Thursday, June 27, 2013

Teddy's Line



From the very first time he went into the ocean he loved it. He kept crawling toward it and we had to pull him out because as Ted says, “He’s braver than he is smart.” He will just keep going out into the water and not think anything of it.
The first time Teddy went to the beach when he could walk (1 1/2 yrs old)

He didn't have to go in holding someone's hand (2 1/2 yrs) and stayed there until dragged out

Two years ago this became a big problem. He didn’t want to get out of the water and I didn’t want to spend the entire day standing there with him, so I would let him go in by himself.

Don’t worry, I didn’t let a four year old just wander around, at this point in time I didn’t take the kids to the beach by myself. We would go and there would be at least five adults, someone was always watching.

I had to keep going and telling him he was in too deep. My dad said something about a line, and it dawned on me. I had a Sharpie in my bag. I called Teddy over and drew a line right on his stomach. I told him he couldn’t go out in the water past that line or he would have to come and sit down.

His first line (it was high because someone still sat close to the water)
Well, he went into the water and after every step he took, he looked down to see if he past the line.

I worked like a charm. I am a genius! I don’t have to keep getting up and telling him to come closer anymore.

The level of the line can change depending on the waves or how well he stayed below it the last time.
This week's line

He knows if he sees me standing at the edge of the water with my hands on my hips that he went too far. He doesn’t even argue about it anymore. He comes out, he sits down (it’s usually the only time I can reapply sunscreen), has a bite to eat and then he goes back out when he’s done his time.
This is what happens when you go past the line

It usually happens once or twice at the beginning of the summer, the more he does it the longer he has to sit.

We’ll see how many times he has to sit this summer.

Friday, June 21, 2013

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Our Summer To Do List



Now that school is officially out, I asked the kids what were some things they wanted to do this summer and they had some similar responses. Stella kept adding to her list so I condensed it a bit. Ted was pretty generic and getting Maizie to tell me was like pulling teeth.
Here are their lists: 

Stella
Go on a picnic
Go in everyone’s pool (she listed everyone she knew that had a pool)
Go to the beach
Go to a water park
Play with the hose
Play with the sprinkler
Go to the zoo
Go to the ice cream store
Use the Snoopy Sno-Cone Machine

Stella pretty much wants to go everywhere that she sees on TV. She also listed every little thing she would do during the day (make lemonade, play Barbies, etc); I wanted specifics not your daily itinerary.

Teddy
Go to the beach
Go in the pool
Go to a gym
Go to the zoo
See fireworks
Get some ice cream
Go to the grocery store
Have sleepovers
Go to different playgrounds

Teddy was very general with the exception of the gym; he really wants to work out. I asked why he wanted to go to the grocery store, he said “Why not?”

Maizie
Go to the zoo
Swim in the pool
Go to the beach
See fireworks
Go on a picnic

Maizie doesn’t like to contribute much. She kept asking Stella what she should tell me.

My List
The beach is a given, I’m doing that anyway
Different zoos (besides Roger Williams)
Picking fruit (I really want to go blueberry picking)
Go to Boston Museum of Science (I haven’t been there in almost 20 years)
Take a family trip (we’ve never been on an overnight trip)
Go to the drive in
Go to the Yankee Candle factory
See fireworks
Take the kids to a baseball game
Go to Mystic Village
Go to many other day trip places that we probably won’t get to.

Every year I have big plans (in my head) for the summer, but we usually end up just going to the beach. Lets’ see if things can change this year.

Let the sunning begin!


Wednesday, June 19, 2013

On The Road Disney Social Media Moms



A couple of weeks ago, I was given an amazing opportunity.  I didn’t believe it when I first got the email, I had to close it and walk away. Did I really just get invited? Little ole me?

It was true; I was invited to attend Disney Social Media Moms Celebration “On The Road”, my heart stopped for a second. For me this was an “I made it moment”; I’m legit.


Then all the questions; Who was going? How was I going to get there? Do the trains even run that early? (it started at 7:30 AM). Then I decided I didn’t care, I was going.

At a very early 4AM, I hit the road with fellow blogger Sarah at Sweet Lil' You. We hit ZERO traffic and were actually the first two to arrive at the Doubletree in Manhattan.

