So, we did the Thanksgiving thing and it was great. The kids had a ball and I almost had the great pleasure of winning the family poker tournament (only to lose to my dastardly husband who used my 87 year old aunt as distraction). At least we’re keeping it in the family.
At any rate, I realized that this year blogging (well, reading blogs, which I like far more than posting) is very very high on my list of things for which I feel thankful, probably higher than it should be, but that’s another story that involves a dull tale of woe about Read the complete Post.
I like the ride-on radio flyer fire engine a lot.
I’m serious. It’s fantastic. The kids like it too. Thing 2 smiled when my MIL wheeled it in, festooned with a gorgeous heap of red and yellow curling ribbon. It has a rubber horn that honks easily and with a satisfying “ooo-ga ooo-ga.” She handed him a glossy red baby sized fire hat. My mother had also given him a red and gray striped outfit embroidered with the words “little hero” and a fire truck on the chest. Everyone said we should take a picture. We should. He’s too cute for words - beaming that uneven gap toothed grin, hat off-kilter. It was a nice day, a lovely little party.
For his first birthday my son got a total of nine vehicles. One toy airplane, two toy fire trucks, a toy globe with a train that goes around and around inside, a tractor, and a few other sundry transit items.
That’s what boys like.
Except he didn’t have a wish list. Nope — I didn’t take him, diaper and all, to do a registry Read the complete Post.
This weekend we had our extended family together in town for my son’s dedication and naming. It was chaotic and a little crowded and at moments undeniably awkward, since I have a complicated family tree shaped in the usual unusual ways by divorces and remarriages. (e.g., I have one brother, one half sister, and three ex-step sisters. Read the complete Post.
Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood is having their annual summit in Boston in April.
The topic is sexualization of children(read as BRATZ et al - that image above is of Bratz Babyz, btw - I know my dd always wore a LOT of liquid eyeliner when she was part of the under 1 set.) Read the complete Post.
Advertisers generally respond to critiques of marketing to kids by calling it an issue of parental responsibility. If you don’t want your kids to see advertising, just don’t let them watch TV. Simple as that.
I’ve tried it — it helps a lot. Thing 1 has never seen commercial television, and I also work hard to keep her out of shopping environments (sometimes with comic outcomes…). I have also tried to have playdates at parks and playgrounds or museums or sporting events instead of at other kids’ homes where the world of Disney, Bratz, etc. may reign supreme.
Well, Friday, Thing 1 had her first playdate at a friends’ home. Janie is Read the complete Post.
Today I took Thing 1 and Thing 2 to a women’s soccer game on campus, with friends (hi SA!) and it wasn’t exactly the perfect outing - it was extremely hot, there was no shade, we had a long walk each way, and because we had to get back for swimming, we were tight on time. Non-optimal. Significant whining ensued and we didn’t see very much of the game, but you know what, I’m still glad we went, because it reminded me about what an antidote women’s collegiate sports are for so many of the things that fry me. Read the complete Post.
I just watched the premiere of CBS’s much-maligned reality show Kid Nation (Where 40 kids are left for 40 days in a “ghost town” with minimal adult interference to organize their own society). For backstory on the hullabaloo, see yesterday’s Washington Post story or today’s brutal Baltimore Sun column. I turned it on, expecting to be outraged (awful conditions, unchecked anti-social behavior, exploitation Read the complete Post.
When I was a budding feminist, characters like Cinderella and the Little Mermaid, (the 9 Disney damsels - “G9″ he he - didn’t become “The Princesses” until a marketing overhaul in 2001), and Barbie made my blood boil. Their big boobs, mini waists, and glamourization of victimhood infuriated me — role models of the most irksome kind. Today, as a parent, they still get to me. Add to this world of warped femininity the marketing juggernaut that is Bratz, and kaboom, and there is a lot to make my skin crawl.
But (did she just write “BUT”?), I have to confess that my sensitivities have changed. When I see princess paraphernalia, I cringe, but if I’m completely honest, Read the complete Post.
Three months ago when dh mentioned for a second or third time that he thought we should enroll Thing 1 in gymnastics to help build her confidence (she’s the poster child for risk-aversion), I lost it. Read the complete Post.
Last week, the news media gave decent coverage to an important story that revealed the power of marketing to children. The study, in case you missed it (which is easy to do if you have children!) showed that McDonald’s marketing was so effective that in experimental taste tests, children believed that food in a McDonald’s wrapper tasted better than identical food in a plain wrapper. This was even true for things not traditionally associated with McDonald’s, like apple juice, carrots and milk. Read the complete Post.