Diary of a Dad

Silence is funny

2010-05-27T09:11:00.004-04:00

This little girl said to my little girl "I don't like your brother. He's annoying. He's a boy." My daughter was in resigned silence. Silence is complicity.

I guess the Boy Paradox still holds

Life Instructions

2010-04-21T09:55:00.006-04:00

I once saw this on the Subway and have never forgotten it. It just seems so apropos lately.

I also rather like the 43folders article that I found the image too. How can you go wrong with Ted Talks?

Open Letter to Steve Jobs (P it's not about the iPad much)

2010-02-05T17:28:00.004-05:00

Dear Mr. Jobs,

Apple fanboy here to tell you that when your fabled Time Capsule product has a fatal error such that it won't even bootup and when you refuse to retrieve my back-up data it means that your product fucking sucks. Moreover, the Time Capsule is a pain to set up, but they don't do that at the Genius Bar; they won't even give you a box for the new replacement as consolation prize for destroying all my BACK-UP DATA! Perhaps that's because they are doing triage on Apple's sucky, terrible products? Mr. Jobs you should be ashamed.

I want the iPad not to suck too, though I still want one. Just make an iMac tablet dammit.

Sincerely yours,
- http://diaryofadad.blogspot.com

Lazy Day

2010-01-01T17:30:00.001-05:00

Didn't do anything today. Nothing. Layed in bed, on the couch, shuffled around the apartment. It was incredibly lazy, but I loved it. Sometimes you just need a good down day. Probably not the best productive step forward for the new year. I wasn't even hung over at all, just plain lazy.

Ten Year's Old

2009-12-21T16:23:00.002-05:00

This month my son and I both had our birthdays. I won't tell you how old I am, but he turned 10. On the school's website they posted this information for parents of 4th Graders and I thought it was very interesting.

Common Characteristics of
Ten-Year-Olds

Ten-year-olds are generally happy and relaxed, enjoying themselves and their peers, parents, even siblings. Proud of all they have accomplished, they like to share their knowledge with others. Tens usually do well with group projects because they tend to be calm and naturally cooperative.

Social
Good age for clubs, team sports, and whole-class activities
Eager to reach out to others, such as through community service or tutoring younger children
Boys and girls work well together
Quick to anger and quick to forgive
Competitive but also cooperative
Listen well but also enjoy talking and explaining
Enjoy adult recognition

Cognitive
Very good at memorizing facts
Enjoy collecting, organizing, and classifying
Like rules and logic; open to learning about scientific principles, governmental structures, and meeting formats
Can concentrate on reading and thinking for long periods
Hardworking; take pride in school work
Enjoy choral reading, poetry, plays, and singing
Open to learning mediation or problem solving skills

Physical
Muscles for jumping, running, and other big movements are developing quickly
Need lots of outdoor play and physical challenges
Snacks and rest periods help rapidly growing bodies
Better at small muscle movements; enjoy precision tasks such as tacking and copying
Ready to start using tools such as compasses, rulers, and templates

content adapted from Yardsticks by Chip Wood, a Responsive Classroom publication

What do you think of this list? I don't know if I was like this at 10, but I do remember being very into dungeon and dragons, which goes with the logic and memorizing facts. I guess I better start getting ready for lots of outdoor activities.

Open Letter To My Ex-Wife About Our Children's Education

2009-09-16T18:01:00.000-04:00

With the start of the school year, I recently sent a message asking that we discuss our children's education. To which I was rebuffed for two weeks or at best ignored. Consequently, I had to force the discussion about our children and my concerns. Understandably that never comes out the right way and the frustration was on both sides, though the insults from you weren't necessary. Since I know that you read my blog religiously, I thought I might share with you and my readership some of the better points I've found for co-parenting around education. It is my hope that you and your friends discuss these and recognize that I'm just trying to follow some expert advice when I call or write you.

Co-parenting guidelines for managing our children’s education

Considering that children spend a large amount of time in school or doing school-related activities, you will want to work with your ex to make those experiences positive ones. Sometimes teachers and staff members play a major role in maintaining a stable environment for your kids. Let them know about changes in your child’s living situation. Here are some guidelines for co-parents:

Ask your children's teachers or school administrator to send all correspondence to both parents.
Inform the other parent of any changes in class schedules or extra-curricular activities.
Be polite to your spouse at school events or sports events. Rude behavior or comments and can be distracting or humiliating to kids.
Share your children's schoolwork with the other parent.
Keep adequate school supplies at each parent’s home.
Share information with your ex before parent-teacher conferences.
Be objective. Do not criticize or blame the other parent during meetings with teachers.
Ask teachers for suggestions for helping your child with schoolwork.
Calendar any action steps recommended by the teacher and follow up on them.

Along the same lines, I try to follow these brief instructions below whenever we have to discuss anything. I hope that these co-parenting instructions help you as much as they have helped me though I know I have much more learning to do about being a great parent and hope that an affable and peaceful co-parenting experience is something that we can strive towards.

Dealing with a difficult ex-spouse can be very discouraging, frustrating and defeating. If there are children involved, we feel it is our responsibility to try to have a healthy relationship with our ex – spouse. At times, your efforts may not be returned, hence the frustration. Hopefully the following tips will help you when dealing with an ex who doesn’t seem to want to deal.

1. Be sure to notice your own part of the ongoing conflict.

Ex – spouses often feel justified in their anger. They may feel you[r] need to change or they may not trust you and your desire to have a conflict free relationship. Any time you try to change anyone, even for the best of reasons you invite hostility as a response. Learn to lower your expectations and to not try to change what you don’t have control over. The more you try and change your ex or the situation the more conflict you are going to deal with.

2. Whenever possible, agree with what you ex-spouse is suggesting.

This good business principle applies in parenting as well. Even if you disagree with the main point, find some common ground. Be willing to give instead of standing your ground. You may no longer be married but the concept of give and take is still very important.

3. Manage conversations by staying on topic.
It isn’t unusual for conversation between ex – spouses to drift back to issues related to the marriage. Work at keeping your conversations on topic and don’t rehash history. If your ex – spouse insists on engaging in conversation over old issues try and direct the conversation back to the topic at hand. If you are unable to do this, then excuse yourself from the conversation by walking away or hanging up the phone. Come back to the conversation in a few days and try again.

4. Respect your ex - spouse and his/her household.

For your children’s sake, find ways of being respectful even if you honestly don’t respect your ex-spouses lifestyle or choices. Do not personally criticize them, but don’t make excuses for their behavior either.

5. Keep your meetings impersonal.

Face-to-face meetings have the most potential for conflict. Use the phone when possible or even talk to their answering machine if personal communication leads arguments. Use email or faxes when also. Keep down your children’s level of stress by keeping them from being exposed to negative interaction between you and your ex – spouse.

6. Work at forgiving.

Hurt feelings from the past are the number one reason you and your ex overreact with one another. Do your part by striving to forgive them for the offenses of the past and present. This will help you manage your emotions when dealing with them in the present. It also helps cut down on the degree of stress you will have during and after the divorce process.

7. Don’t allow financial issues to control your behavior.
If you’ve been to court and either reached an agreement or a judge handed down a court order pertaining to financial issues. Live with it. Don’t let your unhappiness, after the fact, taint your relationship with your ex or your children. If you came to an agreement with your ex – spouse, live up to that agreement. If you have a court order, follow that order. No amount of anger over financial agreements is worth contaminating your relationship with your ex or your children.

Gaming as Teaching Tool

2009-05-06T17:19:00.000-04:00

Va. tests video games as teaching tool from eSchool News Online. Using Tabula Digita's DimensionM video games, some Virginia schools are piloting a program to improve math scores. “According to a study conducted in 2008 by scholars at the University of Central Florida, DimensionM's immersive educational video games can improve students' understanding and raise scores significantly on district-wide math benchmark exams.” And Tabula Digita has announced Students in Texas, New York and Florida to compete in MegaBowl 2009 Educational Video Game competitions in May.

Another Sign of the End of Textbooks and other Recession Fun

2009-05-05T17:15:00.000-04:00

Digital lessons could soon replace books in W. Va. according to the Charleston Daily Mail. “Textbooks could be replaced with digital instructional material created or customized by the state Department of Education, business partners and a Wikipedia-style portal for educators. The new material would be distributed to students on laptops or handheld electronic devices,” according to education officials. And this could save the state a great deal of money. There are, of course, problems to be resolved.

