My Sweet Scientist

I’m far from a scientist, so when Olivia came home from school several weeks ago with a science fair flyer I was not excited. While I may not have been excited, she was crazy excited and asked if she could enter it. With a heavy sigh, I nodded yes.

Once I gave her the go-ahead, she giddily powered up the computer to find the perfect project.  Through the magic of the internet, we she found hundreds of options, but finally settled on a sugar experiment after I nixed several other ideas. Olivia wanted to get started on it right away. Is this my child?  Why not be like me and wait until the last possible moment? Eight years old isn’t too young to pull an all nighter right?

Well she didn’t push the deadline envelope, but I did have her wait until the weekend before the project was due to take-over my kitchen and turn it into a science lab.  Below are just some of the chemicals used, otherwise known as sugar, honey, and Equal.

For the experiment she added these to lemon juice and water, thereby turning lemons into lemonade.

Olivia then needed subjects to test the lemonade, and recruited her sisters as well as me and her Dad to taste the concoctions. They may all look the same, but trust me, they didn’t taste the same.

 

 

Once we finished tasting, Olivia started work on her report and display. This took all weekend. Her Dad and I were determined to let this be HER project, and mainly helped her with spell check, choosing font size, and printing out the pictures. While that may seem easy in concept, in reality it was insanely difficult not to just jump in and finish the damn project ourselves. But we didn’t. Well mostly we didn’t.

That all leads us to today, March 22nd, Science Fair Day.

The school library was turned into a maze of  science projects filled with young scientists sporting  white lab coats waiting to give their presentations.

I’m not sure who was more nervous, the parents or the kids. Checking out some of the other projects, and seeing just how complex and professionally done they looked, I now understand why some moms and dads were so nervous. I’ve got more than a sneaking suspicion that a few parents couldn’t resist the same temptation I had and took over their kids’ project.  Either that or Olivia’s and Erin’s school has some mini Albert Einsteins and  Marie Curies in their midst.

Sure, Olivia noticed some of the more elaborate projects, but she was still pretty darned proud of her sugar experiment, and frankly so was I. Was it perfect? Nope. But she came up with a plan, executed it, and most importantly, she had fun. There was no yelling or screaming on my part forcing her to finish what she started.  Judging by that alone, it was a success.

Oh, so want to know what makes the sweetest lemonade? It wasn’t even close. Go for the fake stuff and mix in some Equal.

Tags: children, education, family, parenting, school, science projects

Cook in Training

Olivia is quite comfortable in the kitchen. She can make a mean cinnamon toast and a delectable cream cheese sandwich. She also has whipped up her fair share of easy bake oven dessert creations. But at nearly 9 years old, we figured she’s ready for real cooking, none of this easy bake oven crap.

So onto amazon.com we went and she picked out a kids cookbook. It’s an around the world cookbook, with each chapter devoted to a different region. It arrived yesterday, and today she made her first dinner. You’d think she’d start out simple, cheese quesadillas maybe, or even good ‘ol spaghetti with jarred pasta sauce. Nope. She picked out shrimp pad thai.

Yeah, the kid in the picture looks happy, but I knew I’d be lucky to get this meal on the table without any tears.

First up was shelling and deveining the shrimp, which she did with the help of a sous chef.

Next, she soaked the rice noodles.

Then came mixing up the sauce.

Now, here’s where things got interesting. Olivia started pouring the soy sauce.

And she didn’t stop until she reached the 1/2 cup mark. I was still working on deveining the shrimp, and her dad was concentrating on the pictures.

It was only when she started measuring out the fish sauce that he noticed how much was going into the cup. Needless to say, she misread the instructions. It could have been worse. Much worse. Imagine if we didn’t notice until we took the first bite. So we started over with the  sauce, but this time there was a little more parental oversight.

Once all the ingredients had been carefully measured and added to the bowl, Olivia was ready to start chopping.

