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 the impact of a carpool. Three families - we do pick up and they alternate drop-off.
Taylor announced to the other two boys that he was going to Chuck E Cheese tonight. This morning's driver emailed me asking me the plan with drop-off and do I want to take her son with us? What about dinner since adult food at Chuck E Cheese is not the main attraction. Sounded fun to have her and her family join us if we could work it out (adult food being the problem - solved by La Salsa).
The plan had been to drop Isaac off at Jujitsu and then meet the kids and au pair at Chuck E Cheese.
At 4:35 pm, my au pair calls - jujitsu is closed. That's when the carpool went karmic.
The plan:
Leave jujitsu and go pick up Ariel at day care.
Leave day care and go to Ilan's house to pick up Lilah and tokens. Leave Isaac there.
Call Isaac's Mom to tell her to pick up Isaac there. She says - no problem.
Told the plan to Ilan's mom who hung up to call Isaac's mom to pick up Ilan's sister at the same day care as Isaac's sister and bring the two girls to Ilan's house (following this?).
So - Isaac's mom brings the two girls to Ilan's house where all the other children are waiting. Everyone leaves for Chuck E Cheese - and I mean - everyone.
Best part of the story - other than setting it up, I continued working at my office and casually walked out at 5:20, drove 3 minutes and parked in front of Chuck E Cheese. About 5 minutes later, the first car of my friends and kids arrives with the question "want some kids?". The entire carpool gang with all siblings descended upon Chuck E Cheese to play.
8 children in 6 locations with two drivers. No stress, no problems and a delightful 90 minutes of kids playing and eating at Chuck E Cheese.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Running my puppies
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 have very high energy boys. That's why we believe in puppy parenting. Here's the concept in a nutshell - run your puppies. Any dog person knows that young puppies need a lot of time in the yard to run. If you happen to adopt a Labrador, Golden or Irish Setter (we had the latter), you know that you either need a very big yard or get thee to a park. Little boys are just like puppies - full of love and affection as long as you run them like crazy. Get those boys to the yard or the park.
My second child has genuine shpilkes and loves sports. During the school year, it's a coin toss if we were going to get a note home about his ability to keep his hands and feet to himself. Which somehow manifests on the playground or field. Start summer- and start sports camps. The run your puppies philosophy says - as many hours running as possible in any given day will get the best results.
What do you know - not a single discipline problem. Maybe there's something to this. My dear friends have a son with sensory processing challenges. One of the techniques to help him be successful in school - a daily, challenging obstacle course. Run that puppy.
Sure, our kids a little crankier at bedtime when they're so tired they can hardly walk or eat. But they're so happy. Happy boys who are having fun and positively participating in activities make for very happy parents. By the way, my high energy daughter benefits as well from the running of the puppies. In her case, she's chasing the bigger boys or swimming.
I'm thinking that many of the challenges that young boys (disproportionately) have in grade school could be reduced if we insisted on puppy parenting - run the puppies in the morning,at lunch and in the afternoon. Once spent, they're able to focus. What do you think?
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 have very high energy boys. That's why we believe in puppy parenting. Here's the concept in a nutshell - run your puppies. Any dog person knows that young puppies need a lot of time in the yard to run. If you happen to adopt a Labrador, Golden or Irish Setter (we had the latter), you know that you either need a very big yard or get thee to a park. Little boys are just like puppies - full of love and affection as long as you run them like crazy. Get those boys to the yard or the park.
My second child has genuine shpilkes and loves sports. During the school year, it's a coin toss if we were going to get a note home about his ability to keep his hands and feet to himself. Which somehow manifests on the playground or field. Start summer- and start sports camps. The run your puppies philosophy says - as many hours running as possible in any given day will get the best results.
What do you know - not a single discipline problem. Maybe there's something to this. My dear friends have a son with sensory processing challenges. One of the techniques to help him be successful in school - a daily, challenging obstacle course. Run that puppy.
Sure, our kids a little crankier at bedtime when they're so tired they can hardly walk or eat. But they're so happy. Happy boys who are having fun and positively participating in activities make for very happy parents. By the way, my high energy daughter benefits as well from the running of the puppies. In her case, she's chasing the bigger boys or swimming.