The statistics on new teacher retention aren’t very good according to studies. But the Washington Post reports For new teachers, early support can sustain careers. Schools in Maryland and Virginia are working with mentoring and induction programs to try to retain young teachers.

The economic downturn is impacting every facet of society. Even teens have responded, according to Advertising Age (Teens, too, are tightening budgets). “According to research from Piper Jaffray, teens are becoming more attuned to the pinch on household budgets from the economy, which is having a "dramatic impact" on the $125 billion the demographic spends each year. Teens generally have about $5,000 a year burning a hole in their pockets, but they are spending about 14% less this spring than in spring '08.”

This Week’s Reports

2009-05-04T17:14:00.001-04:00

The Census Bureau has released Educational Attainment in the United States: 2008 http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/education/cps2008.html. It’s not really a report, but a series of tables with data broken down by characteristics from age to ethnic origin. One of the findings: “Workers with a high school degree earned an average of $31,286 in 2007, while those with a bachelor’s degree earned an average of $57,181.” For more information, read the press release.

The Education Department has released NAEP 2008: Trends in Academic Progress (PDF). There were highlights: “Nine-year-olds posted the highest scores ever in reading and math in 2008. Black and Hispanic students of that age also reached record reading scores, though they continued to trail white peers.” And there were lowlights: “Seventeen-year-olds gained some ground in reading since 2004, but their average performance in math and reading has not budged since the early 1970s.” (Washington Post, ‘Nation’s report card’ sees gains in elementary, middle schools)

Media Use & Academic Achievement among African-American Elementary Children (PDF) is a study from the Media Education Lab at Temple University. One of the authors of the study noted, "Children who use active reasoning may or may not be critical viewers, but they are able to articulate ideas about why they like media messages and what they find valuable in them. Using reasoning processes in everyday life builds important skills that support children's academic success." Read the press release.

Art Stuff

2009-05-03T17:09:00.001-04:00

One of the most important parts of any book is the cover or its dust jacket. In many cases, the artwork displayed is not only brilliant and beautiful but very relevant to the contents of the book itself. We saw two interesting web sites with images of cover art. The first is from the NYPL Digital Gallery. At Dust Jackets from American and European Books, 1926-1947 you’ll find a variety of cover art arranged largely by date, although the site is searchable. The images include both the front and back covers as well as the flaps.

And the Book Cover Archive presents more contemporary works. The cover art here is just the cover, not the verso or flaps. And it also offers visitors access to Amazon.com for purchasing convenience.

For both sites, make sure to check on copyright and permissions information before using any of these images.

Education & the Economy

2009-05-02T09:38:00.000-04:00

The Associated Press posted a story this week, Stimulus money may fund summer school, teacher pay. It reports on the alternatives for using stimulus funds recommended by Education Secretary Arne Duncan. One of those ideas is “extra pay for teachers to coach struggling colleagues.”

In the Boston Globe, Massachusetts Commissioner of elementary and secondary education Mitchell D. Chester wrote an Op-Ed piece, Smart with education stimulus funds. He believes that “as a state, we must think beyond the next several years and use as much of the funding as possible to strategically invest in initiatives that will serve our students not just now but for years to come.” He encourages schools to think for the long term.

Several other states are reporting their plans for the stimulus funding. Schools to start getting stimulus money soon reports on the $665 million that Georgia schools will receive (Gainesville Times). And the Salt Lake Tribune reports First 100 days of Obama: Utah’s stimulus highlights which includes details on education as well as other stimulus funding. But Education Week reports Initial aid is puzzle to track. “Government watchdog groups that track federal money say there’s a lot of room to improve—from making information more user-friendly, to requiring standard, more detailed reporting by states, local governments, and school districts.”

New York City has set up a Stimulus Tracker Web site. There’s a separate section on education funding which is a bit brief at the moment.

Education News I'm Interested In

2009-04-20T15:01:00.001-04:00

Education & the Economy

U.S. News' On Education blog explores Will stimulus money lead to actual education reform? It discusses Education Secretary Arne Duncan's demand for verifiable reform as opposed to many states reluctance to provide what could be embarrassing numbers.

And the Boston Globe reports As money for teachers flows, some states have other ideas. Loopholes in the law might allow governors to use the money for other projects. Duncan insists "he can come down hard on states that don't comply because he is releasing the money in installments, and because he will award billions of dollars in competitive grants later this year."

In Education stimulus funds about to flow; school officials told to spend wisely, the Arkansas News reports on the $570 million the state’s 245 school districts will receive over the next six months. The state's Education Commissioner provided guidance to the districts for applying for funding.

The Daily Journal in Mississippi discussed the stimulus funding as well in Superintendents watch for stimulus money. Because the Mississippi legislature has failed to pass a budget, teacher layoffs were on hold. The stimulus money will allow many schools to maintain their teaching staffs.

Schools' 'money is falling off the truck', an article in the Washington Post, looks at how some state and local governments are slashing school budgets, to be replaced by the stimulus funds. Several articles over the last few weeks have discussed this possibility as well. "Education Secretary Arne Duncan has warned states against playing ‘shell games’ with money aimed at schools. The stimulus law and regulations have strings to protect against big drops in education funding but allow the most cash-strapped states to seek some flexibility."

The Pittsburgh school district will receive about $43 million in stimulus money over the next two years and it is looking at creating a reading intervention program for middle school students to help prepare them for high school, according to City schools to use stimulus funds for literacy programs from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

And lastly (whew!), Facts on File has created a Research Feature, The Economic Downturn: From Credit Crunch to Global Recession. It includes key events, a timeline and more. It's not specific to education; but provides a lot of general information on the economy.

Earth Day

Earth Day is April 22. And we thought we’d offer a few sites to help you celebrate the day. The official Earth Day site, EarthDayNetwork, is full of information on events around the country. It also provides advice and tips on how to be more environmentally conscious. There are separate environmental fact sheets on specific issues like air pollution and climate change.

The U.S. government also has an Earth Day site. It provides useful ideas for getting greener at home, at school or at work. This is a cooperative effort among several government agencies. So you'll find links to other material from a variety of government offices.

EnviroLink is another great place to find Earth Day activities around the world. There’s a history of Earth Day, written by Senator Gaylord Nelson, the founder.

Geography Stuff

They may be deadly, but volcanoes sure are cool. Well, hot, actually. The Discovery Channel has created the Volcano Explorer, an interactive site that teaches about how volcanoes are formed, where they are located on our planet and what types of volcanoes exist. The best part may be the page that allows you to build your own volcano and then you get to watch it blow. Way cool.

The Seismic Monitor from the IRIS Consortium provides an interactive map of earthquake activity. Up to 5 years of activity appears on the map. And you can click on specific locations for more information on each earthquake.

This Week's Reports

Junior Achievement conducted a poll of teens on economic matters. The results of its 2009 Teens and Personal Finance Poll provide some interesting information. "Some 53 percent say they're choosing activities that cost less money, 50 percent say they talk about the economy with their friends, and 14 percent of kids ages 15 to 17 say they contribute money to their family budget." (Teens feel the economic pinch in a big way, study says – School Library Journal) A large portion of teens are feeling the impact at home and where they work.

This may not come as a surprise to anyone, but the ALA reports that there was a 10% increase in library visits last year and a nearly 20% increase in the number of library patrons who visited their library's web site. The ALA has just released The State of America's Libraries. Despite funding cuts in many places, libraries are making an important and necessary contribution to American society. One interesting bit of data concerned children. "Children are among the heaviest users of public-library resources. Children’s materials accounted for 35 percent of all circulation transactions, and attendance at library-based children’s programs was 57.8 million."

Newsworthy

Florida may be the state forging ahead with online education. But Virginia appears to be the state leading the way in online testing, according to Schools turn to online testing for Standards of Learning (Richmond Times-Dispatch). Web-based testing began in 2000. By 2005, all Virginia school systems were testing online. And today 98% of assessment tests are administered online.

High-tech simulations linked to learning from Ed Week looks at the debate over the effectiveness of using digital games and simulations in the classroom. "Experts caution against using such media for learning simply because those new tools seem like an exciting way to teach or learn. Digital games and simulations, they say, should be used to improve the learning of academic concepts."

With the debate over the renewal of the No Child Left Behind Act about to begin, the Obama administration is preparing its game plan. According to the New York Times, in Education standards likely to see toughening, "the Obama administration will use a Congressional rewriting of the federal law later this year to toughen requirements on topics like teacher quality and academic standards and to intensify its focus on helping failing schools. The law’s testing requirements may evolve but will certainly not disappear. And the federal role in education policy, once a state and local matter, is likely to grow."