We mingled outside in anticipation of the doors opening.

This makes it "real"
We made it!

Once inside, we were served a terrific breakfast (I was expecting a table with bagels and pastries) and everyone had a Mickey shaped rice crispy treat.

Delicious breakfast

I was very happy to see this

One with the show, I could hardly sit still. There were several speakers. Maria Bailey, of BSM Media was the host. She emphasized the importance of women and marketing. Gary Buchanan (Disney's PR and blog guru) told us some exciting happenings in the Disney parks. There was even media training by Michelle Stepney, the dos and don’ts of dealing with the media and "Getting ready for your close up." 
Maria welcoming everyone

Gary telling the exciting things about the "Monstrous Summer"


The speaker that had the most influence on me was Jennifer Labit, the founder of CottonBabies. She started her company out of necessity and on $100. I can relate to her story on several different levels. Her drive and determination truly inspired me. If I could have one percent of her success, I'd be happy.

There was also a panel of momprenuers, Lauren Levy, Susanne Bodofsky and Robin Spritzer, Bonnie Marcus and Sandra Frawley.  I was very interested in hearing how they got their start. I learned quite a bit from them as well.
Inspirational panel of momprenuers

I have had a couple of ideas for a while now and wasn’t sure what to do with them, how to get them off the ground. After hearing the honest advice and stories from these wonderful women, I am now in the process of getting my plan together, making a prototype and producing my product.

I am very grateful to have had this opportunity and who knows, maybe in a few years I’ll be up there.



Tuesday, June 18, 2013

My Strange Day



Yesterday was a strange day. It started out normal, but that all flew right out the window once I hit the Laundromat.

Last week the washing machine shit the bed (if it finally did is yet to be determined because it has happened before).  Since I have three kids, two of them girls that like to play dress up with regular clothes, one of the girls can easily wear three to four outfits a day and a boy who uses his shirts as napkins, I have lots of laundry every week (every day). I put it off for as long as I could, but I had to get some clothes washed. So off I go with three huge baskets full.

I get there and put all my stuff in the washers, and then I sit and wait. A guy came in, sat down and started talking to me. Whatever, we’re both sitting there. Then he starts telling me how his life completely fell apart. He drifted off into the land of TMI, and I just sat and listened; I didn’t want to be rude. (As his story went on, I felt like my friend Mimi, she talks to these kinds of people ALL THE TIME. She’s like a magnet.) As it turned out, he was a convicted felon, a mentally ill felon to boot.  Then my washer was done and I went home to dry my clothes in my own dryer.

Ted had gotten Teddy and Stella hot chocolate Coolatas while Maizie was at school, and they immediately informed her of this, hell hath no fury like Maizie jipped. So I walked with Maizie to Dunkin Donuts.

When we walk, it’s all side streets; we never go on the main road. So we’re at the corner of my block and this OLD guy with a handicap placard hanging for his mirror was at the stop sign. Didn’t think much of it, there are hundreds of people who stop at that sign every day. As we turned the corner and he drove by, he yelled out the window to me. He yelled, “Hello, hot stuff!” as he drove by. I almost fell on the sidewalk from shock and laughter.

We get to Dunkin Donuts and of course Maizie wants a donut, I did too (so much for all the walking I did). We get them and then have a seat. Then I couldn’t believe my ears or eyes.

A woman who was well into her 80s was flirting (quite overtly) with the 60ish men in DD.  One of the men got up to go to the bathroom and she said he had a nice body and then she started an inquisition. How old was he and does he date?

OMG, I’m sitting there trying not to choke on my donut. She then proceeded to tell the men he had great legs and she did too. I wish I could have taken a video, but it would have been so obvious. You go get ‘em lady!

Onto my trip to Walgreen’s; I almost hit a coyote. The sucker ran right across the street (in front of my car) and into the woods next to the miniature golf course. I will not be heading there anytime soon, nor will I be going to the playground in the area the wild beast came from, there’s plenty of playgrounds around, don’t need to visit wild kingdom.

For the rest of the night, everything else was relatively normal.