Category Archives: Kids

2024, History, home, Kids, Uncategorized

Good Friends

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When we moved to our neighborhood in 1988, it felt as though we had moved to and outpost of the Czech Republic. The Karskys, the Knopiks, the Kovash family, and the Dvoraks all lived next door or across the street. They were all somehow related to one another. Mrs. Karsky described us as “a nice young couple with a young son” to the other neighbors, information she had got from our real estate agent. Everyone was excited when we moved in, as most of the people on the block were older and/or retired. There were no children on the block.

36 years later, we are the older people on the block happy to see new and younger faces in the neighborhood. Only the Knopiks remain as the Czech contingent. There are lots of young children, especially on our side of the street. A couple of houses south of us lives a hard working family from Zimbabwe. They have a teenager who walks back and forth past our house most days during the school year to get to the Catholic High School, as well as several younger daughters and a young son who are friends with the Hispanic family on the corner. The other day I was driving past those houses when I saw the three Hispanic little girls, their brother, and all the Zimbabwe children sitting in a row on the curb. They had exhausted themselves in the enormous jumper house that the Hispanic dad had inflated for them all to bounce around in.

We share surplus garden vegetables with the neighbors, and everyone gets along. It is so nice to see the neighborhood continue to be a haven for young families and for the more mature, longer term residents.

What was your neighborhood like to grow up in? Any “bad apples” or nice grandparent-types as neighbors? Who were your best childhood friends?

2024, Fantasy, Kids, Music, Mysteries, Songs, Theatre, Uncategorized

Prince Among Men

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My little friend next door, Minnie, loves to sing and dance.  For the past two summers she had done a summer camp at the Lundstrum Performing Arts Center; this year they presented Annie Jr (just a shorter version of Annie).  Considering that it is all untrained kids and that they get the whole thing together in two weeks, they did a great job.

This was all that Minnie talked about for two weeks.  In addition to previewing the song/dance that she was in, she regaled me with stories of how things were progressing and who was playing what part.  There were several kids who had been in Little Mermaid with her last year and although I did see the show last year, I couldn’t have told you any of the players except Minnie. 

Of course there was also the post-production discussion the day after the last performance.  I commented that the young man who played Rooster Hannigan did a nice job.  He also had a great dance solo dressed as a street Santa in the N.Y.C. song.  Minnie quickly pointed out that he had played Prince Eric in Little Mermaid.  When I said I hadn’t remembered that, she commented that he hadn’t had to do very much to be the prince.  Then she added, almost as an afterthought, that princes don’t usually have much to do. 

In her world, all her princesses and princes are represented by Disney.  As I thought about it the next few days, I realized that Disney has, for the most part, not spent too much energy on princes.  Snow White’s prince doesn’t have a name, Sleeping  Beauty’s prince does have a name (and a bit of backstory) but doesn’t have much personality.  Cinderella’s prince is also pretty non-descript.  Ariel’s prince is a little bland and definitely clueless.  Belle’s prince spends most of the movie as a beast and Tiana’s prince spends most of the movie as a frog.  Merida has three princes, all of whom are a bit… lacking.  A few princes fare a bit better in their Disney representation but clearly it’s all about the princesses. 

I’m not too worried about this unfair portrayal – I doubt that young girls and boys are too damaged by this uneven treatment.  But I also don’t believe that Barbie dolls are inherently evil either. 

If you were to be a Disney princess or prince (or villain if you prefer) for a week, who would you choose?

2024, Art, books, Business, Kids, Poems, Uncategorized

Pigeon Poetry

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Went for my eye exam last week.  No changes so I decided this was a good time to invest my annual glasses allowance for a pair of prescription sunglasses. 

Since I had such a good experience with Warby Parker last year, I headed over to the store again to ask about new shades.  Now last year I was in and out of the store so fast that I barely had time to even look around (except when I was actually looking at the various glasses styles and even that didn’t take me too long).  This year the store was hopping; I ended up waiting about 20 minutes after I checked in so I had a chance to take the place in.

First off, there are books above each alcove of frames… real titles but the spines are all monochromatic (all white over one alcove, all blue over another, etc.) so I’m guessing they are probably not the actual books.  I could be wrong but I doubt it.  Then I noticed their 100 word “all about us” statement printed on the wall.  Each word is numbered.  The funniest things were books of haiku on shelves under each alcove titled  “Baby Pigeons”.  Apparently at WPHQ they write haiku.  They have them on the walls, in emails and in various correspondence and collected in a book.  Here is the haiku that inspired the title of the book:

How come you never

See baby pigeons? I asked

“What?” said the dentist.

I also liked this one:

finish lip balm tube
rather than just losing it?
honor this moment

I didn’t ask if the books were for sale but I liked that WP apparently doesn’t take themselves too seriously.  It did inspire me to write a haiku of my own on the way home:

Picking new glasses

Without “help” from my daughter…

I get what I want!