Watching the Competition

TeachEffectively.com offers an online discussion of Do reading curricula make a difference?, a review of a study in Florida schools. Specifically discussed in the posting are Harcourt, Houghton Mifflin, Open Court, Reading Mastery, Scott Foresman, and Success for All.

Playthings reports that LeapFrog unveils first iPhone game. "Number Rumble is a math game that lets players ages 6 to 10 shake, tap and spin their way to math equation expertise via a Multi-Touch user interface on Apple’s iPhone and iPod touch devices."

eSchool News Online carried a press release from Pearson, Pearson helps strapped school districts tap into stimulus funding. "As the funds continue to flow, Pearson's www.fundingforschools.com website will be updated regularly with the latest information to assist educators in accessing the stimulus dollars, while also providing an easy-to-use correlation of Pearson’s programs to the individual pockets of federal funding."

First self-publishing book expo planned from Publishers Weekly reports "SPBE (Self-Publishing Book Expo) will offer attending authors a place to exhibit and sell their books to the general public--and agents and publishers--as well as offering representatives from self-publishing companies to showcase their services. The event is slated for November."

This month's BISG Bulletin includes a story called Economy forces efficiency among publishers. "The good news is that many publishers are finding areas of growth—particularly for online sales of both print and digital books—but also for certain categories of books and strong brands. Another bright spot comes from targeted opportunities with mass merchants, non-book retailers, and from nonreturnable proprietary publishing."

Disney expert uses science to draw boy viewers from the New York Times looks at Disney's use of anthropologists to create new programming for boys 6-14. "The guys are trickier to pin down for a host of reasons. They hop more quickly than their female counterparts from sporting activities to television to video games during leisure time." Disney believes its approach will bring them a loyal boy viewership.

Dancing in the Streets

Well, actually, they're dancing in a train station in London in this fun commercial for T-Mobile. And not to be outdone, enjoy the dancing at the Antwerp train station as well. YouTube alert!

Dylan Dancing

2008-12-31T13:34:00.003-05:00

According to the teacher's notes, Dylan is performing a solo dance based on Georgia O'Keeffe's Radiator Building at Night. Each child in the class chose a word to describe the artwork and choreographed a solo based on their word. Without further ado, here is Dylan's "Calm" NOTE:The username is leo and the password is leo110

Penny Harvest

2008-09-18T17:57:00.001-04:00

Every year at my son's school they have this event that my son and all his classmates become incredibly competitive about called Penny Harvest. It's created by CommonCents and is a community building event. According to their website:

The Common Cents Penny Harvest grew from one child’s desire to feed the homeless, and for the past 15 years, children between the ages of four and 14 have been converting their natural compassion for others into action by collecting pennies and turning those pennies into grants for community organizations - $5.9 million in grants donated by children since 1991!

The Penny Harvest shows young people they have the ability to make the world a better place by introducing them to the power of philanthropy and service during their formative years. As children help others, they develop their generosity and moral character, and they learn through practice the skills and responsibilities of democratic participation.

Principals and parents find that the Penny Harvest encourages a caring culture and sense of belonging; teachers see it as an opportunity to enhance curriculum through a blend of service-learning, character education, and child philanthropy; community leaders value the millions of dollars and hours that children donate back to better our communities; and kids like the program because it’s fun!

One student from each class is selected to be the class representative who meets with the rest of the grade on how to figure out how to get the most pennies. The grades then "compete" to see who can round up the most pennies. As the pennies are collected the sums from each grade are put on a common wall in a big bar graph. In previous grades, the student representatives were chosen from a hat or just picked by the teacher. This year there was an election for the class representative. All the volunteers had to give a speech and then they held an election. Dylan recounted to me how he won: "I was the only boy and the only one to have a real speech. The others just said that they would get more pennies than anyone else, there was even this girl who had the most coins who said she could get even more coins, but I just told them what I would do; come up with new ideas for getting more coins, like an art sale, and that I'm good at making money, I want to do it for the homeless and that I'll tell everyone about what happens in the Penny Harvest Meetings." I was blown away and very proud. Dylan dictated about it to me in his own (private) blog.

The conclusion of the event last year was that they took all the pennies and spread them out in front of Rockefeller Center.

If you happen to have a few pennies, let me know and I'll come pick them up from you for Dylan. Use the call button on the blog or send us an email.

Food Mistakes

2008-09-17T20:07:00.003-04:00

I realize that I'm rather food obsessed these last few posts. Perhaps because it is so puzzling to me what kids want and need to eat, but also because I'm looking closer at my food and the quality of the food I eat. Tori passed me this article from the NYT about the "6 Food Mistakes Parents Make." The opening paragraph by Ms. Parker-Pope reminded me of the last time I picked up the kids from my ex's. Both kids had chocolate all over their faces and on their pajamas from chocolate chip muffins they made the night before. It must have been really yummy, because they were all smiles.

“Chocolate milk, chocolate chip muffins, chocolate chip pancakes — it was unbelievable,” said Ms. Worobey, director of the Rutgers University Nutritional Sciences Preschool in New Brunswick, N.J. “His mother just thought, ‘That’s what he wants, so that’s what I’m going to do.’ ”

Although to be honest, if they could make all the nutrients found in fruits or vegetables into chocolate, I would have chocolate everything all the time. I mean, seriously, all-the-time! It also reminded me of Sofia's latest favorite book, Pinkalicious. As a consequence, I diet too, so I really identified with statement in the article too:

Serving boring vegetables Calorie-counting parents often serve plain steamed vegetables, so it’s no wonder children are reluctant to eat them. Nutritionists say parents shouldn’t be afraid to dress up the vegetables. Adding a little butter, ranch dressing, cheese sauce or brown sugar to a vegetable dish can significantly improve its kid appeal. And adding a little fat to vegetables helps unlock their fat-soluble nutrients. The few extra calories you’re adding are a worthwhile tradeoff for the nutritional boost and the chance to introduce a child to a vegetable.

It all makes me wish that we could all be on the 12,000 calorie Michael Phelps diet!

Things I Want My Children To Know: #7 Make a Simple Budget

2008-09-17T01:45:00.003-04:00

Obviously, this is a few years off for my 8 year old, we're just doing multiplication now. But with all the financial systems going into the toilet, wages falling, inflation growing, don't even get me started about the debt the American public carries going through the roof, and an ivy league MBA loser still president in the White House, making sure that ever the kids know how to make a simple budget should just be a given in school. I want to show my my kids how to make a simple budget; living in debt is not fun.

I rather liked this post by The Powerful Parent Blog

Lastly, I also thought the following blog post, quoted in its entirety because I think McCain should read this too since his numbers don't add up, from the Mint Blog (I think this a fantastic site btw.) I'm definitely getting those comics from the NYFed!

Step 1: Start Teaching Your Children Early

The earlier you start exposing your children to basic money matters, they better they’ll be able to understand the concepts and value of money as they get older.

Depending on your child’s age, you can try a few different approaches:

Explain to them why you work, who you work for, what you get in return, and why you need money. This will give them an understanding of the family budget.
Teach them about coins and dollar bills. Show your children how many coins will equal a dollar, how many dollars equals a five dollar bill, and so on up the chain.
Use available free publications such as free comic books from the New York Fed. Mint highly recommends the issues “Once Upon a Dime,” “A Penny Saved,” and “The Story of Money.”
As they get older, branch out into other topics, such as how money works in a larger picture (who knows, maybe your child will become a personal finance advisor someday); how a credit card works; and how insurance works.
Take them to a money camp. There are adult programs available too, so you can both learn together. Quality time with your child as you expose them to the harsh monetary reality of the world, how can you beat that? (Just kidding).

Key: Take advantage of teachable moments! For every life situation and question your child has about money, use that moment to discuss the issue in deeper detail with your child. Questions about how coins and bills work? Talk to them! Their monthly bank statement just came in the mail? Use that opportunity to discuss issues such as interest rate, bank fees, and saving bonds.

The important thing to remember when teaching your child about money is that you don’t necessary have to be the know-it-all Mom or Dad. Being a financial whiz is not a requirement to teach your child sensible and sound financial choices. If there are topics you don’t know well, take the opportunity to learn together!

Step 2: Teach Your Children a Sensible Consumer Life

As your child begins to understand the value of a dollar, teach him or her a sensible consumer life by living one, yourself. Show them why delay gratification is important.

