GIVEAWAY: Tag Junior book pal

As I've said before, I love Leapfrog products! My son is getting a Tag Reader for Christmas, and he always enjoys playing with his Leapster. I wish the Tag Junior had been available when my son was at that age, but your child can enjoy one!

From the LeapFrog website:

A love of books starts long before children can read – and its benefits can last a lifetime. Using the same amazing touch technology as the Tag™ Reading System, the Tag™ Junior book pal is designed to encourage toddlers’ natural desire to explore, while introducing preschool skills through playful book-based activities.

The Tag Junior book pal is easy for parents and children to use. Parents can download audio for up to five books to the book pal, then let their toddlers explore. Each Tag Junior board book introduces a different preschool skill – such as the alphabet, counting or social play – through 24 playful activities and more than 130 audio responses.* Open-ended questions and fun sound effects encourage children to take charge, as they touch any part of any page to bring words, pictures or activities to life. After their child has played, parents can connect the book pal to the online LeapFrog® Learning Path to see their child’s progress and get printable activities to expand the learning!

* Included sampler book, If I Were…, has 16 activities and over 70 audio responses.

THE PRIZE:

A LeapFrog Tag Junior Book Pal and 2 books, ABC Animal Orchestra and Pooh Loves To…. This bundle is valued at nearly $57!

TO ENTER:

Become a fan on LeapFrog’s Facebook page. You MUST do this in order to qualify as a winner and leave a comment letting me know you have done so. You must do this before the extra entries will count. (Clarification for Shannon and others who might question this: I am still refusing to join Facebook. This entry is Leapfrog's requirement. It simply means I would not be eligible to win it on any of the other blogs hosting the contest because I wouldn't meet their requirements. :-) )

EXTRA ENTRIES

1. Leave a comment on my blog telling me what your favorite children's book is.

2. Subscribe to my blog, then leave a comment letting me know.

3. Follow be on Twitter and Tweet this giveaway and leave a comment with the link.

This giveaway ends at 8:00 AM Eastern Time, Monday, November 30, 2009. Open to residents of the U.S. only. The winner will be chosen by using random.org. Winner will have 24 hours to respond to notification with shipping info. If no response, another winner will be chosen.

You can also enter the same giveaway on these blogs:

Blogging ‘Bout Boys
Frisco Kids
Ready Mom
Parenting by Trial and Error
Momma Mia

GOOD LUCK!

Well articulated anger

We have a bedtime routine for our son that lasts anywhere from a half hour to an hour, depending on the degree of procrastination.


First, he has a snack (normally string cheese and a handful of oyster crackers) while we read a bedtime story. Then he goes upstairs and uses the bathroom, gets pajamas on, brushes teeth and flosses. He then gets in bed, where I read him a few pages from a longer book that we read over multiple days. Sometimes we stop reading at a particularly interesting part of the book. I try not to do that, and will sometimes read a couple extra pages, but sometimes it would take quite a few pages to get to another part, so we simply have to wait. Last night was one of those nights. As he often does, my son said "I wish we could read just one more page." I told him we couldn't this time. Normally that's that, but last night he persisted. Hubby and I said goodnight to him, and just as hubby closed the door, we heard "I'm going to be mad all night." We let him stew in his self-proclaimed anger. About five minutes later, he called me. I went in his room, and in a perfectly amicable voice he asked me "Did you hear me say I'm going to be mad all night?" I told him that I had heard him. He said "Oh, okay. I wasn't sure whether you heard me or not." I said "Yes. I heard you.", and again told him goodnight. He said goodnight, and we didn't hear another peep out of him all night.

In the morning, not a word was said about it. At breakfast, I asked him if he'd like to read more of the book after breakfast. His answer? A perfectly cheerful "No thanks."

