The Fish Pond

Good for Super White and Other People, But Tasty to Bugs?

I am a super-white person. I have a history of severe sunburns dating back to the late 1970s. Skin cancer (I just typed Sun cancer twice) is a certainty in my future, and if that doesn't get me it just means something else got me first. So it is a must that I slather myself up against the onslaught of the sun, and I insist on my family members doing it, too.

I am picky about my sunscreen. It has to be effective, of course, but I can't stand it if it feels icky when it's on. I have a sensitive body chemistry, I guess; I tend to be allergic to lots of things, and even stuff that I'm not allergic to drives me crazy if it has a strong odor or cloying texture. I am always on the lookout for better sunscreen that gets the job done with as little to indicate that it is there as possible.

Little Man has apparently inherited both my tendency to burn and my sensitivity to personal hygiene products. One day at a birthday party on a somewhat cloudy day I didn't slather the kids up because we were mostly in the shade, and everyone was fine except Little Man, whose back looked like the proverbial lobster. I cried for days that I had let that happen to him.

When the Parentbloggers asked for someone to try out a line of performance sunscreen products in a speedy way, I knew that was a job for Fishfamily. The kind folks at KINeSYS sent us four different products: SPF 30 oil-free and alcohol-free PABA-free UVA/UVB protection performance sunscreen in mango scent; SPF 30 oil-free and alcohol-free Kids cream sunscreen with titanium dioxide; Kids Funscreen SPF 30 spray-on sunscreen; and SPF 30 Sun Protection Stick. We set about trying them at once.

All the sunscreens are water and sweat resistant, and all had to be applied 30 minutes before going out and re-applied after two hours. The sprays are both pump sprays, and go on nice and light and easy, much easier than some of the continuous spray sunscreens I've used before. The creme spreads on nice and light, too, but I am lazy, so therefore I preferred the sprays. The sprays did have a bit of overspray, though, so we learned quickly to spray them outside to cut down on the mess/cloud of sunscreen. The stick for lips, ears, and face was really nice, it works like a glue stick with less mess, but it was a bit of a challenge to use on ears, which aren't as rigid and unyielding as noses and faces.

All the sunscreens worked as advertised without being icky. The mango scent of the adult spray wasn't overpowering, just a nice, light scent.

I did have a couple of issues with the sunscreens, though. One is that you must make sure that your spray bottles are stored upright. I had the small bottle of kids spray in my purse, and it leaked all over the inside of my purse. The bottle wasn't unscrewed or anything, it just had an issue. I had a problem with the creme sunscreen in deciding how much to use - the sprays are much easier to keep from using too much or too little. The sunscreens are a bit pricey, too, but this may be balanced over time with the number of uses you get. We've been using it quite a lot for two weeks and still have plenty left.

I do have to wonder about the mango fragrance. I mentioned in one of my recent posts about an apparent bug infestation. I wonder if we are seeing a bunch more bug bites due to the sunscreens, because thats the only thing that has changed around here and we are definitely seeing more bug bites than usual. I will test this further by not using this sunscreen for a week or so and see if we get fewer bites.

All in all, I thought the KINeSYS performance sunscreens performed admirably without being icky, and I will certain use them again in the future if they don't turn out to attract the insects. Maybe a product that incorporates an insect repellent would be a good addition to their product line.

There's a World of Words Out There

My kids are tv nuts. They love tv. I was raised on tv, so I feel that it doesn't automatically doom you to a life of ADD and poor cognitive performance. I feel that used properly, as any other tool in a parent's arsenal, it can be educational and fun. But I also recognize that tv is different now than it was when I was a kid. Shows are more violent, faster paced, and full of more sexually explicit material. So I severely limit what I will allow my kids to watch on tv. We focus mostly on preschool aimed shows, even for my older kids, and I try to stick to networks that have little to no commercials, like Noggin and PBS.

On September 3, a new show called Word World will debut on PBS. Thanks to the Parentbloggers, my little tv junkies got to preview it and let me know what they thought.

