Online toddler games — My favorite sites
By lizmcg | August 17, 2008
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Looking for a great online toddler games site? Here are my faves. I like these because they are safe, easy to get to and fun.
Before the list, let me give you a little tip. Take a couple of minutes and, in your internet browser’s menu, create a bookmarks folder for your child. Use capital letters to spell her name (those letters are the first your child learns to recognize). Then put all the page links you want into that folder.
Show your child how to open the browser by clicking, and how to get the drop-down menu for the bookmark, and then how to select her special folder. It will take some time for her to get the hang of it, but your child will love having her own special place and using her own special sites. This also will make your life so much easier, not having to search around for links.
- By far our favorite is Webkinz. My girls each have a few of these little stuffed animals, and they log into the website using their code. The login step needs to be done by an adult or older sibling (and be sure to write it down so you can end any confusion later on). I’ve found this to be a safe, fun site with lots to do. Some of it is a bit advanced for a toddler, but it can be fun to play together with a parent or older brother or sister.
- Barbie is another of our faves (hey, with three girls, I sometimes feel like I’m single-handedly keeping Mattel in business!). This one is quite easy to manage, and Barbie can get a makeover, do babysitting, decorate, etc. It’s cool because there is sound and music, and Barbie actually talks to you. I wouldn’t classify this one as very learning-oriented, but it is fun.
- PBSKids is an excellent site if you want a little more learning thrown into the mix. This site does require much more parental help, since there are more things that need to be read and adventures that are harder. The ice cream store in the “Arthur” section is always one of our favorites to play together.
- Noggin has an excellent website, and with so many memorable toddler-focused characters you can’t go wrong. I recommend this one not so much for the games but for the music videos you can watch (particularly the ones for Jack’s Big Music Show). I find that watching these videos can be an excellent treatment for a cranky toddler (or a cranky mommy).
- In terms of music and videos and games, it goes without saying that Disney is also an excellent and very safe site to bookmark. Overall, I find that much of the site is geared toward the older “High School Musical” and “Hannah Montana” crowd, so my toddlers don’t frequent this one too much yet.
- Finally, Animal Planet is also a big hit with my kids. The games definitely require adult help, but matching the puppies or helping the meerkats is tons of fun.
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What do you do when you need a break?
By lizmcg | August 16, 2008
It’s the dog days of summer — meaning that everyone is hot, crabby… especially me.
I don’t know about you, but I feel like I have an entourage with me wherever I go. We’ve been running everywhere during the last week, trying to get everyone (including my husband) ready to start back to school. It’s been a little crazy, but I’m happy to report that the lunchboxes are ready and waiting.
Don’t get me wrong, I love my kids dearly, but sometimes I just need some “me” time. Know what I mean?
I didn’t even notice how accustomed I’ve become to my group-activities mentality until last night I had an opportunity to take the dog for a walk around the park by myself. Then I went out to the grocery store by myself — wow, such a treat.
In the checkout line I realized that during the last couple of hours no one had fallen off a bike or gotten upset. No one had begged for anything princess-related, requested gum, or complained about not being allowed to hold the Jewel member card (which gets you the discounts at the grocery store, if you don’t live near Chicago).
It started me thinking… how do you take a break? What works best?
- Personally, my favorite break is to ship the kids anywhere with their dad or grandma, and chill out for a couple of hours with a movie (one of my few opportunities to see something non-animated). If it’s football season, on rare occasions I get to watch an entire football game uniterrupted. Heaven.
- For a quicker getaway, I keep a copy of Vogue on the shelf in the kitchen. Even a couple of pages and a cup of tea (or a cookie) will sometimes do the trick. I guess there’s something about seeing things like Prada and Ann Taylor that reminds me why I gave up my professional life for comfortable shoes!
- I’m also a big reader, and this summer I’m slowly working my way through a biography of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and also through Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. I highly recommend both.
What are your favorite, most treasured ways to just take a break from the kids?
Let’s share… and shall we make a pact to do sneak one of these into our “mommy schedule” today?
I will. After all, I’m way behind in my Vogue reading for the month!
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Olympic Humor
By lizmcg | August 10, 2008
I think it’s pretty much universally agreed that the opening ceremonies for the Olympics were just amazing. Every time I thought it couldn’t get more beautiful, it did. I can hardly wait for all the action to kick into high gear!
Rather than review all the highlights, I thought I’d give you a little piece of humor to brighten your day. I love this funny little story.
Do you have some olympic humor to share? I’d love to hear from you! :–)
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Have you seen Wall-E?
By lizmcg | August 5, 2008
Yesterday was rainy, and by about 11:30 we were getting on each other’s nerves. The prospect of an afternoon inside watching the Doodlebops for the millionth time was too much… so after lunch and naps I herded everybody into the car and we went to the movies.
