It's my party and I'll cry if I don't get an Audi

Kid's birthday parties are out of freakin' control. Parents are spending small fortunes to throw infants, toddlers and older kids (have you ever glanced at that asinine MTV "Sweet 16" program?)elaborate annual events in what seems to have become a keeping-up-with-the-Jones' type of parental pee contest. For our daughter's first two birthdays, we hosted family and a friend or two at our house - which seems almost old-fashion these days. We even prepared the food and baked the cake ourselves... from scratch. The horror!

Although there does seem to be at least a small movement to return to a more modest party experience and regain a bit of control over these events, many folks I know are still going nuts on their precious little darling's b-days.

Considering the extravagance is usually never requested by the child (at least not until they become accustom to it) and in some cases may be totally lost on them, the events become a "look at us, aren't we great parents" exercise in flexing monetary muscle.

And I haven't even mentioned, other than the title of this post, the gifts that some over-fortunate kid's receive come birthday time!

All that being said, I am tempted to have her 3rd B-Day party at World Cafe Live in Philly, which may be classified as over-the-top. Justin Roberts is playing there very close to her big day in March and we three have been really digging his new disc and the videos of some older songs on his website. The expense, I guess, is not THAT much greater than hosting the event ourselves - if I choose to put dollar amounts on the set up/clean up time involved and the frustration of (some) unruly kids running amok (and never shutting doors behind them as they escape to and return from the backyard... man that bugs me... is it really that difficult to close a damn door?!)

We have a certain sense of pride having in-house parties, even as I bemoan the idea leading up to the date - for the simple fact that two of my main domestic roles are cleaner and cook, making it a rather busy time for yours truly.

From a comment on a previous post, I learned that Rachel and Morgan of Gustafer Yellowgold have, the past, performed as Bert and Mary from Mary Poppins at a kid's party. Now that would be cool!
If only I could manage to have them perform in our home, thus bringing the live musical entertainment to us! That would be a nice compromise, I think.
I have not even emailed them about this though, as I am sure the cost of bringing them down from Brooklyn to our place would be greater still!

Anyhow, what to do? Do we again have it back at our pad and continue with the traditional party thing or splurge a bit and have a great time at a concert, but risk setting the bar way too high for future parties and ending up trying to out do ourselves every year?

Oh The Places You'll Go

We are trying to plan for our vacation(s) this year, keeping in mind that from June on, we will have two children in our lives. I am itching to escape for a long weekend as a threesome, just one more time, down to Florida (the only place within our reach where the water is warm in Feb/March and the airfare is cheap - about $360 total for the three of us). We are still deliberating about this, not sure if a seven months-pregnant gal should even be on a plane.

But where to go with a small infant, as our first foursome adventure this Autumn?

We have found traveling with an infant to be rather easy. It is once those little buggers start to walk that the experience of travel can become, ummm, more interesting at times.

Destinations on the table for late 2007:

Charleston, South Carolina (always wanted to go. seems like a lovely place ripe with history)
Williamsburg, Virginia
San Diego, California (long shot, but I am leaving it out there as a possibility)
Pittsburgh, PA (great zoo there and the cool Inclines)
Chicago, IL (one of my favorite places in the country)
Sarasota or Fort Lauderdale, FL (cannot go wrong with the beach!)

Any thoughts on these locations? Any places you would suggest?

We should be at the Dentist right now...

but we're not!

Last night, the Mrs. decided to postpone our daughter's first trip to the dentist. Yesterday, school sent home the February school newsletter and we discovered that later in that month the school is hosting a pediatric dentist to talk about teeth, the dentist office and other tooth related topics. We both felt this will be a nice primer for her to have BEFORE finding herself sitted in the big chair.

So, thanks for the great advice a couple days ago. It will still come in handy, just not for another month or so.

Baby Loves Disco - Take 2!