Word World is an adorable show that makes "words come alive." Animals and things in Word World are actually made up of the letters that spell the word, and they use the letters in a word to solve problems. For example, in one of the stories we reviewed, an "O" gets lost when two of the animals are fighting over a box and pull the word apart. They have to track down the missing "O" so they can put the box back together so Cat can retrieve what's inside. The animals jump and sing when they solve the problem.

My kids loved it. The target audience is ages 3-5, and while my 3 year old enjoyed watching it (and I hope she's picking up some letter recognition passively), it is my 5-almost-six year old who really gets the most out of it, since he knows his letters and is just now learning the basic theory of how letters fit together to form words. The show is slightly slower paced than a lot of other shows out there, even on PBS, and the characters are sweet and kind, not mouthy and disrespectful.

Word World reminds me of some of the sketches they used to do on Sesame Street back in the 70s. Your kids will love building their literacy skills in Word World.

Noah's Pals Have A Little Bit Extra

My kids have an extensive collection of small plastic animals that they love to set up in elaborate schemes all over the house. Fisher Price Little People animals, cheap plastic ones from the dollar store, and those fancy Schleich animals all mingle together in off-scale harmony. So when the Parent Bloggers asked for people to receive and review Noah's Pals animals, I thought we'd be a good test family.

Noah's Pals are a set of plastic animals that, as the name implies, come in sets of two and are designed to fit into an ark. They are of good quality, highly detailed, and I think they will be durable as my kids play with them over time. They are supposed to be for ages 5-10, but honestly Sunny, who's 3, plays with them the most of my kids. They come in sets of two, except the doves which include Noah in the set, or you can purchase the entire set all at once with the ark at amazon.com.

The thing that separates these animals from other toy animals or Noah's ark sets is the collecting concept. Each Noah's Pals set comes with a card that provides a bunch of different information about the animal such as its habitat, scientific names, sizes, and whether the animal is common, vulnerable, or endangered. On the back of the card is a code and if you go to the web site and enter the codes, they will keep track of which sets you have. If you collect all the sets, they will send you a "Caboodle," which is the prize or bonus for collecting the whole thing.

The web site is a bit challenging for a 7 year old to navigate all by herself, so expect to have to help your kids register and enter their codes. There are a whole bunch of extras on the site, like a downloadable coloring book and games. They also have a partnership with the Wildlife Conservation Society, to whom they donate 5% of their net sales.

Noah's Pals are a fun way for your child to get involved in collecting in a meaningful way.

Pregnancy in the Moment

Who better to review a pregnancy book than someone who's been pregnant four times? Well, maybe someone who has been pregnant more than four times, but probably I have enough experience to offer something good here. When The Parent Bloggers asked for people to review a new pregnancy book called Body, Soul and Baby, by Tracy W. Gaudet, M.D. and Paula Spencer, I thought that maybe I have a large enough audience among the 10 or so of you who regularly come here who would be interested in this book, so I decided to give it a shot.

Body, Soul, and Baby is a meaty book, more than 500 pages, and it may be intimidating to some due to its sheer volume, but those who are persistent will find a gem of a pregnancy book, unlike any I've ever encountered. In addition to providing basic information about the medical aspects of pregnancy, development of your baby, and labor coping strategies, it teaches you how to care for all aspects of you - your body, your mind, your soul. It does this by encouraging you to be mindful of your pregnancy - all parts of it - to make decisions and live with purpose instead of letting your pregnancy just happen to you. It covers from pre-conception through a lengthy section on the postpartum period, not just a few pages but several chapters.

Of particular interest to me was both the treatment of c-sections and postpartum depression. I was thrilled to find that c-section was not treated as an afterthought, but rather had a lengthy section devoted just to it, the reasons one might be needed, what would happen, how to care for yourself afterward, and how to be at ease with getting one should you need it. I found some previous pregnancy books to be a bit dismissive of c-section or cover it in such a way that scared the crap out of me about how awful a c-section would be. As the veteran of four of them, one of which after 19 hours of labor, I can attest that while they carry more risk than a vaginal delivery, they aren't THAT bad, and I was happy to read a book that seemed to hold the same opinion.

