there were no discussions of WWII military service in my family.)
In Mad Kane’s world this may be a Father’s Day submission although June weddings might have brought Married to Money on. If you’re good with Limericks check out her contest too.
A tribute to a very special Dad from Cause of Our Joy.
A short & sweet account of the first Father’s Day the daughter of Super Saver at Wealth Builder’s participated in.
Kids
The Scratching Post’s submission was hard to categorize but it was great fun and soooo needed if you have kids.
Another funny post - I relate to the desire to have such an effective tool when the kids lose their minds, although I sincerely hope Suzanne at Adventures in Daily Living removes the post before her son or his friends read it. (He sounds pretty young now.)
How can anything that gets kids gardening be bad? Lori at Fun Playdates plays with a new gadget.
Christine at Are We There Yet? starts an experiment in sign language with her young toddler.
Jedi Mind Tricks from Down With the Kids describes the machinations needed to get 4-year-olds to cooperate. It’s much easier with teenagers. Just say the opposite of whatever you truly want.
I’m not sure how Journey 2 Retirement could have skipped driving in her list of future worries, but she undertakes to scientifically analyze who is harder to raise - boys or girls.
Who knew my mother was so lucky that one of her 4 children was a girl? I don’t remember games like this from Do You Weary in Well Doing? (although I do remember becoming very lady-like as soon as my younger brothers became taller than me.)
Growing up is about labels. Well, not totally unless you’re a middle schooler. Would you have guessed adoptee could bring such satisfaction? From Forever Parents.
The continuing connection to the joy of the first day picking up the new family member at The Incredible Shrinking Ladies.
My Two Boys describes a day that is exhausting just to read about - but maybe her child is just truly fashion conscious and knows they’re out in new color combinations?
To Do
TOTALLY beyond my skill level (I’m great at stapling hems) but a really nice idea for infants in shopping carts from How To ME.
For the perfect high school graduation gift see Summer With Grandmother Wren.
Advice
Some advice from Mom Is Teaching that goes far beyond home schooling.
Just in time for summer vacations great advice for flying with kids from Building Blocks Blog.
A great outing from Stop The Ride but call ahead to make sure the season in your area hasn’t ended (it varies a bit every year).
An interesting idea for getting kids to help from Love Shak, Baby based on a CNN.com article.
Passing on an alert on how not to get scammed from Write From Karen.
I’m a soccer mom so I had my doubts about planning a Fall Trip now, but Family Travel’s Thanksgiving in Paris sounds very tempting (one of several ideas).
Five practical tips for talking with teens from Amy, a licensed clinical social worker in NJ. I do feel the need for a disclaimer here - Amy’s advice to not convey disapproval through body language can be applied very easily in automobiles. Since teenagers really do love to talk if they don’t feel disapproval they might go way beyond your comfort level if they can’t see your winces - just keep in mind that you’re driving and an accident is not a good way to end a conversation.
Some priceless advice for handling unwanted advice from Baby Talkers.
Tips for Frugal Shopping from Finance Is Personal should help save money although I take issue with No. 5’s impact on the food store bottom line. A long-term health savings yes - cheaper - not lately in my experience.
The power of being honest with yourself from A Better You.
I subscribe to the old wives tale that picky eaters come from not being allowed to touch your food when first learning to eat, but if you’re past that stage, Total Mind and Body Fitness’s guide to helping your picky eater consume better meals should help.
The strategies we resort to amuse our kids make me long for my childhood when my mother waved goodbye after breakfast, occasionally fed a gang of 10 that appeared for lunch and then said hello as we appeared to lay the table for dinner - after a hard day of mucking in the stream, riding bikes or playing elaborate war games. I’m a WAHM gives techniques for today’s world when 10 neighborhood children aren’t available. (Although I do wonder if she’ll look back in horror when her kids are older that she suggested video games to keep kids amused.)
Teaching toddlers shapes is a snap with these suggestions from Little Mummy.
I put off looking at 7 Easy Ideas for Great Family Videos posted at High-Tech Parent because I thought it was self-explanatory (it is) and we’re a bit camera-crazy so what would I learn? Wrong. For instance, it never occurred to me to tape the annual lesson from my mother-in-law on how to make jelly donuts. (She says it took 10 years for her to learn and we’re right on track for 15 - maybe this will help.)
Other
I know I’m a geek but this gem from Musings From a Catholic Bookstore just cried out for substituting my teenage daughters sleep patterns (16 hours if I don’t wake her up) to see if I could make the chaos in my house go negative.
News from Hawkhill Acres has my favorite quote of the week in it (the section about ADHD/ Half-mad/Solutions) in the midst of reflections on a typical car-cleaning day.
Kevin at More4Kids uses a very interesting analogy to help analyze and improve home life.
A Mama’s Rant makes the excellent point that the internet is a great tool for protecting your kids with a very personal example. (Don’t forget to check the internet for the names of your children’s friends - their naitivety in setting privacy settings may rope your child into unpleasant situations.)
Eric at Husbandhood gives Bathroom Etiquette Tips to Impress as tips for a husband or boyfriend but I really think they’re best for kids - 4 year olds can be taught to be responsible for checking the toilet paper supply as long as you keep your main cache in an accessible place - think of the leg up they’ll have in the marital race.
Matt at The Pet Haven doesn’t realize he’s really training for his role when children come into his life in Canine Neighbors.
As a youngster I thought my neighbor was rather strange for wearing a yellow poncho and hat to feed her toddler. As Mommn’ It Up so ably illustrates, she just knew what was coming.
From Everybody Needs Therapy the need for balance unless you’re attached.
Carol presents A Baby Named Maude posted at Can’t Holder Tongue.
Linda at Life Without School mulls the wisdom of sticking to principles, childhood friends and raising kids.
A brief rant on the perils of perception for stay-at-home moms from Home With the Kids. Spend some time checking out her Work at Home scams - it’s amazing how many ways people are conned out of money.
Looking to answer your questions, Jordan posts Let’s Change the World! at MamaBlogga.
The unfairness of viruses and how to cope from Mac and Cheese Chronicles.
A hope for the future from Principled Discovery.
Dawn at Randomness speculates on the origin of kid-friendly food.
The discovery that he had gay relatives caused Michael at The Common Virtue to reevaluate his position on gay marriage.
VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) Adventure is collecting reasons people have been counseled to get a repeat Cesarean.
Don’t forget to submit your post for nest week’s carnival hosted by Little Mummy.