OWTK will be rollin' into Baby Loves Disco - Philadelphia edition - on Super Bowl Sunday, 1/4/07. We tried to attend one Sunday last Fall but our girl took ill the night before. Well, this time we are full steam ahead. I have dusted off my dancin' shoes and look forward to gettin' down with my little lady for 3 hours, at Club Shampoo in Center City Philly.

Expect a full report and pictures next week.

Monday, Sucky Monday

Oh man did this morning stink to the high heavens. Daughter was up at 3, 3:30, 4:30 and then again at 5am...screaming that she doesn't want her blanket (to which we were eventually shouting back in a daze, "then take it off")

When eventually awake for good at 6:30am, she was could be seen flopping like a wide-mouthed bass when told that she needed to get dressed for school real quick before coloring, playing, eating some breakfast, etc. Nothing like a pre-dawn tantrum & timeout combo platter to get the day moving in the right direction.

The weekend was so nice too. We did nothing, barely left the house. It was dreamy. Just playing with our own stuff. We let her stay up late (9pm) to have a movie night on Saturday. Watched the always delightful Curious George DVD. What a good flick.

How was your weekend?

More OWTK

There is a lot more of OWTK available this week over at Families.com

Check out my recent articles:

Family Dance Party
Early Morning Fun in Bed with Your Kids
Fondue Feast/I Love the 70's party
Remembering the Fun
Building an Indoor Fort
Getting Creative At Home

Happiness is a Ham & Cheese Omelette

I am a happy man. I collected a fair share of credit to Williams & Sonoma during the recent Christmas and Birthday seasons and used all of it to score a 10" All Clad Brushed Stainless Steel Non-Stick Frying Pan. I have the entire set of All Clad LTD Stainless Steel cookware and it is a wonderful set to cook with but producing an appetizing looking fried egg, let along an omelette, with a non non-stick pan is freaking impossible. So I acquired the missing piece to my culinary puzzle this past Sunday and just tonight, I made my first omelette. A perfect 10. Diced ham, cheddar cheese and organic free range brown eggs. Light, puffy, evenly cooked and flippable! I can die now...

D Day

A dentist appointment, my daughter's first, is schedule for 5 days from now. She already seems to have a healthy fear of the dental experience, although the origin of her apprehension is a mystery to me. Maybe those of us not destined to become tooth doctors are born with an inherent unease when it comes to strangers working inside our mouths.

Anyone have any tips for getting her (and us) through this first visit? I am thinking ice cream, but then again, I am almost always thinking about ice cream...

Coolest Day of The Year

Monday was Pajama Day at school. The one school day kids get to roll out of bed, wipe the sleepies from their eyes and head outside in their jammies. The Little One was sporting her fave, the pink sock monkey duds with the old-man style button up top. The sock monkey set is not complete without the matching robe, which looked pretty rad hanging out the bottom of her winter coat (yeah, it actually feels a little like winter here on the East Coast).

I don't often wish for a return to my toddlering days, but damn - to wear PJs all day? The old Old Milwaukee beer commercial said it best - "It just doesn't get any better than this."

OWTK Monthly Music Suggestions - January 2007

It seems like forever since my last music article. This month, I am focusing on delivering to you some of my girl's favorites right now...that means a healthy dose of Mary Poppins, ChittyChitty Bang Bang, Gustafer Yellowgold and Justin Roberts (who we hope to see live in about 5 weeks.)

"Jolly Holiday" from The Official Mary Poppins Soundtrack
There are so many amazing tracks I could have selected from this brilliant soundtrack but I went with "Jolly Holiday" which today (and this changes daily) is our girl's favorite. The best part of this one are the farm animals taking the lead in the middle of the song. Just a great vocal performance by the pig! Plus, how many songs are able to squeeze in the word "forbearance"?

"I'm From The Sun" from Gustafer Yellowgold DVD (video is from their MySpace page - no audio-only copy of music available)
My girl surely keeps it yellow and has gone Gustafer crazy since seeing the band live last month. OWTK cannot wait to see them in Philly again in early May 2007!
We are all hoping they play "Mint Green Bee" at that show.
Congrats to Morgan and the band are due as they have signed to Little Monster Records, a new kids' imprint of V2 records.