Any haiku thoughts this week?

2024, Family, Food, home, Kids, Nature, Seasons, Uncategorized, Weather

Melting

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I received a text from Daughter on Tuesday in a panic because it was 93° in Tacoma, her apartment was hot except for her bedroom, where she has a portable air conditioner, and her refrigerator had stopped working and everything in her freezer/fridge was melted. She had to throw out eight grocery bags of food. Only the cheese was salvageable.

I immediately went into problem solving mode, inquiring about rental insurance, repairs, etc. This was not what she needed or wanted. She just wanted me to commiserate and console. It turned out to be a problem with the fridge shorting out the fuse panel in her apartment. She just needs to keep an eye on it.

Very few people in the Pacific North West have air conditioning because it rarely gets that hot there. There have been unusual but increasingly frequent heat waves there. I am a person who is always cold, so no matter how hot it is, it rarely bothers me. I could probably do ok there. I remember how excited my parents were when we got an air conditioner installed in the dining area of our house when I was in about Grade 1. It only kept the livingroom cool, but it sure made them feel good.

I have never had to deal with a freezer or fridge that went on the fritz. I often wonder what we would do if we had an extended period of electricity loss given all the freezers we have in the basement. I think I would gets lots of ice to keep everything cold and get a gas powered generator to fill in for the loss of power.

When did you first have air-conditioning? Ever had to deal with a freezer or fridge that malfunctioned? What kind of help do you want when you are upset?

2024, holidays, home, Kids, pets, Uncategorized

Fireworks!

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Guinevere is afraid of everything.

She is afraid of little dogs, big dogs, medium dogs, the vacuum cleaner, the Roomba, the lawnmower, the hairdryer, paper bags, squirt bottles, the dog gate, noises close to her, when you wave your arms around, outsiders, things touching her without warning (pillow falling on her, towel slipping off a hook, toy tossed at her when she’s not looking). 

But there are two things that Guinevere is NOT afraid of.  Thunderstorms and fireworks.  Unbelievable.  YA and I used to do a few fireworks out on the front sidewalk but we quit because my last Irish Setter, Rhiannon was afraid.  I suppose we could get a few things now that Rhiannon is no longer with us, but considering how many other dogs get scared, it doesn’t seem worth it.

So we’ll watch fireworks on tv and we’ll hear fireworks from the surrounding communities, with Guinevere snoozing at the end of my bed!

Doing anything fun today?  Any fireworks on the schedule?

2024, animals, books, Gatherings, Kids, Uncategorized

Llama Llama Day

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You all know I have a co-dependent relationship with my local library.  Nothing new about that.  One of the things I appreciate is that it’s on the right-hand side of the street, heading south from my house.  This means that I drive by it on almost ever errand I run so stopping to return books or pick up something that is on hold is incredibly easy.

Two Saturdays back, returning a couple of books was the first item on my to-do list.  As I was putting the books on the return belt I noticed that there were a bunch of Llama Llama signs along the garden side of the building as well as a massive banner across the front window. 

I might have talked about the Llama Llama books back when I discovered them but in case I didn’t – they are kids books, a long series of them, about a young llama and his family.  They’re quite cute.  This is the first one:

Anyway, I texted YA as I got back in the car that they were having a Llama Llama reading.  As I headed south from the parking spaces in front of the library, I saw that the parking lot was blocked off with some kids games.  Then I saw a couple of tents.  Then I saw the llamas.  At the light I texted YA again that there were live llamas at the library.  Her response… “You’re going around the block right now, aren’t you?”  Aaah, she knows me well.

I know the head librarian so after I had waited in line (the only adult without a kid in tow), we chatted a bit about Llama Llama Day.  This was the third Saturday in a row that one of the Hennepin County libraries had hosted the llamas.  Apparently there are a few more scheduled over the summer.  I asked him if the library system was moving the Llama Llama books around so that there were plenty to check-out at each library who was having the llama party.  He was surprised that I knew that; I reminded him that I’m an event planner by trade.

I got to pet all of the llamas before I returned to my list of errands.  Later when I got home, I pulled my Llama t-shirt out and wore it the rest of the day as I considered all the various events that I might have planned if I’d been a library planner instead of an incentive travel planner.

What book do you think would make a good library event?

2024, home, Kids, sports, Uncategorized

Around the Block

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It was a big weekend around here.   On Saturday afternoon, my littlest neighbor Marie (5 years old) announced to visiting relatives during a cookout, that she wanted her father to take the training wheels off of her bike.  Big sister Minnie had been getting a lot of attention learning to skateboard on the driveway so now it was Minne’s turn.

Surprisingly she caught on very quickly and despite the neighbors having a big driveway, it didn’t take long before everyone had to troop down to the sidewalk in front of the house so she could have a longer runway.  And even though I had been a witness to some of this, when I went out to water on Saturday night, Marie hurried over to the fence to announce her big news.