I’d heard some confusing things about Wall-E, most notably reports from a couple of neighbor kids that it was really boring. I’m so glad we didn’t pay too much attention to their reviews. The story is absolutely delightful, and I highly recommend it.
A couple of things stood out. My youngest (who rarely sits still for anything), claimed her own chair and stayed put for most of the movie. The dialogue is very “toddler-like”, with words that have to be deciphered until you get accustomed to robot speak. There’s plenty of action (only a couple of scary moments), and much of the action is very, very funny.
I went expecting a solid Pixar film and instead wound up being enthralled by the story — which is very original, not some obviously archetypal story Disney usually puts out. I was delighted by the characters’ humor, courage, and tenderness, and was reminded of other stories — The Lorax, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and Brave New World with some Animal Farm moments thrown in.
And I also have to admit there is no more extravagant treat for the daughter of a farmer than going to a movie during daytime hours… Sorry, dad, I know I should have been home scrubbing something, but I hope you’ll understand!
If you have a chance, I highly recommend Wall-E. And If you’ve seen it, I’d love to know what you thought… are we headed toward a B&L disaster?
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Need an Effective Book or MP3 on Toddler Tantrums?
By lizmcg | August 4, 2008
Here’s an article I just finished last night. There’s nothing worse than a toddler tantrum, but there is an effective way you can learn to deal with them.
Check this out… it really will make a difference.
Need an Effective Book or MP3 on Toddler Tantrums?
(And by the way, for regular readers of this blog, guess who showed up at home at about midnight last night?
That’s right, daddy-who-was-supposed-to-be-at-sleep-away-camp. He didn’t like his dorm room so he came home and left at 7 this morning.
Personally, I’d take sleep over driving for 4+ hours a day, but to each his own…)
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Sending my husband to sleep-away camp!
By lizmcg | August 3, 2008
Yes, the towels and sheets are packed, and I’ve done everything short of sewing little name labels into his clothing. My husband is off to sleep-away camp.
Why, you might ask, is a 43-year-old father of three going off to camp in August? And why is his wife so happy to let him go?
He really does have a good excuse. He’s a basketball coach and will be working this week at the DePaul girl’s basketball camp about an hour away. Geographically, it perfectly follows my rule when I moved out of my parents’ house — just far enough away that you have to call if you are coming home (and if your family calls to let you know they are on the way to see you, there’s time to hide the evidence of your last big blowout party).
Although just an hour away, I’ve actually encouraged him not to come home. For the next five days, he needs to immerse himself in things like “Princeton offense” (his specialty), “3-2 defense” and scouting local talent. I’ve taken just about all I can over the years on these two terms in particular… and recently I’ve threatened to bombard him with information about “wordpress widgets” if he brings them up. It’s quite effective.
I remember reading about the wife of a football coach who actually rented her husband a hotel room at the end of the season. She just couldn’t take his 24/7 focus on the game, and the restlessness that comes with it. The whole thing became too much to live with. A brilliant idea.
If there are any other coaches’ wives out there, I’m sure you know what I mean. After every game there’s the initial breakdown of what happened (good or bad). If it’s bad, you end up being like Freud, trying to relieve the repressed trauma before it takes root in his subconscious. This is followed by hours, days, or weeks of second-guessing conversations (reliving the trauma), endless reviews of the tape, compiling stats, reviewing tapes of the next adversary, re-hashing everything with coaches and team, and on and on…
Summer basketball isn’t nearly as bad, but it is nonetheless an adventure in geekdom that can only truly be shared with his peers.
But there is one drawback to having a 43-year-old camper who is within driving distance of home. As he walked out the door this morning he called out, “If the arrangements are not to my liking, I’ll be back this evening… and there’s a very good chance that you’ll see me before the week is out…”
I’d better brush up on my wordpress widgets conversation starters!
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How I’m supporting my family…
By lizmcg | July 30, 2008
I read so many hyped-up announcements about how to make money on the internet. It seems there’s a newsletter in my mailbox every time I turn around. All of them promise you’ll make a mint right away… and it’s been my experience that they are all worth less than the time it takes me to delete them. Sound familiar?
The economy stinks, and I don’t know about you but it’s getting darned tough to make ends meet. Since I know there are lots of readers out there, and that we are all trying to support our kids and families — juggling time and money everyday to make sure there’s enough of both — I thought I’d weigh in with the one resource that has been helpful to me.
Before I do, let me give you a bit of my background. I’ve purchased many programs on “internet marketing” and “home businesses” that promised to help me get started, help me make money, and promise to provide support. I’ve been so disappointed so many times!
