Tree of Knowledge dropped a little goodie from heaven, two lists of alternative princess books that I thought many of you with daughters (or little gift recipents, anyway, in Eszter’s case) might also be happy to know about.
First, an anti-princess reading list (you have to look for it on the sidebar, it doesn’t pop up) that includes many ideas that some of you have mentioned along the way as well as several new finds. Super.
Second, a best princess list. Eureka! Tree, where have you been all my life?
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.
This weekend, Alison asked some advice (on the Caveats Page, above), she wrote:
“Need advice: I’m not completely opposed to my kids doning online social networking and gameplaying, but the most popular sites are all about shopping (Webkinz, Club Penguin). I’d love to know if there are any cool, fun sites that aren’t so blatantly trying to turn my kids into little shoppers
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.
We’re still in vacationing at the lake house — ahhh. Today dh, dd, and I went out in kayaks for a paddle – a loon landed near us, we saw lilypads, fish jumping, it was great. Sunny, peaceful…I was so happy even the waterbugs seemed cute. And I’m no nature-queen, believe me. Thing 1 has been having a ball — miss formerly-petrified-at-swimming Read the complete Post.
We’re in Maine right now, vacationing at a lake house - stealing the very last week of summer. Here we are with a dock for swimming, kayaks, a canoe, fishing gear, woods for exploring, and from a kid’s POV, there is essentially an indoor playground too — lofts and bunkbeds that make cool hiding fort-like spaces, a zillion unfamiliar books and toys, and an indoor play tent (we brought it with us, along with some crawling tunnels in case it was rainy). Considering the surroundings I was fairly perplexed that Thing 1 kept asking me, “what can I do?” this morning — our first full day here. I mean, really, if all that kid friendly fodder weren’t enough, I also packed large bags of toys for both her and the baby. And as it turns out, “Are you kidding? What can’t you do?” did not seem to work to send her on her merry way. Read the complete Post.