She may have been ready, but I wasn’t. Every time she got ready to make a cut, I kept yelling, “watch your fingers!”

I finally stopped sweating and yelling once she put down the knife.

But next up was actually cooking, using a hot as hell wok. I started sweating again, and not from the hot wok. Did I want her to get anywhere near it? Hell no! Did I? You betcha.

I’ve got to give Olivia credit. She may have been nervous about cooking, but she didn’t show it, and didn’t get upset when she had to redo the sauce.

But redoing the sauce meant a finished product that brought her a big smile.

Meal Masterpiece

Smiles are one thing, but the proof is in the taste.

If you ask her sisters, they really liked it, Erin probably more than Carrie. The nearly 4-year old was mugging more for the camera than actually eating.

The adults liked it all right, but there was a problem that had nothing to do with the cook. We topped ours with some chopped peanuts, which unfortunately expired in February of 2010! Oops. Rancid peanuts will never make a meal tasty, no matter how good the cook.

Olivia didn’t seem troubled by the bad nuts, and she’s already talking about the next meal she wants to make: English scones. Luckily it doesn’t have nuts.

Tags: children, family, food, parenting, thai

Father/Daughters Dance

It’s not often I can get my two older girls to get dressed up. Last night was an exception for the annual father/daughter dance at their elementary school. Since Erin is in kindergarten, this was a first for her.

Erin wears a dress maybe two or three times a year, and went we went shopping for the dance, we let the girls pick their outfits.

We were shocked when Erin picked a fancy flower number, complete with white tights and a sweater, but as you can see she look quite proud of her pick. Olivia loved her outfit too, which came from the god awful ‘tween store, Justice. As much as I dislike the store, (I think I’m getting hives right now just thinking about it) the long skirt with the tie-dyed tank top and crochet sweater suits her bohemian style.

As has been tradition in the past, there was dinner before the dance at a restaurant. This year, however, the girls and their dad joined a group of other dads and their daughters at a Japanese steakhouse. It must have been quite the site, and I wish I could have been there.

Instead, I had bigger plans with a certain almost four-year old.

Carrie and I had a girls’ night out at her favorite restaurant, The Old Spaghetti Factory. I hate it, but she loves it, and I have a pretty hard time saying no to this face. Of course, she had to wear plenty of accessories for her outing. My personal favorite is the tweety bird purse.

But back to the big dance. As we figured, Olivia pretty much hung out with her friends, and Erin hung onto her dad. We remember Olivia doing the same thing when she was that age. It’s amazing to see the transformation from just a few years ago.

Looking at this photo, maybe they both were a little nervous.

Two years from now, it will be a whole other story, with Dad bringing all three of his daughters to the big dance.

I can wait. They’re already growing up way too fast.

Tags: daughters, family, fathers, parenting

Toy Story on Ice: Marketing to the Young Masses

For the last month, I’ve heard begging and pleading from my kids to take them to Toy Story on Ice. Clearly, they watch way too much TV because they would have never heard about it if not for the constant commercials on The Disney Channel. I pretended to ignore them, but little did they know I had plans to take them to the live show, courtesy of the free tickets I got from work.

The night of the show arrived, and I still hadn’t told them about the show. They were getting a little jiggy in the car so I told them I had a surprise for them, but only if they stopped fighting. I’ve never been above bribing my kids into behaving, especially if it gives me a little quiet on the drive to school.

When I picked them up from school, they hadn’t forgotten about the surprise, and out of the blue Erin asked if the surprise was Toy Story on Ice. Nothing gets past that kid, plus I’m a horrible liar. The squeals of delight coming from the back of the car were so loud, I’m surprised the windows didn’t shatter.

I can appreciate their excitement. As a kid, I loved going to the Ice Capades with my Grandma Ida. It was an annual tradition. She would take me and my brothers on the bus to the old St. Paul Civic Center to see the show. Grandma Ida would also indulge us and buy cotton candy, smiling at us as we squeezed the spun sugar into little balls and stuffing them in our mouths leaving behind a sticky mess. She was way more patient than I was, or at least that’s how I remember it 30 plus years later.