Key: Have them understand the difference between a “want” and a “need.”

How can your child differentiate between these closely related emotional feelings? Each time you make a purchase for your child, both you and your child should consider these questions:

Do they already have what they’re asking for?
If so, is it broken, lost, or irreparable?
Do they often use the item?
Why do they need this? Will it:
Teach them the skills they need?
Help them with school work?
Improve their life culturally?

The more you and your child consider these questions, the more adept your child will be in making sound purchasing decisions, avoiding frivolous spending, and adhering to a home budget.

Step 3: Teach Them the Joy and Importance of Saving

Saving money can be quite fun for younger children. Consider these various piggy bank offerings to help your younger child start saving:

Moonjar Moneybox ($6.95)
Money Savvy Pig ($15.95)
Old Shoe Box ($0.00)

Show them the magic of compound interest and why saving while they’re young is important. Help your child start a savings account at a local credit union or community bank. As they get older, expose them to ATM cards and other financial instruments such as certificate of deposits, money market accounts, and saving Bonds.

Start Saving Early. Help your child start a savings account at a local credit union or community bank. As they get older, expose them to ATM card and other financial instruments such as certificate of deposits, money market accounts, and saving Bonds.

Not all savings are created equal. Here are two accounts that offer rates up to 5.05%.

WaMu Free Checking and Savings
3.75% APY Savings at WaMu.
Sign Up

HSBC Direct Savings
No fees & no minimum deposit.
Sign Up

Step 4: Show Them the Importance of Avoiding Waste

Educate your child on why simple things such as turning the water and lights off are important. When the monthly utility bill comes, show them how that usage will directly affect the household bill.

The examples that your child can grasp the easiest are the ones they can see. Explain to them that for every dollar they save in unnecessary waste, they can better spend that money toward things they truly care about.

Key: The examples that your child can grasp the easiest are the ones they can see. Explain to them that for every dollar they save in unnecessary waste, they can better spend that money toward things they truly care about.

Step 5: Give Your Children Purchasing Ability

In order for your child to understand money, they need to have some as well.

Giving your children allowances can be quite tricky, so here are some things to consider when you decide to give your child an allowance:

How much does the child need? How old they are and what they’ll use it on affect this decision.
How much can you afford to give? If your finances are tight, it’s important to set boundaries. After all, it would be a bit silly if your child has more “spending money” than the household.
How much can they safely handle? Age also plays a factor here. If your child is too young, they may not be able to handle a large sum of money safely.

After you have decided on the amount, here are things you need to keep in mind as you give allowances:

Be consistent. Give at a set time and a set amount.
Adjust the value as your child grows and their life situation changes.
Don’t make it a habit to give extra spending money. Save it for special occasions such as family vacation.
Don’t give and forget! Check in with your children periodically to see how they’re utilizing their allowances for saving, spending, and investing.

Step 6: Teach Them Personal Responsibility

This is perhaps one of the most important steps in teaching your children about money. If you happen to ignore all the other steps but nail this one down completely, your child will most likely be perfectly competent in money matters.

Teaching personal responsibility involves creating a value system for your child. The values you should impart are important skill sets such as self-discipline; the ability to think about and solve problem on their own; and the ability to admit to mistakes and learn from them.

Here are a few things to keep in mind:

Have reasonable expectations for your child. Don’t expect a 30 year-old job performance from a 10 year-old.
Teach the skill until it becomes a habit. Everything after that will become more automated.
Teach by example. Assume your own responsibility and show your child how to be a responsible person.

When your child develops a responsible value system and better understands the worth of possession, the worth of hard work, and the worth of time — everything else, including money matters, will fall into place.

Things I Want My Children To Know: #6 Pick Produce

2008-09-15T00:29:00.000-04:00

I don't think I'm particularly good at it. Especially when it comes to avocados even after looking at these sites. But I hope that my children are better at it, because it makes quite a bit of difference in the quality and flavor of the food. I guess if you see my kids banging a melon at the local green market or squeezing some gourde in the supermarket; then one of these tidbits sunk in. Besides rotten fruits and smelly vegetables can be an awful surprise and may potentially send you to the toilet faster than McCain and Pailin can tell a lie.

Has anyone tried these strange green bags? - http://www.greenbagsdirect.com/ - I wonder if they work and if they are anyway harmful to the environment, I mean if it prevents things from rotten than it stands to reason that it is prevented from rotting.

Simple Shopping Lists For The Week

2008-09-14T12:31:00.000-04:00

I spend a lot of time trying to figure out what to pick up for a week's worth of food. Probably too much time, because I'm always worried that I don't have enough vegetables or fruits. Inevitably, however, I buy some parts for a recipe. So today's post is about this cool area within Epicurious, I blogged about them before, that will give you a whole menu of dinners for the week. But the best part and reason why this makes me so happy is that it also has a shopping list too! Now I'm not following this religeously, but it really helps to have a simple plan.

Though there aren't fewer hours in September days, they certainly seem shorter now that night falls earlier and evenings are dominated by after-school activities and homework. This week's meals, relying heavily on chicken and a couple of easy yet hearty vegetarian entrées, will help your family slip back into the routine of busy fall weeknights.

So I'm off now to go to the store and pick me up some food for the week! I wish they would include amounts in the shopping lists, but you can't have everything. Like I said, I'll just have to improvise a bit. Hopefully I won't buy too much produce and let it rot in my fridge like I did last week. Yuck! Cleaning out the refrigerator of gross, smelly food is the one of the worst things. By the way, I enjoyed their article about cooking with the kids. Seems to jive with my own sensibility, so its worth repeating:

Getting kids into the kitchen to cook with you is a win-win situation, no matter how old they are and no matter what you make. By interacting with you in the kitchen, your child will gain more than just learning how to cook. First and foremost, you will have the opportunity to foster a greater sense of intimacy between you and your child. Here are a few other positive results from interacting together in the kitchen, which are then broken down into age groups:

Reading and following recipes improves math, science and reading comprehension skills.
Eating dishes from other countries enables learning about other cultures, foreign languages, and geography, and provides a culinary vocabulary.
Learning about food preparation enhances organizational and cleanliness skills.
Chances are greater that your child will eat the healthy food you are making if he helps.
Cooking together strengthens feelings of responsibility and being a valued member of the team, will form a lifetime of good memories and help to strengthen bond.
What do you think I should prepare this week? I was leaning toward spinach lasagna and all kinds comfort food. Though, I think I may break from epicurious' suggested menu and buy some artichokes. The kids really seemed to love them and I love them myself. Do you have something that is a favorite recipe or meal?

I've also been interested in what is online for kids about cooking and I found this site spatulatta.com If I were a kid I might think it's lame, but some of the vids have a quick win in the kid hosts' awkwardness.

Oh That Sibling Rivalry

2008-09-13T21:49:00.001-04:00

The kids love to tease each other. One invariably pokes, provokes or pressures something that emotionally pushes all the buttons. A friend of mine always used to say, that your family always knows what to buttons to push because they put them there in the first place.

In an effort to try to regain the upper hand on this problem, I'm going to follow these rules from the Child Development Institute.

1. Don't make comparisons. ("I don't understand it. When Johnny was her age, he could already tie his shoes.") Each child feels he is unique and rightly so-he is unique, and he resents being evaluated only in relation to someone else. Instead of comparison, each child in the family should be given his own goals and levels of expectation that relate only to him.

2. Don't dismiss or suppress your children's resentment or angry feelings. Contrary to what many people think, anger is not something we should try to avoid at all costs. It's an entirely normal part of being human, and it's certainly normal for siblings to get furious with one another. They need the adults in their lives to assure them that mothers and fathers get angry, too, but have learned control and that angry feelings do not give license to behave in cruel and dangerous ways. This is the time to sit down, acknowledge the anger ("I know you hate David right now but you cannot hit him with a stick"). and talk it through.

3. Try to avoid situations that promote guilt in siblings. First we must teach children that feelings and actions are not synonymous. It may be normal to want to hit the baby on the head, but parents must stop a child from doing it. The guilt that follows doing something mean is a lot worse than the guilt of merely feeling mean. So parental intervention must be quick and decisive.

