High Maintenance Mom - Activities

Kindergarten and camp registration time

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:35:38 -0800

It's that special time again when those of us living in our type A communities rush around to schedule a summer's worth of activities for our kids. At $500 a week we feel nostalgic for the good old days when camp was more than a week long and kids played outside all day. N's preschool class from last year has organized a play date where we will all come with our camp research and plan our summers. Afterwards, I will send our schedule to several of B's friends to see what we can do. One of the parents I spoke with today told me of a camp where the kids are bused to a park where they can canoe. She referred to it as "Old School." In addition to preparing for camps, many of us are also scheduling school tours and going through the application process...

Aloha from Hawaii

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 03:58:12 -0700

I'm working a night shift on the big island of Hawaii watching the Halema`uma`u vent and data feeds. My 16 days of working 8pm to 4am are almost over and while I love being here, I miss my family. I have to admit that not being able to talk to the kids because of my hours has been really hard. I've been sending pictures by email and writing postcards but it's not the same. If ever do it again, I will spend more time setting up video calls with our computers for the weekends.

Knowing the night shift was going to be hard, I brought several comfort items from home.

Time to sign up for Library Summer Reading/Listening Programs

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 13:30:35 -0700

Summer Reading Programs are an excellent way to introduce kids to the joys of libraries and reading. Many libraries now have Listening and Parent programs too so everyone can participate. Reading to your kids is one of the best ways to prepare them for school and help them develop lifelong reading skills (Reading is Fundamental). Last year was B's first year in the Reading program instead of the Listening program and it was very exciting. We still read to him but we also had him read a little bit almost every night. Reading the same books over an over really helped as did finding a very simple series that he found interesting. Each child learns to read at a different rate and making the process enjoyable is very important. N and I snuggle with books in the evening. I let him finish the words at the end of rhyming sentences he knows and I occasionally point out words so he starts to learn more about how I read. Check out Read*Write*Now! for more information on reading to kids from birth until the 6th grade.

Fun with letter and number stickers

Fri, 30 May 2008 21:25:34 -0700

One of B's favorite days at school was 100's day (on the 100th day of school). B loved counting the school days in his classroom and was very excited for the celebration. In addition to counting out 100 snacks, decorating a crown with 100 stickers, and stringing 100 pieces of cereal into a necklace, the kids also got to search for 100 Hershey kisses. Each of the kisses had a sticker on the bottom with a number written on it. The kids had to match the numbers on the candy to numbers on a large paper Hershey kiss. It was fun to watch the smiling kids try to match the numbers and I wanted to see if N would enjoy a similar activity at home...

Easter comes early-good ideas for kids

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 17:10:35 -0800

Easter comes early this year, March 23rd, so I am thinking ahead about how I will spend it with my husband, 2 year old daughter and 4 month old son. I have decided that instead of an Easter basket full of chocolate (since I will be the only one eating it all) I will fill it with books. My daughter can not seem to get enough books in her hands and she does need a few new "big girl books" as I call them.

Happy Birthday Lego Bricks!

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:12:45 -0800

LEGO bricks are 50 today. Did you know the name LEGO was formed from the Danish words "LEg GOdt", which roughly translates to "play well". In Latin, the word means "I put together" (the translator I found said to gather). Important LEGO features for play were identified as: unlimited play potential; for girls, for boys; fun for every age; year round play; healthy, quiet play; long hours of play; development, imagination, creativity; the more LEGO, the greater its value; extra sets available; quality in every detail (from Brick Fetish). See the Brick Fetish for timelines and pictures of the old sets, the LEGO timeline for more information on LEGO History, along with the Wikipedia Lego Group entry. And you can always check the LEGO site for New LEGO sets and the sale section to Save up to 50%!

Picking out stamps to help kids write thank you notes

Sun, 23 Dec 2007 08:28:22 -0800

Teaching the kids to say thank you is an important part of the holidays for me. We try to break down the process to fit our kids abilities - saying thank you on the phone, "signing" their name on a card, drawing a picture, telling me what to write, writing a few words themselves, to finally writing complete sentences. Of course we have to make the time to do it but once we do, we can often write one thank you note every night or every other night. Having cute stationery and fun stamps really helps the process. As always, there are cute holiday stamps available but if you look online there are also more kid oriented super hero stamps (from Marvel and from DC Comics) and Disney (with the little mermaid and with Aladdin).

