With the holidays at hand, the question comes up: what do I give a new baby? Whether it's your own or a friend's new bundle, infant gifts can be challenging. Do you go cutesie? Playful? Clothing? Cuddly? Well, I have a suggestion. Check out some of the Montessori infant & toddler materials geared to develop both independence and intellect. Some top ideas include:

• mobiles
• wooden blocks
• sorters
• object permenance activities
• stackers
• shape puzzles/insets
• mini-masters books
• sequencing
• baby mirror with bar (awesome and will occupy the busiest learning-to-stand baby for hours)

For these items and more, check out these sites:

Kaybee Montessori

Montessori Outlet

For more about Montessori education, check out these sites:

Montessori first years broken down by stages

Montessori 0-3

(trev)

Want to encourage your smart preschooler to explore and develop skills while playing and having fun? Here are some awesome brain-boosting gifts you will not feel guilty about purchasing, giving or using over and over. No need for plastic crap- these are really solid choices for early preschoolers through about first grade.  

1. Whose baby?  Puzzle to match baby to mother.
2. Tallest Tree Stacking Boxes Multi-purpose stackers that cover math (sequence) language & science.
3. Pattern Blocks Hands on spatial activity.
4. Hammer and Tack Game Fine motor development game - fun for older preschoolers and early elem.
5. Multicultural Matching Game Memory building and matching activity.
6. Sandpaper Letters Fine motor and pre-writing skill builders- not really a game but SO helpful when learning letters and sounds. Kids love to trace the letters and make the sounds. I'm just going to bite it and buy them to help my boys  with pre-reading/pre-writing. 
7. Math Counting Spindles Activity Peaceful, simple math activity for associating number symbols with quantity.
8. Haba Math Game Sequencing activity.
9. Sew & Sew Pre-writing fine-motor activity.
10. Sorting and Sequencing Serious pattern/sequence game for quiet play/work time.

Hello mybaby Peeps...

Last week was a whirlwind. We took a hot lap around New England. We visited relatives in NH then went and stayed in Portsmouth NH at a hotel. From there we indulged in indoor swimming, a submarine tour, a Children's Museum session and a boy-adventure at Rye Airfield in NH (hence the videos). Then, we jetted in our overloaded suburban to Mass & stayed overnight with my mother @ another hotel.  We fully polished martinis, swam and stuffed ourselves on cake. 

Other highlights from the weekend:

• getting lost (twice)
• tantrums in the cold
• pizza-fed TV marathon of Man vs. Wild
• VT friends staying with us at our hotel
• continental breakfasts
• laughs with family members
• not cleaning a massive quantity of popcorn and cereal crumbs
• packing up two hotels rooms in two nights
• yelling at boys to stop jumping from bed-to-bed
• letting the boys jump bed-to bed
• musical beds (hotel style- swap all night long)
• singing in the car
• having my kids tell me to stop singing because I have a terrible voice
• suffering through my husband's RANDOM playlists
• singing kid songs (all 28 on one cd)
• bugging everyone by turning "party like a rock star" too loud
• homemade coconut balls
• "marker everywhere" situations in the car- with washable markers 
• gum requests all day long
• emergency trip to DICK's for swimmies only to come out with a lifejacket that makes my two year old look like tommy boy (when he's in the boat in the lake)
• letting my kids run around in hallways and lobbies
• playing playdough at the museum (again, not having to clean up the mess!)
• getting away for a few days

This was a thanksgiving I am truly thankful for. Hope yours was great...

Ok, so if you are like me, you may often find yourself focusing too much time clicking away on your online identity, leaving the kids with less than stellar mothering memories. 

Sometimes I get all guilty because I should be making or doing something creative with the kids (even though they are having a blast wrestling and destroying the house- kidding- playing or napping or whatever).

Anyway, if you are inspired to get out the crafty supplies and make goofy gobblers like all the good moms do, here's a few LINKS to get you going:

Family Fun - enough said

Meleagris Gallopavo - (scientific name for the bird) crafts relating to the gobbler

Thankful Turkey Craft - a bird with feathers that your family can fill in

Miscellaneous - a regular cornucopia

Kid Placemats - my ds did this at preschool with photos and items they collected on a walk...cute!

Martha Stewart - if these other crafts are too ghetto- go right to the top with her ideas

 I like this little bastard right here :)

Kid-Happy Recipes - lots of smashing

Car Crafts - ideas to make for the big road trip ahead

More Recipes - this includes how to make butter in baby jars...again, my ds did this in preschool- it came out great.

