tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23493275542317452992012-01-20T10:01:56.962-08:00Comical, practical and somewhat irreverant - the most practical things about parenting I can imagine.Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.comBlogger311100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-36369028613845879502010-11-10T23:55:00.000-08:002010-11-10T23:55:00.989-08:00

Hi all - if you enjoy Practical Parenting - please visit our new site. www.practical-parent.com.

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-40753400024826429772009-07-27T13:47:00.001-07:002009-07-27T13:52:41.845-07:00

I saw this modular refrigerator on Inhabitat and see all sorts of possibilities for when the kids enter the dorm room life. Besides which - the thing just looks cool. I don't think it has any affiliation with Lego, but it's super cool looking. I'd like to make sure it can hold a full gallon of milk before endorsing it. Perhaps we'll be adding these when our kids enter the teen years and

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-5768413675576609092009-07-27T10:49:00.000-07:002009-07-27T13:16:58.965-07:00

In my recent, unscientific survey of parents of boys, I’ve discovered a 3 to 1 probability that sons won’t tell you extensive details about their day. Especially if something didn’t go their way that day. And with boy energy introduced to a world that expects 5 year old children to control impulses that physiologically require the brain development of an 8 year old, often things don’t go their

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-11618456501196932352009-07-24T22:05:00.000-07:002009-07-24T22:09:15.782-07:00

As a parent of two energetic boys, I’ve learned to anticipate the inevitable call about an incident at school or camp. I understand that it is impossible to see everything leading up to an altercation. But to teach my sons something useful, I need to be very concrete and specific – so I need facts.It’s simply not okay for a camp or school to call and tell me Taylor (or Benjamin) misbehaved

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-4570828805679432412009-07-23T11:38:00.000-07:002009-07-23T11:39:43.274-07:00

A good friend asked if I had any thoughts about if he should invest in a webcam baby monitor for his second child. He has a standard baby monitor from baby #1. With my first child, I bought multiple baby monitors because I couldn’t find one that worked reliably in our cordless phone, near our neighbors and wireless networked house. And our baby’s nursery is as far away as possible from the master

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-3924339303044531442009-07-22T15:47:00.001-07:002009-07-22T15:50:58.456-07:00

Its a shame that anyone - medical professional or layman - would make a mother feel guilty for taking care of her child.I breastfed 3 children for 12 months each because I both wanted to (important) and my body cooperated (important). Because my children were in day care starting at 9 weeks or so, they were also bottlefed (happened to be breastmilk, but bottle sanitation is as important). When

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-26049080331090609852009-07-22T12:51:00.000-07:002009-07-22T12:52:51.067-07:00

Added my three Geek Mom contributions:Calculating the number, speed and circumference of whips and figure-8s to make the tube ride fun and not dump the kids.Headset for the walkie-talkie in one ear, bluetooth for the cellphone in the other. Finding a walkie-talkie that’s bluetooth ready - bonus points.Tube-based webcam. 360 degrees.Re-posting via Wired: GeekDad by Dana Bostic on 7/22/09My

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-5791939226023051532009-07-22T06:52:00.000-07:002009-07-22T07:05:23.946-07:00

I'm not sure what inspired them, but last night the kids broke out in song following dinner. Ariel has become obsessed with Puff the Magic Dragon - she absolutely loves the song and will listen to it over and over again. It's cute although we are really looking forward to when she develops a broader repertoire of music.Because of sacred time, I was right there able to capture it on our Canon

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-59468463862453885572009-07-21T16:10:00.000-07:002009-07-21T16:16:07.246-07:00

Computers, TV and video games are fun. Addictive, time draining, brain zoning fun…and even the WII, whose games apparently get kids moving around still involves the television or computer monitor. From watching our kids we know that they, like us, zone out when the TV has their attention. It’s clear that their brains are taking a break. The computer is a bit better – they can interact with it

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-86061928659663984022009-07-20T21:38:00.000-07:002009-07-20T21:49:18.184-07:00

My friend Laurette had a two month old daughter and called me on the carpet with “you bitch (smile in voice)! How could you not tell me what to do with my screaming daughter when you knew the answer?“ The answer is more sleep. Now, what is the question?Laurette’s daughter was screaming when she was put down. She thought she was putting the baby down too early and she didn’t want to go to

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-21273319299649199082009-07-18T20:03:00.000-07:002009-07-18T20:28:19.006-07:00

