Don't Pee on the Bee

Sense of Smell vs. Techno Device

OK, I think that this is absolutely astounding, and I mean that in a bad way!  According to research done by McCann Worldgroup (as cited in Real Simple September 2011 under "the simple list"), 53% of 16- to 22-year olds around the world would rather give up their sense of smell than their favorite personal technology device!

I don't even know what else to say!  Don't they realize they could keep their sense of smell and still use their second favorite device???  (Maybe they need more "philosophical" conversations!!!)   Maybe that's the difference between a 46-year old vs. a 16-year old, but wow!

Anyone else feeling less astounded and able to put a coherent sentence together?

Another Weird Yogurt Post

So hopefully none of you are thinking that I have some weird eating disorder!  But here I am with another possibly unusual take on yogurt as dessert.  The good news is that I did not dream this one up on my own but read it in the September issue of Real Simple.  I love this magazine!  It's one of those where you can sit when you are completely dazed and just gaze at the pictures and still feel that you are an upright human being!

Healthy Snacks for Every Attack was a very helpful article, but I will say it is much easier to read in the magazine itself than online!  There were some interesting ideas on what to eat for a snack--some things I probably won't eat, but others I might try if I think about it!  But the one that really grabbed my attention was under the "for your desk" option.  For me, it should read "for the couch, when everyone is asleep, and there is a good TV show on that you just really want to sit and enjoy" option.  And that would be 1/2 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt, 2 Tablespoons canned pumpkin and a pinch of pumpkin pie spice.  And I've actually got all those things in my cupboard!  We love pumpkin pie--although most of the time I just cook it as a custard and skip the super fattening pie crust!  We call it pumpkin pudding.  But this will do just fine during a warm summer when the idea of turning on the oven to bake a dessert is really one of the last things I want to do!  Sure sounds better than 2 carrots cut into sticks with 1 Tablespoon of peanut butter!

But Why?

This is the title of an article by Lora Shinn that is in the September 2011 issue of Kiwi magazine.  The subtitle is Raising kids who think.  Of course, I honed right onto that one and started reading right away!  She talks about trying to answer the Big Questions that our children ask us while fostering their ability to think things through, and yes, even get a little philosophical. 

Now some days, the last thing I want to do is get philosophical with JJ!  He wants to get to the bottom of everything and be sure that he really understands it.  Some days I just want to tell him to stop thinking!  But on a good day, if there is time, I think that some of the ideas that Shinn presents are good ones.  She says that when your child is asking these Big Questions, "Your child is demonstrating his natural inclination to speculate, reason, and persuade.  ANd if he were in college instead of second grade, he's be considered a philosopher.  So go with it:  Encouraging philosophical conversations can boost a child's creativity, language, and critical-thinking skills."  But she's also not some parenting advice wacko (perhaps I could have put that a bit more nicely!) who is telling us to have conversations like this all the time.  She believes it's OK to just say "Lights out because I said so!" and talk about the big issues later.

She's got some suggestions on how to get these conversations started, one that involves Shel Silverstein's The Giving Tree.  She suggests that after reading this, you might discuss:  Is it possible to give too much?  Can we love books and paper but also dislike chopping down trees?  I've got to say that both of these intrigue me!  I already worry about Sarah sometimes as she is often so readily willing to give whatever she has got to someone else.  And I know that's a fine trait on the one hand, but I also don't want her to be the kind of young woman who gives other people what they want in order to keep them happy if it doesn't make her happy.  (Maybe I'm the parenting advice wacko now for worrying too much about this!)

Back to the topic at hand . . . But I also love the question about paper and books and trees!  And I would love to hear what my kids have to say about this.  I could see a really fruitful conversation coming from this.  And speaking of books, the article also references a blog Wondering Aloud that has more ideas like these.  But what I really love about Wondering Aloud is the books and ideas that are listed!  I just ordered Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge by Mem Fox because of this site!  And here's the irony . . . As I was writing this, Sarah just came in and told me that she and JJ are playing a game called "Old Lady," and then when I saw the author's name, I just laughed too.  This is the first author that Sarah's class will be studying this month.  I love how the Universe works!

