Task At Hand

I received a Little Tikes catalog in the mail the other day. My girls love to look through all of the catalogs that we get in the mail. They love the bright and shiny covers. They love to decide who gets what on each page. They love that they get their own 'magazine' every, single day in the mail.

So yesterday, after I got a Little Tikes catalog, I knew Madeleine would be especially excited to look through it because it was filled with fun & colorful toys. I gave her the catalog and a black marker. I suggested that she take this opportunity to circle things she really, really liked, perhaps things that Santa might take note of. She was totally game and got right to work.

This is what she came back with:











She circled nearly everything in the catalog, except the Makin' Mud Pies set she got for her birthday and the Spray & Rescue Fire Truck her sister, Lily, got this summer.

Looking at these pictures, I could think, 'how funny & cute, she loves all the toys in the catalog' or 'how greedy & selfish, she wants every, single thing on every, single page.'

My most recent exposure to the studies of managing behaviors and positive discipline have taught me otherwise. I have learned, that for children of Madeleine's age (4) , the focus is not on the end result, but on the journey or activity to get there. She was more enrapt with the act of circling the pictures of kids enjoying the toys, than imagining herself potentially receiving and subsequently playing with these toys at a later date.

As parents, I think we all naturally feel that our kids are the smartest, brightest, most talented at any & all specific talents, but we are fast to forget that they are still toddlers, still babies. They are sponges and can soak up our vocabularies & mannerisms and repeat them back to us, without fully understanding what they are saying or doing. Personally, I have always responded to my child's vocabulary as a proud parent. We encouraged her first words & cheered on her full sentences We never stopped to think if she totally understood the words & actions she was using and if she knew why she was using them. Hey, as long as they were not swear words, we were happy, right?

Madeleine was simply reveling in the task at hand. When I gave her the marker and catalog I should have said this 'Here, take this marker and show me how good you are at making circles. And, lucky you, you get to make circles around pictures of kids your age having fun on toys you might like to play with. I bet you can fill this whole, entire magazine with great circles. When you are done, let's go outside with Lily, make piles of leaves and mess them up!'

What Are You Doing This Weekend?

What are your plans for the weekend? I'll be taking part in this:

She's Amazing. Lilybuns, You're Amazing.

Just try and convince me that this is not the sweetest and most adorable thing you have ever seen. For the record, it was totally unscripted and off the cuff. I did not even know that Madeleine knew the word 'amazing' or what it meant.




Why can't I view this video in Safari? Does it show up for anyone else? Is this a legit issue or am I just an imbecile? I can see the video when I use Firefox.

A Perfect Weekend

Travis & I had been talking about buying bicycles lately. We had checked out some websites for local retailers and bike shops, just to get an idea about what was out there. We both decided that the cruiser-style bikes were the perfect fit for us. We wanted something to get us from point A to point B, all the while looking cool while doing it. We have no interest in racing, trail riding, or anything even remotely requiring some level of athleticism.

Because we had nothing planned today, we decided to visit a few local bike shops to get an idea of what was available for us. Using my iPhone's map capabilities, I searched for all local bike shops and came up with a pretty healthy list. With our stops listed, we headed out on a blind journey. We are both bicycle novices; basically our riding experienced ended when we entered high school. I had not even ridden a bike since 1996. My last bike was stolen. Travis had a Redline BMX in college, but it has been sitting in our garage for at least as long as I have known him.

Our third stop on the list of local bike shops proved to be the jackpot. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot, I spotted a sweet, bright orange bike and said 'That's the one I want. It is perfect'. Keep in mind, we were only out to browse. In no way were we ready to commit ourselves to a couple of bikes.

This place had exactly what we were looking for, cool, retro cruisers. The shop owner was a way rad guy. He knew exactly what we wanted. He showed us his inventory and invited us to test ride anything in the shop. He was more that willing to adjust and tweak anything to fit us for a test ride. We were hooked after he said that he could customize anything for us on the spot.

Travis rode a few bikes, but finally settled on an Electra Townie Balloon 9-Speed. It has a black frame with rad pin-striping. some fat, white tires and a brown leather seat and leather handlebar grips. He was able to customize it with black fenders and a mud flap on the back. The shop owner kept suggesting different accessories and all Travis would say was 'If it was yours, what would you do?'. He is already talking about how he will now bike to work, instead of driving.

I, on the other hand, was captivated by the first bike I saw, an Electra Townie 7-Speed Lady Orange. It was bright orange with a big, comfy white seat and white handlebar grips. It looked like a creamsicle with wheels. I got it customized with some pearly-white fenders and a rad 'ding-dong' bell. I am looking to finish it off with a perfect little basket. I have already named it 'The Creamsicle Dreamsicle'.

We spent about three hours at this shop while our bikes were being customized. During that time, we were also sold on a Croozer trailer for the two kids to ride in. We had debated on how to accommodate them. The Croozer looks way cool. It is a three-in-one; a double stroller, a double jogging stroller and a bike trailer. Plus, it has a ton of cargo space, something that all my other strollers seriously lacked. I highly doubt that either of us will ever jog with this thing, but at least we know we could if we wanted to.

As I am sure you can tell from my rambling, I am so stoked about these bikes. I cannot wait to get out and ride. I took a few short test rides down my street and was so energized. Pardon the cliches, but I loved the feel of the wind in my face and the burn in my legs as I pumped myself uphill. Travis also took a late night ride when we returned from the baseball game tonight. Naturally, his first thought was to coast down the big hill in our neighborhood. He has very fond childhood memories of his grandfather letting him ride down this same hill on his Big Wheel, with complete and utter disregard for any stop signs or moving vehicles he may have encountered as he flew through the intersection at the bottom of the hill. Afterwards, as we parked our new bikes in the garage, we had to step back and admire them, all the while commenting on how cool we were.

After our successful afternoon at the bike shop, we headed out to a Fisher Cats baseball game with the little ones. Despite the hometown loss, it was an ideal summer evening, still 70 degrees at 10:00pm and finished off with a fireworks display. Some beers, some baseball, some babies and some new bikes. So far, this has been one of the best weekends yet.

Sippin' Chicken Soup With Rice

Who else remembers this?

Really Rosie (You can get the soundtrack on iTunes.)


My mom used to rent this video and record from the public library for me. I most specifically remember "Pierre", because he always said "I don't care". I am sure that I said that once or twice during my formative years. Who knew that my mother had all the answers then? I guess that is why I call her with questions now. You will never fully appreciate your parents until you have children of your own. Trust me, they were always right.