New Cousin

When my first nephew, now three, was born, Johnny was about 3 1/2 and Maureen was 18 months old. Neither one really paid too much attention to the new baby in the family.

But when my second nephew was born, 12 days ago, they were immediately intrigued. They clamored to see photos. They loved his name. (Johnny quickly got over his disappointment that my brother and SIL did not name the baby Ironman.) They asked if they could hold him.

Due to sickness, we didn't get to see him until yesterday. And as promised, they both got to hold him.



We came straight from a pool party, so Johnny's cheeks are a little red and Maureen's hair is out of control. But I got a glimpse of what it might be like if we added our own baby to the family. Chances are slim to none, but it was nice to see how they reacted the baby. And also a little funny to see how quickly Johnny wanted to dump him on the couch. Clearly he didn't realize how wiggly real babies are! Maureen looks a little nervous. I don't think she knew what she was getting into. Those are my hands in the photo.

Congrats to my brother, SIL and big-brother nephew and welcome!

Where Does TV Fit In Your House?

When my children were babies, I knew that the AAP recommends no TV at all for babies and a limited amount for children over 2. What's more, all the magazines say that if you do use TV, you should watch it with your child and use it as a chance to interact.

Here's my confession: I don't watch TV with my kids.

We don't have cable, so our choices are limited to PBS and the occasional Saturday morning cartoon. But even so, I don't watch TV with kids.

Here's why: kid's TV is annoying. Caillou makes me want to bang my head on the wall. Baby Bear on Sesame Street? Too angsty. The scarecrow in Bob the Builder? What a d-bag.

We limit TV, but most of the time when my kids are watching it, I'm elsewhere. Cleaning or doing laundry or even (gasp!) checking my email. Despite what the experts say, I'm not at all worried about it. I interact with my children all day long. What's so bad about a little bit of space?

So I read this article on MSN last week with interest, because it appears I'm not the only one driven over the edge by cartoons.

As I mentioned, we don't have cable. We never wanted to pay the always increasing fees, but neither my husband or I have ever been big TV watchers. There's always something to do, or sometimes we're tired and we just want to go to bed. At our yearly beach vacation, we usually have a place with cable, and I do enjoy the Food Network and the history channel and Animal Planet, but after a week, I'm ready to get back to my cable free house. It's so possible to have 100+ channels of nothing on.

Back in March, when I got a new job, my hours were incompatible with the two shows I still watched. I taped them for awhile, but then I lacked the time to watch the tapes. And I lost interest. I have no idea what happened this past season on Law and Order: SVU. What's more...I don't really care either. It's been really freeing to not watch TV. I read books. I go for walks. Or I go to bed at a decent hour.

The article I mentioned seems to imply that parents might be missing out on valuable lessons by avoiding those kids shows (particularly the tween ones). I'm not sure I agree. Obviously, if your child already watches those shows, it's a good springboard for certain conversations. But I don't think they are required. How on earth did people parent before the Disney Channel existed? And sorry, but I'm not going to pay however much cable costs these days just so we can use iCarly as a parenting tool.

I dusted the TV the other day and found myself wondering what I would do if it suddenly blew up. I'd love to replace the TV stand with bookshelves instead. Or art. Or something.

Tell me--do you watch TV with your kids? Which cartoons annoy you the most? And how much TV gets watched in your house?

Time To Get A Dog?

Last weekend, my parents took a short vacation to the beach and their dog, a sweet Belgian shepherd mix named Rudy, came to stay with us. Rudy has stayed with us before, and he settled in pretty quickly.

A few months ago, I gave away some stuff on Freecycle, and the woman who took it thought it was funny/weird that the doormat outside my house reads "Wipe Your Paws," yet we don't have a dog. We have a cat, but he stays inside. She thought it was even funnier when she found out I work for a vet. I hear that question a lot. When will I, the animal lover who has spent most of the past 14 years working at a veterinary hospital, get a dog?

The answer has always been 'maybe someday." Or if I'm in the mood to be blunt, "maybe never." I like dogs, obviously, since I work with them, but I'm definitely a cat person. And recently, with two kids and a semi-crazy schedule, cats just fit into our life a little better. Jameson is small, he's definitely less work, and he doesn't have to be walked when it's 20 degrees outside.

There's the added factor of Maureen's dog-fear. When she was 18 months old, we were on a walk along the water when she was knocked flat by an exuberant boxer pup. She was an extremely small 18-month-old, just really starting to get the hang of walking. That puppy, although friendly, probably looked like a monster to her. She's been afraid of dogs ever since. The fear has gradually been getting better, but it's definitely still there.

She was completely at ease with Rudy in the house though and it wasn't long before Johnny started asking if we could keep him. Or, if we could visit the animal shelter and pick out our own dog.

Rudy went home on Sunday and I've been enjoying my dog hair free floor, but Johnny asked several times when we can get our own dog.

For now the answer remains, "maybe someday." Maybe someday when we have a larger house. Or the time to commit to a new animal. But I definitely don't believe him when he says, "I PROMISE I'll take care of it! All by myself!"

I'm not ready yet, and if we do take the plunge, I'm thinking an older rescue dog, something calmer than a pup, and preferably not a big shedder. Since we already have the Wipe Your Paws doormat.