As a day care mom, I used to leave work to pick up my children before day care closes at 6pm (until we had three kids, hired an au pair and then I left work at 5:30 to meet her at home by 6 after she picked everyone up). Over the last eight years, 5:30 - 7:30 pm has become sacred time. Without spending it with my kids, I get stressed and our lives get crazy.5:30 because day care closes and after

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-15030008930169836382009-07-17T16:55:00.000-07:002009-07-17T16:58:15.119-07:00

The terrible twos don’t come close to comparing with an enraged almost 8 year old. Every Thursday, my boys have a swim class. They’re at the same level but Taylor, the younger, is about to achieve his next “ribbon” and Benjamin is not. Benjamin learned this fact last week. Now showing: "Rage at Swim Lessons".When I arrived – Benjamin was arguing with the instructor at the front desk about how he

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-80274047047262707842009-07-16T15:33:00.000-07:002009-07-18T15:31:29.043-07:00

My eldest, Benjamin, is a proud, picky eater who traces his pickiness lineage right to his maternal grandpa. The doctor isn't worried, but that doesn't stop us from trying to instill healthy eating habits. It's the right thing to do, but it's led to some nasty food fights - which might just be over.My mother always said she wasn't a short-order cook and I've adopted this philosophy. Benjamin

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-4146578592632323782009-07-15T10:41:00.000-07:002009-07-15T13:56:45.237-07:00

This morning, a work friend was clearly upset about something when she came into my office. She's doing the step-mom thing - which I think is probably a lot harder than the mom thing. And the mom thing is pretty tough. I asked if she was okay and she asked me to tell her something funny instead of talking about whatever happened with the kids at home yesterday or this morning. So I shared my

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-48838582971960495302009-07-14T20:18:00.000-07:002009-07-14T20:34:17.202-07:00

This morning, the kids asked me if we could go to Chuck E Cheese tonight after camp. When Neal's out of town, I don't mind one night of a "treat" dinner - provided we can get home before 7:15 so everyone can get to sleep on time. I told the boys that if they had a good day at camp, I'd call our au pair and ask her to meet me at the restaurant near my San Bruno office.I didn't really factor in

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-11378462177405015182009-07-13T23:14:00.000-07:002009-07-13T23:26:31.307-07:00

What are little boys made of?Snips and snails,And puppy dog tails,That's what little boys are made of.Actually, little boys are made of pure energy. We could solve the energy crisis if we could figure out how to harness the energy of 2-8 year old boys. Who needs gasoline? My husband and I are pretty high energy too. OK, in my case that's possibly a serious understatement. Suffice to say, we

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-63021628324676083092009-07-13T12:09:00.000-07:002009-07-13T12:31:45.948-07:00

This morning I had the same conversation, yet again, with another working Mom. Did you work out EVERY week for camp? For multiple children? Are they happy? Truth be known, I long for Pine Grove Camp for my children. I started in 2nd grade at the Jamesburg campus (which now is an adult community - the Wall campus doesn't have the same rustic feeling), I think, and my sister must have started

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-11140453339837884122009-02-08T08:11:00.000-08:002009-02-08T08:12:09.801-08:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-75600386898407826912008-11-14T11:41:00.000-08:002008-11-14T11:49:13.567-08:00

This is a consumer warning - my LG DLG3788W gas dryer, owned for under 3 years, has stopped working again. This is the 6th time in under 3 years. With a young and large family, its obvious that the washer/dryer is a key appliance. Living without a microwave is easy, but losing the dryer makes a real mess.So - what are the probable causes of this poor performance:1. LG Dryers are poorly built2

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-45457208903182992882008-08-07T20:40:00.000-07:002008-08-07T20:57:03.135-07:00

Turns out that our garden grows mutant large produce. And lots of it. Our first clue was the sugar snap peas that took over the fence. The next clue was the sunflowers...We grew the sunflowers from seed. We started half indoors and half in the bed. We bought a breed that grows to 10-12 feet because we thought that would be cool. The seeds created seedlings and we transferred them to the

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-28139060212612785982008-08-07T20:26:00.000-07:002008-08-07T20:38:10.451-07:00

We are the proud owners of an Imaginarium Deluxe Marble Race. Tonight, my boys (and the girl, although not directly) asked me to help them build a big Marble Race,following the plans in the instructions.We built it and as we were doing it, Benjamin pointed out things that he thought wouldn't work. But we kept building. When it was done, we tested it - and a few things didn't work right. They were

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-10880938626411377672008-07-14T20:56:00.000-07:002008-07-14T22:09:47.811-07:00

