Shopping Paradise -- Finding the Finds

I've had a spin around the Internet and I've reached this conclusion. It's a shopping paradise. All sparkly-eyed and eager, I said a while back I was going to do my holiday shopping on the Internet and promised to share my best finds with you. Well, yes I am doing my shopping on the Internet, but the finds, the finds, the finds, they are so many. Plus I've found that this idea of sharing finds, yes, well, it's already been done, and so much better than I could hope to do it. So, I will simply share with you the links to the other hip sharers of finds as follows:

- It's a hiptastic list extravaganza over at Mom's Daily Dose (props to my friend Karin at DoubleDutyDiary for cluing me in);

- check out the Indie Collective 2006 Holiday Gift Guide for funky finds of a different kind;

- Popgadget.net is the hip spot for techy girl in all of us;

- Babygadget.net boasts smart things for the metro baby; and

- lots of lovely goodies are in store in the Cool Mom Picks 2006 Holiday Gift Guide.

Under the Heading "Duh"

Okay, does anyone else see a problem here, or is it just me? Am I the only one who looks at this picture and sees a trampoline with a big stick attached?

"New this year, our Trampo-Stick-O-Riffic -- for concussions, broken ankles and blunt force trauma all in one. Pick one up today at your local broken glass and lead-tainted candy retailer."



What were they thinking?

Trampolines are far too dangerous for children this young, unless of course we attach a big stick. Yes, that solves everything.


(*This item, the Kid-Riffic Jump Smart, actually available on Amazon.com from Kid-Riffic Toys.)

Snowed In With the Kids?

If you've been blasted by that supersized storm sweeping the plains and midwest, you might want to check out the fun things for parents and kids at the BBC web site. Just click here.

Welcome to Family Memory Month

Throughout December ZoKai will feature fun family stories and interesting, huhuhm hopefully interesting, tidbits.

Secrets of a Real Life Mom

I go out with out makeup sometimes, on purpose. I mean no makeup at all, not just like I forgot my mascara. This never would have happened before babies. I could have been running a 102 temperature and on my way out to buy TheraFlu, and I would have stopped to put on makeup. I don't know. It's like giving birth gave me a big dose of reality or something.

You know what else? I have used diaper ointment as hand cream. And it works great! No, it's not some beauty secret I found in a magazine or on the internet. Just something that came to me one day between diapering bottoms and washing my dry, cracked, bleeding hands for the 89th time.

Here's a good one. I go to bed when I am tired. No more of that "it's too early to go to bed" nonsense. Oh yeah, bring on the jammies and the soft cotton sheets, Baby.

I'm a little less of a daredevil. I've lost the urge I used to have to go skydiving, because, gee, wouldn't it just be silly if Mommy died jumping out of a perfectly good airplane.

And here's one I hate to admit. I have a lot better perspective on where my mother was coming from. I know. I know. We all thought this day would never come, but it's inevitable. It's like the changing of the seasons.

These and other secrets I blame on motherhood and the sudden rush of sanity it brings with it.

It's Only a Day Away

Tomorrow begins Family Memory Month on ZoKai. Hope you'll come back and hang with us for some fun stories and a little reminiscing.

Thanks Mom, Part of the Thanks Giving Series

My mom will be surprised by this post. I don't think she realizes how grateful I am for the life lessons she has taught me. She is not always an optimist. I like to call her my little gray storm cloud, but she has taught me to see the world in a way I like. I hope to do as well teaching my daughters.

So, thanks Mom for teaching me:

1. Never be defined from outside yourself. Never let anyone else tell you who you are.

2. You can be anything you want to be, and I will love you no matter what you are.

3. Be colorblind. Race does not matter.

4. Men can cook and women can mow the lawn. I will never forget getting the answers wrong on a matching worksheet in kindergarten because I matched the mommy to the lawnmower and the daddy to the stove. Despite my repeated objections, the teacher still marked my answers wrong. What can I say? Thanks to my mom, I was ahead of my time, at least for Gotebo, Oklahoma, circa 1975.

5. Stand up for what you believe, even when you won't be rewarded for it, perhaps especially when you won't be rewarded for it.

6. Appreciate nature, respect it, and care for it.

7. It's okay to be different. Different is good.

8. Don't care so much about what other people think.

9. Janis Joplin, The Beatles and The Rolling Stones rock.

10. Don't judge others. They're not perfect and neither are you.

One last thing, thanks for being the cool mom. There is just not much better in fifth grade than the day your mom picks you up in a flaming orange Corvette.