Then on Sunday when I saw her, she announced it again, this time telling me how far she could go (almost 3 houses).   Yesterday I got the news yet again when she saw me in the yard cutting the grass.  This time she elicited a promise from me that when her dad came out to help her, I would come out on the front steps to watch.  Getting ready for this big ride took a bit.  Helmet, elbow pads, wrist pads and knee pads; when Dad was going to skin the elbow pads, Marie insisted since older sister had on a full set of pads for her skateboarding.

I remember learning to ride without training wheels.  We lived on West Cedar Avenue in Webster Groves, just down the street from the local elementary school.  I can still taste the exhilaration I felt when I realized that my dad wasn’t holding onto the back of my bike seat any longer. 

Marie’s ride on the front sidewalk went really well.  As expected Dad had to run the whole way behind her and had to help with the stopping.  We have a slight incline/decline (depending on which direction you’re going) on our block and I did notice that Marie struggled a bit more to stay upright when she was coming UP the incline.  But all in all, an impressive beginning for her biking career!

Tell me about a time you mastered something as a child that you were proud of!

2024, animals, Fantasy, gardening, History, Kids, Seasons, Uncategorized

Viking Daze

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After all the days of rain, YA and I couldn’t wait to get out into the yard and get dirty.  I decided that it had been too long since I cleaned up the edges of the yard and boulevard along our front sidewalk.  This is a two-part job.  First I run my edger along where I think the sidewalk should be ending.  Second I sit on the sidewalk and pull up the bits that are overgrown. 

So there I was sitting on the sidewalk when a neighbor from up the street, along with her son, stopped to chat.  Since they had their dog, who is on the small size, I stayed on the sidewalk to pet the dog while we talked.  Blake (son) and I talked about llama day, which had happened at the library the week before.  Blake had been to the farm where the llamas come from and knew one of the llamas that was at the library. 

We also talked about school finally being over for the summer and I asked him if he had any plans.  He’s 10 so his short “just camps” answer didn’t surprise me; I followed up with “what kind of camps this year”.   He mentioned a science camp and a viking camp.  I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know all the kinds of camps there are, but a viking camp seemed different.  I asked if it was a football camp or some kind of history camp.  He laughed and said “BIKING”.  If I’d had any liquid, I probably would have snorted it up on the spot.

When I was a kid you just hung around the neighborhood for the summer and bothered your mother.  Maybe if you knew someone who knew someone you might end up at a vacation bible study camp for a few days.  If kids were doing organized anything, I never knew about it.  So even though Blake will be biking for one of his camps this summer, I love the thought of viking camp.  Not even remotely sure what we would do at viking camp, but I’m positive I would love the outfits!

How did you spend your summers as a kid?  Any camp you WISH you could have gone to?

2024, Family, Kids, Travel, Uncategorized

Amusement Park Blues

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Our daughter phoned the other day to tell me that her friends are shocked and appalled that we never took her to an amusement park when she was little. To make up for this neglect, Daughter and three friends are planning a trip to Disney World next April for Daughter’s birthday.

We live rather a long way from any amusement parks. Even the Cities was kind of far to go just for that. When we traveled, we visited family, and they lived in Minnesota and Wisconsin. There aren’t that many amusement parks in those locations. Summer was for work, summer activities, and gardening. We just weren’t that family that has big summer vacations. Husband remembers being unutterably bored on his family vacations, usually taken by car. My parents drove to Florida when I was about 12, but there was no Disney World then.

Two of the friends going on the April trip did college internships at Disney World, and they are devising elaborate spread sheets for daily schedules and activities. We agreed to atone for our neglect by contributing to lodging expenses, so it is shaping up to be a pretty fun trip.

What kind of vacations did your family go on? Any vacations with friends?

2024, Family, Kids, Music, Uncategorized

Bugle Boy

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Yesterday morning I received the following text from our son:

Your grandson just woke me up with a bugle. I hope you are proud.

I told him I was very proud! Son said he was in the middle of a pleasant dream in which he was eating gelato when the bugle went off .

In March of 2023 our then 4 year old grandson was stranded at our house for three weeks due to weather. While he was here we let him play my father’s bugle. He got a pretty good buzz on the horn. My dad was a bugler in the Army Air Corps. Of course, the bugle went back to South Dakota with him. I hadn’t heard that he was doing much with it until yesterday. I am delighted he woke up his dad with the bugle. That just made my day!

My first instrument was the clarinet. I quickly switched to the bass clarinet and played it all through high school and college. Piano lessons started at age 8. Son was a trombonist. Daughter played piano, French Horn, and violin. Husband has his cello and also had piano lessons as a child. I don’t know what grandson will play, but at least he has a bugle to make great noises with for now.

What were some mischievous things you did as a child? Did you learn to play an instrument?