*Eye* spy a grown up girl

After trying on 12 different pairs, she kept coming back to these so there you have it - her first pair of glasses! Taking bets on how long they last before she sits on them :)

Halloween ushers in my season of sleeplessness and panic

The insanity is coming, the insanity is coming. As *soon* as that last treat is handed out for Halloween and I turn off our front light, I go into panic mode.

Two birthdays (eight and six years old this year - can't be true!) and Christmas will be here before I know it and my children will wake up on Christmas morning without gifts because Santa Claus totally forgot to go shopping come.

The chances of that are NILL, but I still get a rush of anxiety on November 1st.

How will I get it all done? When will we buy the tree...decorate the tree...decorate the house...find the stockings...plan the meal...squeeze in two birthday parties...oh, and two baptism "do-overs" this year (more on that later)...see...panic...sweating...breathing heavy.....

Excuse me while I calm down by raiding the Halloween candy. In a moment of brilliance I bought full size candy bars this year. Unemployment hasn't set in with me, apparently...nor has the fact that those jeans from last season are now as tight as stretchy pants. Add "back to the gym" somewhere in there...fantastic.

As for the baptisms, my children will be spending their birthday celebration at our church - getting baptized - again. I guess Catholic God doesn't recognize all sacraments of baptism, especially those held at Congregational churches, so we are going to do it again...for formalities sake. My daughter is thrilled. I've already given two churches "gifts" for their services of baptism, now I get to do it again...so I'm not so thrilled. But if 15 20 25 years from now my daughter wants to get married in the church she loves, she will be able to without any issues. Unless she marries a divorced man then she won't be able to...but that will not be MY fault. I'm all about getting myself off the hook...

Online education

As some of you fantastic people may know, I sort of got a new job...it is in the works but my name is going up on their web site so hopefully a paycheck will follow soon after :). They are raising funds so if any of you have about $500K to throw our way, give me a shout!

The company is called ScreenRetriever (www.screenretriever.com) and the basis of their technology is to help parents teach their kids responsible online behavior. I was really excited by the technology - as a product person at heart - but even more excited by their commitment to HELP and not just preach.

Sure, companies run off of revenue but this small group (you have more fingers than we have employees) is focused on spreading the word that kids need guidance online just as they do offline.

Think about it this way - as your kids gain independence you let them do things like play out in the yard by themselves, right? But all parents know that those first few days, weeks, months, years you still find yourself peeking out the window to make sure they are safe. The Internet is a billion times more crowded than your backyard so how could you just let them "go out to play" there without instilling some rules and guidelines - and we're not talking blocking sites you think are bad, or limiting them to 1 hour a day on the computer - I'm talking real guidelines - the kind you give them about interacting with others face to face in the playground or at school. Take for example:

Don't say things wouldn't want to be said to you - cyberbullying

Don't talk to strangers - online predators, cyberstalking

Let me know if someone touches you the wrong way - sexting

Pay attention in class and don't talk when the teacher is talking - online time management

Treat people with respect - online reputation

It is easy to transfer offline knowledge to online knowledge - its harder to play catch up when things get out of hand.  Technology IS NOT GOING AWAY.  Get educated. And stay tuned, I hope to share more of what I'm learning with you.

Tale of two students

Exhibit A:
I don't want to get up.
I don't want to go to school.
I don't like homework.
Don't make me wear my uniform

Exhibit B:
Can I have more homework?
I got all check pluses today
Can I buy my teachers pumpkins for Halloween?
I learned that in school today.

Most likely the difference between second grade and kindergarten - but two incredibly different attitudes towards school.  But two of the same is boring, so I'm just enjoying the diversity...or so I keep telling myself.

Are your kids completely different learners?  Does one bound out of bed ready to go, and one hide under the covers an extra 5...10...15 minutes?  I sure hope so.