You just got pwned!

Ok, so, my boys love to play online games. Their current most favorite is World of Warcraft.

Jon and I created a single account to share so that we could play with them and better understand what in the world they were talking about when we called them to dinner and they said "But Mom! I'm in a dungeon!"

Honestly, our account is currently inactive because since I started my business I don't have time to play. The nice thing is that our characters live on and when we want to re-activate our account (resume paying the monthly subscription fee) we can pick up right where we left off.

I've been listening and learning quite a bit this week about author Jane McGonigal. Her new book is called Reality is Broken and I currently have it on hold at Barnes and Noble to pick up tonight so you'll have to hang tight for a review.

She has some crazy ideas (and we all know how much I love those, right?) about how gaming is good for us and that through gaming we can actually work together to solve some really huge problems. Her TED talk is here. I watched it last night and it really made me think differently about the time my kids spend online.

All that having been said, what if we could create a real life game for every day living? An iPhone app created by a group McGonigal works with is called EpicWin.


"EpicWin is an iPhone app that puts the adventure back into your life. It’s a streamlined to-do list, to quickly note down all your everyday tasks, but with a role-playing spin. (from the developers website here)"


I downloaded this app today to start "playing" so I'll let you know how that goes. But more importantly, I want to start thinking about a way to create a game in real life. One where the boys will earn points for things like brushing their teeth, one where they'll earn experience points for doing their homework, and for completing chores. 


I guess there should be ways to lose experience points, too; such as arguing with a parent, hitting each other, or failing to complete an agreed upon task. Of course, some activities are neutral as well. 


Ok, I'm kind of geek so this is starting to sound like fun to me. Now I just have to figure out how to make it work. What do you think? What would your kids call their game? How should I dole out experience points or remove them?


Now to sell it to the boys. Wish me luck!

Kid Lit Spotlight - Repetition in Children's Books

Hey Friends - Here's another post for you from my friend Emily. Isn't she awesome?!?! Thanks again Emily for sharing your favorites with us, and letting us know that we're not alone when our eyes glaze over with the repetition! - Jennifer





If I have to read Grover's Bad, Awful Day one more time, I'm going to scream!!! 

The same goes for The Little Engine That Could, Curious George, and a certain nonfiction firefighting book we have that is, in my opinion, just too darn long! Have you ever felt like this? I bet you have! Kids love to have the same book read to them over and over, and we go through periods of a week or two where all we do is read the same two books. And I've discovered that if I stop in the middle of a sentence, my son can fill in the missing words! He's got it memorized. It's amazing. But then, I could probably read it in my sleep myself.

What books have your kids had you read over and over and over? Do you find that they are books you liked when you read them the first time but not the 100th time? Do you protest reading the same book, or just grin and bear it?

________

On another note, I'd like to share a book with you that we really like called Please, Baby, Please by Spike Lee and Tonya Lewis Lee, illustrated by Kadir Nelson. It's available in both picture book and board book form. Usually I've found that I don't really care for children's books by celebrity authors, but this one I love! 

We were introduced to this book by our children's librarian who read it at a toddler storytime, and then we checked it out. After many readings, it became a favorite and we got ourselves a board book copy. It goes through different times of the day showing what "baby" (a girl who seems to be about 18 months old) does in a funny and familiar way. One thing we do is keep the refrain the same on every page by saying "please baby please" like the title of the book instead of changing it a little each time (which is how it's written: "baby baby, please baby" on one page and "please, baby baby baby" on another). We like the repetition because then our son got to where he would say "please baby please" along with us. The illustrations are lifelike and have just enough details to be able to point out other things going on in the background while staying simple and uncluttered. The perspectives of the pictures make you feel like you're right there in the book. This is a gentle and fun book for both parents and kids.

Sarah's 3rd Birthday!

Today is Sarah's third birthday.  She is such a joy to have in our family.  She is fun and laughs all the time. When she is excited she makes the cutest show of it opening her mouth into a big wide 'o' and placing her hands over her mouth.  Jon asks when she went away and learned all of these cute little girly things that she does.  He doesn't know that we have little tutorials while he is at work during the day.  ;-)

Her most recent developmental advances include asking "why" twelve billion times a day.

Sarah: Mommy, why does the kids go to school?
Mommy: So they can learn.
S: Why?
M: So they can know things and be good mommies and daddies when they grow up.
S: Why?
M: So they can take good care of their kids.
S: Why?
M: Because God wants them to take good care of their kids.
S: Why?
M: Because He loves the kids and the mommies and the daddies.
S: Why?
M: Because He made all of us and he loves us.
S: Why?
M: I don't know Sarah.

She generally continues asking why until I say "I don't know." Not sure if this exercise if for her to learn things or for me to learn humility.  Either way, I think it's working.

Sarah is also using the big girl potty!  For the longest time she was just NOT interested. I could put her in big girl clothes and she would happily pee in them all day long. Obviously, we didn't do that very many days.

One day though she said, "Mommy, I want to wear panties to school.  Mrs. Barnes and Mrs. Snyder will LOVE them." And so she did. And of course they did, love them that is.  And her.  So since then we have been making it more and more of a habit and she is doing fantastically.  Hallelujah.

Sarah also loves to do things herself. Like climbing into and out of the van and her car seat, getting things down from cupboards, dressing herself.  Especially dressing herself.  Yes, she wears clothes backwards sometimes and yes, they usually do NOT match.  But we like to go with what we've got, and this little girl has style. So here is her birthday outfit for today and some cutie patootie pictures for you on Sarah's birthday.  Happy Birthday Sarah Bear!

The SuperMom Trap

When I am stuck in the SuperMom trap,
The Mom I think I want to be,

• is always calm
• is always confident
• is able to meet all of my kid’s needs
• serves nutritious dinner at home 6 nights out of 7
• never responds disrespectfully to disrespect
• never, ever yells
• is able to keep the house clean
• never lets my kids forget anything they need
• always helps with homework
• has no problem saying no when appropriate
• doesn’t feel bitter about kids carelessly breaking and losing things that cost money. Lots of money.

When I am properly focused and able to remember that it’s not my kid’s job to make me feel fulfilled, 

I remember that,

• no parent is always calm
• every parent makes decisions they’re not sure of
• it’s not my job to meet my kid’s every need
• no matter what meal I serve, chances are good that someone won’t eat it
• once in a while everyone loses their temper
• and I still never want to yell
• relationships are more important than the vacuuming
• if they experience the consequences of forgetting, they’ll remember next time
• I was bad at math and let Jon help with that
• nobody likes to hear no, even when it is appropriate. 
• They don’t have to love hearing it.  I don’t have to love saying it.  Life isn’t always going to feel good.
• it’s ok to be disappointed when things are broken or lost.  It’s also ok not to replace them.