Postpartum depression was extensively covered, including ways to decrease your risk of developing it, coping strategies if you do, how to recognize it, and ways that it may be treated. It was the most comprehensive coverage of postpartum depression that wasn't a book exclusively devoted to the topic that I'd ever seen. It also covered depression during pregnancy, something I most likely was suffering from during my pregnancy with Nemo, and something that I don't think I've seen even mentioned very often elsewhere.

I like this book, and I recommend it to anyone who is either pregnant or thinking of becoming pregnant in the future. It is comprehensive without being frightening. The positive approaches teach you to nurture yourself as you prepare to nurture your baby - just what every new and prospective mom needs.

But Wait! There's More

Yesterday I took Nemo to the pediatrician, and since BigDaddyFish is sick, I took Sunny along to give him a break (the bigs pretty much take care of themselves). When we got done, Sunny told me she wanted to go to McDonalds to get pancakes. It was 3pm. I explained that they only do pancakes in the morning for breakfast. She said they should make breakfast all day. I told her it would be nice, but that I'd feed her when we got home.

We were sitting at a traffic light across from the complex where the doctor is, which just happens to be in front of my new obsession, Rita's. Sunny pipes up from behind me "Mommy, I'm still hungry!"

"Yes, Sunny, I'll feed you when we get home."

"But I want to eat now! I'm hungry now!"

"We don't have anything to eat right now. We'll eat when we get home." For the record, home is a 5 minute drive from the pediatrician.

"I need to eat!"

"Well, what do you want to eat?"

"We could get italian ice."

"Well, we could, but I don't want to get baby Nemo out of the car."

"He can ride in the stroller."

"Yes, but he doesn't feel well, so I don't want to get him out. And they don't have a drive-thru."

"Well, we could go home, and get Daddy's tools, and he could make them a drive-thru."

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We rented the movie Charlotte's Web and watched it yesterday. We have the older animated version and the kids have seen it numerous times, so I didn't think the ending would cause any issues. I was oh, so wrong.

It got to the end where Charlotte has made her egg sac and has broken the news to Wilbur that she won't be returning to the barn, explaining that she is dying and doesn't have the strength to even come down from her perch. Little Man looked at me, bewildered, and said, "She's not really going to die, is she, Mom? She's going to get better, right?"

I explained that no, she wasn't going to get better, that she was dying, and I reminded him that he'd seen the other movie and so he knew what was going to happen. He flatly denied it. He gazed at me, eyes shining with tears, and then climbed into my lap, where I held him until he stopped crying. We talked about the circle of life, how all things die, but that Charlotte would live on in the lives of the children in her egg sac and in the hearts of those who knew her and loved her. I stroked his hair and hugged him, and told him that when the original animated movie came out and I had seen it in the theater as a child, I cried, too, and that it's okay to cry when we feel sad.

It was one of those rare moments where I felt competent as a mother. I think I can count on one hand the number of times that's happened.

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A couple of months ago (sorry, Dan), I got one of those e-mails asking me to review a product - I probably get about one of those a week. Most of the time I ignore them, because there is no offer of a free product or compensation or anything, and they are rather generic in nature, not using my name or anything. This one, though, addressed me by name, commented on something related to my blog in such a way as to make it clear that he had ACTUALLY READ the darn thing, and asked if I'd be willing to review TrueBlue Blueberry Juice. In one of those weird twists that happen when you blog semi anonymously, I had already been asked by Props and Pans to review the juice, and pointed that out. For whatever reason, though, I didn't get my juice to review until the day before PnP posted the reviews done by the other bloggers, so mine wasn't posted over there. Dan very nicely sent me a full case of the juice (that's 8 64oz. bottles) and I've been asking friends and family to drink it and tell what they thought, and here's the Fish Pond review.

