Category: tweens

Book review: The Sound of Hope

by Karen, posted in books, education, family, health, no fear, teens, tweens

The Sound of HopeThe Sound of Hope by Lois Kam Heymann
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is geared toward children from birth through about age 8 with APD. It’s still worth reading if your child is older, but there aren’t many interventions that will work with your tween or teenager. Also, I thought it was very naive of the author to lead parents to believe that their school district will be ready, willing, and/or able to work with them to make sure that their child with APD receives a fair and appropriate education and is successful in school. The odds are that the school personnel will not even have HEARD of APD. The burden will be on the parents to advocate for their child.

View all my reviews

Expand your horizons

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, family, friends, local fun, movies, quest for the best, tweens

Looking for something fun to do with your kids this weekend? How about a movie and a cupcake? That’s what my daughter and I did today and we had a great afternoon.

What to see? That was tricky. There is a dearth of family movies to choose from at the moment.

Do you like movies about nature? Do you like movies about animals? Do you like National Geographic-type programs?  

I don’t, actually. Not much. I usually avoid them at all costs.

Big Miracle is a such a movie, but because it was the only option (and because we missed Glow Bowling) I decided to take my daughter to see it anyway. I brought my knitting, so the afternoon wouldn’t be a total loss. Well, the surprise is this: the movie was great. I loved it, and so did she. It’s a love story, but on many different levels. There was, of course, the usual man-woman relationship love, but also:

  1. The whale parents’ love for their child
  2. A grandfather’s love for his grandson
  3. Everyone’s (eventual) love for the whales

I liked it so much that I was motivated to write this, to persuade you to go see it.

After that, I was in such a good mood that we went to get a cupcake from Somethin’ Sweet. Jen mentioned that she was working on a new cupcake: Peach Cobbler. Hello? It was totally a day for breaking out of my rut, because I almost always will choose a cupcake that has chocolate of some sort  in it, but this time I went with the Peach.

It was a good decision. 🙂

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So, see a movie that you wouldn’t normally see. Eat a cupcake that isn’t chocolate. Better yet, share both with your tween!

First pair of glasses, part 2

by Karen, posted in family, health, tweens

In the previous post, I described how I found out that I needed  glasses when I was twelve-year-old. Fast forward to 2012, when my daughter is twelve, and just got her first pair of glasses.

We found out she needed glasses because she had routine eye screenings at school, as well as periodic full eye exams from an eye doctor. We knew a year ago that she would probably need them within a year or so…so we kept a close eye (ahem!) on her vision in the interim.

We took her to the eye doctor, Dr. Poulin in Sanford, who did an eye exam and rendered the glasses verdict almost matter of factly. My daughter’s response? “Yay!”. Thank you, Dr. Poulin. 🙂

She had many frames from which to choose, many of which looked so cute on her that it was hard to choose just one!

I’m thankful that my daughter didn’ t have to lose half of one of her front teeth to find out that her vision wasn’t optimal.

First pair of glasses, part 1

by Karen, posted in family, health, no fear, tweens
My first pair of glasses

I got my first pair of (many, many) glasses when I was twelve years old.  I was playing tag in my grandmother’s yard (with a friend-who-was-a-boy) and so of course not only was I running around like a nut, I was also distracted.  So first I was chasing Scotty, trying to tag him, and the next thing I knew I was on my butt in the grass, holding my mouth, bleeding.

I said, “Oh, crap!”

Scotty said, “Oh, bye!”

He left quickly.

What the hell happened? I had somehow managed to smash my mouth into the front of my father’s car, which was parked on the grass where we were playing. To my horror, as I went into the house to tell my mother what happened, I realized that I had shards of…what, tooth? Tooth! Shards of tooth were in my mouth! Not only had I gotten a fat lip from my “car crash”, but I’d also broken my front tooth.

My parents were more annoyed than sympathetic (this was gonna cost them). We didn’t have dental insurance so the fix was minimal (“I’ll just file it down so the sharp point from the tooth doesn’t puncture her tongue,” the dentist offered cheerfully). Worse than this was that the cause of the crash. I hadn’t crashed into the car because I was clumsy (well, not just because of that), as was first thought, but because I couldn’t see how close I was to it. 

I was nearsighted.

The state provided my glasses. I had no choice about which frame I got since there was only one option: the lovely cat’s eyes that you see pictured above. Although my dad tried to be upbeat about it, there was really not one bit of excitement involved.

So,  I’d lost half a tooth, but hey, I gained a pair of glasses soon thereafter.

Yay.

Wicked good? Not!

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, family, health, local fun, no fear, restaurants, Someone's gotta say it, tweens
Ew. Just...ew.

I recently visited a popular restaurant in Wells, one that I go to frequently. Usually I go with my husband but this time I was with  my daughter. We went there on Saturday. My twelve-year-old picked the restaurant and was excited to be going out for lunch with her mom.

My preference is always to sit in a booth, but they were all filled, so we agreed to take one of three small, two-seater tables in the center aisle. Before we ordered a booth opened up to our right, and we asked our server if we could move there. “Sure, if it’s not spoken for already,” she said. “I’ll go check.” We watched her talk to a woman in a Wicked Good! sweatshirt who was making the judgment calls at the door in terms of who sat where.