4. When possible, let brothers and sisters settle their own differences. Sounds good but it can be terribly unfair in practice. Parents have to judge when it is time to step in and mediate, especially in a contest of unequals in terms of strength and eloquence (no fair hitting below the belt literally or figuratively). Some long-lasting grudges among grown siblings have resulted when their minority rights were not protected.
...
Useful Books on Sibling Rivalry
(Available from Amazon.com)

Siblings Without Rivalry : How to Help Your Children Live Together So You Can Live Too (an excellent resource for parents)

I'd Rather Have an Iguana (for children 4-6 having to cope with a new baby in the family)

Birth Order Blues : How Parents Can Help Their Children Meet the Challenges of Birth Order (The author raises parents' awareness of the impact of birth order upon children and suggests ways to resolve or circumvent potential problems relating to birth order issues).

Brothers and Sisters : Born to Bicker? (Teen Issues) (An intriguing entry in the Teen Issues series focuses on the interaction between brothers and sisters: ``The sibling relationship has much to do with how we feel about ourselves, as well as how we relate to others throughout our lives.")

Did you ever have a sibling rivalry? I know I used to have it with my sister. Though I don't think it was horrible. I will have to ask her about that.

Laundry Blues

2008-09-12T19:46:00.001-04:00

OMG I hate doing laundry. There's so much of it! I used to feel that I did much more when it was just me doing the laundry for the whole nuclear clan, and my ex was really sloppy, but now I think I do even more now.I guess that as the kids have grown so have their clothes. A 20 lbs bag is now 30 lbs. Once it was 50 lbs in a week! Although I think that week corresponded with the bed wetting episode.

How To Ask About School

2008-09-10T14:09:00.000-04:00

I'm still working on getting better at learning about my son's day at school, but I found this list of questions to ask and thought that they were very good leading questions. I'll be using these everyday.

Tell me about the best part of your day.
What was the hardest thing you had to do today?
Did any of your classmates do anything funny?
Tell me about what you read in class.
Who did you play with today? What did you play?
Do you think math [or any subject] is too easy or too hard?
What's the biggest difference between this year and last year?
What rules are different at school than our rules at home? Do you think they're fair?
Who did you sit with at lunch?
Can you show me something you learned (or did) today?

Cute or Ugly?

2008-09-09T10:28:00.000-04:00

Online Surveys & Market Research

I think Sofia will love it.

Hobos

2008-09-08T06:34:00.001-04:00

Dylan called a homeless person a Hobo today. It was said very innocently, it conjured up lots of images.

But seriously, it makes me reflect upon how I would like the kids to treat the homeless - as genuine people - how I can help those in poverty and to help all of us learn about community. Speaking of community, this blogger really nails the Republican Convention that just passed very nicely by pointing out that they have turned community service into something to be against, like communism or immigration.

Funny faces

2008-09-07T00:32:00.003-04:00

Sofia loves making faces. Look at this latest collection of when Dylan took the camera and pointed it at her.

Daddy's Night Out

2008-09-05T01:53:00.002-04:00

Work was a disaster. Not going to go into why. But I did do something really fun today, since I didn't have the kids this weekend, I went and hit someone in the face with a good pie! Seriously. I went with Tori to The NY Clown Theater Festival and I participated in their Pie Fight. It is such a cathartic experience to throw a tin of cream into someone's face. To be creamed on the tush with a pie. To throw foamy mush in a clown's face. I didn't change my clothes, but instead flung pies zeal and gusto.

Here's a description of it from the blog of the clown festival:

The folks over at the Brick set up a tarp arena with a clear plastic window for their opening day pie fight. The tarp covered roughly two thirds of the stage and hung from the ceiling like the covering of a magic hat. This was not inappropriate as it protected the audience sitting in the rafters from realizing the pies being flung about were filled with shaving – not whipping - cream. (This gave the theatre a very clean smell and gave the floor the grip of a Slip-and-Slide. I kept wondering how it tasted though - the cream, not the floor). It also gave the impression of the arena being a secret to be revealed.

I cannot tell you the rules of the fight but the process went something like this: twelve participants (I can’t call them clowns because there were few red noses) line up back to back in two rows of six, each given a pie. Once situated, a referee, so designated by his black and white striped shirt and the fact that he was the only one anyone listened to, counted to three with each warrior taking a step away from his adversary on each number. And once the ref said go, all hell broke loose.

I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a pie fight outside the confines of a movie screen but it’s a mess. It doesn’t make any sense at all. There’s a lot of slipping, tossing, tripping, smearing, screaming, flinging and, above all, laughing. At some point in the proceeding, the ref began pulling people out of the arena, for reasons best known to no one but himself. One by one they exited through a slit in the tarp, covered in cream, wiping their eyes and sculpting their hair into Mohawks and other fashionable slants. In the end, one person is declared a winner and all the participants exited the theatre to be literally hosed down by a volunteer.

I saw three manifestations pie fight: one as described above, one in which everyone tossed pies wearing nothing but their underwear (which was fun and surprisingly asexual) and one in which a large group of people stood in a circle, surrounding a smaller circle of pies. At the signal, they all grabbed a pie and it was every man, woman and child for themselves. One kid walked around, picking up aluminum pie tins, stacking them on his head. A man grabbed a woman and kissed her passionately, if not deeply. A woman smeared handfuls of cream all over her friend as they laughed and laughed and laughed. A man walked up to the clear plastic window and smeared cream onto it like an giddy and amateurish Jackson Pollack. It was pure pandemonium.
....
To get your geek on, here is a slight History of the Pie Fight from The Plain Dealer of Cleveland.

Additional geekiness provided by me:

YouTube - The World's Largest Pie Fight

... Largest Pie Fight - clowns battle it out in Venice ...
3 min 11 sec -

In case you were wondering what I looked like after work after a pie fight - here's a picture of me. But funnier still you should have seen the looks people gave me on the subway. Some woman asked if I had won or lost? For me it was a great karma redemption, having been bumped into so many times on the subway, to have people avoid you at all costs.

Things I Want My Kids To Know: #5 First Aid

2008-09-04T01:32:00.001-04:00

After my foot became infected and swollen, this made me think that the kids should know how to do first-aid. You never know when you might have to help yourself or someone; what to do in an emergency, how to stock a first-aid kit, where to call for help, and other vital information.

First Aid @ familydoctor.org - Information about first aid from the American Academy of Family Physicians.
First-Aid Guide - MayoClinic.com - Learn how to give first aid in emergency situations; more than 50 topics covered.
first aid guide - The American EHS Online first aid guide page.
first aid booklet - print book from the AMA

Sick

2008-09-03T01:25:00.000-04:00

Ate something bad or caught something from the glad-handing at the school. No blogging today. Next time I'm going to do only terrorist fist bumps.

School Supplies Follow-up

2008-09-02T12:58:00.000-04:00

Sofia's school asked me to get rolls of tissue paper and paper towels. I find this a public education disaster that a tax paying parent has to supply the toilet paper. I've just reconsidered my vote for Mayor Bloomberg, the head of the education in NYC. And I'm not alone. I mean, it's the first day of school for all of NYC and these are today's education headlines:

Mayoral control is on the hotseat this school year, and a new advocacy group has formed, with the DOE’s backing, to support it. (Times, Sun, Post, Daily News)
Two-thirds of city high school graduates entering CUNY schools have to take remedial classes. (Daily News)
School districts nationwide are seeing more students in poverty this year. (Times)
Because of a 2006 contract rule change, the number of administrators paid an assistant principal’s salary despite not actually having a job has ballooned. (Post)
More than a year after the DOE promised to offer storage lockers as a cell phone compromise, no school has actually received a locker. (Post)
Over the summer, the DOE cleaned up several schools where testing last year revealed high levels of some carcinogens. (Daily News)
Even with thousands of new classroom seats, schools in Queens remain overcrowded. (Daily News)
Parents are dealing with new school fees and growing supply lists. (Times, Washington Post)

If you live in NYC, pay taxes and have kids, you should read this blog so you know where your money is going.

School Supplies

2008-09-01T12:44:00.003-04:00

On the drive back from NJ to visit my friend and his family's house in NJ, where my city kids liked their "park" aka suburban backyard, all I heard about was that we had to buy a car. We're not. A good zipcar was plenty and left a light carbon footprint.

Afterwards, we picked up some school supplies. I always loved picking out school supplies. Sofia was so picky about what she wanted. Dylan wanted anything with a brand name. But he didn't want the KISS Army notepad. To which, I think he missed out on his opportunity to the coolest dude in class. Whateva!

