Mommin' It Up!

March 20, 2012

Math is seriously fun at the Boonshoft!

Our family has a membership to our local children’s museum, the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery, and whenever we go we always have a great time. My kids’ favorite thing to see first is whatever the featured exhibit is – they know it’s going to be special! We recently went to check out Math Midway, which will be the featured exhibit through April 29th. I was interested to see how fun math could be, and this exhibit made it fun in SO many ways! It was so fun that when I told Sophie she could choose one more activity before she left, she chose to go BACK to Math Midway. It was the first AND last thing we did on our visit.

Sophie making cool shapes with laser light on the "Ring of Fire"

The Math Midway is set up like a carnival midway, with lots of cool booths where you can do fun math games. Like using math to distort a photo of yourself in the Fun House:

This was the kids’ absolute favorite activity – using a wavelength to design your own roller coaster, then test it out and time it. Super fun! They did it over and over.

Building a rollercoaster like their heroes Phineas & Ferb

I liked this exhibit because there really were activities for kids of all ages. Even the youngest kiddos could romp around on this mat while the older kids built a giant puzzle:

Little kids could also great all kinds of fun shape and puzzle creations on this giant magnetic board:

This is really just a snippet of the many fun activities at the Math Midway. We had a great time, learned a lot, and highly encourage anyone in the Dayton area to take their kids for a stroll through all these great math games and activities at the Boonshoft. I know we’ll be going back to see Math Midway again before it leaves town April 29th.

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I am being compensated for this post. All opinions about the exhibit are my own.

March 20, 2012

Simplifying life. Or at least April.

Last April was insane.

It started with Sam’s birthday, which we spent in St. Louis.

The next weekend, we drove back to St. Louis for Andy’s grandfather’s funeral (and a quick trip to the pediatric emergency room thrown in for fun). Then I had the bright idea to ~~drive myself insane~~ try to make Lightsabers out of pretzels for Sam’s class.

pretzel light sabers finished product — The finished product!

Then we had a joint birthday party for both kids with our entire families, which was quickly followed by Kate’s birthday celebration at school, her actual birthday, and her skating party.

It was nuts and I about drove myself insane. (Shocker, right?)

But this April, I am determined to keep things simple. Determined.

So here’s my plan.

Sam’s birthday is on Monday April 2. Andy and Kate happen to be on spring break that week, which is good because Sam is convinced he is not going to school on his birthday. So either the three of them will spend the day together, or I’ll take the day off and we’ll all do something. Something simple, like going to the park. That evening we’ll have dinner of his choosing, cake, ice cream and presents.

Then, we’ll take a break in the madness until Kate’s birthday, which is Sunday, April 22. We’ll take a treat to school the Friday before and then on her birthday she’ll have her party at the skating rink, and she’s already decided that she wants to go to Frisch’s for dinner (and that I have to let her have all the chili spaghetti that she wants). Cake, ice cream and presents at our house.

The end.

Oh, it’s the end except that the week after that is Kate’s First Communion, which I am also determined to keep simple. I’m thinking church followed by brunch at a new cafe in our town.

Note that none of this involves getting our house clean. I am no dummy.

So, as I stare April down, that is my plan. My only fear is that I will be so focused on keeping everything simple that I will drive myself crazy with that. I may or may not already have a Google doc entitled “How to keep April simple.” There’s something counterproductive about that, I think.

What do you think? Can I do it? Can I survive April without letting things spin out of control?

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Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Sprint via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Sprint.

March 19, 2012March 18, 2012

How to screw up your child: a primer

Many moons ago, when Emily and I were somewhere that required us to be in a hotel room together (what conference was that, Em?), I discovered a little show on the hotel cable called Toddlers and Tiaras. Now we don’t have cable here in the Rapson house, so even though I was trainwreck-enthralled with the one or two episodes that I saw, I wasn’t able to follow up on my fascination.

UNTIL NOW! Because ladies and gentleUPs, Toddler and Tiaras is now on Netflix!

And I am again transfixed.

But not by the toddlers or their tiaras.

BY THE MOMS. I don’t want to overgeneralize, but I would say about 80% of these ladies scare the living crap out of me. They are either a) delusional b) overwhelmingly controlling c) nucking futs crazy or d) all of the above

Here are some special quotes from some of the featured pageant moms that really drive the crazy home:

From a mom of two girls who do pageants, ages 2 and 5, talking about how each pageant dress can cost two to three thousand dollars, “I don’t know what I wouldn’t pay to have them do what they want to do.”

Lady, I hope your home foreclosure went real well.

Here’s another beauty (pun intended): “Some people might think that it’s crazy to shave a seven-year-old’s legs, but it helps her spray tan stay on better.”

My bad. When you put it that way, it’s perfectly reasonable.

From a mom of two boys, ages 23 months and 3 1/2 years (yes, boys can be in pageants!): “When I see little girls, I always think, ‘I can turn my little boys into little girls. They can be the little girls that I don’t have.'”

WHAT!?!?!? Please Jesus, let’s hope she saw herself on video and immediately checked into a counseling center. And the boys too.

From the mom of a seven-year-old: “I prefer her tanned.”

Well then maybe you should have married a darker man, lady. Because white + white = WHITE.

And here’s a couple they ALL say:

“HI my name is “_____” and my daughter “_________” knows how to stand out in a crowd.”

and

“When ______ gets up on stage her personality just shines!”

Barf barf barf. Her personality probably shines just about everywhere.

And here’s one of my favorite quotes from a 10-year-old pageant pro: “I like to do pageants because you get to be perfect. I LOVE being perfect.”

Oh, that’s not sad. Not sad at all.

Do your daughter a favor: don’t put fake hair, fake skin color, fake teeth, and adult makeup on her, don’t spend thousands of dollars on dresses and spray tans and fake nails and coaches, just don’t! No matter how much “she” wants you to.

Or, do. And let it be filmed for a reality show. Because I. will. watch!

I know TLC probably just chooses the craziest to showcase, and that most pageant parents are just nice, normal moms like me. (heh.) Oh wait, I KNOW NO SUCH THING. But if showcasing the craziest cases was your M.O., TLC, then well done!