After a few moments, our waitress returned, apologetic. “A larger party is waiting to sit there,” she said. Really? There was no one at the door.  This is an establishment that does not take reservations. I say again, “Really?”

Okay, so we stay put. We order. The table sits vacant. Two more parties of two (women) come in, ask for the booth, and are given the same story by the girl at the door in the Wicked Good! sweatshirt. They take small tables like my daughter and I did.

But then….a party of two (wait for it….) men come in. At first, the Wicked Good! girl gives them the same story that the rest of us (women) got…but then she says, “Well, all right,” to them, and proceeds to sit this party of two (men) in the booth that my daughter and I couldn’t have (not to mention the other 4 women that asked for it).

Did I mention that it was two men who got the booth? I guess the Wicked Good! girl can’t do math. Hello? A party of two is not larger than a party of two.

To add insult to injury, when my fried seafood came, it was on a dirty plate.

Not wasting my vacation

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, family, friends, Holidays, local fun, movies, restaurants, shopping, tweens, yoga

I think that it’s very important to get out of your rut–I mean, routine–on your vacation week. This is especially challenging, of course, if you are taking (yet another) staycation. Having part of your time off fall during the holidays can make it a little easier to break out…as in the  “Hel-lo? What day is it?” situation in which I found myself just after Christmas. Still, the gym on Tuesday and Thursday, food shopping on Saturday line up could definitely stand some tweaking.

Sunday: Christmas. ‘Nuf said.

Monday: Clean up the house, rest up from the holiday, dinner at Olive Garden. Happily, I found the $4 off dinner coupon prior to paying and then remembered to use it.

Tuesday: Friends came over to make home-made, authentic egg rolls. Last time we made chicken and shrimp. This year, to change it up some (hey, it is vacation!) we made a third version: spicy pork, which ended up being a hit.

Wednesday: Pirates game (a present for the fam) after dinner at Binga’s Wingas (a present for Dad).

Thursday: Friends day. Lunch with former colleague for our rescheduled gift exchange, then scrapbooking for the first time in a year and a half, with more friends. The understanding kind that are not shocked that, despite your good intentions, you did not remember to organize your stuff and print out the Christmas pictures to use that day. Hey, it’s all about friends, right? UPDATE: This event did not actually happen and will be rescheduled. Instead, I went to Kohl’s and bought some cute things on clearance. Yay!

Friday: Shopping at the mall with my tween with her gift cards. Got an $89.50 fur-lined hoodie at Aeropostle for $10!!!  This was followed by eating w/reckless disregard for the future at the Buffet of Gorging and Obscene Excess at the mall. Then we saw We Bought a Zoo at the movies. May I just say: Go. See. It. It was excellent. We both loved it. Movie watching was accompanied by popcorn and Peanut M+Ms (aka “the devil”).

Saturday: New Year’s Eve. Chinese buffet at East and Just Dance 3 on the Wii to work (some of ) it off. Yoga first thing in the morning.

Sunday: New Year’s Day: Pajama day! Read stack of books and magazines that have been piling up. Went for a walk. More Wii. And…let the healthy eating begin!!!! Egg whites, soup, salad were on the menu. Really.

One of the best vacations ever. 🙂

Stocking stuffers for the kids

by Karen, posted in Holidays, tweens

Just in case the edict “Write what you know” is true, I thought that just maybe it’s cousin, “Buy what you know,” may also be true. In this post, I’ll do both; it will be in relation to teens and tweens stocking stuffers. Okay, so my teen is recently promoted to “twenty-something”, but I still have a good solid history of stuffing that particular stocking for all of the years intervening from tween to twenty.

Here’s what’s worked for me in years gone by, in no particular order:

  1. Nail polish and remover; maybe a little manicure implement set (girls).
  2. Their favorite candy.
  3. Their favorite gum.
  4. iTunes gift cards: you can get the $10 ones in a multi-pack and split them up, maybe save some for upcoming birthdays.
  5. A game for their favorite handheld device (can you say Nintendo 3DS?).
  6. Boys: Beef Jerky; but make sure it’s the right flavor (P.S. Good luck with that!); in my house it’s Black Pepper. I think. Oh, shoot!
  7. Girls: Anything from Bath and Body Works (come to think of it, this would be good for Mom, too).
  8. An ornament: maybe something themed that fits in with an activity that they were interested in this past year: cheering, sports teams, favorite movie.
  9. (Speaking of movies…): Movie passes.
  10. Gloves, socks, hats, mittens, T-shirts, underwear…rolled up to fill the toe of the stocking if you’re getting short on cash and long on empty space that needs a-fillin’.
  11. Brand new Crayolas, fun pens, colored twisty pencils, purple glue sticks that dry clear.
  12. Post it notes shaped like hearts or stars or that say “BFF” on them.
  13. SD cards for their cameras, memory sticks for their data.
  14. You can get purse-sized planners from the  Christmas Tree Shop and the Dollar Tree for (you guessed it) a buck.
  15. A new CD (Now That’s What I Call Music 40).  Anyone? Anyone?
  16. Decent ear buds for their iPods/mp3’s/any audio/video/gaming device that you don’t feel like listening to 24/7…is that wrong??
  17. A Tide Pen. You’ll just have to trust me on this one.
  18. Books: The Eat This Not That 2012, or for the tweens there’s a kids version.
  19. Cute shoe laces: Kohl’s has neon colors, zebra prints, all kids of fun in the shoe department.
  20. Moms: troll your jewelry box for your tween girls. There must be something in there that you haven’t worn in a dog’s age that could be spiffed up for your t(w)een.
  21. Vitamin Water, lemonade zero calorie flavor. I don’t know why. For the tween girl. These are good because you can usually get them for about a buck and because they take up lots of space (see #10).