Yes Sir, Yes Sir, Five Bags Full

In response to Kelly's good-natured comment on my "Did You Know Coffee Is Good for You?" post earlier today, I decided I should share the rest of the story with you.

As I wandered through the aisles of our local grocer Sunday afternoon, dazed from the glory that is twin motherhood combined with the hustle and bustle of the holidays, it dawned on me that my shopping cart floated along with five, yes five, bags of coffee tucked neatly in the bottom. I realized that the folks up front, and now my friends in the blogosphere, might think I have a wee bit of a problem.

Not so much. I just like coffee, one or two cups a day usually. I just couldn't decide which coffee would be best. Hazelnut is my favorite, but I can't find the kind I like. So, I picked up Hawaiian Hazelnut. Is there a difference? Vanilla Nut is a safe bet. I've had that one before. Into the cart it went. Starbucks Sumatra, one of my favorites, and Mom will like that when she comes for Christmas. Serena Organic Blend, also good and it's organic. And finally, Cinnamon Vanilla, just so holidayish, sounds perfect for family visiting during the holidays. With all these at my house, there will surely be something for everyone. Until I got home and remembered, uh oh, I think Mom only likes Starbucks French Roast.

Obama in '08?

If you are one of the many who would like to see Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) run for President in 2008, you can sign a petition encouraging him to do so. The campaign web site of Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) now features an easy fill-in form letting you express your support for an Obama presidential run. Click here to go to petition form.

While I am not yet certain who I will vote for, there is one thing of which I am certain, having Obama in the race would be good for the party and good for the nation.

Did You Know Coffee Is Good for You?

I take comfort in the fact that Dr. Mehmet Oz, author of You: The Owner's Manual, and frequent guest on Oprah says coffee is good for you. A little coffee is not a bad thing, my saving grace.

Just the Coolest -- The Science of Snowflakes

If you, like me, live somewhere where you are not getting a good dose of holiday snow, you might find Snowcrystals.com extra fun. The web site developed by Kenneth Libbrecht, a Caltech Professor studying the physics of snowflake growth, features fabulous photos of actual snowflakes. Some of the photos are so fabulous, in fact, they are featured on a series of US Postal Stamps this year.

As an added bonus, the site offers snowflake wallpaper you may download to your computer for free.

Mama Always Said

Top Five Things I've Said that I Never Would Have Imagined Before Becoming a Parent:

1. "Don't put that in your nose." This is my constant refrain. I'm just waiting for the day I turn around and find one of them with a green bean wedged in a nostril.

2. "Don't step on your sister." Why this is so appealing escapes me.

3. "We don't eat things off the floor." Ah yes, a crusty bit of dried cheese from breakfast looks much more appetizing than the chicken and carrots Mommy was just trying to feed me.

4. "It's not polite to grab there." How do they know just the wrong place to grab? It's like a homing beacon.

5. "Don't stick your hand in the poopy." You would think it was like water to a dying man the way the reach for it.

AND THE KICKER

* "It's 8:30. I'm going to bed."

Political No No of the Week Award

And the award goes to . . . Senator-Elect Sherrod Brown, newly elected Democrat from Ohio, for his exchange today with fellow Democrat, Senator-Elect Claire McCaskill of Missouri.

On "Face the Nation" this morning, Ms. McCaskill had the nerve to suggest that Democrats and Republicans should start working together seriously to fix Social Security rather than continuing to use the issue to try to make each other look bad.

Unfortunately, Senator-elect Brown responded pompously that he didn't know that was what was planned and launched into a self-serving spiel about what he personally had done to benefit those in need of prescription medications in his own state. Apparently he entirely missed Ms. McCaskill's point. So today, Senator-elect Brown receives our coveted Political No No of the Week Award, along with marks of "Does not pay attention" and "Does not play well with others" for his unwillingness to play nicely even with those in his own party.

Under the Heading "Duh"

In the whirlwind that is parenthood, if there is one thing that is drilled into your mind it is that nothing is safe. In order to baby proof your home, you must seek expert advice, because even the youngest children are capable of conjuring lethal danger from thin air in ways that you as a normal human could not possibly imagine. Parents this is to be your mantra, "Nothing is safe. I know not the dangers of the world. I must seek wisdom to baby proof my home."

In an effort to place some sort of bounds upon this limitless task of protecting baby from everything from electrical outlets to falling meteorites, I purchased a little guidebook called, Baby Proofing Basics: How to Keep Your Child Safe by Vicki Lansky. When I found the following inside, I realized perhaps even I, a first-time parent, do not need a book to tell me everything.


Click on picture to enlarge . . .