Well, he never said he'd be angry in the morning, too. :-)

Poor jacket

Remember when we all laughed at the notion of someone abandoning their clothing at the tailor? Um...I might be abandoning my jacket at the tailor. The fleece jacket is about a decade old, and while it's in fine shape, it's hard to justify paying a lot to have it repaired when I could get a new one for $30 at the most if I find a good sale. So, when these people said it would be $10 to repair if it was just the zipper pull, I brought it in for them to look at. They said it would be the zipper pull. I have a claim ticket that says it will be $10. $10 was the absolute most I was willing to pay. I wasn't even willing to pay the extra 2 dollars to get it more quickly. Last week I got a message from them saying that repairing the zipper pull didn't help at all, and that it must be the zipper. I called, and the manager was not there, but I told the person I spoke with that I would be picking up the jacket, as I was not willing to pay for a pricier repair. I then said "And there won't be any charge, since it's not fixed, right?" The lady stammered a bit, and asked "Is that what the message said?" I said "No, but I was paying to have it fixed, and I don't know what I would be paying for if I get the jacket back in the same exact condition." She said I would have to talk to the manager. I plan to stop in on my lunch break. I understand that they had some time into this, but I was told that I would pay a certain price to repair my jacket. If my jacket is not repaired, why would I be paying anything? It's really a tough call, but I am unwilling to spend more than $10 to repair a coat from the 90s that probably cost $25 new. If they insist on some type of payment, I may opt to donate my jacket to them instead. Is that awful?

Update: Not only did they not charge me to retrieve my jacket, they tried to refund me the $10, which I had never paid in the first place. I explained to them that I hadn't given them any money, and took my non-zipping jacket with me. :-)

~~~~~

I am the first to admit that we are protective of our son. I don't think I'd go so far as to say we're overprotective, but I know we are more strict about some things than other parents. Regardless, I was very surprised when the mom of one of my son's new kindergarten friends invited him for a weekday playdate. The part that surprised me was when I said it wouldn't work out with my work schedule to bring him over from daycare midmorning she suggested that she pick him up at daycare. I'm sure she's a lovely lady, but I met her 3 weeks ago. I am not comfortable with her picking up my child and transporting him places. Luckily we were able to arrange a get together for one of the days on Thanksgiving break when I can bring him on my lunch break. Somehow there is a difference to me between leaving my son to play at someone's house for a few hours and letting that same someone drive him places.

Cutting costs

Evil Twin's Wife has a post about things she does to scale back expenses, and I figured that was a great topic so I decided to copy her. Imitation being the most sincere form of flattery, and all.

So, what things do we do at our house to save money?

1. Don't pay what the cable company charges. I call and get the latest promotion. When that expires? I call again. And there's always another promotion. There is no reason anyone should be paying full price for cable and internet. Just call and ask.

2. The garbage company we use recently raised prices. I called and got a much lower price with another company, called my company back, and they lowered the rate. It never hurts to ask.

3. Tear dryer sheets in half. Half a sheet is all you need to keep the static cling away and keep your clothes smelling nice. A box lasts twice as long.

4. Pack lunches. Hubby and I eat lunches from home almost everyday. Peanut butter sandwich, apple, string cheese, crackers...Sound like an elementary school lunch? Maybe. Tasty? Yep. Healthier than most things we'd get if we went out? Yep. Cheaper? Heck, yeah! Every once in a while we go out, but very rarely.

5. Coupons. I usually have coupons for activities we participate in. I also use coupons in stores, but I am not as diligent about that as I should be.

6. Grocery shopping - I buy things we need no matter the price, but extras, like a certain type of cookies, are only bought when on sale. I also stock up on things we eat regularly when they're on sale.

7. Heat/air conditioning. Set your thermostat 2 degrees lower/higher (depending on the season). You really won't notice the difference. If you have a programmable thermostat, set it was low while you're gone, and set it to be at the regular temperature when you get home.

8. Clothes. We don't get a lot of new clothes. Our son basically gets a new wardrobe every season, since he's growing, but hubby and I? A new shirt here or there, but they don't wear out that quickly, and we tend to wear classic items that don't get outdated.

9. Coffee. We make it at home. We don't stop daily for coffee. Occasionally, but certainly not daily, or even weekly.

10. Water - Turn it off when you're brushing your teeth. That both conserves water and saves money, assuming you're on municipal utilities.

11. Haircuts. I stopped going to my fancy salon a few years ago and now go to a little place in a strip mall. Hubby started cutting his own, for the most part, though he gets a professional one every few times to straighten out anything he might not get quite right. I also get my hair cut only every 3 or 4 months, and do bang trims myself.

12. Make my own foaming hand soap. Those dispensers are expensive and wasteful. Buy one dispenser for each room, and to refill: Use a one cup measuring cup. Fill with water to the 2/3 cup mark. Pour in regular handsoap from big container to the 3/4 cup mark. Stir, pour into dispenser. I've been doing it for a couple years.

13. I make my own bread. Have been doing so for the better part of the year. This saves money and is healthier, but it's hard to find a container that homemade bread fits in, so I use large ziplocs. Rather than go through one of those a week just for bread, I wash them and reuse them. Since all they had in them was bread, I am comfortable washing and reusing them. This would not apply for all (or even most) items put in a ziploc.

I'm sure there are many more ways, and I may add some later...How do you save?

Just like there's a greeting card for all occasions, there's also a book

Thanks so much to everyone for the comments and thoughts on yesterdays post. Each and every one was appreciated.

Telling our son actually went better than I would have expected. He was quiet at first, processing it. Asked a couple questions about when and how...Then the sadness hit. I had picked up a small stuffed dog for him that looked a lot like Rusty, which he kept with him all night and I believe offered some comfort, and I also remembered a book I bought when our other dog passed away a few years ago, Dog Heaven by Cynthia Rylant. Ms. Rylant is the author of dozens of children's books. We usually leave the library with a Henry and Mudge Book or High Rise Detective book, or her latest series that we discovered, Mr. Putter and the Tabby. I think Dog Heaven is a must read for anyone at the time of the loss of their pet (she also wrote Cat Heaven, which I haven't read). She paints the picture of a wonderful after life for the dog who has passed on, including unlimited biscuits shaped like cats, children to play with, inverted clouds for beds, and covert "invisible" visits down to earth to check on the family. My son felt so much better after reading this. This morning he referred to some of the things in the book that Rusty might be doing at that moment. I think we all felt a little better after reading that book together.

