Posts from — September 2011

My kids are old. I just said goodnight and goodbye to my 6-year-old J, because she’ll be 7 in the morning. If it were numbers alone, I think that I could handle it, but after I tucked her in, I left her in bed reading Ten Timid Ghosts to herself, by herself. Which is wonderful! Really. Except: she’s so old.

We just hauled out the Halloween books and decorations because the playroom’s finally clean and tidy. The girls love to pull out decorations for an upcoming holiday, so it’s always a good motivator for organizing. This time it’s even more urgent, with a kid party coming up on what will probably be another rainy day.

So over the past few days we’ve been working on the playroom together, as we often do. But this time it was different. Early on, M asked, “Mom, do you think that someday we could have a couch and maybe the old tv down here?” Yes, I answered. Because that was always the plan: once the toys weren’t overwhelming, I imagined art projects and movie nights with friends and slumber parties in this playroom. I guess I’d never said that to them because it wasn’t time. But this new vision had M motivated.

Next thing I knew, the girls were ready to clear out most of the My Little Pony stuff, along with their play kitchen. Now, I’m always saying that we can get rid of things that they don’t want anymore, but we usually only manage to cull 2 or 3 items, tops. This time, they were on fire. Bags and bags of toys gone.  I was a little sad. I even made them pose for last pictures with the kitchen.

J makes a finally batch of imaginary microwave popcorn

So it was a relief when, after it was all clean, both girls headed downstairs to play. This is another tradition: the super-tidy playroom inspires a whole new round of pretend play, involving all the toys that were just filed away–because, of course, plenty remain.  I made dinner. They played and played.

And then I realized: they weren’t making a pretend world like usual. They were choreographing their own dance routine. Which is great. But so old. So almost-tweenish. They called me down, and I watched. They were goofy and spunky and graceful, and they were getting along so well together. But as I clapped, I looked around, and I missed that play kitchen and even those little plastic ponies. Mostly I missed my little girls.

 All Weekend:

• Cats is playing at Cohoes Music Hall. Tickets range from $25 to $35.
• Cirque Du Soleil is performing Quidam at the Times Union Center. Tickets range from $31 to $93.

Evening of Friday, September 30th:

• It’s Troy Night Out from 5-9 pm.
• From 5-9 pm, teens can audition for a Teen Talent Search Contest at Steamer 10 Theatre.
• At 5 pm, Maple Ski Ridge is hosting a Rock n Roll Responders benefit concert for Hurricane Irene victims. $15/person.

Saturday, October 1st:

• Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company is doing this Undercover Playground thing. Check link for updated details.
• It’s a Family Fun Festival at the Albany Institute of History & Art from 10 am to 5 pm.
• From 10 am to 5 pm, it’s a Fiber Fair at Mabee Farm. $3/adult, $2/child, or $10/car.
• From 10 am to 5 pm, the Albany Institute of History & Art is celebrating the opening of Kids Stuff: Great Toys from our Childhood with extra kid-friendly activities. $10/adult, $8/student, $6/kid 6 to 12, under 6 free.
• From 10 am until 6 pm, it’s the NY Capital Region Vegetarian Expo at Empire State Convention Center. Free, but they suggest a $5 donation.
• From 10 am to 6 pm, it’s Harvest Days at Riverview Orchards.
• At 11 am, learn about Brilliant and Bristly Buckmoths at Albany Pine Bush. It’s $3/person or $5/family.
• It’s a Community Day at the Hyde Collection from noon to 5 pm.
• At 7:30 pm at Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, the Boston String Quartet performing with 104 local high school students.  Classical, world, and rock music all in one performance.   Tickets range from $16 to $36.

Sunday, October 2nd:

• From 10 am to 4 pm, Maple Ski Ridge is hosting a free Tractor Show and Flea Market.
• At 11 am, learn about Animal Costumes, aka Animal Mimicry at Albany Pine Bush. It’s $3/person or $5/family.
• From 11 am until 3 pm, the Honest Weight Food Co-op is hosting a Local Harvest Festival at the Washington Park Playhouse in Albany. Music, local vendors, face painting, and family dancing.
• At 1 pm, learn about The Treasure of Trees at the Children’s Museum of Science and Technology. For ages 2 to 5; pre-register; it’s $2/non-member.