I'm thinking that many of the challenges that young boys (disproportionately) have in grade school could be reduced if we insisted on puppy parenting - run the puppies in the morning,at lunch and in the afternoon. Once spent, they're able to focus. What do you think?
Masters Degree for Camp
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 in kindergarten. This wasn't a specialty camp, religious camp or luxurious camp. But it was bona fide camp. There was bug juice for lunch (which was always hot, always included and generally edible). Although I never drank it, it certainly symbolized camp. We had bunks for our stuff - and there were some sleepover bunks that we used when we were older. There were fields for softball, kickball, dodgeball. I think there were basketball courts for people who played that (I think they were on the "boys camp" side...I didn't play basketball).
The structures were wooden or canvas. The playhouse was my second home - but I enjoyed the dance and gymnastics studios too. We did two musicals a year plus a talent show. I know my friends liked arts and crafts and ceramics. Science too. We had electives and we had group activities. We played intramural sport competitions with other camps.
And there was the waterfront. We had multiple pools and the lake. You had to pass a swim test to go boating or even swim in the deep-end. While we didn't have waterskiing (small lake), we did have canoeing, kayaking and row boating. We had swim lessons every day and we had free swim every day.
We left home, picked up by a small van bus, around 7:15 in the morning and got home after 5:30. We slept on the bus. Or we sang. Or we argued. The camp was only 40 minutes away...but we were always the first pickup/last drop off. And I went until I was 16. My best friends growing up were my friends from camp.
Fast forward 20+ years and I'm a parent of three great kids. Two of whom are in the prime zone to go to day camp. We live in Northern California, not New Jersey. I'm not sure what camp is like in New Jersey, but in the Bay Area, it requires a working parent to manage a complex spreadsheet of weekly/monthly camps with all sorts of varied deadlines for "applications" and commitments. We cannot have an empty week - because that means someone is taking off from work (which we do over the summer to be together and vacation) or someone is getting paid to recreate camp for our kids.
First - you have to know the deadlines of the camps you want. The community centers have great camps...and late sign ups. The private camps are much earlier. There really isn't day camp like Pine Grove - except north of Orinda and they won't bus from the Peninsula. Few camps start as soon as school is out. Few camps go until school starts...plan vacations accordingly! Second - you most consider drop-off and pick-up times, location, traffic and carpool probability. A few camps have aftercare for working parents...but mostly, you have to figure out if it is physically possible, with your work and parenting obligations, to get the kids to camp. Ideally they go to the same camp...but most of the parents I talk to cannot force this to happen - arg.
I probably spend about 30 hours researching, planning, coordinating and applying to camp. Another 10 hours ensuring everyone is paid, carpools are finalized and every version of the medical report is completed by the doctor.
The kids are having a great summer. But they're not at any camp long enough to make friends. So, we're looking back east for summer long sleep away camp. I do wish I could find Pine Grove, with busing, in the Bay Area. (And for all of you PJCC camp parents - it's a great camp...but it's where they go to school and the kids deserve some time off campus...plus, no lake and gorgeous - but not rustic.)
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 in kindergarten. This wasn't a specialty camp, religious camp or luxurious camp. But it was bona fide camp. There was bug juice for lunch (which was always hot, always included and generally edible). Although I never drank it, it certainly symbolized camp. We had bunks for our stuff - and there were some sleepover bunks that we used when we were older. There were fields for softball, kickball, dodgeball. I think there were basketball courts for people who played that (I think they were on the "boys camp" side...I didn't play basketball).
The structures were wooden or canvas. The playhouse was my second home - but I enjoyed the dance and gymnastics studios too. We did two musicals a year plus a talent show. I know my friends liked arts and crafts and ceramics. Science too. We had electives and we had group activities. We played intramural sport competitions with other camps.
And there was the waterfront. We had multiple pools and the lake. You had to pass a swim test to go boating or even swim in the deep-end. While we didn't have waterskiing (small lake), we did have canoeing, kayaking and row boating. We had swim lessons every day and we had free swim every day.