Creative Kaboose - more good ideas

Feel free to share (and post pictures!) of what you've decided to commit to craft-wise. I have to go because they are getting restless! Good luck!

Apparently they needed a scientific study to figure out that your initials have an effect on your career and grades. To save time and money, they should have just asked me.

Here's how I figure it works. If your initials look like these, you're bound to end up in the gutter (below). Incidentally, your mind will be in the same gutter after reading the list. Hey, science doesn't lie so don't hate me for relaying the info.

• VAG
• DUM
• DIP
• WAD
• DUR
• UCK
• TRD
• DUI
• DWI
• ZIT
• PAP
• DIK
• SAG
• COK
• NRD
• TIT
• JIZ
• CUM (sorry, it does look bad)
• NAD
• SUK
• LIK
• KIL
• TUB
• FAT
• SHT
• ILL
• OFF
• TUL
• GAG
• ELF
• HOE
• HOR
• HPV
• GUT
• IMP

and so on... Now, jot down your initials. Does it explain a lot? I'm afraid for many that, yes, this will be an eye-opener. Gotta love research. Happy Friday!

THANKSGIVING HUMOR (JUST IN CASE YOU NEED SOME)

Nothing like an opinion column that takes lemons and makes that lemon-drop martini. Read about this family's spirit here.

For totally stupid gobble jokes, click here.

For a little-bit-of-mommy-ha-ha-ha, click here.

SNL adam sandler...you know, click here.

Typical childish thanks...it mirrors mine because  I'm just as thankful for him!

Maybe it's because I'm from New Hampsha but this is my T-day hero. You go you old NH BAG!

Johnny Carson on Thanksgiving:
Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday. People travel thousands of miles to be with people they only see once a year. And then discover once a year is way too often.

More Thanksgiving QUOTES (not actually very funny but you might want to make a card or something:).

Gee Thanks

Ok, if you are like me, dealing with make-up is sometimes the last on the list of priorities. However, when we are tired or even hungover, a few little tricks can go a long way. I seriously live by these quick tips.

1. Eye brightener. I use physician's formula. Brush it under your eyebrow, along the highest part of your eye. You'll look more awake.

2. White pencil. Use a white shimmering pencil under the eye and in the "raccoon" section of the undereye. It reflects the black holes.

3. Pink or berry lipgloss. NO REDS! To look healthier, dab a fresh bit of pink on your lips. Even if you feel like exhausted crap, you'll appear more alive.

4. Pink blush. A dab of pink on the cheeks will revive your  fatigued face.

5. Shimmery neutral shadow. NO BLUES OR PURPLES. If you need to look better than you feel, stay away from colors that bring out the bruising-tones of dark circles.  Besides. it's not proper to look like you got in a drunken mom-brawl the night before.:)

Those are my magical make-up secrets. :) Go out and get some gloss!

Moms (and dads, but mostly moms lol) do a lot of dirty work. We deserve a few things just for being so awesome.

10. Time out wild card. When things are crazy, pull the card and come back in a half an hour.

9. Part-time in-house chef. We deserve a good meal every now and then.

8.  Personal stylist. We deserve to have someone make us look stunning -  I'd be happy with looking good quarterly.

7. Random gifts. We deserve really thoughtful, well-intended gifts on no particular occasion.

6. Free weekly lessons. We deserve to spend a few hours a week developing whatever untapped skill we have unintentionally abandoned.

5. In-house retreat.  We deserve a quiet on-site sanctuary where we can hear only peaceful nature sounds and sit in stillness.

4. Daily yoga. We deserve to put the day on hold until we have had our morning yoga session led by ourselves OR own private yogi. I'd prefer the yogi.

3. On-the-house procedures. We deserve to choose from a menu of perfection-izing procedures. Have a flabby tummy from those kids? Here, have a tummy-tuck on me...saggy girls? let's get them lifted. Tired face? Here's a facial you'll never forget...that kind of stuff.

2. Weekly Massages. We deserve 90 minutes minimum/week.

1. Family-friendly career. We all deserve to make money and have kids. It somehow doesn't work out like that for all of us! Still, we all deserve the best of both worlds.

Anyone who so nicely supported my little educational crisis- I thank you. Here's the update.

Hubby & I had a meeting with the principal and school counselor, teacher and district psychologist.  First off, that sucked. How do you not feel intimidated with a panel of people judging you- and hearing only what they want? It was tough. Anyway...