Have you been there, too? You know the drill. You pay, read the ebook or watch the video, and then you have a TON of questions. So you go to the forum attached to their product and it turns out there are, like, 3 participants who were last heard from back in 2004. Your emails to the author are not returned. It’s a dead-end street.
Don’t even get me started about my experiences with all the stuff that’s pushed at SAHM’s and WAHM’s… let alone “opportunity seekers” and “entrepreneurs”. It’s truly disgusting the number of people who prey on parents who just need more money for the rent or mortgage. There are probably some other things out there that are legit, but I have yet to actually find anything — and I’ve looked hard, as my credit card statements will attest.
It’s so frustrating!
Then one day my friend Paula (whom I met because we were the only two on one of those junky forums, and both of us were fed up) told me about a great product she was using. My first thought was, “Oh no, how is my credit card going to withstand this one?”
With a monthly subscription option, it was affordable. Based on Paula’s recommendation I took the plunge and signed up.
I have to say, I’m so happy I did. It really works. The forum is lively, with posts that are just like gold. The business owner personally responded to my email with of questions on the first day –something that’s never happened to me during this journey.
If this is something you are interested in, click here to learn more.
And if it’s not for you, feel welcome to forward this post to any of your friends who are struggling with making more money for their family. Times are tough out there, and I’d like to meet any family who hasn’t made some changes because of the economy.
My hope is that this can help other people avoid all those scams and disappointing products out there, and spend their heard-earned money on something that is helpful and real.
Take care, and may the road rise up to meet you….
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Will the real Miley Cyrus please come forward?
By lizmcg | July 27, 2008
The news of the week in every 9-year-old girl’s world was the release of the new Miley Cyrus album, Breakout. It’s a good album, with well written, catchy songs. There is nothing overtly racy on it, and I’m sure it will make a mint.
In my opinion it’s also a bit disturbing. I think in the process of Miley now publicly claiming she’s Miley, something really important has been lost.
Let me back up a step. Miley Cyrus, originally Hannah Montana, hit the stage a few years ago with songs that were very “girl power” oriented. Her lyrics loudly declared she could do anything including become President. The songs were decidedly fun but with an underlying theme of empowerment. This was a girl with something important to say.
The new Breakout album has an entirely different feeling. There is teen angst, lots about love-hate relationships with boys, messages of school being boring, and needing to get away from it all by going out to party. Only one song, “Wake Up America” has a message, about caring for the environment.
So let me ask this: Miley, when did you lose the “girl power” that first endeared you to your fans (and to the mothers of your fans)? We all know you are a focused young woman with big dreams, far more than these lyrics portray. Why aren’t you showing your fans the other side of you (pun completely intended)?
I think, Miley, that you can do better. Share what you really are… how you really think… and what you really do. Your fans will find this “other side” even more interesting than the cliche persona you are trying to create.
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PuppetBike!
By lizmcg | July 25, 2008
The other night we went to an outdoor concert here in Chicago. The featured attraction was a free “Wiggleworms” concert.
I think the Wiggleworms are pretty much just a Chicago phenomenon. Wiggleworms pretty much consist of music and movement classes for preschoolers offered by the Old Town School of Folk Music, concerts, and cds of their music.
My kids could hardly wait to boogie at the concert. It also helped that lead singer for the event, the “Elvis of Wiggleworms”, is the father of a boy in T~’s preschool class, so we had a brush with fame.
The concert was great, really much more entertaining for adults than I expected. They’ve adapted lots of popular songs to include a toddler message — who knew The Smiths had a song about manners?
The highlight of the evening, however, was the discovery of the PuppetBike. The bike pulled up inconspicuously at the outer edge of the concert. A few kids were curious about it and stopped to check it out.
At the end of the show things started to happen. The puppets came out to dance — and these puppets can really dance! They danced with each other, danced separately, and just generally danced up a storm. They really had some moves.
My two little ones were enthralled, and have been talking about it ever since. We’ve thought about what the puppets might do during the day when not performing (do they have day jobs, go to school, what?), as well as where they might be found. T~ has insisted we continue to visit the same park so we can keep an eye out for it.
I thought readers might enjoy a peek at the PuppetBike website. It’s definitely unique and extremely fun. If you live in the Chicago area, be on the lookout… and it seems they go on vacation, too!
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Teaching toddlers to count
By lizmcg | July 22, 2008
I recently compared notes with a couple of friends about how to teach toddlers and preschoolers how to count.
My kids and I have a little tradition at the playground that very easily teaches counting. It’s so easy. We do it when I push them on the swing. Every time I push, we count. We count forwards, backwards (especially when we’re getting ready to get off because mom is exhausted). Recently my three-year-old has been practicing counting up and down to 20. She likes to skip from 13 to 40… we’re working on it!
Do you have a great way to teach counting? Be sure to leave a comment so other “minivan mommies” can find out!
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