We left home, picked up by a small van bus, around 7:15 in the morning and got home after 5:30. We slept on the bus. Or we sang. Or we argued. The camp was only 40 minutes away...but we were always the first pickup/last drop off. And I went until I was 16. My best friends growing up were my friends from camp.
Fast forward 20+ years and I'm a parent of three great kids. Two of whom are in the prime zone to go to day camp. We live in Northern California, not New Jersey. I'm not sure what camp is like in New Jersey, but in the Bay Area, it requires a working parent to manage a complex spreadsheet of weekly/monthly camps with all sorts of varied deadlines for "applications" and commitments. We cannot have an empty week - because that means someone is taking off from work (which we do over the summer to be together and vacation) or someone is getting paid to recreate camp for our kids.
First - you have to know the deadlines of the camps you want. The community centers have great camps...and late sign ups. The private camps are much earlier. There really isn't day camp like Pine Grove - except north of Orinda and they won't bus from the Peninsula. Few camps start as soon as school is out. Few camps go until school starts...plan vacations accordingly! Second - you most consider drop-off and pick-up times, location, traffic and carpool probability. A few camps have aftercare for working parents...but mostly, you have to figure out if it is physically possible, with your work and parenting obligations, to get the kids to camp. Ideally they go to the same camp...but most of the parents I talk to cannot force this to happen - arg.
I probably spend about 30 hours researching, planning, coordinating and applying to camp. Another 10 hours ensuring everyone is paid, carpools are finalized and every version of the medical report is completed by the doctor.
The kids are having a great summer. But they're not at any camp long enough to make friends. So, we're looking back east for summer long sleep away camp. I do wish I could find Pine Grove, with busing, in the Bay Area. (And for all of you PJCC camp parents - it's a great camp...but it's where they go to school and the kids deserve some time off campus...plus, no lake and gorgeous - but not rustic.)
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Friday, November 14, 2008
Dang, a non-working dryer makes a mess
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 built
2. My LG Dryer is poorly built
3. The service technicians do not expedite parts to ensure rapid repair.
I don't know if it's all LG Gas dryers - I know that I won't buy another one. And a message to GE Extended Warranty - poor service from the technician (in our case, South Bay Appliance in San Jose, CA) reflects upon you. The South Bay Technician was on time, polite and knowledgeable. But his company doesn't order parts same day and doesn't expedite parts. And all their parts go to Modesto (two hours away from my home) and have to be driven by the owner to the tech in San Jose. And this is the only option from GE...
I appreciate that South Bay Appliance has to run their business - but I paid for the dryer and the warranty to expect to be able to DRY CLOTHES. When a part arrived broken and South Bay Appliance re-ordered it - even then it wasn't expedited. My Kenmore dryer held up much better and if this LG fails again - it's getting tossed (and GE is willing to replace it, they say, if it fails again - apparently 5 failures in 3 years constitutes general failure).
Check out my review....
Thanks for listening - avoid LG!
So - what are the probable causes of this poor performance:
1. LG Dryers are poorly built
2. My LG Dryer is poorly built
3. The service technicians do not expedite parts to ensure rapid repair.
I don't know if it's all LG Gas dryers - I know that I won't buy another one. And a message to GE Extended Warranty - poor service from the technician (in our case, South Bay Appliance in San Jose, CA) reflects upon you. The South Bay Technician was on time, polite and knowledgeable. But his company doesn't order parts same day and doesn't expedite parts. And all their parts go to Modesto (two hours away from my home) and have to be driven by the owner to the tech in San Jose. And this is the only option from GE...
I appreciate that South Bay Appliance has to run their business - but I paid for the dryer and the warranty to expect to be able to DRY CLOTHES. When a part arrived broken and South Bay Appliance re-ordered it - even then it wasn't expedited. My Kenmore dryer held up much better and if this LG fails again - it's getting tossed (and GE is willing to replace it, they say, if it fails again - apparently 5 failures in 3 years constitutes general failure).
Check out my review....
Thanks for listening - avoid LG!