I’ve been wanting to tell you all something, but I’ve been too scared. Which is silly, I know, but bear with me: I fear that you will help me, and at this point, guidance is frightening. Yes, I know that we all need guidance sometimes. And while I have my strengths–I’m diligent about finishing leftovers, I read quickly, and I’m pretty good at push-ups– I have plenty of “challenges” as well: a heinous sense of direction, a propensity for lateness, and no familiarity or affinity whatsoever for things that give many women pleasure.

Here’s an example. I can’t handle more than about 90 minutes in the mall. I start to twitch. I’m overstimulated. So, today I went to the mall (I had other errands there), gift card in hand, and finally got around to taking Hollow Squirrel’s advice and asking for guidance in the form of a bra fitting. When I read her suggestion five months ago it seemed like a good idea, and it’s been on the to-do list ever since. Today was the day. The sales lady clucked and harrumphed over my poor sizing. She told me to switch from a perfectly average-seeming size to a size which seems huge to me, although, in truth, the difference was only one cup. After some testing, I was appalled but convinced that she had a point. I left with two of the new bras, although frankly, I spent the rest of the day feeling a little bit as if “the girls” were going to knock into my chin at any moment. Completely unreasonable. Not even close. But I’m adjusting.

The experience threw me for such a loop that I wandered into Sephora and started thinking, “Should I ask someone to tell me what make-up to wear?” Because I don’t really wear make-up. I mean, I did. My peak make-up wearing year was probably 7th or 8th grade. It declined in high school, plummeted in college, and then Cute W doesn’t really like it. Nowadays, if I do try to sneak on, say, some mascara, Cute W or M or J notice and comment or ask what I’m wearing and why I’m wearing it and it becomes a big, interesting topic of conversation that makes me wish I’d skipped it entirely.

So there I was in Sephora, looking at so many, many shiny and lovely items, and just about all of the products said that 85% of all women felt super-fabulous moments after trying them, and 78% kept feeling groovier for a whole week. And I thought, “I’m not getting any younger. I’ve been walking around with my breasts squashed for decades. Maybe I need to rethink everything. How can I possibly figure out what’s worth the money? Maybe I desperately need guidance.” It was a vulnerable few minutes there, and an intuitive saleslady might have been able to make some serious commission. However, there were plenty of women who clearly purchase and wear make-up on a regular basis, so I wasn’t noticed. Overwhelmed by the sights and smells, I scuttled away.

So, what the hell was my point? Ummm, I’m not remotely ready for J’s party this weekend, and the girls are home from school tomorrow. I’m still overwhelmed by my oh-so-plentiful CSA harvest.

And in a few weeks, we’re going to Disney World. Which is wonderful. Terrific. Especially since I was deprived as a child and have never, ever, been to Disney World. At this point, it feels a little bit like when I was standing in Sephora today. A normal person would say, “Wow, that’s a cute lip gloss. I’ll buy it.” And they’ll skip happily out of the store.  I stand there looking at products, thinking that I have to research all of these products, and I need to solicit professional advice, and I need to bring my three favorite shirts to coordinate colors, and then I skulk away, defeated, because I have no idea where to start.

And that’s where I am with Disney World right now. Not to mention, that even if I did research everything like I feel that I should, I’m not in charge of the trip–there are 10 of us altogether. We’re going with Cute W’s kind and generous family. So I’m really just along for the ride. Which means that I don’t need to research. Except maybe I should. And then I start to look around and I get intimidated. But I’ve got to get through J’s party before I can think about it.

Anyway, so, woo-hoo! We’re going to Disney World! But also, I’m having one of those feel my thirst moments. So, can you please not tell me all the things that we must do? Because it will only stress me out. But you can tell me that I’ll have fun. Or that you’d love to write a guest post. Or that you want to come to my house and take some green peppers off my hands. Anything else and I might have to breathe into a paper bag.

J’s 7th birthday is on Saturday. That means a treat to bring into school on Friday, celebrating at home on Saturday, and a kid party on Sunday. As my dad would say, a pagan festival.

Really, all of October is sort of looming. After the party there’s an out-of-town wedding and a big family vacation, and I’m not remotely prepared for any of it. Today I got an email asking if I’d help with a project in December, and I was like, yes, I’ll help, but do you promise that I won’t have to think about it until November, pretty-please?

So, I’m just focusing on getting through the birthday for now. J wants artichokes as part of her in-school treat. She’s been talking about this for months. She is nutty about artichokes, although Cute W and I joke that it’s really just a delivery system for the dip (made from butter, lemon juice, & garlic salt). To prevent brutal disappointment among her classmates, we’ll produce a non-vegetable-focused item as well.