I too indulged the kids with cotton candy, but I did it begrudgingly. It’s not so much that I didn’t want them to eat the cotton candy. I did because it would mean I could also eat it. I’m just cheap and one bag of cotton candy cost twelve stinkin’ bucks!

Yep, twelve dollars! How does Disney justify cost? They throw in an awful plastic foam alien hat with it.

Only a Kid Can Make an Alien Hat Look Cute

The girls also asked for snow cones which cost ten bucks each. I said no to that and cheap mom that I am, forked over four dollars for a bottle of water for the four of us to share.

So the show, what about the show itself? I have to admit, it was cute, but the second half was definitely better than first. The Barbie and Ken scene was really well done, and I’m not just saying that because I have a Barbie obsessed almost four-year old. But it was a LONG show, especially one that started at 7:30 p.m. It lasted almost exactly 2 hours, so we didn’t get out of the HP Pavillion and back into our car until 9:45. All three kids were passed out within five minutes of hitting the road. It meant for a nice and quiet ride home, but getting them out of the car and into their beds proved challenging. I was flying solo that night, so when I pulled into the driveway and woke up the kids, there were tears. Lots of tears. I somehow got them into bed without breaking down into sobs myself.

So to recap: free Toy Story 3 tickets + $12 cotton candy + 3 exhausted kids + 1 exhausted mom = 1 semi-successful night which we won’t be doing again for at least another year.

Tags: children, Cotton Candy, Disney, family, kids, parenting, Toy Story on Ice

Fundraising Mission

I did it as a kid, and now my two older daughters are doing it too. They’ve become pseudo door-to-door sales girls, not selling girl scout cookies, but Sees Candies for their school fundraiser. When they pulled the crumpled forms from their backpacks, they immediately asked if they could try selling the candy to our neighbors. I let out a resigned sigh, and begrudgingly said yes. I had no desire to walk through our neighborhood with my kids while they gave their sales pitch. My girls however, they were beyond excited to pound the pavement.

So on Saturday we did just that. No one answered the door at the first house. The second house either. In hindsight, we probably should have gone on a non-holiday weekend, but my girls could not be deterred. They were determined to get a sale, and at the third house: success!  With a kind smile, our neighbor patiently listened as Olivia spewed out her pitch in a rapid fire speech. Once she finished, she took a quick breath and then held her breath waiting for our neighbor to respond. When she said she’d buy a box, Olivia flashed a huge grin and I visibly saw the look of relief on her face. Behind me, Erin pumped her arm in celebration even though she did not make the sale. We had decided ahead of time the girls would take turns so the neighbors wouldn’t feel pressured to buy from both kids. Erin wanted Olivia to go first so she could learn the tricks of the sales trade from her big sister.  As we walked to the next house, I quizzed Erin on what she would say. She giggled and shrugged her shoulders. The cuteness factor worked in her favor because she got a pretty big sale on her first try. Beginner’s luck I think not.

In all, the girls secured sales from five houses. Not bad for their first outing. I know plenty of parents who bring the fundraising forms to work, guilting co-workers into buying the candy, gift wrapping, or candles, which they neither want or need. I don’t want to become one of those parents. I’m pretty sure I already annoy my co-workers enough with photos and videos and stories about my kids.

So I gave up part of my lovely Saturday afternoon traipsing through my neighborhood with my kids. While I didn’t want to do it, there were a couple of benefits.  It gave me a chance to catch up with the neighbors who were home and who answered their doors, and I got the goods on the latest neighborhood gossip. I also scored major points with Olivia and Erin. And for that I may even chaperone them again while they try to raise money for their school, one house at a time.

Tags: children, family, fundraisers, parenting, school

“Mom, Do You Ever Feel Left Out?”

