My Cotillion friend, Beth, told about this article.  Read it and weep for the sorry state of parenthood - at least some of the parents.

Melanie Engle was trying to just pluck the stray hairs here and there. She was trying to deliver an age-appropriate eyebrow wax to her client. It was hard, though, because there was a foot tapping next to her, and a voice shouting in her ear: “No! Not like that — like a supermodel’s. I want them arched.”

After years in the beauty biz, Engle had seen her share of crazy ladies demanding perfect, Glamour-cover-worthy brows. But this Crazy Lady wasn’t talking about her own brows. The brows in question belonged to Crazy Lady’s daughter. Who was eight.

After sweating through the kid’s eyebrow wax, Engle, today an aesthetician at the Adolf Biecker Salon/Spa outposts in the Rittenhouse Hotel and Strafford — and, it should be noted, one of the most sought-after eyebrow specialists in the region — was directed to give her pint-size client a … bikini wax.

Engle was, predictably, extremely uncomfortable with the idea. But she sent the girl next door to the spa to have it done anyway. “It was clear that this girl was getting a bikini wax no matter what,” she says. “Better for her that we did it, instead of her mother dragging her off somewhere else to get it done.”
There’s more, but it’s almost more than I can stand to read.

Sphere: Related Content

Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems in one of my favorite children’s books. It was a Caldecott winner a few years ago - and it very much deserved to win. Absolutely wonderful illustrations. The background of each page is an old black and white photograph. However, there are illustrations of Trixie, the little girl who loves her Knuffle Bunny, and Trixie’s family on the old photographs. Very clever. The story is also very heart-warming. It’s a story most children can easily connect with. Trixie and her dad goes to the laundromat (great lesson on that vocabulary word), and accidentally leave Trixie’s Knuffle Bunny there. I believe this is a book that every early reader should have in his/her personal library.

Willems has just published a follow-up book called Knuffle Bunny Too in which Trixie goes to school only to find that another child has a Knuffle Bunny, too.

Sphere: Related Content

I’m an elementary school reading specialist, and so I’m always reading.  I also love quotes.  Thus I’ve done Thursday Thirteens on various topics related to reading and quotes.  There are Thursday Thirteens on quotes about Mothers, quotes from American History,  poems to read with children,  quotes to write in the sand,  my favorite read-aloud books for children,  my favorite quotes about reading, and thirteen books for Read Across American week.  Here is a second set of quotes about reading that I love:

(1)  “To acquire the habit of reading is to construct for yourself a refuge from almost all of the miseries of life.”   ~W. Somerset Maugham~

(2) “The real purpose of books is to trap the mind into doing its own thinking.”  ~Christopher Morley~

(3) “Children are made readers on the laps of their parents.” ~Emilie Buchwald~

(4) “A house without books is like a room without windows.”  ~Horace Mann~

(5) “To add a library to a house is to give that house a soul.”  ~Cicero~

(6) “Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.”  ~Richard McKenna~

(7)  “To read is to empower;

To empower is to write;

To write is to influence;

To influence is to change;

To change is to live.”

~Jane Evershed~

(8) “The more that you read,

The more things you will know.

The more that you learn,

The more places you’ll go! ”

~Dr. Seuss~

(9)  “There is no substitute for books in the life of a child.”  ~Mary Ellen Chase~

(10)  “Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.”  ~Chinese proverb~

(11) ”Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.” ~Sir Richard Steele~

(12)  “Books, I found, had the power to make time stand still, retreat or fly into the future.”  ~Jim Bishop~

(13)  “A book is a like a garden carried in the pocket.”  ~Chinese proverb”

Sphere: Related Content

The following is a post I wrote last December.  Lots of people enjoyed reading it, and it provided encouragement and a positive message for many.  Since we’re into the Christmas season again, I wanted to re-post it.