The kid party is small, 6 kids invited. I sort of hate the timing of J’s birthday. Every year we have the same problem,  because she’s just barely getting to know the kids from school. So, last week at Back-to-School night a very nice lady told me that her daughter has been talking about J nonstop, and had brought home her “What I love about first grade is _____” worksheet with “playing with J” written in the blank. At home I asked J about her new friend. “Who? Which one is she? I hardly ever even play with her,” she responded, perplexed. Well, I persisted, maybe we should invite her to the party? “No, thank you.” Okay, I concede, what about that other little girl we’ve been seeing so much lately, the one you seem to like? “I do like her. She’s nice. I don’t want to invite her to my party, though.”  Ugh. Instead, she names two girls I’ve never heard of, and of course she doesn’t know their last names, and I am fortunate, at least, that my library volunteer gig allows me to sleuth out the prospective invitees. Phew.

Meanwhile, J came up with a huge list of craftily ambitious treats and activities for the kid party, because she’s a mini-Martha Stewart. She’s spent weeks sifting through old issues of Family Fun and her kid’s cookbook collecting ideas, and after two years running with a fairy theme, she’s decided that she wants to go with a Halloween party. This morning I made a grocery list and had a small panic attack. By dinner tonight I’d scaled back: we’ll have the same cupcakes for Saturday and Sunday, one of the kid-party treats is moving to the in-school treat, and J entirely forgot that she wanted to have a dip-caramel-apples activity, and I’ve chosen not to remind her.

At least I’m done with the gifts. They were easy this year because she’s admired so many items that I’ve just bought and stashed along the way. Our tradition is to perch the gifts up high, because I like those re-usable bags, and it’s just too tempting to have them within reach. Last night I finally wrapped them and filled the space above the china cabinet with our own and some relatives’ gifts, so this morning J, who’s been checking, squealed with joy. Let the pagan festival begin.

We went apple picking today. So wierd: we were wearing shorts and swatting away mosquitoes. It’s a pretty quiet week, actually, but here’s what I’ve found:

All Week:

• Cats is playing at Cohoes Music Hall beginning on Thursday and through the weekend. Tickets range from $25 to $35.
• Cirque du Soleil is performing Quidam at the Times Union Center beginning Wednesday and through the weekend. Tickets range from $30.50 to $98.

Monday, September 26th: I didn’t find anything super-interesting or different. There’s always What about TODAY? and fall fun.

Tuesday, September 27th:

• Go on a Turkey Path Hike from 11 am to 1 pm at Moreau Lake.
• The Tweens Read and Volunteer Team kicks off a new year at Colonie Library at 6:30 pm. For grades6 & 7; register in person.
• At 7 pm at Bethlehem Public Library, it’s Pajamarama.

Wednesday, September 28th:

• The Capital District School Development Association is running a free college fair at Hudson Valley Community College. It’s open from 9-11:30 am and 6-8 pm.

Thursday, September 29th:

• Take a Birding Walk from 9-10 am at Saratoga Spa State Park.
• From 9 am to 4 pm, it’s School Vacation Camp: Brainstorm Challenge at the Children’s Museum of Science and Technology. It’s for ages 5 to 11, and it’s $55/day for non-members.
• Take a family-friendly hike starting at 9:45 am.
• At 10:30 am, there’s Silly Science at the Children’s Museum at Saratoga.
• From 11-11:45 am, kids grades K-5 can do an American Girl Hair Salon and learn about historical hair styles at Bethlehem Public Library.
• At 11 am, there’s a drop-in Family Storytime at East Greenbush Public Library.
• Take a Moreau Lake Kayak Trip from 1-3 pm. If you don’t have a kayak, a limited number are available for rental for $15.
• At 4 pm, the Let’s Go Lego club kicks off a new year at Colonie Library. For grades 2 to 5; register in person.
• At 6:30 pm, there’s a drop-in Family Storytime at East Greenbush Public Library.

Friday, September 30th:

• It’s Troy Night Out from 5-9 pm.

M had a busy day today: a soccer game in the morning, soccer tryouts in the afternoon, and a 1-mile fun run. For those of you with younger kids, this seems like a pretty common thing for many sports. There’s a recreation league through the city or town, and then there are local clubs for kids to do more of the same sport. A lot of times they’re not all that well-advertised, so if you’ve got a child between, say, 4 and 8 who’s loving a rec sport, it’s a good idea to ask around about what else is available. It’s really kind of irritating, actually, because you can look around and suddenly you’ve got a 7-year-old who’s getting their butt kicked because a bunch of other kids are doing the same sport year-round. It is crazy how intense some of the sports are. So far, M’s only done the town rec soccer, and this year she’s trying the Niskayuna Soccer Club. Anyone the right age can play, but they do tryouts to place them in either an A team or a B team. If you’re placed on an A team, you can still choose to do B instead. A is more time, commitment, and money. Several of M’s friends are trying out as well, so we don’t know where any of them will end up. I think that we’re all just hoping that however the kids get placed, they each have a friend.