Leave me a comment: when did you take the plunge to get a dog and who honestly provides most of the care?

Some Days Nothing Goes Right

Some days, you just have to look back and laugh. Otherwise the alternative is being locked up in a crazy home.

Overnight, Maureen wet her bed. And when I say that, I mean WET her bed. Luckily, she's still in a toddler bed with a toddler mattress that is waterproof, but the bedding and even her pillow were soaked. In the morning, I crammed it all into the washing machine.

Somehow, the pillow got all wrapped around the center pole, so when the machine started to fill for the rinse cycle, the water went all over the floor instead. It turns out a jillion gallons of water shooting all over your laundry room doesn't sound all that different from laundry being run normally. That is, until it starts to drip through the floor and come out the ceiling fan on the lower level. Then it sounds just like a waterfall.

It took literally every towel in the house, including beach towels, to sop up the mess. I had to pull out the machines to get the puddles underneath them. On the plus side, the floor of my laundry room has never been cleaner, and I retrieved all the lost socks that were back there too. On the minus side, all those soaking wet towels also had to be washed. And I speared myself in the right butt cheek on something sticking out of the back of the washer.

The carpet in the hall is still pretty wet. One of the bifold doors sucked up a lot of the water and warped and now it won't shut.

Did I mention BGE is on my block this week with a jackhammer, destroying the street in order to install new gas lines and there is dust everywhere, so I couldn't hang my towels outside to dry and the dryer makes the house unbelievably unbearable? And did I mention it was 103 today?

After the Flood, I decided we had to get out of the house, so we went to the gym. I was ten minutes into my workout when a man smelling of dirty basement got on the machine next to me. Whew. I had to get off my machine and find another. It was THAT BAD. After the gym, we went to the bookstore because I wanted to get reading material for an upcoming vacation (successful) and the math review book Johnny needs for first grade (unsuccessful. Who knew there were so many options? I should have written it down). While waiting in line, my husband called with sad news. His grandfather, who had been ill, passed away Sunday night.

The kids took the news okay. I don't think they really get it.

Did I mention I've been fighting a nasty summer cold? Today is day ten. I finally feel like I'm getting better, but the sniffling from the above news made my sinuses hurt. Did I mention how hot it is? Or the jackhammer outside?

After the kids went to bed, I watered my flowers. Ten minutes afterwards, the skies turned black and it poured. Typical.

Let's hope tomorrow is better. And maybe the laundry thing will be funny then too.

Menu Plan: Hot

Blah. It's hot. Which is better than cold, but still...it's hot. I don't know about you, but I don't have much of an appetite when it's hot. Sadly, the rest of the family does, so I can't get away with serving cereal for dinner.

So, when I do rouse myself to cook, here's what we'll be having.

**Hamburger Soup--I know soup is more of a cold weather thing, but this version can be thrown into the crockpot and left to cook all day without making the kitchen unbearably warm. It makes for nice leftovers. And I'm pretty sure I can hide zucchini in it, since it's the season of garden bounty and I hate zucchini.
**Steak and Potatoes--My June/July box from ShopRite came, and it's loaded with lots of sauces and marinades. The grill is John's domain, and I think we'll be grilling a lot to try out all these goodies. So that means I'm off the hook! But seriously, parking is such a problem on the 4th that we never go anywhere. So a leisurely meal of steak and corn on the cob and watermelon sounds just great to me.
**Sweet Italian Chicken--Three ingredients. Simple. I'll serve it with veggies and salad.
**Chicken with Quinoa--A family fave. Also tastes even better the next day. Melon and peas and salad to go with it.
**Roast Beef Wraps with Dill Slaw--I'm all about meals that don't actually require cooking. This is a Food Network magazine recipe. I'll serve it with fruit and maybe chips.
**Corn and Ham Chowder--Another seemingly cold weather food, but it'll make good use of leftover corn. And the kids both love ham. Salad and bread on the side.

What do you eat when it's hot?

Product Review: Easy Canvas Prints!

I've mentioned multiple times in the past few months that I'm redecorating my kids' bedroom. It's been a long slow process and it's almost finished. I'm just waiting on one final item that is custom made and it's taking awhile. So look for the reveal soon!

One of the things I wanted to do with the room was to show the strong sibling relationship my kids have. Room sharing has significant challenges, but I also think it has helped my kids become closer.

So when I was contacted by EasyCanvasPrints.com, I was tickled because this was exactly what I was looking for!

Photos to Canvas

The process of creating my canvas was, as the website says, easy. In fact, the hardest part was getting my kids to both look at the camera at the same time. Then I uploaded my photo and chose my canvas size. I went with the 1.5 wrap size because I eventually intend for this canvas to sit on a shelf. I chose to have the image wrapped around the border, instead of the mirror image wrap. I tried it both ways and the photo didn't look too different, so I decided on the first option.

And that was it! It was incredibly user friendly and when my canvas came in about a week, I was thrilled with how it looks. For now, it is hung on the wall, but once my custom shelf comes, it will have a place of honor there.

Thanks to EasyCanvasPrints.com for this opportunity and look for the end result soon!