TrueBlue Blueberry juice is quite the juice. It is full of antioxidants, has a full serving of blueberries in a 16oz. glass, and has no high fructose corn syrup. Rather, it is sweetened with cane sugar. That, combined with the natural sweetness of the blueberries, makes for a rather sweet product, and I, as well as a few other testers, found that I had to cut it with water to make it palatable. Once I did that, though, yuuuummmmmmy!

We tried the Blueberry Blackberry flavor, but there are a bunch more, including a straight blueberry flavor and a Blueberry Iced Green Tea flavor. Oddly enough, Sunny, who is our blueberry fanatic around here, didn't like it, but the rest of us more than made up for it. I feel good about giving it to the kids, and will add it to our repertoire of 100% orange, grape, and apple juice.

Thanks, Dan, for sending so much of this great juice, and sorry it took so long for me to get my act together and write about it.

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Guess who's up at Props and Pans today? While you're over there finding out the answer (ahem), notice that they're giving away a Rolling Stones' Biggest Bang DVD box set! Check out the other reviewers' thoughts on the set and enter to get yours.

Getting Rid of the Irrelevant and Giving You the Gems

Did you ever google "Separation Anxiety" to try and get information on what to do with a three-year old who has suddenly become velcro child and won't let you out of her sight for a second, not even to pee or throw a load of laundry in the washer, and see what you get?  No?  Well, there's information for you there, if you want to wade through all the ways to give your dog medication so he doesn't destroy your house while you are away from home, or information on how to get through panic attacks for adults.  Good information, most of it, but not really relevant to the clingy kid.

Enter Light Iris.  Light Iris is a website for new and expectant mothers.  It provides information and tools specific to the needs of mothers.  Right now the most important feature is the search engine, which wades through all the google crap and spits out only the relevant information that you need.  No fearful dogs or panicking adults here (unless they sit at the computer), only good information pertaining to separation anxiety in children and what to do about it.  Or nursing babies.  Or motherhood in general.  If it relates to moms, you'll get it here.

Right now, if you join Light Iris, you'll be entered to win over $3000 in gift cards.  Also, they support the Global Fund for Women, an international network of men and women committed to equality and social justice.  More features will be added to the website as they're developed.

Go ahead, check it out.  You'll find you like it.  Bookmark it for when you need to find information on how to end the baby's nursing strike before your boobs explode.  And while you're at it, check out Parent Bloggers, who told me about Light Iris in the first place. They'll tell you how you can participate in an upcoming blog blast, where you could win registration for BlogHer in July!  How awesome is that?

Boca Beth: Me Gusta

Trout had been asking about taking a Spanish class to learn more Spanish than a thousand episodes of Dora had taught her, so when the Parent Bloggers asked for someone to review a program to teach Spanish to kids age 0-8 I jumped at the chance, especially since I have four kids in the target age demographic (I originally typed demongraphic - kinda telling about how my days have been recently).  Boca Beth is a program designed to lay the foundation for raising kids who are bilingual in both English and Spanish.  We received the My First Songs in Spanish CD, the I Like Animals DVD, a Boca puppet, a coloring book, and a wonderful cute little maraca/shaker thingy that my kids fight over.

We've watched the DVD and listened to the CD at least 100 times each.  My kids love these things -- especially Sunny.  When the DVD is on she is glued to the TV, repeating all the dialogue and doing all the dances, pronouncing things as best she can.  She wanders around the house singing all the songs -- she even sings them in the bathtub.  I can't vouch for how much Nemo got out of any of it, as he can't talk, but he sure likes to watch the DVD and tends to stop fussing when the CD is on.  Little Man and Trout also watched, listened, and learned, but I don't think they got as much out of it as Sunny did.  I think she, at 2 and 3 (she had her birthday in the middle of our review), is the best target audience for the program.