Meanwhile, M was determined to run in our local fun run because her gym teacher had promised that anyone who participated could skip out on laps at the next gym class. Of course she’ll end up doing more running this way, but think of the glory, sitting down and watching her classmates huff and puff by.

We’d hoped that it would be a family fun run, but J’s got a cold. She’s alternating between perky frolicking and moaning on the sofa, so it didn’t seem like a wise choice. Still, J enjoyed herself. Shop Rite, eager to win friends and influence people prior to their store opening a week from tomorrow, had a table piled up with craft supplies.

Not to be outdone, Price Chopper provided the yummy post-race snackage.

And yes, I’d fully intended to take photos of Cute W and M actually running. But I was too busy clapping and yelling to remember the camera.

The fun run was more well-attended and festive than I’d expected, by far. And I’m glad that M’s gym teacher got her motivated, because I think we’ll all be in for the fun run or even the 5K next year.

It’s been a week of petty failures for me. Cute W was gone all week (back now, thank you-thank you-thank you), and every time I thought I had running the household well in hand, I realized that I didn’t.

On Wednesday, we had J’s piano practice at Mary‘s, homework for both girls, and J’s gymnastics, which is a freaking hike away from us. I was dreading the piano practice because J’s been miserable with her practice lately, and M and I were dreading gymnastics, because since Cute W wasn’t around, M was going to have to come along and be bored-bored-bored. So when J had a cheerful and successful practice, everyone completed homework, & I secured a friend to host M so that she could avoid gymnastics, I was feeling pretty pleased with myself. Until I realized, hours later, that I’d blown off my CSA pick up completely. Ugh.

Yesterday I was doing a bedding overhaul, pulling out the warm blankets, washing sheets, and switching out my spring/summer duvet for my fall/winter comforter. So everything was clean and fresh, and then I realized that I didn’t know where my comforter was. Like, at all. It’s a huge comforter in a small house. Where could I have put it? So irritating. I went to bed without it. Overnight I remembered: it was in the upper loft area of our garage. It’s too big to hide in a closet. I put it on a couple of hours ago, then stood back, satisfied. And realized that I’d forgotten to switch the dust ruffle.

This morning? Also poor. J woke up at 4 am and had trouble falling asleep, which meant when we finally went back to sleep, we slept in. I’m never strong in the morning, but I managed to get the breakfasts & lunches and tied bells to J’s shoes so that she could be the Fine Lady Upon a White Horse for nursery rhyme day, and got them out the door. Then I managed to make and almost eat my breakfast before rushing off to the school library to volunteer for M’s class. Again, feeling slightly impressed with myself that I’d been so patient with a whiny J and that I’d incorporated 5 different fruits & vegetables into the girls’ food. But as soon as I saw M in the library, I knew something wasn’t okay. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “I forgot my cello–but don’t go get it,” she answered, miserable. The night before at Back to School Night, we’d listened to M’s teacher talking about how one of the big goals of 4th grade is getting the kids to take responsibility for themselves, so we shouldn’t help them by driving in forgotten homework or instruments or hats. And we parents smiled along, agreeing in theory, even as one or two snuck spelling notebooks home for a final pre-test review. The good thing is that the teacher has the kids on board, so M knew it was her own fault that she didn’t have her cello. And I knew, too, in theory. But really, it feels like my fault. In fact, I had a half-weepy essay written in my head while doing errands, but I just don’t have the energy.

So how’s everyone else doing with their new school routines? Better than I am, I hope!

Phew! I just biked home from Back to School Night in pouring rain. Let’s hope the weather improves. Here’s what I’ve found–if you have suggestions, please add them to the comments.

All Weekend:

• It’s the final weekend of the Hudson River Valley Ramble.
• It’s the Adirondack Balloon Festival.
• Cats is playing at Cohoes Music Hall. Tickets range from $25 to $35.
• On Friday and Saturday, it’s SouvlakiFest at St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Church in Albany.
• On Saturday and Sunday, it’s Touch a Tractor Day at Ellms Family Farm. Farm admission is $9.50, kids under 2 free.
• The New York State Museum is closed on both Saturday & Sunday–they’re doing electrical maintenance on Saturday.

