Mac and I are sick to death of playing Sorry, but not Megan. She can't get enough, even though she gets to play about a half dozen times a day (seriously, this is an underestimate if anything! to save our sanity a little bit we only play with two men at a time).
This evening I went downstairs to play with Megan. The board was all set up, except only one color was on the board. But Megan had an obvious explanation: "I played by myself."
"You played by yourself?" I parroted back in classic parent style.
"Yeah," Megan said enthusiastically,"and I winned!"
Thursday, January 10, 2008
Monday, January 7, 2008
The slippery slope
For Christmas, "Santa" picked up a lot of cheap stocking stuffers for Megan. I was trying hard to get non-candy items, because Megan gets plenty of sugar as it is. In addition to the stickers, bubblebath, and tangerines, Megan got a sheet of fake tattoos. This caused a small titter amongst our group. "I can't believe you got those for Megan!" Mac scolded me. "She seems too young." I am not sure how the rest of the group felt.
I had thought it was a fun idea. And we've been calling them "body stickers" instead of tattoos. But then I started to doubt myself. Was this a bad idea? Am I planting ideas in Megan's head at this young and tender age? It has been shown that kids who play with fake cigarettes are more likely to smoke as adults than those who don't (which is why they are so hard to find now). Are kids with fake tattoos more likely to get the real thing as well?
Too tell the truth, I am not all that opposed to tattoos, provided they are in a sensible (concealable) place and they are of sensible content. Tattoos have become quite common place these days, such that they are no longer the gang related markings that they once were. In fact, several of my med school class mates sported tattoos.
That being said, I certainly wouldn't want to be seen as encouraging my kid to get a tattoo. While more and more "everyday people" are getting tattoos, there still are some negative statistics associated with tattoos. Adolescents with tattoos are more likely to experiment with drugs than those without body art. And people with three or more tattoos have a significantly higher chance of dying prematurely than those who have less than three (some of this is gang/drug related, but the multiple tattoos are also though to be a marker of risk-taking personality).
Maybe it wasn't the best choice of gift, but I still think these "body stickers" are fairly benign. And Megan loves them. If you don't believe me just ask her to show you her fairy and watch her face light up.
I had thought it was a fun idea. And we've been calling them "body stickers" instead of tattoos. But then I started to doubt myself. Was this a bad idea? Am I planting ideas in Megan's head at this young and tender age? It has been shown that kids who play with fake cigarettes are more likely to smoke as adults than those who don't (which is why they are so hard to find now). Are kids with fake tattoos more likely to get the real thing as well?
Too tell the truth, I am not all that opposed to tattoos, provided they are in a sensible (concealable) place and they are of sensible content. Tattoos have become quite common place these days, such that they are no longer the gang related markings that they once were. In fact, several of my med school class mates sported tattoos.
That being said, I certainly wouldn't want to be seen as encouraging my kid to get a tattoo. While more and more "everyday people" are getting tattoos, there still are some negative statistics associated with tattoos. Adolescents with tattoos are more likely to experiment with drugs than those without body art. And people with three or more tattoos have a significantly higher chance of dying prematurely than those who have less than three (some of this is gang/drug related, but the multiple tattoos are also though to be a marker of risk-taking personality).
Maybe it wasn't the best choice of gift, but I still think these "body stickers" are fairly benign. And Megan loves them. If you don't believe me just ask her to show you her fairy and watch her face light up.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Parenting, Megan style
"Mom, Can you take care of me?" Megan asked.
"How should I take care of you?" I wanted to know.
"I'll color and when I am done, you clean up the family room."
***
Megan also had a few choice parenting words for a crying Liam: "Liam, Shut it! or you're going to bed!"
***
"Mom, Liam has a surprise for you... He did a poopy!"
"How should I take care of you?" I wanted to know.
"I'll color and when I am done, you clean up the family room."
***
Megan also had a few choice parenting words for a crying Liam: "Liam, Shut it! or you're going to bed!"
***
"Mom, Liam has a surprise for you... He did a poopy!"
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Snow Day
Somehow Megan got it in her head that it was going to snow on Christmas. Quite honestly, snowy weather was about the most plausible thing in all the Christmas books we had been reading. These books imply strangers will be entering your house through the chimney, reindeer are going to take off in flight (one with a glowing nose), and snowmen are going to dance around because of a magic hat. So how could we get her to believe that snow filled Chrimtmas mornings are just a figment of one's imagination?
But then, it DID snow on Christmas. And by Wednesday morning, we had a thin covering of snow - enough to stomp around in and to make one very dirty snowman. Here are the cousins with a white backdrop.
But then, it DID snow on Christmas. And by Wednesday morning, we had a thin covering of snow - enough to stomp around in and to make one very dirty snowman. Here are the cousins with a white backdrop.
Snow day 12/26/07 vs. snow day 1/17/07
Friday, January 4, 2008
Wave On
A quick check in the Babewatch archives reminded me that by nine months Megan could scoot (but not crawl), wave, and sit up by herself. Liam's nine month birthday came and went and all he could do was scoot. Aaah, give him the benefit of the doubt, I reminded myself; he's a preemie and deserves a little extra time. And then, Bam!, a week before Christmas (his adjusted nine month birthday), Liam began to wave. We admit that his wave looks more like the kid is having a small seizure in his arm rather than being a warm gesture of greeting, but nonetheless he is waving. Sitting up is a different issue; we're still waiting for him to figure that one out. And we've seen a lot younger kids crawl circles around Liam as he squirms lamely on the ground. But at least he can wave at those kids as they crawl by.
"Hi Mom!"
"Hi Mom!"
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Miss Bossy
About a month ago, Megan added "right now" to her vocabulary. As in, "Can you get me some milk? Right NOW!" you might get a second and a half between the question and the "right now" part if you were lucky. And don't think that saying "just a second" would get you off the hook. If there was any delay you'd just get a string of volume-escalating RIGHT NOWS!
And so, of course, as parents it was our job to step in and correct this offensive behavior. So we told her not to say RIGHT NOW!;; we didn't like it; it was being bossy.
Last night I asked Megan, 'Can I have my goodnight hug right now?'
to which Megan replied,"you're bossy!"
And so, of course, as parents it was our job to step in and correct this offensive behavior. So we told her not to say RIGHT NOW!;; we didn't like it; it was being bossy.
Last night I asked Megan, 'Can I have my goodnight hug right now?'
to which Megan replied,"you're bossy!"
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