After over 25 years of teaching, I still enjoy experiencing fresh examples of the insight and compassion of children.  I found that to be the case when the children at my elementary school wrote letters to soldiers serving overseas.

Since I have a nephew who is serving in Iraq, some of the letters were given to me to send to him to share with his unit. Here is a small sampling of the drawings and letters that I’ll be shipping to my nephew tomorrow:

I will start off with the card that should win an award somewhere! This child gets it - because of our American soldiers there IS still hope in the world.

The following are pictures and exerpts of letters from children from kindergarten through fifth grade.

Dear Soldier,

Happy holidays. I hope you have a wonderful Christmas. I feel very bad that you have to be in the war during the holiday, but the one thing we’re all happy about is that you’re fighting for our country.

Dear Soldier,

I dedicate this letter to you because you are fighting for the U.S.A. Is it hot in Iraq? I do thank you for keeping us little kids safe. I wish you a merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

Dear Soldier,

Merry Christmas to you. Thank you for serving our country. You are so brave for going across the ocean. I am so proud of you.

Dear Soldier,

How is it going? You know if I was there I would be scared. I’m sure I would miss my family and friends, but you are doing the right thing. You’re saving a lot of people. You people rock! I hope you have a wonderful merry Christmas.

Dear Soldier,

I am in second grade and I live in Tennessee. I like how you are fighting for me and my family. You and your buddies should get to come home when Christmas comes.You are brave to go out and fight. All of you are real brave. I like you.

Dear Soldier,

I wish you could spend the holidays with your family. I appreciate your dedication to serving our country and fighting for our freedom. Our whole class of 25 students is writing letters. I’m the only one who wrote two. I know you don’t want to be there right now. I hope you come back in one piece.

Dear Soldier,

I like the army. I almost read all of the army books. We just moved here a week ago. The old school I went to ws good, but this school is better. We are glad you are doing this. Thanks for making the world a better place. I know I want to join the army. I had fun writing this letter and I will write another.

Dear Soldier,

I appreciate what you have done for our country. I have written a poem especially for you.

Heroic, brave

Fight, protect, guard

Thank you for everything

Fighter

Sphere: Related Content

I was working with a small group of fifth graders this afternoon, and we were discussing contractions and compound words.

We played a brief game in which they looked through their books to find five contractions and five compounds words.

Scott kept murmuring under his breath as he worked, “This is hard. I can’t find any contraptions. I can’t find any contraptions.”

Meanwhile when I asked James to tell me one of the compound words he’d found, he replied with, “plum meeting.”

“Plum meeting?” I said, looking perplexed.

“PLUM MEETING!” he replied - somewhat exasperated.  After all,  he HAD said it clearly the first time.

When I continued with my confused look, he declared, “It’s right here in my book,” and he held the book up for me to see.

The sentence was, “The arrow was plummeting to the ground.”

I have a lot of work ahead of me.  Contraptions and plum meetings….

Sphere: Related Content

What could be more exciting for children than to receive personalized Letters From Santa? My two grangirls (ages 4 and 6) are at the age where getting a letter in the mail from Santa Claus would thrill them. And  when you go through lettersfromsanta.com, you can customize the letters by providing information such as three items on your child’s wish list, your child’s name and 3 of your child’s accomplishments. You can even write a customized P.S. to add to the letter.  Sounds like a good deal to me.

Sphere: Related Content

Everytime Sweet Stuff (6 years old) and Sunshine (4 years old) come over to visit they want some hot cocoa. Last week, when I served them their hot cocoa in my really nice china cups, I mentioned that I needed to get them some mugs just for them. They were excited about the idea. I think they would love to receive photo mugs using some of the wonderful photos I have of them.  I was thinking of buying them the mugs to put in their Christmas stockings.  However, I wanted mugs that they could really use.  Are there photo mugs that can be used without ruining the photo?  Remember the old photo mugs - the ones where you slip a photo behind a clear plastic shell?  Then, of course, you couldn’t really use the mug because it wasn’t watertight?   They were good to use as pencil holders, and that was about it.  So I started looking for durable and good quality mugs…and I found them!  These new mugs aren’t like that!  The photo is printed directly on the cup with high quality paints.  You can actually use them!  Yea!