Saturday, September 24th:

• It’s National Museum Day! Get two free tickets to a museum today. Tons of local museums are participating.
• Ellen Sinopoli Dance Company is doing this Undercover Playground thing. Check link for updated details.
• From 9:30-10:30 am, it’s My Parent and Me Preschool Science Class at the Children’s Museum of Science and Technology. This is part of a 5-week session for 2- to 5-year-olds.
• At 10 am, Pottery Barn Kids is hosting National Geographic Little Explorers for kids 3 and up.
• From 10 am to 4 pm, it’s the Colors of Fall Arts and Crafts Festival in Crandall Park in Glens Falls.
• At 11 am, learn about Brilliant and Bristly Buckmoths at Albany Pine Bush. It’s $3/person or $5/family.
• From noon until late, it’s PearlPalooza in Albany. Mostly bands, but with a kids zone and carnival games, too.
• Learn about Animal Tracks, Homes, and Bones at 1 pm at the Children’s Museum of Science and Technology. For ages 4 and up, $2/non-member.
• For anyone who was hoping to watch or participate in Schenectady County’s Pedal-Paddle-Run today, it’s been canceled due to Irene damage.

Sunday, September 25th:

• At 11 am, learn about Brilliant and Bristly Buckmoths at Albany Pine Bush. It’s $3/person or $5/family.
• From 11 am until 4 pm, there’s a Henry Street Harvest Festival in Saratoga Springs to benefit Gateway House of Peace hospice.
• There’s a Peace Fair from noon to 4 pm at Saratoga Springs.
• Take a Nature Hike at Grafton Lakes from 2 to 3:30 pm. It’s $2/person.

Thanks so much for all of the preschool game suggestions in the comments!

Hey, did you know that tomorrow’s the Day of the Girl? Yeah, I didn’t either.

But I’m very excited because over at New Moon Girls, they’re launching Girl-Caught. You can print out your own stickers to slap onto advertisements or products, one that says “This is GIRL-CAUGHT! It disrespects girls & women. Stop It!” and another that says “This is GIRL-CAUGHT! It respects girls & women. Thank you!”

I’m pretty excited, actually. I can barely restrain myself from running out and buying label stock right now. It’s such nice, not-too-scary, sort-of-passive activism. I do think it’s helpful for getting people to sort of train themselves to look at things with a critical eye. And it’s more effective than what usually happens, which is me muttering angrily in the Bratz aisle of my local big box store.

It’s been a girls-only household for us the last few days.  Cute W’s out of town all this week. He even has to miss M’s Back-to-School Night tomorrow. Most of us are coping okay, but our poor cat is bitter and disoriented. She prefers to sleep nestled between his straddled legs.

After reading about our Small World game for Big Kids, Jahnavi asked for suggestions for games for kids who are 3 or 4 years old. Alas, it’s tough to find a game for the preschool set that’s much fun for parents. Really, any fun at all. My kids liked Hi Ho Cherry O and Candyland. Classics, although the actual games are pretty dreary except that the kids take such delight in playing them. We all liked playing Poppa’s Pizza Topple, although the pieces are too slippery-slidey, so it was only fun once we’d roughed them up enough to be able to play a decent game. Later there two games that both kids loved-loved-loved for a long, long time: Guess Who and Zingo. They still play Guess Who sometimes. Both of these games were improvements over Hi Ho and Candyland, although since I’ve played them about a thousand times, and somewhere in the three hundreds it became pretty tiresome.

How about the rest of you, dear readers? Any suggestions on games for the preschool set?

Okay, you may recall that I was irritated about the “I’m too pretty to do homework” shirts at JC Penney recently, and so I thought I should point out that Pigtail Pals has a “response” shirt that reads “Pretty’s got nothing to do with it” with all sort of other girl qualities instead. This is the same woman, Melissa, who wrote the Waking Up Full of Awesome post that someone may have passed along to you already. So there’s a “Full of Awesome” t-shirt, too.

Another link I came across recently (sorry–can’t remember where) is this What’s in Breast Milk poster that compares the ingredients between breast milk and formula. Interesting.

And speaking of choices for newborns, The Bloggess wrote a hilarious (and possibly offensive, depending on your sensibilities–I’m just warning you) post on circumcision for The Stir on Cafe Mom.