"The Roses of Success" from The Official Chitty Chitty Band Band Soundtrack (remastered)
Still going strong in our house is Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. The interest has not died, although the magical car is currently taking a backseat to a magical lady, Mary Poppins. This track has Grandpa singing with the other elders captured and locked away in the Vulgarian castle. The Baron, thinking he has snatched up Mr. Potts the inventor, demands that Grandpa turn an old wreck into a flying car, ala Chitty. This is a song about never giving up and learning from mistakes.

"Our Imaginary Rhino" from Justin Robert's new CD "Meltdown!" released on Carpet Square Records
Justin Roberts rocks. His music has a little bit of an edge to it, unlike many kid's acts who seem to lean, to often in my opinion, towards the soft, safe folkie approach to songwriting for little ones. "Meltdown!" is a very new addition to our collection and is quickly becoming a household fave. Roberts sounds like an eclectic mix of Paul Simon, Billy Joel, James Taylor and Jimmy Buffett depending on the track. There is not a bad song on this record. I highly recommend picking it up.

"My Children Be Joyful" from Rock Plaza Central "Are we not horses" CD (self-released)
This song screams NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL! Right from the start with the strumming of the acoustic guitar...I love it. I just ordered and received this self-released CD from the band and emailed them a bit in the process. They seem like a swell bunch of guys and gal. This song has everything my little lady likes: Catchy chorus, tambourine and trumpet...your kids may not stick around for the more instrumental ending but you should hear the beautiful violin to close out this track. Oh so lovely!

Now, for something a little different. Here are two tracks that I personally am loving big time right now. I have not yet shared these numbers with my girl:

"St. Rosa and The Swallows" from The Thermals "The Body, The Blood and The Machine" (live on KEXP)
This song is awesome. The entire album is a terrific exercise in political punk rock, but this is the finest tune of the bunch. The disc is the soundtrack to my 35 minute workout routine.

"House of Regret" from Wild Sweet Orange (live on KEXP)
This band is so very intriguing. KEXP plays them a bunch. This song sounds a lot like Bright Eyes, which is cool by me. I do not believe they have a proper full length out yet, but when they do I will certainly be picking it up straightaway. I have heard about four songs from them and they are all very solid.

Want to see what songs were suggested last month?

Disclaimer: If you are the artist, band, label, or publisher of a song featured on OWTK and would not like your track to be available in digital form, Simply email us and we will remove it.

Thanks and enjoy the music!

Car Seat Failure Report Withdrawn

Consumer Reports has withdrawn it's very well-publicized report on infant car seat failure.

Seems the speed at which the tests were conducted is at the heart of the issue and todays withdraw.

Don't toss your car seat to the curb just yet!

Scared of the Dark

My wife put the little one to bed last night and asked her why she can be heard kicking the side of her crib and calling out "No, No, No!!!" the past couple nights. She said, no joke:

"Well, you see, I know that my Christmas Tree is in my room and my friends are in my room but at night I wake up and I look at them and I see a monster but I know they are not monsters. So, I don't know."

Yikes.

She went on to single out the old fashion-style dolly that sits up high on a shelf in her room, next to her log cabin piggy bank. Seems this "friend" is the one that frightens her in the middle of the night and I can absolutely see how that would be likely. This doll looms overhead in a stringy hair, dark black eyes, elongated arms kind of way. Yeah, she IS a little freaky...even during the day! That doll no longer sits on that shelf. She is taking a vacation, a very loooong vacation.

Keeping the Fun for Ourselves

Special books at Mom mom's, special games (like Bear Hunt) at school. Our girl has favorite things that are exclusive to places outside the home.

I am tempted, because she likes it so much, to seek out the Bear Hunt song and book and play in our house. But then there is the part of me that wants to keep that game as a special school time activity, something she plays with her friends there.