I’m excited about the site because there is such an enormous selection in types of mugs - white ceramic, stainless steel travel mugs, beer steins, plastic water bottles, clear glass mugs.  And they have different sizes, too.  And the photos aren’t just slapped on there, they provide a high level of customization through the use of digital frames. 

We just drew names for Christmas gifts this week, and I have the names of two adult members of our family.  I’m thinking a photo mug would work well for them, too.

Sphere: Related Content

Previously I wrote about Sunshine and her concerns about God and death.  Apparently the entire problem was solved today - and we have Sweet Stuff to thank.  My daughter called a few minutes ago to relate the following conversation between Sunshine (4-years old) and Sweet Stuff (6-years old):

Sunshine: (In an uncertain, questioning voice) When I die, I’m going to heaven.

Sweet Stuff:  Sunshine, this is how you get to heaven.  There’s nothing to be scared of.  First you’re a baby, then you’re a big baby.  Then you’re a big, big baby.  Then you’re a big, big big baby.  Then you’re a little kid.  Then you’re a big kid.  Then you’re a big, big kid.  Then you’re a big, big, big kid.  Then you’re a grown-up.  then you’re a big grown-up.  Then you’re a big, big grown-up.  Then you’re a big, big, big grown-up.  Then you’re a mommy.  then you’re a big mommy.  Then you’re a big, big mommy.  Then you’re a grandma.  Then you’re a big grandma.  Then you’re a big, big grandma.  Then you’re a grandma grandma.  Then you’re a big grandma grandma, and THEN you go to heaven.

Sunshine:  Oh.  (big smile and satisfied look on her face)  Okay!

Questions answered and problem solved.  Heaven is just the step after being a big grandma grandma.

Sphere: Related Content

Four-year-old Sunshine has been thinking aobut life and death issues lately - literally.  My daughter has been concerned about helping Sunshine understand about heaven and God.   Here’s what she wrote to our family:

Sunshine has been a little obsessed with death recently and very concerned as to when everyone is going to die.   Yesterday I was talking to my dad on the phone and when I hung up she said, “Who was that?”  I told her, “Paw-Paw”.   She said,  ”I miss Paw-Paw.  I don’t want him to die.”   I said, “Baby he isn’t going to die.”  She explained, “Yes he will die next since he is the biggest of us and then Grandma Carol since she is the next biggest.”   I thought it was tender how concerned she was and how matter of fact she was that everyone died in order.

Anyway, a couple of days ago she was also discussing death and how she didn’t want anyone to die and I explained that if someone died they would go to heaven and be with God.  They would still be with us but not physically and that they would watch over us.   Anyway, she then says, “God is a monster then. I don’t like him.”

Shocked I said, “Why?”  She said, “Cause he kills people and takes them away to heaven.”   Anyway, I was lost for words and obviously my explanation of heaven and death was not good enough.   I did slightly convice her it wasn’t God’s fault people died, but anyway I felt completely inadequate to explain it all to her.”

So what do you think?  How do you explain such things to a four-year old?

Sphere: Related Content

My mother (Ruthlace) has had this play dough recipe for as long as I can remember.  When my kids were little, we’d make it together.  It really produces some good play dough, and it’s something you can make when your kids have a last minute project to do for school or when they are just in the mood to play with play dough - and you don’t want to drive to the store to buy it.

Home Made Play Dough

1 cup salt

1/2 cup corn starch

1/2 cup boiling water

Mix ingredients well and cook over low heat, stirring constantly until dough is too stiff to stir.  Let cool and knead until pliable.  As you knead the dought, add food coloring to make the desired color.

Sphere: Related Content