 

Kiwi, Ovaltine Yogurt and Wheat Thins

What do those three things have in common?  Me, my couch and last night!  Instead of watching TV, I sat on the couch, enjoyed the open windows and a blankie in my lap (of course!), and read KIWI magazine.  I didn't really eat that much dinner, so the more I saw the food ads in the mag, and started reading recipes, I decided I needed something to eat.  So I got up and made myself some vanilla yogurt with some Ovaltine mixed in--which was delish!  But then I needed something salty, hence, the wheat thins.  Sounds kind of gross now, but it made me happy last night!

This latest issue of KIWI (September 2011) is a good one!  But I will focus on food items for now (since I just finished eating my lunch!)  Sarah is having a heck of a time with food these days, so I am always looking for something that might interest her.  How about PB & Blue?  Mash about 1/4 cup of blueberries with a little bit of sugar and then spread on toast or bread with some pb or almond butter.  I think she might actually go for that, so I'm going to give it a whirl.  Of course, we're out of blueberries, so I'll have to get some before we can try it!

There was also a yummy sounding recipe for "duffins."  No, that is not a typo.  They call it "healthier than a donut and more fun than a muffin."  Works for me--especially when I am eating Ovaltine yogurt!  It looks like a jam-filled muffin but supposedly tastes like a donut and is a little bit healthier!  I'm game!  I think we'll try making these over the weekend.  Unfortunately, I checked out their website, and no link to duffins there yet!  Guess you'll have to buy the magazine to check it out--or wait for my review!

They also had this neat little "Pick-a-Lunch" chart which I know was designed for kids, but let me tell you, (as I've told you before!), I hate making myself lunch!  So I may use this little chart for me when I need some good ideas!

Any else out their food-trippin' today???  Maybe you made yourself an amazing lunch that you want to share! 

O, Pie!

OK, so I am really embarrassing myself here, but once more, a post about food . . .

I had a hard time falling asleep last night, so I broke out my new issue of O magazine and started reading.  Liked the articles about intuition and want to read many of the recommended books, but it was this article, Easy As Pie, that really inspired me!  I used to love to bake when I was a little girl, thanks to my grandmother buying my a Betty Crocker kids' cook book at a young age.  It was my favorite, and I loved to break it out on the weekends and make things from it.  But as I got older, my love for cooking was less about baking and more about food in general!  And I don't know if I have ever made a pie besides pumpkin or sweet potato!  But this article really makes you believe that you can make a pie!  And there are recipes for little Hand Pies as well as regular pies.  And I promise you that I will be making one of these pies here soon and will report back!  Let me know if you try one before I do!

Food Trippin', Part 2

Still finding great delight in the recipes that I am reading!  I am hoping that one of these days my "deep thinking" brain will return, and I will be able to focus more on things other than what goes into my mouth!  But for now, I will let my reptilian brain take over and just drool at some of these things!

The August/September 2011 issue of Shop Smart has 3 delicious-sounding recipes for fries, and after eating some amazing sweet potato fries in Santa Cruz a few weeks ago, I haven't been able to stop thinking about them!  I only have a minute to blog today and haven't been able to find the link, but if you think that Oven-Roasted Potatoes with Rosemary, Oven-Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Cinnamon, or garlicky Parsnips with Parsley sound good, you might want to try and find the recipes!  Personally, I am dying to try the parsnip recipe.  I posted a recipe for roasted parsnips sometime ago, and I will tell you that they were so delicious, I couldn't believe it!  And I don't think that I had ever eaten a parsnip prior to that!   Wonder what my reptilian brain would do with some of those right now!

Claustrophobic Fingers

As they put on my cast on Monday, I do have to admit that for a moment when they started wrapping my fingers, I felt some anxiety rising rather quickly.  I am super claustrophobic but was able to quickly talk my way out of the (ridiculous!!!) panic.  Really?  Two fingers leads to a freak-out?  But I do attribute the clautrophobia to being in two body casts as a young girl . . . which reminded me that I wanted to post my scoliosis article that was published this month in North Parent Magazine.  Please be sure to note that nowhere in my article do I mention bodycasts.  Apparently the technology is so good now, they don't use them.  Well!  So much for my 9 months in a plaster cast and 8 months in a fiberglass one!  Although they did get me a nice straight back along with a gnarly case of claustrophobia!