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The Brookline Parent: Night Terrors
Nov. 21st, 2014 11:16 amMy latest column for The Brookline Parent is on dealing with Night Terrors. Not exactly a column to enjoy, but I think some folks will find it of interest.
In this week's The Brookline Parent, I discuss the decisions ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
gnomi and I had to make as we send Muffin and Squeaker to Kindergarten in the new school year.
Read Kindergarten: The Journey Begins and find out what those decisions were...
gnomi and I had to make as we send Muffin and Squeaker to Kindergarten in the new school year.Read Kindergarten: The Journey Begins and find out what those decisions were...
My Week in Facebook, August 17-22, 2014
Aug. 22nd, 2014 06:14 pmAnother week, another bunch of posts to Facebook. (I wish LJ were as active as it once was.) So what was my week like?
On Sunday, I congratulated the winners of this year's Hugo Awards.
On Monday, I posted a picture of me with Harold Feld (also known asosewalrus.)
I also continued playing the game Nomi and I play of finding band names.
On Tuesday, I expressed my shock at the cost of the new Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook.
And I noted a conversation between me and Squeaker, which is either cute or morbid, depending on your mood.
On Thursday, I expressed my disappointment in the movie "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug." And I also noted that my daughters are fans of both My Little Pony and Doctor Who.
And finally, I backed the Kickstarter for Chronosphere.
What did you do this week?
On Sunday, I congratulated the winners of this year's Hugo Awards.
On Monday, I posted a picture of me with Harold Feld (also known as
osewalrus.)I also continued playing the game Nomi and I play of finding band names.
On Tuesday, I expressed my shock at the cost of the new Dungeons & Dragons Player's Handbook.
And I noted a conversation between me and Squeaker, which is either cute or morbid, depending on your mood.
On Thursday, I expressed my disappointment in the movie "The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug." And I also noted that my daughters are fans of both My Little Pony and Doctor Who.
And finally, I backed the Kickstarter for Chronosphere.
What did you do this week?
In this week's The Brookline Parent column, gnomi writes about us taking Muffin and Squeaker to Boston Comic Con, and all the fun we had. There are lots of pictures of Squeaker with cool cosplayers; check it out!
Adventuring Through Comic Con
gnomi writes about us taking Muffin and Squeaker to Boston Comic Con, and all the fun we had. There are lots of pictures of Squeaker with cool cosplayers; check it out!Adventuring Through Comic Con
So, this week's The Brookline Parent column, "Let It Go, Let It Be," might require a little explanation. Or it might not. But I shall explain here anyway. Consider this the DVD extras, as it were.
As anyone with kids is probably aware, and even many of us without kids, one of the biggest songs to hit the preschool and elementary school set is "Let It Go" from the Disney movie Frozen. I know I've heard Muffin and Squeaker singing it a lot, along with their friends, even though they haven't seen the movie enough times to have memorized the lyrics. Apparently, they hear it from their friends a lot, who then hear it from them…it's a cycle.
Anyway, I've been sometimes singing along, or at least the title, and I kept getting it mixed up with the tune for "Let It Be." I'd sing "Let it go" over and over to the tune for "Let It Be." Well, one thing led to another, and...
I committed parody.
So. Go click on The Brookline Parent: Let It Go, Let It Be. Enjoy the ear worm.
As anyone with kids is probably aware, and even many of us without kids, one of the biggest songs to hit the preschool and elementary school set is "Let It Go" from the Disney movie Frozen. I know I've heard Muffin and Squeaker singing it a lot, along with their friends, even though they haven't seen the movie enough times to have memorized the lyrics. Apparently, they hear it from their friends a lot, who then hear it from them…it's a cycle.
Anyway, I've been sometimes singing along, or at least the title, and I kept getting it mixed up with the tune for "Let It Be." I'd sing "Let it go" over and over to the tune for "Let It Be." Well, one thing led to another, and...
I committed parody.
So. Go click on The Brookline Parent: Let It Go, Let It Be. Enjoy the ear worm.
The Brookline Parent: Party in the Park
Jul. 18th, 2014 12:25 pmThis week in our The Brookline Parent blog, gnomi writes about what it took to plan Muffin and Squeaker's birthday party, which we held just this past Sunday.