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Harvest Day
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 garden. Around the same time, we planted corn, tomatoes, zucchini, basil, lettuce and artichokes. We were ambitious and experimenting. My husband had prepared the soil with 50% compost. I built an automated drip irrigation system to ensure that we didn't have to think about the garden.
The sunflowers began to grow - looking pretty normal. By the third week, they were three feet tall. We began to wonder what was happening as they sprouted to 5 feet during a week of vacation. At eight feet, the zucchini started to be edible (and continued for a month). Still no flowers. At twelve feet, we decided to brace them so they didn't fall on the tomatoes. Still no flowers. At eighteen feet, we saw blossoms. Truly - enormous flowers enjoying the sun. And when they were done, we let them dry out. We'll revisit them on harvest day.
On the vacation where the sunflowers grew 2-3 feet, the zucchini were inspired. We returned home and noticed that one of the zucchini had grown beyond a foot in length and 6 inches in diameter. check it out. Even more impressive was that a week later - there were three more giant zucchini. Trying to keep up with the sunflowers.
On harvest day, we chopped down the sunflowers (after all, the artichokes and tomatoes need some room). We realized that we could harvest the seeds that the birds had left us and had a couple of thousand seeds when we were done. Now I need to roast them...
The sweetest part was how much the kids enjoyed our backyard gardening. They ate the lettuce, enjoyed the sweet corn, experimented and liked artichokes and zucchini - and are pretty psyched about sunflower seeds. Over dinner on Monday, we ate our last corn and had some zucchini (every day) with steak. Benjamin remarked that we grew everything we ate except the meat.
"Mommy, can we grow meat?"
"No honey, meat needs too much room."
"Why?"
"Meat walks around...and this meat on your plate used to say 'Moo'".
Laughter and discussion of other things to grow and where food comes from ensued. Good fun.
Enjoy!
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 garden. Around the same time, we planted corn, tomatoes, zucchini, basil, lettuce and artichokes. We were ambitious and experimenting. My husband had prepared the soil with 50% compost. I built an automated drip irrigation system to ensure that we didn't have to think about the garden.
The sunflowers began to grow - looking pretty normal. By the third week, they were three feet tall. We began to wonder what was happening as they sprouted to 5 feet during a week of vacation. At eight feet, the zucchini started to be edible (and continued for a month). Still no flowers. At twelve feet, we decided to brace them so they didn't fall on the tomatoes. Still no flowers. At eighteen feet, we saw blossoms. Truly - enormous flowers enjoying the sun. And when they were done, we let them dry out. We'll revisit them on harvest day.
On the vacation where the sunflowers grew 2-3 feet, the zucchini were inspired. We returned home and noticed that one of the zucchini had grown beyond a foot in length and 6 inches in diameter. check it out. Even more impressive was that a week later - there were three more giant zucchini. Trying to keep up with the sunflowers.
On harvest day, we chopped down the sunflowers (after all, the artichokes and tomatoes need some room). We realized that we could harvest the seeds that the birds had left us and had a couple of thousand seeds when we were done. Now I need to roast them...
The sweetest part was how much the kids enjoyed our backyard gardening. They ate the lettuce, enjoyed the sweet corn, experimented and liked artichokes and zucchini - and are pretty psyched about sunflower seeds. Over dinner on Monday, we ate our last corn and had some zucchini (every day) with steak. Benjamin remarked that we grew everything we ate except the meat.
"Mommy, can we grow meat?"
"No honey, meat needs too much room."
"Why?"
"Meat walks around...and this meat on your plate used to say 'Moo'".
Laughter and discussion of other things to grow and where food comes from ensued. Good fun.
Enjoy!
Marvelous Marbles
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 the ones he mentioned during construction.
He then told me that if we reversed two pieces in the middle, the whole thing would function. We carefully isolated the pieces and reversed them - and now it worked perfectly. I have to marvel at his spacial reasoning and mechanical/civil engineering capabilities - I couldn't see the mistake and I wouldn't have been able to fix it.
Here's the marble race...and yes, we keep the marbles themselves up high and watch Ariel when we race them. She likes to put Marbles on the track and we let her do that - supervised. Let me know what you are amazed by with your kids.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