Of course, some of these are pricey enough to be wrapped up as bona fide presents. Do with these suggestions as you see fit.

I hope this helps! 😀

Making Gingerbread Houses

by Karen, posted in (it's all about the) food, baking, family, friends, Holidays, local fun, tweens

I admit it: prior to yesterday I was a Gingerbread House Virgin. Through twenty-plus years of motherhood, I’d managed to avoid ever baking, never mind decorating, a gingerbread house. The desire just was not there. I couldn’t have been less interested.

Then something incredible happened: I wanted to make one.  Something shifted inside me and I really wanted to do it…and then…

I got lucky.

🙂

Tip: do it for the first time with someone who knows what they are doing!

Okay, enough double entendre. My friend Kristen (see her blog here) is a fabulous baker and she invited my daughter and me to be part of her (tenth, I think) annual ritual of baking and decorating a Gingerbread House with her son, something I’d never done with my own son in his childhood (but hey, we did make dozens—dozens!–of Christmas cookies over the years! Just sayin’.).

Our jobs were to bring something flat to put the house on the day prior, and to buy some candy to contribute to the stash of building supplies.
Oh, and to show up. 🙂

The end result? Amazing. The ideas the kids came up with were so creative–it was just wonderful to watch their minds working. Plus, my friend and I got to chat virtually uninterrupted for at least an hour.

This is definitely an activity I would like to do again next year.

The irony? My son was making his first Gingerbread House at the same time at his girlfriend’s house with her family. Go figure.

Watch the slideshow that follows to see what we used for materials. 🙂

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Angels and the creative process

by Karen, posted in Angels, family, tweens, writing

Instead of writing my blog post and examiner.com article and more NaNoWriMo words yesterday afternoon (and well into the evening…), I helped my tween daughter with her project for school.

The assignment was to make a collage that showcased the following:

  1. Your career aspirations
  2. Your interests
  3. Your talents
  4. Something else that I can’t remember (*midlife disclaimer)

She had already made a good start on it. We spread out the construction paper on the extra kitchen table that we brought up from the cellar and put in the living room for Thanksgiving (yep; it’s still there taking up every bit of extra space there is in that room. Don’t care. It’s very useful for… collage projects and such).

As we went through the stack of pristine magazines (that I had been too busy to read in November) looking for images to fill up the page, we talked about what her likes, talents, aspirations are. Want to get to know your tween better? Spend three hours making a collage with them.

As an aside, maybe it will help you get to know yourself better too. I started cutting out images to make my own collage as a result of this process!

Anyway, as I staring at a page, some words caught my eye: Joy, Peace, and Noel. I started cutting them out and then remembered the angel picture I’d seen on the previous page, which reminded me of an angel message I received from Stacey (Mainely You Massage) a few weeks ago.  She said that a Christmas angel had come through for me and my daughter, and was showing her the words “Joy” and “Noel” for us. There we were, sitting at that table, looking at those words in the presence of a (print) Christmas angel.  Oh my gosh!!! 

I suddenly felt that I was exactly where I was supposed to be, doing exactly what I was supposed to be doing.

As an added bonus, all that cutting and pasting fired me up to write. I have notes all over the place containing story ideas that came to my during and after our project.

**In the collage, the Christmas Angel is toward the bottom left corner, and the words “Joy, Peace, and Noel” are toward the top right corner, just above the raccoon..

Pennies from heaven

by Karen, posted in family, good grief, relationships, tweens

Ever heard that our loved ones that have died sometimes come back to visit and when they do, they often leave clues for us that they are/have been here?

There’s even a poem written about it!

Well, this week I’ve found pennies on the floor in my house unexpectedly on three separate occasions. It reminded me of another time that I found a penny, years ago, about 13 to be more exact. My husband and I had recently decided to have a second child and I was wondering if I was pregnant. I was running out to pick up a pizza, preoccupied with this thought (about the baby, not the pizza). I pulled up to our favorite (at the time) pizza place, B&F Pizza.

As I got out of the car, I noticed a penny on the ground. I bent down to pick it up and for just a moment I thought: I wonder if this is a sign? Then I looked at the date on that penny: 1937, the year my father was born. Was this Dad telling me that I our next baby was on the way?

Shortly thereafter I did discover that I was pregnant.

Do you think it was a sign?