Click Party in the Park to read the rest.
gnomi writes about what it took to plan Muffin and Squeaker's birthday party, which we held just this past Sunday.
On July 13th, we celebrated Muffin and Squeaker’s fifth birthday by throwing them a party in a local park. We’ve done park parties every year since they were two years old; this is one of the advantages of summer birthdays. (As someone who has a January birthday, I had to have not only a party date but a party snow date in case of blizzards.) Last year, we had the party at the Waldstein Playground in Brookline, but as Waldstein is undergoing reconstruction, this year’s party was held in a park just over the line in Brighton, near the preschool that the girls recently graduated from.
Birthday party planning got underway almost as soon as we had chosen a date. One of the nice things about holding birthday parties in the park is that the activities are already provided by the existence of park equipment. This year, however, Michael thought it might be a nice idea to add Circus Dynamics to the girls’ party to provide balloon animals and face painting. He got in contact with the performers, and a plan was set. Meanwhile, the details of food and goodie bags and the like were my responsibility. And all would have been simple and straightforward, had I not gotten sick. But my extended stay on bed rest wreaked havoc with the purchasing of items for the party, so all I could do was make lists of the items I needed to acquire…
Click Party in the Park to read the rest.
The Brookline Parent: Rights and Wrongs
Jul. 3rd, 2014 12:06 pmOur latest The Brookline Parent column, Rights and Wrongs, is a little…political. I tackle the question of what the McCullen v. Coakley decision means to me, and to Brookline.
The Brookline Parent: An Ill Wind
Jun. 20th, 2014 12:21 pmThis has been an interesting week for gnomi and me. She got sick on Monday, and it's affected the whole week.
Fortunately, we can get a column out of it. :-)
So, this week at The Brookline Parent, you can read Nomi's column "An Ill Wind," and find out how Muffin and Squeaker reacted when they found that Mommy would be on bed rest for the whole week.
Hmm. My column two weeks ago was about Squeaker's nosebleed. Maybe there's something in the air...
"An Ill Wind"
gnomi and me. She got sick on Monday, and it's affected the whole week.Fortunately, we can get a column out of it. :-)
So, this week at The Brookline Parent, you can read Nomi's column "An Ill Wind," and find out how Muffin and Squeaker reacted when they found that Mommy would be on bed rest for the whole week.
Hmm. My column two weeks ago was about Squeaker's nosebleed. Maybe there's something in the air...
"An Ill Wind"
So a few weeks ago Squeaker had a nosebleed. Two, actually. I had to take her to the doctor. Twice. Find out more in our latest The Brookline Parent column, "Adventures in Nosebleeding."
The Brookline Parent: Missing the Firsts
May. 9th, 2014 12:00 pmI've written this week's The Brookline Parent column, Missing the Firsts:
Click Missing the Firsts to read the whole column.
At this very moment, if you’re reading this column just after it was published, Muffin and Squeaker are at their first ever visit to a circus. They’re seeing the Big Apple Circus on City Hall Plaza, Boston, for the last Friday performance before it picks up and goes somewhere else.
And neither Nomi nor I will be there to see them enjoy it....
Click Missing the Firsts to read the whole column.
The Brookline Parent: Scary Movies
Apr. 25th, 2014 01:32 pmgnomi writes this week's The Brookline Parent column, Scary Movies:
I hate Disney movies.
Wait, no. That’s not fair. I don’t hate Disney movies. I just have a problem with them being considered the pinnacle of children’s film fare. Because think about it: Disney movies have certain beats that they all hit: the death of a parent in the beginning minutes, characters you are supposed to think are nice who are not, children without anchor being forced to deal in a cold, cruel world. And songs. Lots of songs. Songs with catchy hooks that get stuck in your head and you can never let it go. No, I don’t want to build a snowman; it’s April, and there’s finally grass visible.
Sorry. I think I digressed there...
Click Scary Movies to read the whole column.
The Return of The Brookline Parent!