Here in California, we don't really have busing for school or camp. So - we all drive our kids to school and camp. It's not like California isn't congested or ostensibly "green". Today I drove 15 miles to one camp (with an 8:45 - 9:10 drop off zone) and back tracked 10 miles to another camp (this child isn't old enough for the first camp) with a 9 - 9:10 drop off zone. Arg! Suffice to say -

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-67575620961935148842008-06-20T16:18:00.000-07:002008-06-20T16:19:31.857-07:00

Last night, I had drinks with a colleague and we wondered out loud what the impact of having a baby was going to have on our young, brilliant, and outspoken President (of our company). My colleague looked at me and said that he was changed in the first hour with his baby daughter – who is now five.Because his wife was induced and the process was exhausting, she needed to sleep after the baby was

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-58118601752600827122008-06-20T16:15:00.001-07:002008-06-20T16:15:50.861-07:00

This is the first week of summer in California and the boys have discovered that camp is a lot more fun than school. This week, it’s soccer camp. For Jammer, that’s 9-3 – six hours of soccer camp. Running, kicking, drills and games for 5 hours (time for water, food and bathroom breaks). And we’re still doing jujitsu on Monday and Wednesday, piano on Tuesday and swimming on Thursday.Taylor is

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-58217874688437890332008-06-09T09:07:00.000-07:002008-06-09T09:17:22.094-07:00

Benjamin is an athletic, competitive kid. He's played little-league this spring for the first time and enjoys being on the field or at bat - and his only complaint is that the league isn't competitive this year - no scoring, no outs. Because it's not competitive, he doesn't really get the point and sometimes doesn't want to play. Interesting how young they figure out that if you don't keep

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-160693676237849282008-06-06T09:41:00.000-07:002008-06-06T15:42:48.917-07:00

No matter how many ways I try to coach and cajole my kids with the wisdom of my years, nothing trumps personal experience. Benjamin is still a lego and K'Nex fanatic. Ariel likes to climb. And Taylor likes sports and money. He outgrew his baby "money bunny" and for his graduation present, we helped him find the perfect bank for his allowance savings. Great site - banks, banks, banks gave him

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-77732621908952509432008-06-04T21:24:00.001-07:002008-06-04T21:34:15.073-07:00

We decided that our Nov 2003 son would start Kindergarden this fall - and be the youngest in his class. So, last week, he graduated Pre-K. And I am really proud of him. You'd never know that he's young - he's articulate, bring and mischevious. This weekend, while waiting for my elder son to return home on the train from a Giants game, another Mom was mentioning that first grade hadn't

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-52327402856129387282007-12-03T21:32:00.000-08:002007-12-03T21:39:44.938-08:00

Our younger son has milked his birthday for every last moment (good job). Starting with the day before Thanksgiving - cupcakes at school. Thanksgiving Day was his birthday - family cake. And his party was Dec. 2 so that people were in town - more cake. And presents from Thanksgiving to today thanks to e-commerce and the postal service. I am curious how to eliminate one of the three baking

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-63979831635379867802007-06-11T16:41:00.000-07:002007-06-11T16:49:45.984-07:00

It's shocking how virtually all of the behavioral challenges of my kids (and myself) can all be attributed to lack of sleep. Although we practice Judaism in the home, we are true disciples of sleep. Meaning that we run our lives so that our kids are in jammies by 7:00 and asleep by 7:30. Except for the baby, who is 11 weeks old and isn't yet on the program. That would be nice...Sleep is the

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-4028589951673678182007-05-30T16:55:00.001-07:002007-05-30T17:05:18.341-07:00

Let's start with a disclaimer - I like sports cars. Curve hugging, throw you back in the seat acceleration sports cars. My boys know how to identify the Porsche Carrera Convertibles we see, whenever we see them. Suffice to say, driving a minivan was never on my life short list. But with three kids, an au pair and out of town parents who visit frequently, it became an imperative that I

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2349327554231745299.post-64836976837357599832007-05-18T11:06:00.000-07:002007-05-18T11:19:55.138-07:00

My kindergartener, Benjamin, is a lego fanatic and he was given a model set for a three or four wheel vehicle/bike. He made the three wheeler and was very proud and then took it apart to build the four wheeler. As he approached completion (this set is for 8-14 year olds, so we were amazed at his focus and dexterity - it's amazing what personal interest can bring out), I heard an outburst from

Joellehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01826451896497307386noreply@blogger.com0