Hannah Montana And YouTube

... or should I say my daughter, Hannah Montana, and YouTube. At the moment, I'm being assulted by a strange and unpalatable blend of "Best of Both Worlds" (Alyssa) and the Wii Fit tightrope music (Joseph). Ahhhh. (sigh)

We've spent a lot of time outdoors lately, so that's good at least. As the spring and then summer establish themselves and the weather gets better and better, hopefully Alyssa will be distracted enough from her latest kick: "Mommy, can you tape me singing and then put it on YouTube?"

Um, NO. (Are you kidding me? I don't even put pictures of you on my blog - you think I'm going to put vids on YouTube??).

I admit I may be a little more privacy oriented than some, but she's SIX, and she doesn't comprehend the far reaches of the internet. When she's TWENTY six, if she still wants to video tape herself singing and broadcast it for the world to see, she'll have my full support (although it won't be nearly at cute then ;)

Meanwhile I get to listen as she belts out Hannah Montana songs along with the video. Over and over and over and... oh wait. I used to do the same thing. As my Mom would say, it's payback time ;)
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Sunny Movie Afternoon

Can you believe that we've had so much sun lately that my six year old, when I picked her up from school today, informed me that she didn't feel like having a playdate - all she wanted to do was "watch Wall*E, and can you make popcorn? And spread out a blanket on the floor so we can have a picnic? With pillows?"

At the moment it's actually cooler in our house than it is outside, and since the kids have been outdoor dust monsters for almost a week, I agreed.

Right now it's her younger brother who's watching the movie, though, while she wanders the house in search of the cat. The cat who, exactly one minute before we had to leave for school this morning, finally jumped up on her lap without being called or captured.

Now the search for the elusive cat has led Alyssa on to the balcony, where she is sitting in the sun. Back in the sun - she couldn't resist it's appeal for long after all :)




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Bad Mommy

Aw, lookit that Gerber Graduates commercial mom playing dragon slayer with her little boy!!!

I suck.

OK I'm not that bad, but I'm definitely not the FUN parent. No Barbies or Hot Wheels for me. If it doesn't have some kind of educational component to it, then I'm not interested. Hmmph. So there.

Whaaat? I feed you, don't I? I teach you stuff, read to you, hug you ALL the time, clothe and bath you, find your bedroom floors when you cannot, would give life and limb for you, wipe your snot and poop, tickle you, brush your hair, floss and brush your teeth, among half a million other things. MUST I play with you too?

Of COURSE I love you, but I honestly don't feel the same way about Polly Pocket. And no, brushing Rainbow Dash's mane is NOT fun for me.

(Nor is playing Wii tanks for the 10,000th time - are you listening too, lil' bro?)

But... Huh.

Hmmm... last night we played Disney Princess Bingo, and tonight we played Trouble!! And I did Wii Table Tilt so you could watch.

I DO play after all!! I'M OK!!!

(Guess I didn't need to write this post ;)

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Keeping Them Safe

This morning I was thinking about Victoria Stafford, the eight year old Ontario girl who went missing after she left school on Wednesday, last seen walking with an unidentified woman.

Who is this woman? What was Victoria doing walking with her? This got me thinking about my 6 year old girl, who's finally gotten over the paralyzing shyness that was the signature of her toddler years. I decided to talk to her about it.

Me: "Hey... listen. What would you do if a grownup you'd never met before came to talk to you after school, and she was really nice, and she said that I told her to come pick you up?"

Alyssa: (shrugs) "I'd go with her?"

OH.MY.GOD.

What followed was a lengthy, and a bit repetitive, discussion about how you NEVER EVER EVER go ANYWHERE with a grown up you don't know, NO MATTER HOW NICE THEY ARE.

Both my kids know about "bad strangers". The only problem is, is that I don't think they understand the concept of "bad strangers" playing nice to try and trick people.

I just pray to God that she got it. We may have to talk about this again (and again, and again).

Scary stuff.
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Niiice.

My 4 year old: "What did you say punk?" (accompanied by giggles and smiles, with his world famous cutest ever dimples).

Me: "Where on earth did you hear that?"

DS: "Spongebob!!"

I suppose it could be worse. He was saying the F word a few weeks ago. That wasn't cool.

But this "punk" thing... is it wrong of me to think it's cute? I swear I have a wound on the inside of my cheek from biting it, trying my best not to smile or laugh. Oh my FREAKIN' GOODNESS he's just the cutest thing that ever existed.

Should I stop him from saying it? Is "punk" a bad word for a four year old to say? (Is it any worse than him wanting to play "real" boxing after playing it on Wii? Oops ;)

Am I the only mother who is lost some times? And why on earth don't kids come with manuals, anyway!! Sheesh...
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