The title of this post came from the mouth of my 6-year old. She asked that question last week and I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it since. As soon as she asked the question, my heart sunk to what felt like a new low, knowing that my sweet, funny, quirky kid had her feelings hurt on the playground.  It breaks my heart right now, just writing this. As bad as I feel about this, I can only imagine how it made her feel. I went straight into Lion Mom mode (notice I didn’t say Tiger Mom), wanting to protect my cub from the harsh, harsh world of the kindergarten playground. And you know it can be harsh. Little girls, even cute five and six years olds can be mean and tell other girls they don’t want to play with them.

So what did I do? Well, first I emailed the teacher to see if she knew exactly what was going on. She didn’t, but said she would keep an extra eye on her during recess. With 30 kids in her class, that’s far from an easy task. Second, I contacted an elementary school teacher friend who eased my concerns. Third, I’m taking one of her suggestions and am trying to set up even more playdates.

I’ve mentioned before that Erin isn’t a typical six-year-old girl.  She’d much rather build Legos or play medieval castle than play Barbies or dress-up. When it comes to Erin, I will never need to read a book like Peggy Orenstein’s “Cinderella Ate My Daughter“. I may need it for Carrie, who is a poster child for everything pink and girly-girl, but never for Erin or Olivia for that matter. I’m proud that I have independent and free-spirited daughters, but those fantastic characteristics can at times make navigating the perils of elementary school even more challenging. This is one of those times.

At sharing day last week, she brought her Lego Cars she got for her birthday. I think she was hoping it would win over some of the girls. It didn’t. She did however get a ton of attention from the boys. Unwanted attention, according to Erin. She said she didn’t like that all the boys were crowding around her. For now, she has no interest in boys. She thinks they’re gross. I told her they may be gross, but they do like a lot of the same things she does, so she may want to consider becoming buddies with the boys. Girls, boys, I don’t care who she plays with. I just want her to find a friend who can appreciate her winning personality and share her interests.

I have no doubt it will happen soon. It might be a boy. It might be a girl. Heck, knowing Erin, she’ll have a whole posse of both genders hanging out with her. She’s a great kid, and it’s only a matter of time before her classmates see this too.

Tags: children, family, parenting

To Erin: On Your 6th Birthday

Dear Erin,

You’re six! A few months ago, you couldn’t sound out the word six, but guess what? Now you can! That’s just one of the many new things you’ve learned in the last year. You’ve also learned how to ride a bike, ski, speak a little bit of Spanish, and build creative Lego sets.

That’s pretty impressive my dear, pretty impressive, and I’m not just saying that because I’m your Mom. O.K., maybe I am saying all this because I’m your mom, but what kind of mom would I be if I didn’t brag about my kid?

As much as you’ve learned, you’ve remained our little girl with the wicked sense of humor, infectious laugh, and mega-watt smile.

You know exactly what you like and what you don’t, and are quite aware that you’re not a “girly girl.” You are one of the most unique and special kids I’ve ever met, and I wouldn’t want you any other way. How could I not love a kindergartener who likes to watch “60 Minutes?”  Yes, if given the choice between “Scooby Doo,” “House of Anubis,” or “60 Minutes,” you’ll turn to the first two, but it does this TV news producer’s heart good to see her daughter watching (mostly) quality journalism.

Unlike your Mom (and Dad for that matter), you’ve got some killer break dancing moves, and you show them off to anyone who comes to our house to visit.

You eat with enthusiasm, gobbling up brussels sprouts with gusto,

just as easily as you dig into a birthday cinnamon roll. 

As crazy as you are at home, imagine my surprise when your kindergarten teacher told me you’re quiet and shy in class. I guess you save your big personality for your family and friends. Lucky us!

You’ve come a long way in six years kiddo, and you continue to amaze me in big and little ways every single day. It is my privilege to be your Mom and watch you grow and learn. I can’t wait to see what surprises you have in store for us this year.

I love you Nutter!

Mom

 

Tags: birthday, children, family, parenting