I just wrote at length about this over at Families.com

Any thoughts on keeping fun things locked away or tied to a specific location/person?

The Perfect Birthday Dinner

Tonight for dinner, I prepared two-inch thick boneless (I prefer bone-in, but I'll take what I can get, ya know) pork chops using a pecan and almond dry rub from Cabela's (a great stocking stuffer from my brother) with baked potatoes along side peas & corn. I made a quick pan-sauce/reduction with red wine, butter and the yummy little bits from the bottom of the pan (oh those bits!!!)

At the table my lovely daughter said the following:

"Daddy, you are the sweetest"
and
"Daddy, you make the best dinner"
and
"Daddy, I love you"

...and she isn't even old even to want to the car keys!

Oh, the title of this post...I turned thirty one today. ho-hum.

Jeff

Excellent Day of Volunteering - MLK Jr. Day of Service

We volunteered for about five hours yesterday, a few towns over at a Youth and Women's center. They have after school programs for kids and many things going on during the day for Mom's and their youngsters; tutoring, life advice, educational programs, etc.
Great people providing wonderful and much needed services to the community.

We colored "PEACE" and "COMMUNITY" banners with the little ones and hung them proudly in the gym. We also cleaned up and organized the books, crafts, puzzles and board games and left them neatly stacked in the supply cabinets. Mostly though, I played ball with dozens of kids, age 3-16 or there-abouts. Basketball, Football, Kickball...it was great. I even managed to make it through the whole day without injury, quite an accomplishment for me!

It was a rewarding day. We ate chilli and rice together while watching an interesting cartoon program about the life of Dr. King. Afterwards, the kids were encouraged to ask and answer questions about his life and the impact of his work that we still can see today, 30+ years after his death.

We want to sign up and lend a hand there more often. We always feel like that upon leaving a volunteer event. Hopefully this time we can make it a reality.

Jeff

New Cafe Press Coupon Code

Cafe Press has provided me with a great coupon code that is valid until 1/21/07. Feel free to use this on my shop, World's Fair Cafe, or for any purchase on Cafe Press.

SAVE $10 on a $25 order by entering the code DES141 at checkout.

Jeff

OWTK on Parent Hacks

OWTK is featured today on Parent Hacks. Check it out!

Jeff

No Terrible Twos

We drove all the way to World Cafe Live, bought our tickets and heading downstairs to discover only two mic stands/no drums. I thought something was up. I looked at my tickets and it reads: "Makin Music" where "Terrible Twos" should be. I headed back to the ticket desk to find out what was going on. The Twos canceled a couple days ago. A sign would have been nice. They did refund our tickets and we headed from river to river and saw the 12:10 showing of Charlotte's Web. A little review coming next week.

Jeff

MLK Day of Service

We are super excited to be participating in the Martin Luther King Day of Service again this year. This day is organized to get people who do not normally volunteer, to volunteer in their community. And to raise awareness of the need for volunteerism. We do not do nearly as much as we should, or would like, to but this day works out really well for us and enables us to chip in and do something meaningful with our day off. Since work is closed and school is open, we can drop our girl off as usual and then focus 100% of our energy on the task(s) at hand. This year we will be prepared food, playing basketball with children, helping the kids make a MLK banner and lending a hand with any number of other things that need to be done at a shelter for women and children.

We will bring our little one into the fold at some point but for now, we tell her about the things we do and peek her interest verbally. In the next year or two, we will start to bring her out with us when we lend a hand.

Anyone have experience volunteering with children by your side?

Jeff

The Bear Hunt

Yesterday, my girl and her schoolmate friends played The Bear Hunt game. This is, by far, her favorite school time activity and has been for some time. Every time they play this game, she comes home talking about it, excitedly. Although I have not been able to nail down exactly what The Bear Hunt is, it does seem to be a music/audio related adventure where people or animals (not sure what the kids are pretending to be) are in search of a big bear. She, along with some of the younger kids in the room, used to be scared of the Bear in which they were after, but according to her recap of yesterdays outing - none of the youngsters got scared, which is pretty awesome.

