playdate

Hello Gorgeous!

The List.  We all have one (don't we?) - of people that we would be allowed to sleep with should they ever come a-knockin' at our door.  I think it's a sign of a healthy marriage.  The Husband knows that if Christina Ricci started wooing him, I would quickly and quietly bow out of the way.  And if he brought Ashley Judd home, I just might join in the fun.  In fact, the Husband simply loves to tell me about all the gorgeous stars he would leave me for.  And hey, if they want to sleep with him - all the power to him.  I would be disappointed in him if he said no.

Sing, Sing A Song

Singing with our children is something experts agree is terrifically beneficial. Not to mention that is makes little moments faster and more fun, something any mom can appreciate.

What makes singing so great? Well, songs have a few preliteracy benefits, for starters. They are often based on rhyming structures, as well as breaking words up over notes into the syllabic parts. These things make us pay attention to the sounds of words, and help with what we call phonetic awareness, or being aware of the sounds in words. They can also help you remember to put vocabulary to what you are doing, singing about things around you. Hearing words has huge impact - and is a large factor in future reading success. And of course, the tune can help you remember words for rhymes and songs better than a rhythm alone can.

You may also have noticed how a song will draw an immediate response from a baby or child in terms of attention, which can be helpful when parenting. When Pumpkinpie was a baby, I liked using songs to fill the wide-open void in conversation, to put words to what we were doing, to pull us along through a task or a walk, to hold her attention, and to basically, keep myself a little closer to sane.

But what if you don't know a host of songs?

Lil'Baci

I know I know...I tend to go on about Terroni, but how can I help it? It's always good and who doesn't love a good thin crust southern style pizza?

So when I noticed that Lil' Baci opened in the Leslieville neighborhood I couldn't be happier.
Somewhere different to go for our weekly pizza fix.
Situated right next to Kubo Radio (same owner- Leslie Ng) the minute I walked in the front door I felt at home.

Ooh, talk Baby to me!

So, I was messing about on the change table this morning (no pun intended), taking my time and talking to the Baby.  I didn't want the older Boy to get jealous, so I was saying things like "You're a baby, so you say things like Goo-Goo Gaa-Gaa, but when you get older, you will be able to use real words like your brother."  Well, didn't the Baby think that "Goo-Goo Gaa-Gaa" was just the funniest thing on the planet.  He actually laughed - for the first time in 15 weeks.  Fifteen looong weeks.  It's rough going 15 weeks using my best material, and baby talk is what gets the most laughs, I tell ya.

The New Yorker Connection

Since the 1920's, consistently, some of the great lights of American literature have been counted among the contributors to the great literary magazine, the New Yorker. So, too, with the world of children's literature in America. Turns out that the same sense of humour and drawing style that works so well in the magazine's famous cartoons, decorative illustrations, and covers is a perfect match for children's books. They are intelligent, funny, and just wry enough to make the kids' parents laugh, too. Perhaps that's why some of my very favourites are counted among the contributors. Here is a roundup of some names you may recognize if you've been a fan yourself.

Affording Stay At Home Parents

A recent study from London University’s Institute of Education has discovered that most parents want more time with their kids. All sarcasm related to the question of who funds these research studies aside, the findings were that many families have both parents working in order to meet their financial demands (especially their mortgage), but that most would prefer to leave one parent at home with the children instead of with a caregiver. In another piece (also from the U.K.), an author wonders who would want to be a stay at home parent when the role is so undervalued by society.

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Have I mentioned that I'm sick of winter yet?  NO??  Well, I am.  Between the snowy snow and the windy wind, I've been trapped snuggled up indoors far more that I would like in the past couple of weeks.  I have some serious Cabin Fever going on here folks:

Manners for Minors

If you are like me, you think manners are important. But children are, by definition, uncivilised little beasties, and it is our job to teach them. We teach by example, of course, and by demanding that they follow suit. But what about bringing some into your reading? Showing them that the world at large thinks etiquette counts, too?

Myself, I thoroughly dislike a books that addresses the teaching of children in a didactic tone, an earnest manner. These may be designed to teach, but they are a total turn-off, and I can't imagine the child who would actually want to hear them. Instead, I look for books that teach in a gentler, often sillier, way. Here are a few that I think get the message across without the two-by-four.

The Three-Parent Embryo

Researchers at Newcastle University in northern England have created human embryos with three parents.  The research, which has already produced healthy micelets in the laboratory, involves taking the nucleus of a ferilized egg (two parents) and inserting it into a donor egg cell (third parent) that has had its nucleus removed.  The resulting child would have chromosomal DNA from the primary parents and mitochondrial DNA from the donor egg.  The research was done in the hopes of being able to treat hereditary illnesses such as muscular dystrophy or certain forms of epilepsy within the next five years by eliminating the carrier (mitochondria) from the equation.

24/7

I'm constantly amazed when I talk to new moms and ask my inevitable question: "How's it going?"  Almost invariably, the answer is "Oh, it's wonderful!  We're just loving every minute!"  I smile and answer something non-committal.  And then I think that I must be the most bitter, negative person alive, because that is SO not the answer I would give.  On a good day, I would say "Well, you know, I'm not getting much sleep and I look pretty haggard, but otherwise it's going okay."