Read this article in the NYTimes about school supplies. And was wowed by the diversity of needs:

In Manhattan, Ellen Schorr’s 9-year-old had hers broken into three categories: “student supplies,” “community supplies” and “materials to have at home.” Increasingly, amid the requisite three-hole punch and colored pencils are items with double-digit price tags — flash drives, scientific calculators and disposable cameras.
And the lists are heavy on hygiene: Lysol, Band-Aids, hand sanitizer, tissues and paper towels, things the custodian or school nurse used to have on hand.

I haven't heard from Sofia's public school yet, but I wonder what they'll ask for.

Picnic In The Park

2008-08-31T16:44:00.001-04:00

Took the kids to play and picnic in the park. We started on the Great Hill watching some Capoeira dancing. It got a little hot under the sun, so we trundled off to a secluded little field surrounded by flowers. It was very flat, so we picnicked; ate tomato sandwiches, ice tea, whiffle softball, soccer, tag, sibling rivarly, napped, read Ramona outloud, laughed at each other's jokes, slipped, cried, played games and drew on the iphone, talked about Star Wars, laughed at the world, discussed the meaning of life, fixed Sofia's hair and double tied Dylan's shoes a thousand times. Then we trundled back through the ghetto to home, absolutely exhausted and happy.

The Children's Statue at St. John's

2008-08-30T23:06:00.000-04:00

If you ever come to NY and you want to get an insider's guide to a child's imagination, then you should go to the Children's Sculpture Garden at The Cathedral at St. John the Divine My picture doesn't really encapsulate the fun and amusement of bringing children to a peace fountain ringed by small animal statues made by children and a deep green garden.

Sofia and I played a game, I asked her what animal was portrayed and she asked me what I thought of them, to which I then followed-up with what her thoughts about the animals. The answers I got back were kinda funny, but at least interesting:

I don't like whales. They're scary.
There can't be a mermaid in the whale's [spout].
I love bears. I don't like Goldilocks
The dog is off the leash. He's free.
It looks like a rainbow fish (the statues were all brown).
They look like they are fighting. (the monkeys were kissing)

If I were Columbia Child Psychologist and wanted to do a modified Rorschach sort-of test, I'd go here.

Summer is over, back to school and blogging

2008-08-30T12:48:00.012-04:00

I basically took the summer to spend time with my children and friends, but as I prepare the kids for school it's time to get back on the blogging horse again.

This being Labor Day weekend I tried to stay in the city, which is counter-intuitive to the typical American activity -

This summer's driving season has actually seen increased travel by people living in and around New York city, spokesman Robert Sinclair of the Automobile Club of New York said earlier this week, before AAA's national survey was released.

Its the best time to be in the city; most people aren't around and the college kids (I live near Columbia) are busy setting up their rooms and spending time with their parents. Case in point, our favorite bagel place, Absolute Bagels, which most every weekend has a long line winding out the door, had 2 customers when I took the kids. I guess it's technically a staycation, but I feel it's more like a time to get things done, get the kids school supplies, clean the house, get rid of old clothes that the kids can't wear. We might check out Wall-E (I see a post on that in the near future) but I would also love to just take a picnic to the park, play some baseball and soccer with the kids and get some reading done.

Working Furiously, No Time To Post

2008-08-03T10:06:00.003-04:00

Today is Sunday. A day to relax. But am I doing that? No. You know why? My day job is demanding as hell. Then I have a side start-up I'm trying to do AND a video gig so I can pay for the start-up. So today I'm working on the start-up website and the video gig. I'm just too busy and stressed. I have been sporadically writing notes, photos and videos, but it's not the same as my usual content researched, heavy referenced and quirky posts. They may have to suffice, since I can't seem to find the time to regularly post. Therefore beloved fans, family and friends, I apologize for the communication blackout. I will return shortly with some good stuff, I promise.

The Big Jump

2008-07-03T09:57:00.005-04:00

There's this book that I used to read to Dylan all the time, because he loved to hear me read it. It was called the Big Jump. Since then Dylan has really loved to jump. He jumps off and around many things. One weekend when we came across a local block party, they had an inflatable romper room and Dylan tried to make a big jump. He referenced this book later on in the day. Now I read it to Sofia.

Things I Want My Kids To Know: #4 Simple Cooking

2008-06-28T11:47:00.001-04:00

I'm no Julia Child or Rachel Ray, heck I'm not that great of cook at all. But I am really good at following a recipe and knowing when the food is really cooked or not, how to handle the food properly and what taste combinations work best. That said, I think that it's important to be able to cook your own food. I mean if you can't cook your own food, you'll end end up eat Chef Boyardi or Trader Joes frozen food. So I really have been encouraging my kids to learn how to cook for themselves. It's actually become quite a good bonding experience in our household. But don't take my word for it, check out this list of rationale from Kids Cooking Activities

Here are 10 reasons why you should
do cooking activities with your kids.
Learning to cook helps kids to learn about nutrition and healthy eating. They are growing up with fast food and junk food at their fingertips, which is part of the reason why child obesity is on the rise! Teaching kids to cook will help instill skills to last them a lifetime.

Boost their self esteem. If your child needs a boost of self confidence, (and who doesn't!) cooking in the kitchen will do just that. They are accomplishing a task, learning something important and contributing to the family.

Create family time and bonding. Take time to cook with your kids and they will have memories that they, in turn, can pass on to their families. It may take a longer time to get the meal or snack done but the moments with your children will be priceless. (Just remember to have patience. Don't worry about flour on the floor or spilled milk).

Kids will be more apt to eat what they make. Perhaps, it is the enthusiasm of creating something themselves, but they will be more likely to eat whatever they had a hand in making.

Kids learn real lessons in science, language, math and creativity. Cooking will help reinforce all these subjects! Visit our What do Kids Learn While Cooking page for more information.

What a great way to learn life skills. This can be especially helpful when kids are on their own and won't have to rely on fast food and junk food to sustain them.

They can help contribute to the family and they can feel the importance of helping.

They are working together as a team, whether it is with a parent or with a sibling to get the job done.

Cooking teaches them planning and making choices.

Practice creativity and imagination. Kids cooking activities are a great way to express themselves and enjoy their creations.

During the weekday, when I cook with them, I usually just improvise what I've got fresh, some leftovers and whatever is in the cupboard, but on the weekends I try to get fancy and I start to dig into these sites for inspiration:

Kudos Google! Working To Keep Kids Safe

2008-06-27T11:24:00.000-04:00

This month is Internet Safety Month. So I was happy to hear this:

Technology is an invaluable tool for addressing some of these challenges. In a recent example, a team of Google engineers dedicated their 20 percent time over the last year and a half to build cutting-edge software for NCMEC that uses image and video recognition technology to help NCMEC analysts more effectively sort and review incoming reports of child exploitation.

The Google folks who put their time into this get honorable mention for putting their time into this project. While I still feel that parents have a responsibility to protect their kids as they venture onto the Internet, it's nice to know that the on-ramp to the Internet, Google, will start to figure out ways to protect children.

Dylan Being DeVillanized

2008-06-26T17:00:00.000-04:00

As promised, here is the video of Dylan being DeVillanized at the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Company.

Grand Parents Are Here

2008-06-24T10:04:00.000-04:00

My parents and little sister flew up from Florida and boy are their arms tired! It was really nice for the kids to see my parents. Sofia was in a very talkative mood and song songs and played with my Mom a lot. Dylan coaxed my Dad to tell stories about me that were embarrassing. Which were very effective at pushing my buttons. But as my friend Jay once told me, "Your family knows how to push all your buttons, because they put them there in the first place!" That said, I loved that my parents we able to hang out for so long with my kids. It must be hard for them to connect with my kids' lives only through phone calls (apparently they don't view this blog!?) and vice-versa. So times like these are very precious.

I even let them take my ex out for dinner. I didn't attend, mostly because I was afraid she would cause a ruckus about money. As long as the kids had more time with my parents and sister that's all that mattered really. I just wish my ex wouldn't put up such a fuss about me taking them to FL. Anyway, enough griping .

In the picture of Sofia and my Mom, Sofia looks like she's waving, but really she had this thing where she did that for every picture taken. Not sure why, but she did that in almost all of the pictures.

We did a lot of things while they were here:

boat trips around the island
visiting art galleries in Chelsea
eating a lot of Italian and German food
moving some shelves and misc into my apartment (I can use the extra hands)
meeting Tori
determining the best bagel in the city
visiting the SuperHero Supply Store
reminiscing my father's Park Slope childhood neighborhood and my parents' first brownstone after they first were married
recounting my bad grades in H.S. Italian
relating the storied background of my great grandparents.