The production quality of both the CD and the DVD could be better.  I have a friend who records his own compositions in his bedroom, and the production quality of his work is higher than the quality of the Boca Beth CD.  However, the songs are catchy and easy to learn, and use familiar tunes that the kids already know.  Every time we get in the car Sunny asks for Boca to play.  My only issues with the CD are the aforementioned production quality, and the fact that the songs do tend to develop into ear worms for the adults in the area after a while (I have found myself unable to fall asleep one night because of Hay un perro a fuera being stuck in my head).  It would have been nice to have a lyrics sheet for the adults, though, because sometimes it is difficult to make out if something starts with, say, a B or a P just from listening to the CD.

The DVD has the songs on it, mostly in a classroom setting, and shows different animals doing all sorts of things.  Again, the production quality is an issue; it is something more akin to what has been done at my church for their post-VBS slide show on Powerpoint than a more polished DVD like something you might see on Baby Einstein.  But you know what?  It doesn't matter.  It just doesn't.  My kids LOVE it.  Sunny asks to watch it every day, and though I had to cut her down to 3 times a week for my own sanity, she is just as engaged by it now as she was when we first put it on.  The sections on the animals are interesting and have the words printed on the screen to help with the B vs P thing.  After that, there is a class session just like the classes offered in Florida where they are based.  This is fantastic, as Sunny doesn't yet go to preschool, but it introduced her to what preschool might be like when she starts in the fall.  Sunny insists on having the Boca puppet and shaker with her whenever she watches, and she dances and sings along with everything.

The Boca Beth website offers more resources for free - a monthly newsletter, flash cards that you can download and print, suggested activities to do along with the CD, and an online store where you can order all the DVDs and CDs, as well as more puppets and shakers so the kids don't fight over them.

If you are interested in getting your children to speak Spanish and possibly even become bilingual, this is a great way to start.  Your kids will love this program, and therefore you will, too.

Cut Yourself Some Slack

As you probably know, I live in the Washington, DC metro area.  In fact, I live in one of the more expensive places in the country, and the most educated.  Washington is home to the Nationals, the Redskins, the Wizards, the Capitals, and DC United.  It is home to the the monuments, the President, the government.  And it is home to the Competimommy, the Sanctimommy, the self-rightous, the extreme parent.

I try my best to go against the tide here.  I shoot for slacker mom, and I succeed about 75% of the time.  I don't believe I am in charge of my kids' happiness.  I don't believe they will suffer from lack of attention from me; in fact, I believe a bit of benign neglect benefits us all.  I am a lousy housekeeper, and if someone mentions anything about it to me I am much more inclined to suggest that they clean it up their damn selves than I am to feel any pressure to do any more about it than I would normally.

But bucking the system around here is tough.  Real tough.  There aren't many around me who are publicly like me.  Your kids must be in the best preschool program, the best enrichment classes, the top sports teams.  If you express that you don't believe any of those things is necessary, you may as well announce that you are giving birth to a martian at 7 pm tonight for all the positive reaction you'll get.

I am just now starting to find my groove as a mom of four, now that Nemo is six months old and not necessarily attached to my person all the time.  For me, it is an absolute necessity that I not be Supermom; I will end up on the psych ward.  I constantly search for ways to avoid getting sucked into the Bree Van de Camp lifestyle, but around here it is oh, so very very hard.  Especially when you are overwhelmed and sleep deprived.

So when the Parent Bloggers asked for people to review the book Even June Cleaver Would Forget the Juice Box by Ann Dunnewold, I jumped all over it.  Usually when I get a book to read I have it done in about three days; I've had this book for over a month and just finished it last night.  The tag line is "Cut Yourself Some Slack (and Still Raise Great Kids) in the Age of Extreme Parenting" and to me it feels like this book was written for everyone who lives in the DC area (and everywhere else, too). 

It took me so long to read this book because it requires a decent amount of reflection after each bit you read.  It teaches you how to reprogram the automatic thoughts in your head that kick yourself for not being Supermom into positive thoughts to teach you how to be the Perfectly Good Mom.  It gives you tips on how to avoid falling into the traps of extreme parenting and helps you learn how to connect with other mothers.