The meeting determined my son has high anxiety (no sh*t shirlock) and he could use coping strategies for stress. Okay, great. So, I again say, yes, but his "symptoms" are consistent with GT - sepecially since his aptitude for music is very high.  They shrugged it off and asked if our little "class" is helping with anything at home.  I say well, yes, because the book we are reading covers his behaviors. End of conversation.

I get the minutes back about the meeting and in the recap it says we are interested in having him tested for "emotional  disturbance" (mind you he's crying and ripping up work, not stabbing or being violent or anything!!!). I never used those words with them. There's more-

Then it says I already called the Behavioral Therapy Center  (which I did but to see if I could have him IQ tested or to give me some info I could use)- but they worked it in there to make it sound like I'm right along with them.

That wasn't a big deal but then, one section of the meeting recap said dustbunny & hubby "have been attending a class...and they find the material a good fit for M and wonder if he is gifted. So & so recommends they continue the class and follow recommendations if they are helpful."

What is that? They didn't even have a response to my inquiry of giftedness but they can throw the words "emotional disturbance" in there?". Now, I have aMaster's in Ed- I am not pulling this stuff out of thin air- something is not right here! They made me feel stupid and I'm second guessing everything.

Bottom line- I've been talking to the GMCFG people and they say I should have him IQ tested on my own (remember the school counselor told me I couldn't do that???)  so I'd have real information to argue with.  Well, it costs $1200 to have a test administered. Well, ship, if I could drop that I would- but it wouldn't do any good anyway-except possibly clear him of his impending "ED" label.

So now, my son keeps telling me school is a waste of his time and he hates it...whatever- he may be acting that out- lots of kids do but I just think his potential is SO much higher.- he's almost moving backward, which isn't helping his mental state.  Also, he says the teacher blames every little noise on him- which I do at home sometimes so I know how that can happen. He's in a constant back and forth to the time out cushion. That is a waste of time but she can't let him disrupt the class. 

Where am I now?  I haven't gotten anywhere and I haven't miraculously come up with 10k to send him to private school.  I can't commit to homeschooling because my hubby wants me to get a job soon- which will be a real challenge w/3 boys under 8. I have writing commitments and all kinds of outside pressures. I just don't know but I want to do something- thoughts?  Should I write a letter or call the superintendent? 

NCLB has a HUGE $$$ net to bring all the lower level kids to proficient but SO SO SO many bright kids are getting the NCLB-sized mega-shaft. 

Yeah, thanks alot, Paula...you sure know how to make the rest of look like sh*t! You suck...I admire you like you wouldn't believe, but really, girl, you suck. It's moms like you who make the world go round. Moms like me just sit and watch, cursing from the sideline. Ok, vent over. Congrats...and you suck.

Paaaaahhhhllllleeeeezzzzeeee. Baby in January? WTF?

Ok, well, good morning. Here's a rainy day "game" I found/adapted from an old teacher's manual @ the thrift store. I totally scored on this 1980's math concept book.  

This is a good pre-k through kindergarten activity intended to develop these concepts: pattern-making, matching, copying, repeating, next, after, before, first, last.

PART ONE

• Gather a solid handful of junk / items that you have quantities of like: beads, rubber bands, corks, cotton balls, bottle caps, change, paperclips, q-tips, bobby pins, marbles, blocks, shells, popcicle sticks. Get creative and recycle old materials. You could even use that inevitable bucket of Halloween candy from last night.
• Put them in a pile in between you and your child/children.
• You make the first pattern of about four or five pieces. For example, bobby pin, cork, cap, bobby pin, cork, ____. Ask what comes next in the pattern. From there, take turns addding to or making new patterns along thr floor in front of you.

PART TWO

• Look for patterns around the house or on your daily adventure. Anything symmetrical or round could easily have a pattern. Also, look at fabrics, buildings, animals, etc.

VARIATIONS

• Grab some clay and put it, in a pile, between you and your child. Make a pattern by first making the shape. For example, worm, ball, worm, ball, ball , worm worm, repeat. Take turns leading the activity.
• MAKE pattern cards before hand. Draw or glue a preset pattern for your child to match pieces to. Use colors, shapes, pattern papers, outlines or labels and have your child match them accordingly.
• Cut patterns out from magazines and make a collage. Look for patterns in nature, architecture, and hobby magazines (quilts, sewing, etc.)

NOTE: Old books from the thrift store can be cut up guilt-free!They really do provide a multitude of images.