I don't like the ones where you have to follow the instructions - A Lego Story

Sat, 01 Dec 2007 08:41:34 -0800

"We have the good Legos at school", my son tells me as we look at all the fabulous Lego sets in their enticing boxes. "Which ones", I ask concentrating on picking a set I would like to build. "The ones without the instructions." It takes me about a minute to figure out, with B's help, that the "good ones" are any Legos in a big box that you can use to build whatever you want. At age five I was looking to graduate B from the Duplos to the "big kid Legos" but he didn't seem to want to relive my youth with me. The realization that he wanted a big box of pieces or in my mind, the aftermath of buying a few sets, loosing a few pieces, and putting everything that was left into a box, felt like waking rested from a coveted nap to a quiet house...

Fire Prevention Week: October 7-13

Tue, 09 Oct 2007 21:13:26 -0700

It's Fire Prevention Week and the National Fire Protection Association is scheduling the Great American Fire Drill (check out their pdf fire plan checklist and grid). Pick a day in October, make a plan, then practice. Afterwards, record your drill on sparky.com (a fun site for kids who love fire trucks). Lego City and NFPA are also running a trivia sweepstakes.

Making your own placemats: a tool for reinforcing things you want your kids to know

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 23:15:10 -0700

As I've mentioned in the past, I often fall prey to marketing. Show me a fun placemat and I want to purchase it. However, many of the placemats I find are not exactly what I want. Plus, some of them have very thin lamination, not the nice thick style I use at work. And that's when I realized I can make my own placemats for the kids with things they like or things I want them to remember...

Zebra and horse crossbreed images

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 20:58:59 -0700

Check out zoo images including the zebra and horse crossbreed. My kids love pictures of animals so we are always looking for fun images.

Sign up for your local Summer Reading Program

Wed, 20 Jun 2007 22:01:05 -0700

Summer is here and one of our (my) favorite activities is our library's Summer Reading Program. Lots of libraries now have listening programs in addition to reading programs so you don't have to wait for your kids to be able to read on their own to sign up. I love our program because it makes me feel part of our community and our kids get a free book at the end. It also reminds me of being a kid and going to my library at home (before life was so hectic). Now my kids get to enjoy putting their (first) names up on the wall and checking out lots of books.

Magic Sand

Sun, 10 Jun 2007 20:01:37 -0700

Randomly browsing on the internet today, I found a link to a video on how to make 'magic sand'. I can't wait to try it with my kids! http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7066932745657984611&q=type%3Agpick

4th Annual Mothers Clubs' Fun Day at the SF Zoo

Mon, 02 Jul 2007 21:00:08 -0700

If you are in the SF Bay Area, please consider joining us at the 4th Annual Mothers Club's Fun Day at the Zoo. You will need to pre-register (see below). We love the zoo and had a great time at the last Mother's Club Fun Day. This year there are animals from the education programs to meet, zoo classes and drop-in toddler time for 18 - 36 month olds, "let's build a swamp" for ages 4 and up, docent-Led Stroller Tours, a preview of Grizzly Gulch before its Grand Opening on June 14th, free Carousel and Little Puffer Train rides all day, plus free parking and goody bags...

Getting past the little things on family trips, like car sickness...

Tue, 22 May 2007 22:26:14 -0700

This past weekend we took the kids camping in Big Sur. I had never been to the area and was excited to go. The kids were excited to camp. Not surprisingly, the trip didn't start the way we expected. The campsite I had chosen was full and the only one for miles was up a large winding road. Narrow dirt roads with steep drops occur often in my nightmares so I was miserable and trying not to show it. B seemed just as miserable. After pulling over and finally turning around, B coughed and said, "I'm car sick." S and I replied simultaneously, "just because you cough doesn't mean you're car sick," about 30 seconds before B barfed all over himself and his car seat...