Apr. 11th, 2014 12:01 pmNomi and I are delighted to announce that our The Brookline Parent column, which ran from 2010-2013 on the Brookline Patch website, is back! We've relaunched the column as its own blog, and we're looking forward to sharing our adventures with Muffin and Squeaker again on a regular basis.
Today's column, The Return of, Well, Us, goes into a bit more detail about why we stopped and how we'll be starting up again.
Enjoy!
Today's column, The Return of, Well, Us, goes into a bit more detail about why we stopped and how we'll be starting up again.
Enjoy!
The Oz Books and My Kids
Feb. 8th, 2014 10:37 pmSo yesterday over on Facebook I asked everyone's opinion of what age would be good to read "The Wizard of Oz" to kids. (I mean the kids' age, not mine.) I had read the original 14 Oz books as a teenager when Ballantine Books brought out a new edition in the 1980s, and I loved them. Most recommendations for the Oz books place the age at a little older than my kids currently are, but I had the feeling that they might be receptive even this young.
Also, I had a rather odd incentive to get them started on these. Muffin discovered that the TV show The Fresh Beat Band apparently did a TV-movie where one of the characters goes to Oz, and she wants to see it. I did NOT want that to be my kids' introduction to the Oz books.
I also didn't want them to start with the movie. Frankly, the movie scared me when I was a kid, and as something of an Oz purist I don't like the fact that the silver shoes aren't in it (I know some of you may be asking, "What silver shoes?" thus making my point) nor the fact that the movie establishes Oz as a dream. The books make it clear that Baum does not intend for Oz to be a dream.
Enough of you who responded seemed to feel that the girls' current age would be appropriate, so I figured I'd give it a try. I asked Nomi to pick up a copy of "The Wizard of Oz" at the library, and by happenstance she picked up the one with the wonderful Michael Hague illustrations. (Denslow's are okay, but I thought the girls might respond better to the more colorful pictures.)
The upshot is that last night I started the book, and for the most part the girls were spellbound. They insisted I keep reading after chapter 1, so I got through chapter 3. Tonight, they made me read all the way through chapter 7 before they would go to bed. And the girls make me stop over and over so they can enjoy the illustrations.
I think we have a winner here.
(By the way, when we got to the part with the Kalidahs threatening Dorothy and company, I turned to Squeaker, who was a little nervous, and said to her, in essence, "She doesn't get eaten by the eels at this time.")
#SFWApro
Also, I had a rather odd incentive to get them started on these. Muffin discovered that the TV show The Fresh Beat Band apparently did a TV-movie where one of the characters goes to Oz, and she wants to see it. I did NOT want that to be my kids' introduction to the Oz books.
I also didn't want them to start with the movie. Frankly, the movie scared me when I was a kid, and as something of an Oz purist I don't like the fact that the silver shoes aren't in it (I know some of you may be asking, "What silver shoes?" thus making my point) nor the fact that the movie establishes Oz as a dream. The books make it clear that Baum does not intend for Oz to be a dream.
Enough of you who responded seemed to feel that the girls' current age would be appropriate, so I figured I'd give it a try. I asked Nomi to pick up a copy of "The Wizard of Oz" at the library, and by happenstance she picked up the one with the wonderful Michael Hague illustrations. (Denslow's are okay, but I thought the girls might respond better to the more colorful pictures.)
The upshot is that last night I started the book, and for the most part the girls were spellbound. They insisted I keep reading after chapter 1, so I got through chapter 3. Tonight, they made me read all the way through chapter 7 before they would go to bed. And the girls make me stop over and over so they can enjoy the illustrations.
I think we have a winner here.
(By the way, when we got to the part with the Kalidahs threatening Dorothy and company, I turned to Squeaker, who was a little nervous, and said to her, in essence, "She doesn't get eaten by the eels at this time.")
#SFWApro
So Much More Than Bagels
Jan. 14th, 2014 02:28 pmA few weeks ago, I was asked (or I volunteered) to write a blog post about a class that gnomi and I are taking called Parenting Through a Jewish Lens. Here's the link to the post, called So Much More Than Bagels. Although a bagel would taste good right about now...
gnomi and I are taking called Parenting Through a Jewish Lens. Here's the link to the post, called So Much More Than Bagels. Although a bagel would taste good right about now...