~~~

Hubby had an early lunch today and asked if I wanted to meet. We met at Taco Bell. We arrived separately, and he leaned in for a quick kiss when I arrived. I had forgotten about it by the time I was filling my drink, until the older gentleman who had been in line behind us asked "You do know that man don't you? I saw you kiss him when you came in." Heh. Who'd have thought the first time I was called out for a public display of affection would be 7½ years into marriage? :-)

Rusty 1994-2009

A couple months after hubby and I got married, we discovered that a local animal rescue group had a storefront in one of those malls that was no longer was the retail mecca it once was.

We enjoyed going in and seeing the pets. We already had 3 cats and had no plans to get another pet, but we liked visiting with the animals. We never saw the same animal there twice.

One week there was an 8 year old Beagle named Rusty there, who had been found as a stray. He was so cute and sweet and we stayed there for nearly an hour playing with him. Then we left.

A few weeks later we went to visit again, and again Rusty was there. Again we played with him for a long time, and left.

After we left, we commented that it was unusual to see the same animal there twice. I can't remember which one of us jokingly made the comment "If here's there again next time, then he must be meant to be ours."

A few weeks later we returned, and there was Rusty. Hubby and I looked at each other, and knew we would be adopting him.

He was with us for 7 years, and was the sweetest dog there ever was. He started off nervous around all new people, and became a friendly, sociable dog. He loved our son and while he was overwhelmed, he even enjoyed when my son and seven friends all decided to pet him (gently) at the same time during my son's birthday party. We had a lot of good times with our sweet Rusty.

Over the past week, our sweet 15 year old beagle stopped eating (though he had two days in the middle when he happily gobbled his new canned food) and developed very labored breathing Saturday night which prevented him from enjoying his remaining favorite pastime, sleeping.

Last night we made the very difficult decision that the kindest thing we could do for him is let him go. Hubby brought him to the emergency vet's office last night, where he was euthanized.

Our son spent time with him yesterday afternoon, when we told him that Rusty would be going to heaven soon. He took it hard, but acknowledged that Rusty did not look happy or comfortable. We did not tell him about Rusty being gone this morning, because we didn't want to tell him that and then send him to school. He will get that hard news tonight.