Anyone play/heard of The Bear Hunt Game?

Jeff

ALTERNADAD

Can't wait to pick up ALTERNADAD, the new book by Neal Pollack. He is speaking in Philly next Thursday the 18th, but Spring semester starts that same night. Bummer.

Buy the book for yourself, right now...by clicking the image below.



Jeff

The Terrible Twos

I am pretty sure we are heading back, once again, to World Cafe Live in Philly this Saturday morning for another Peanut Butter and Jams Kids' show featuring The Terrible Twos. The band was started by Matt Pryor, formerly of The Get Up Kids. Way back in a previous life, I ran a little record label and one of the bands on the label played with The Get Up Kids a couple times. This was before the word "emo" was being used in Apple commercials and before bands with that tag were playing 10,000 seat venues, as many of them are today. So it will be cool to see him playing to little ones now.

Turns out Pryor has a family of his own and made a kid friendly record called "If You Ever See An Owl". The record is not out in stores yet but can be purchased on the band's eBay store or on CDBaby (where you can also listen to the whole album for free).

Photos and review to follow.

Jeff

Three White Lines

We had our 20 week, level-two ultrasound yesterday.

We are having another little girl!

Jeff

DIY Kids Art Show

New article up right now over at Families.com

Jeff

Car Seat Failure

In case you have not heard about this recent study of the effectiveness of infant, rear facing car seats...these findings from Consumer Reports are more than a little alarming.

Important information for anyone with a baby, a car and a carseat.

Jeff

The Further Education of OWTK

The more and more I think about that post two days ago, the more I am upset with myself for some of the assertions and assumptions I made and the overall tone of voice I employed. It is outrageous to think that other 2 year old kids are "holding" anyone else back from learning. I sound like a parent that I do not think I am and certainly do not long to be. I do not wish to partake, ever, in a sort of parental pissing competition about whose kid can do what, when. I am also not the over-zealous dad that will push their child into activities, sports, etc. simply to keep up with others or satisfy my own desire to see them perform in such an arena. I have no need for any of that nonsense. But you probably would not know that by reading OWTK this week.

I do not blame at all, any parent who would have read what I wrote and thought "what an arrogant, pompous ass". I can see how that reaction would be possible and justified.

The thing about the site's tag line of "Parent Differently" is not to say better/best, but differently and sometime I get caught up in how "cool" some of things are that come out of our efforts and I need to get better at how I share those things. The intention is not to build up one position by putting down another or to heap praise on one child by negatively attacking the abilities or skills of others. That is a terrible thing to even hint at doing to children.

Jeff

A Retraction

Yesterdays post about my daughter's school and their current curriculum was a bit off base and in re-reading my own words I feel that I did not express myself properly, not even close. I do understand that schools cannot cater to individual students, unless the situation involves a private tutor. That is only practical with a student teacher ratio that is anything different than 1:1.
And while my girl does know most of her letters, the practice and extra exposure to them that she is getting in school is not a bad thing at all. I was foolish to be so critical of something so inherently educational and that comes from a good, honest place.

As I mentioned in the last comment I left under that post, I have never sat down with the school leadership and discussed my position on this matter. It is rather unfair to post here about anything that may bug me without making an effort to correct/change/better a situation elsewhere.

An important lesson. It seems Dad still needs to learn some basic things as well.

Jeff

Rebel Dad

Great stuff recenty over at Rebeldad.com

1) The parenting manifesto project. Share your own nugget of parental wisdom in 500 words or less.

2) Is the Government preparing to make the worst Family Leave policy in the civilized world even worse? Would you really be surpised if they did? We all can have our voices heard in an effort to prevent this.

Jeff

Thoughts on learning and the love of my daughter

It is Shapes and Letters week in Daycare/School. On Tuesday they introduced the letter A.

Are they serious?