It was a great time and I can't wait to see them again and neither can the kids.

Movie Reviews From A Kid's View: Kung Fu Panda

2008-06-23T09:32:00.000-04:00

After my parents and sister came over it started to rain, so instead of going to a playground or a museum, we stayed in and watched KungFu Panda. Sofia wasn't really interested in it. At some point during the middle of the movie, Sofia broke out in to her "Ladybug Song." Consequently, Dylan got really upset and stormed out. It settled quickly. Now I could see why she would be bored in the middle, there was all of this metaphysical stuff going on about whether the star Panda was the famed Dragon Warrior or not. Which says a lot for how formulaic and unoriginal it was. However, Dylan loved the fighting sequences and was really invested in the character succeeding. Afterwards, all he wanted to do was try out his newly aquired "kung fu skills" on me and Sofia. There's nothing as funny as an eight year old posing in the crane position preparing to do battle with his three year old sister who crushes him with a single, swift blow with a stuffed, pink doll. Mostly he play wrestled with me on the bed. He even bruised my elbow! Though, it mostly ended in tickles and lots of laughs by all of us. Kid Movie Review: It was a split decision, with Dylan giving it a 5 our 5 stars for action and adventure and Sofia giving it a 1 out of 5 for a snoring exposition and metaphyscial nonsense. The kid review then stands at 3 out of 5 stars.

Brooklyn Superhero Supply Store

2008-06-22T12:56:00.000-04:00

I had heard about 826NYC and their effort when I saw Dave Eggars speak at Ted Talks and thought that it would be great to check out their storefront - The Brookly Superhero Supply Company. Not sure what I would expect I have to say that I liked it a lot. There were all kinds of fun suprises on each shelf; air shooters, see behind you glasses, masks, capes, costumes, everything that you'd need to be the superhero you always knew you could be.

I bought a book there to show my support for the 826NYC side of things. I don't think that they make much money on the capes. But Sofia sure did like the cape tester. Here's a video of it.

I wish I could put up Dylan being DeVillianized, but unfortunately there seems to be some kind of error over at blogger that prevents me from doing this. I'll see if I can get it up somewhere else and then put it up. It was a very wry take on the nature of villany.

Sofia Laughs At Everything

2008-06-19T14:40:00.000-04:00

I don't know why or how this happened, but Sofia awoke in the most giddy mood. Don't take my word for it, here's a short video of her that I took as we walked the 10 blocks to her school in the morning.

There's not too much more than this that will make for a great start to the day.

Fun with Tape

2008-06-18T14:34:00.000-04:00

I love kids. I love my kids. I love my blue mustachio kid. In case you couldn't tell that was Dylan, he wore his camp/school shirt labeled with his name on the back backwards.

I'm always concerned about my children's imagination. But when they do this spontaneously then I don't worry a bit.

I eventually wore some as well, but I don't have a picture of it. Sofia thought we were both a real hoot and laughed and laughed.

Funny Things Happened On Father's Day

2008-06-17T09:55:00.000-04:00

Since I no longer have a computer to capture all these memories as they emerge, I'll have to keep up by writing them down. On father's day I took Sofia to a little playground that had sprinklers. She had worn her bathing suit and was desperate to go out to this playground. Along the way, Sofia said that her friend and Mom told her that it was okay to go pee in the sprinklers. Ewwww, I said. That's not good. Please don't do that, its gross to be walking around in the pee pee. I did have to chuckle a bit though, but emphasised that she shouldn't do that. Then later I saw Sofia sit in a big bucket and thought, maybe... Luckily she didn't do anything. I wonder if her

Then there was another funny interaction. Dylan was trying to put the bucket on top of the sprinklers without getting wet. After getting in on top he didn't want to get it, so he just stared at it unsure what to do when another little boy picked the bucket up. Dylan, instead of asking the boy back for it or just getting it himself, called Sofia. Who said, "hey, that's my bucket!" to the boy and the boy promptly handed it to her and she handed it to Dylan. Crafty social engineering there Dylan!

Back-up All Memories

2008-06-16T11:24:00.001-04:00

I'm really the one who should have known about this and taken the appropriate steps to prevent it, but I didn't. It was a brand new macbook. I hardly used it except when I was home. But it's dead. It doesn't boot up. I took it to teckserve, and the hardware is covered by the applecare plan, but not that data! The tech guy says that I need to do data recovery to get all the pictures, videos and all that stuff that I thought was safe on a new drive. Gone!?!? I felt like someone had ripped a part of my soul out. All those memories, what are they worth? Apparently $800 or more and there is no guarantee that it will even work. Ugh. So sad today because of this. Christmas, Easter, playgrounds, kid pictures, songs, everything for the last couple of years! How could I have been so dumb!

Things I Want My Kids To Know: #3 How To Paint A Room

2008-06-15T10:54:00.000-04:00

Painting a room seems like a like a simple enough activity. But since the majority of the cost of painting is actually the labor, everyone should know how to properly paint their room. I'd love it if my daughter some day asked me if she could paint her room as a teenage a different color and she was just able to do it herself.

Recently, we painted a room and I didn't have these videos and tips in place and there was a bit of mess. But if over the course of their lifetimes, they get how to do it, I think it will be a great summer job or a valuable life lesson as they make it out in the world on their own. While we were painting the room in my apartment, there were lots of times when Dylan wanted to just give up and do something else, but I wouldn't let him. He stayed to help me finish off the room and consequently, I feel that he now knows that you can't just quit because you feel like it.

Do you agree that painting a room is an important thing to know? It helped me through many a summer to purchase music, eat out with friends, and even help win the hearts of women.

Curse Words and School House Rock

2008-06-14T12:11:00.000-04:00

Over dinner at a great yummy Greek restaurant near Columbia we had a discussion of the word butt and how there were other more appropriate names. Dylan, sweet and innocently, said, "you know that you can call it the name for a donkey too. And you can add the ending to alcohol and it's an even worser word." Tori told me that he said this, because I didn't quite catch it, but it just seemed like the funniest thing I heard in a while.

On a similar note, we've been watching and re-watching the School House Rock series. Man, I just can't stop singing some of those songs in my head. And the kids are just eating them up. They each have their own favorite grammatical jingle. Below are few that I quickly found on YouTube, but you have to crank up the volume to the songs. They just have that 70s vibe and the catchy phrases.

Things I Want My Kids To Know: #2 How To Use A Computer

2008-06-13T14:49:00.000-04:00

In this information age, with technology touching every industry in the world, having a working knowledge of a computer is more than a skillful tool to have - it’s a necessity. This seems like a real no-brainer coming from me, the educational technology guy. But this is the big reason why I feel so passionately about my job.

But even more than just how to use a computer, I'd really love if they understood how to use it wisely. Because we've all heard of the Oprah show where a teen meets someone on myspace and then they are dead or worse (there's always a worse fate than death on Oprah.)

Towards that end, I've started my pre-schooler by taking her to few of these places:

Then I've also been digging Dylan into the following::

Although he's more interested in getting on http://WB.com/kids. Which is fine, but there are so many other things that he could be learning from.

As they get older, I'm not going to leave them to their own devices. If you want to know a lot more about this I highly suggest that you watch this: the PBS Frontline Special on "Growing Up Online" (link to just the video) I'm going to monitor just about all their online activity, even if I have to hack it. I know that's an invasion of privacy. I know that it's one of those things that they will hate about me when they are in their teens. But I'm sticking to my guns here, the Internet is a wonderful tool, but it's also really dangerous. There is cyber bullying, predators, ugly and gross human acts, and all sorts of miserable, terrible places on the internet that I can't even think of that kids will invariably find.

Princess And The Pee

2008-06-12T20:45:00.000-04:00

When I went to pick up my kids my ex told me that my daughter had wet her bed and that I should put a towel just to be safe. I thought I could mitigate that by making sure that Sofia goes to the bathroom before she comes to bed.

Well, that theory is completely bunked. I woke at 4am with a completely soaked bed. I had to change her, though she doesn't remember this, and change the sheets and blot.

What a way to start the day! Dylan had the same little rough patch too at this age, so it's not really new. But still I did some research on bed wetting this morning and found that medical name for bedwetting is nocturnal (nighttime) enuresis (pronounced: en-yoo-ree-sus). The good news is that its very normal. I can just imagine the hundreds of thousands of parents waking up in the middle of the night and groggily changing the sheets of their bed or their child's bed.