I leave you with an article from the rescue group's newsletter, that has been posted on my bulletin board at work for the last 7 years:

Adoption Highlight: Rusty
Rusty, a male beagle mix, came into the rescue as a stray who was surviving out of garbage cans. He was thin from hunger and seemed happy to be in a warm home with regular meals. We soon discovered that this little guy was about 8 years old and heartworm positive. He had two big strikes against him for adoption. I fostered him thinking he might be a "lifer" and I was willing to keep him as long as it took. He was successfully treated for heartworm and soon found his energy and played like a puppy - his second puppy hood. He made many appearances at the store, on the cable show, and even a spot on the radio show, but no one seemed to want this little charmer. His age seemed to be a deterrent to some folks. Then an article was placed in the newspaper by our marketing team and one of the featured animals was Rusty. Well, all of a sudden applications started coming in for this sweetheart of a dog. A lovely couple came into the store to see Rusty and they fell in love with him. A match made in heaven. They came back twice to see him before making a commitment, but when they did, they could hardly wait to welcome him into their home. I had him for 6 months, and it was hard to say goodbye, but knowing that he had found his own forever home was very rewarding at the same time. For Rusty, there was truly a happy ending. I am so thankful to be a part of those moments. I am proud that we are making a difference in the lives of animals - even the ones that are sometimes considered hard to place.
~~~
We'll miss you, Rusty.

Blog Share!

Following is a post written by someone else for today's Blog Share adventure. See one of the blogs listed in my previous post for a post written by me. Thanks again to -R- for hosting this, and to my anonymous poster.

When I was younger I don’t think I was a very good person. At the time I wasn’t incredibly conscience of how naïve I was to the rest of the world. When I think about who I was then it makes me shudder. The real issue was that subconsciously I thought the world should revolve around me. I worried about how everything made me feel. For some reason I didn’t seem too interested in understanding how things would make other people feel, or maybe why they felt the way they did.

I wasn’t always like this; I was quite caring of other people when I was a child, but somewhere along the way, it changed. I spoke before thinking; I made judgment without knowing the entire story. Is this something that being a teenage girl will do to a person? Is this normal for other people as well? Sometimes when an opportunity arises for me to be around the people I was friends with then, I will opt out. I do have friends that I have been friends with since then around me, but they have been around me through all of these years. I feel they know me now as opposed to just knowing me then and see how I am different. My fear is that the friends I had back then and who I only see occasionally will still think I’m that person and it makes me sick.

I’ve made enough mistakes along the way to encourage me to really get to know people better. I love having deep conversations with them; I want to know why they are who they are. I want to know what makes them afraid of certain situations or what makes them brave in other ones. It’s very interesting to me how the choices we have made or didn’t make have shaped us into who we are, and I mean that in all the positive and negative aspects. If I could have one wish, this would be it. I would wish that everyone could have the ability to at least try to wear someone else’s shoes. I’m not asking someone who prefers running shoes to run a marathon in high heels, but maybe they could just give them a nice long look. Are the heels brand new? Or have they been worn down, or maybe even broken off and glued back on? They might even just try them on and acknowledge they feel different.

I could list ten things right now that I’m disappointed in myself for not accomplishing. Ten things that I would still like to do before I leave this world, but the change I’ve made internally in the past 8 years is something I’m very proud of. Can I keep getting better? Of course. Do I still make judgments? I do. But in the end I always find myself empathizing with the person rather than hanging on to that first impression or seventh impression, whichever it is.

For once it is nice to recognize something good about who I've become rather than the usual battle with myself about who I haven't become just yet.

List of Blog Share Participants

Following are the blogs participating in Blog Share today:

Not the Daddy
O is for Olson
Red Red Whine
Rediscovering Me
Reflections in the Snow-covered Hills
The Reluctant Grownup
Sauntering Soul
Serendipity Now
Snarke
So, This Is a Treadmill
Thinking Some More
Time for Change
Together They Come
Wondering and Pondering
And You Know What Else
Andrea Unplugged
Arctic-ulate
Bright Yellow World
Bwildered
Catheroominations
Did I Say That Outloud?
Dispatches from the Failed Mommy Club
Full of Snark
Heidikins
Hot Chicks Dig Smart Men
Just Below 63
The Little Goat

See one of these blogs for a post written by me!