This is a room full of two-to-three and a half year old toddlers. Our girl is in the middle of that range. Shouldn't kids really know their shapes, colors and letters by now? Must schools and daycare centers "teach" to the lowest learning level in the class? Does that not limit the other kids? I can only imagine that this is how many kids get bored and disenfranchised with school and learning. Apparently, this can start as young as 2 years old.
____________________

A Monday night conversation between the Mrs. and the little one:

Little One: I would like Mary Poppins on.
The Mrs: Mary Poppins is on honey, the whole CD is Mary Poppins.
Little One: I realize that the cd is Mary Poppins but I want Mary Poppins.
The Mrs: Do you want a song Mary Poppins sings?
Little One: Yes Please.

Tuesday night comment from the Little One, upon realizing that only three of her set of five new water flutes where in the tub with her:
Little One: I am assuming the other flutes are not in the tub.

If she can use correctly, the words realize and assuming (and also Damnit! - she never utters it out of context. brilliant!) does she need to learn the letter A (and the color red) this week? ummm, no.

This is one of a dozen or so reasons we have and continue to consider a move to a Montessori school - where kids are taught on a more individual basis and are not held back by the limitations of others. It is bad enough to be held back in adult life thanks to bad managers, lame co-workers and red tape. Must it start when our kids are toddlers?

Jeff

The Cleanest I've Ever Been

Two nights ago my daughter woke at 3am in a foul mood. I was so out of it at that late/early (which is it?) hour - I picked her up and brought her into our bed. Bad move. I was wedged between her at the top, by my side, and Kitt (our cat) by my feet. I rose to discover a nasty crink in my neck that has only gotten worse. I can barely move my noggin laterally. Not a great way to start a new year. On the up side, I am impeccably clean! I have taken to using frequent steaming hot showers to make the impacted area a wee less painful.

I fear a fever/cold coming as well, which would really stink. That achy bone, too chilly feeling.
We are set to see Roald Dahl's Big Friendly Giant on stage at The Arden Theatre this weekend and to have a nice lunch with my 8 year old nieces. This day out was our Christmas gift to them. Hopefully most of the action takes place directly in front of us as I have no swivel ability currently.

Jeff

Gustafer Yellowgold - Live in Philly

How neat. The Gustafer Yellowgold show at World Cafe Live on Saturday was a very cool display of original drawings and music by Morgan Taylor and his band from Brooklyn, NY. The basic set up was acoustic guitar, electric bass, and percussion (which included bongos, tambourine, maracas and a few other little percussion instruments). From time to time, the bassist would switch over to (I believe) French horn. There was also Rachel on Apple laptop. She was manning the controls of the projected images/storyboard on a large screen behind the band. She also, along with the two fellas, added backing vocals to each song. In the build up for the song about Slim the Eel, Morgan asked the crowd about the kind of pets they had around their homes. In this discussion, Rachel revealed that while growing up in England, she had a pet donkey named Tuppence (like "Tuppence a Bag" from Mary Poppins.) Considering my girl's new found interest in Ms. Poppins, this was a neat, and totally random, surprise.

After the show, Morgan and Rachel worked the merch table selling Gustafer tee shirts ($20 - a bit steep) and a self-released DVD ($15 - which we bought). Morgan was also talking to the kids and handing out free tattoos of Gustafer and Slim (Gustafer's pet eel). He told the crowd that the band has secured nationwide distribution/production of the Gustafer Yellowgold DVD (with Little Monster, an imprint of V2), which is certainly great news.

If you get a chance to check out the show (they play a lot in New York City and around the rest of the Northeast), do try and go. It is great fun to see such original art and hear a clever story with good music crafted for little ones. My girl is still talking about Gustafer and carrying around the show's promo postcard with his picture on it.

Oh, one side note: Before the band appeared on stage, the screen was showing old Pink Panther cartoons, which were great. This was courtesy of the band, not the venue. My daughter, until that morning, had never seen the Pink Panther - and it had been years since I had. Funny stuff!

*Look for a full Gustafer Yellowgold DVD review later this month over at Families.com

Jeff