I also read this:

A lot of doctors think that the best treatment for enuresis is a program that retrains your brain to do one of two things:

wake you up so you can go to the bathroom
stay asleep and hold it until morning

This program includes doing bladder exercises, such as waiting a little longer to pee during the day, reading about and imagining staying dry, or even using a tiny alarm. The alarm is connected to a pad placed in your underwear at night. If you start to urinate, the pad senses the moisture and sets off the alarm. Different alarms buzz, vibrate, or do both, but they're all easy to use and can help wake even the deepest sleeper.

and I read this:

There are a variety of emotional reasons for bedwetting. For example, when a young child begins bedwetting after several months or years of dryness during the night, this may reflect new fears or insecurities. This may follow changes or events which make the child feel insecure: moving to a new home, parents divorce, losing a family member or loved one, or the arrival of a new baby or child in the home. Sometimes bedwetting occurs after a period of dryness because the child's original toilet training was too stressful.

But it's been a year, so maybe there is something at school, but her teacher didn't indicate that there was anything. And I don't think its the new home or the divorce, because that's been going on for a while. Whatever the reason, even in my groggy state, I made no big deal about it and told her that this happens to everyone now and then and let her go back to sleep. We talked about it, and I sniped at Dylan right away, first thing, not to mention it at all to her (but I could tell that he really wanted to!)

After doing some more research, I found this video (below) and thought that it was very stigmatizing and traumatic to be awoken by an alarm at the first bit of urination. We are totally not on that yet. I think some pull-ups and a little imagination are all that are necessary at this point. I'm just keeping it all in perspective.

When was the last time you wet your bed? Do you have any home remedies for this? I remember playing the hand in warm water practical joke in college, but I don't think that really applies here. I'd love some suggestions and advice, especially if you were a bed wetter as a kid.

My Son Designs Robots

2008-06-11T14:57:00.000-04:00

I remember in the 2nd grade we learned about Native Americans on the plains, though we were taught that they were American Indians, and we made a head for the class' totem pole. In math we learned how to multiple, that's it. These things weren't combined. And there was no computer. Computers had been invented, but report cards were hand written and nobody I knew ever touched a keyboard except my Dad's secretary. They even called themselves secretaries. BWhen I saw what my son had done, designed, built and programmed a Lego NXT robot I was absolutely thrilled and amazed by this.

I'm sure that this is old hat these days at many schools, but this is the first time that I've seen it. It was so great to be able to "nerd" out with my son about how he programmed it and how he built the robot. I feel so proud! He even made it look like Kurt Cobain. Now that's my son.

If you want to see the teachers explain this project watch this video:

Movie Reviews From A Kid's View: Prince Caspian

2008-06-11T09:40:00.000-04:00

For those that know me and my kids, you are well aware of my concerns with Dylan's reading. He has a problem sounding out words. And for the last six months, I've really been trying all sorts of ploys, coercion, and bribery to get him to read more. Because, in the end, I feel its really about practice and enjoying the reading experience. Over the last month or so, Dylan has been enveloped by The Chronicles Of Narnia series. What's been really wonderful to see is that he's devouring the books like they were food. He told me that he would skip recess to read them and stay up under the covers with a flashlight and read. Moreover, I loved The Chronicles as well. So we could have a real discussion of it. When he finished Prince Caspian last week, he's reading it in that weird Harper Collins Narnia chronological order, I promised him that I would take him to see the movie as a reward for finishing it.

Early last night, we went to the Magic Johnson Theater in Harlem (really nice theater!) and got popcorn, candy and hotdogs and watched the movie. I really liked it, but Dylan had some really great insights. He said that the movie "added some scenes," but that in general the book had a lot more character detail, but the movie had "more battle scenes." We then talked about the theme of the movie, which are courage and chivalry. Dylan didn't quite grasp those, he didn't know why the Prince didn't kill the Evil King, but after talking it through, he picked up on it right away. In that regard, to have a discussion about these topics with a second grader just made me feel so happy. Overall, kid rating was Prince Caspian 5 stars. The added scenes were good, but the water guy looked like he was eating a big cupcake and that scene wasn't in the book.

Things I Want My Kids To Know: #1 Build A Fire

2008-06-06T16:48:00.000-04:00

I'd like to start a new feature of my blog, where I outline some of the key things that I'd love my kids to know before they leave my nest. Some of these are just plain practical, self-reliant life building, character building points of knowledge. Others are just broad scope goals for me as an orchestrator of their life.

So here's the first one of what I hope will be a large list of things:

Build a Fire – Fire produces heat and light, two basic necessities for living. At some point in your life this knowledge may be vital.

But mostly I want my children to have a healthy respect for the powerful nature of fire. It's one thing to know how to create fire, but fire safety and understanding how to prevent it from hurting is important too.

Fire Safety
USFA's Kid Page(United States Fire Administration)
Curious Kids Set Fires(United States Fire Administration)

Also available in Spanish

Sparky the Fire Dog(National Fire Protection Association)
What to Do in a Fire(Nemours Foundation)

I highly recommend Sparky the Fire Dog for a 3 year old.

Faerie Magic used by KFC

2008-05-23T23:07:00.000-04:00

Today at the end of the night when we're all in the bed and the books have been read, we usually have talk about each other's day. Sofia told a completely fictional story where she said that she was a fairy and that a boy named Iya (sounds a lot like Sofia) were playing. Suddenly they were surrounded by crocodiles and alligators. Then she popped a huge smile and said, "I used my fairy power and all the crocodile and alligators and then shouted 'snap, snap, POP!' I turned them into chicken!. I always wondered how they got so many chickens at KFC- faerie magic‽ Snap, snap POP!

Movie Reviews From A Kid's View: Indiana Jones

2008-05-23T15:00:00.000-04:00

I set up Dylan with an account for Netflix. The movies come addressed to him and he enjoys going through his queue. The first movie that he picked out was Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Arc, which I thought would be a little bit scary even for an 8 year old. There are definitely parts like the Nazi's hand getting burned and the melting faces and bodies at the opening of the arc (SPOILER!) that gave me chills and I'm nearly a hundred years old. It was definitely fun for me to reconnect with Indiana Jones again too. I haven't seen it in ages, but I remember the get bits, like when he shoots the guy with the giant sword or falls into the pit of snakes, "I hate snakes." Classic movie lines. We watched it together and Dylan was absolutely loving it too. "Indy is the coolest!" I asked him how many stars he would give it 10 stars! I guess that's one hell of a good review for a movie that dates back to my childhood.

He wants to see every single movie in the series now and he can't wait until he sees new one. Unfortunately he has to share hi queue with his sister so the next movie is Tinkerbell's Ballet Lessons. (Wish I had known it was on YouTube before this post!) But he's being patient. It'll come next.

Maybe I should take him to the new Indian Jones movie, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? Since these are different times and violence in films has become increasingly graphic, almost to the point of torture porn, perhaps he's too young. I could see Lucas trying to out do his Star Wars' redemptive violence with this flick. What do you think, am I too much of a prude?

Consequently, unless I hear a convincing arguement from the blogosphere, or that it's age appropriate ,or if all his friends have seen it and their parents aren't weirded out, I am not going to take him. Which might be a huge cop out, but there is a total difference between seeing violence on the big screen, in the dark, and in dolby stereo and then being home with your dad, with the A/C on, your little sister coming around now bugging you and with the lights turned down a bit. And the occasional annoying question from Dad about the movie. Here's a nifty pie chart I found, linked to it's source.

Theatrical Trailer for the First Indiana Jones Movie.

Theatrical Trailer for the Fourth Indiana Jones Movie.

Sofia's Ladybug Recital

2008-05-18T22:33:00.000-04:00

Sofia had a recital today in which she and her class sang songs about their science themed project, which for Sofia's class was all about Ladybugs! Yes, those lovely, little, red speckled, and helpful bugs. She learned quite about about them, mostly that they don't bite people, but do bite aphids.

While I'm not one who is inclinded to post the whole recital, mostly because the sound quality of 60 kids sing-shouting in a lunchroom auditorium is horrible, I do love seeing and sharing the behind the scenes school adventures of my littlest one. For those that are interested in the actual recital, I'll have those online shortly and you can check them out (though if you do, a major kudos to you for that!). I feel like a public schools' Pre-K recital says volumes about our nation's headstart programs, but they can also be torturous events for those not involved or those with no familial connections to participants, consequently I'd rather the blogosphere see her in her outfit.

Without more adieu, checkout the cutest little ladybug in NYC.