In short, it's a big ol' dose of perspective.  And sometimes we moms get so bogged down in the details of life that perspective is completely missing.  The book also offers practical tips on how to keep that perspective as we go through life each day.  There's even a chapter for Dads that includes advice on how to keep Dads from falling into the competidad trap, as well as advice on how parents can work together to keep each other sane and healthy.

It's hard work, I'll admit.  Real hard.  But aren't we worth it? 

This Is The Most Awesome Book. Ever.

So said BigDaddyFish a minute or so after I handed him The Dangerous Book for Boys.  Seriously.  He loves this book.  And so do the rest of the family members.

When the Parent Bloggers Network asked for people to review this book, I jumped right in, seeing as how I'm a girl and not well versed in the ways of boys, yet tasked with raising them and all I figured it would help me bond with my boys.  And it may very well.  I just have to get my copy of the book back.

I was intrigued by the title, the DANGEROUS book for boys.  I mean, what makes it so dangerous?  I still ponder this, because quite frankly, I think it's more an ADVENTUROUS book. 

Want to know how to tie a bowline knot?  It's in this book.  What about make the perfect paper airplane?  How about making a go cart?  Learning the basics of navigation?  Build a great treehouse?  Basic first aid?  It's all in there.

What I also like about this book is that in addition to the very practical knowledge, it includes much more intellectual subjects as well, such as grammar basics, as well as an explanation as to why grammar is important, which warms the heart of this English major to no end.  It lists poems every boy should know, sections on history (though to be fair, mostly military history), Shakespeare, latin, word origins, space, and the like.

And, of course, it addresses girls.  The brief section on girls is ... amusing, to a girl.  My only problem with this book is that it is for boys, and to my Free to Be You and Me raised self this bothered me quite a bit, because frankly the girls I like to hang out with get as much of a kick out of skipping stones and deftly tying knots as any boy.  And really, one of the things it says about girls is "Avoid being vulgar.  Excitable bouts of windbreaking will not endear you to a girl, just to pick one example."  Maybe not some girls, but I know girls who can get just as giddy about flatulence as the next boy.  But the final thing it says about girls is "Treat them with respect," and really, that's the most important thing, don't you think?

The Dangerous Book for Boys is a great book, for everyone, especially in this overly scheduled culture in which we now live.  My husband said he wishes he had this book when he was a kid.  I'm glad that my kids do.

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Guess what?  Parent Bloggers Network is giving away a North Face two-man tent as part of this campaign - just pop on over to the main website and tell the story of one of your childhood adventures on the campaign launch post or the mid-campaign post for your chance to win it.

Trout FishFamily, First Grader

Kindergarten isn't what it was when I was a kid.  When I was in Kindergarten, we learned how to share, our colors, and the alphabet.  When our school system went to full day kindergarten in 2004-2005, I expected it to be tough, but I still thought it would be more of the same, with nap time and maybe an extra story thrown in or something.  Clearly I was way delusional.  Since Trout has a late birthday, we made the decision to hold her back for a year, sending her to a private, half-day kindergarten one year and then moving on to the full-day kindergarten last year.  Oh, was I glad we did.

These days in Kindergarten, if you don't start school knowing all of your ABCs, in and out of sequence, upper and lower case; counting to about 30 or so; some basic set theory; how to write your first and last name; your phone number and address, you are already behind the day you start.  Knowing this, and knowing that Little Man is going from preschool to kindergarten without the benefit of the extra time Trout got, when the Parent Bloggers Network asked for signups for Let's Get Ready For.... I tried to sign up for the Kindergarten book.  Alas, the slots were full, and I didn't think too much more about it until they asked a second time for First Grade students to review Let's Get Ready for First Grade.  I told them Trout is currently in first grade, and since the books are supposed to be for entering first graders and Trout is a bit ahead in school I wasn't sure if we fit the bill, but I was willing to take a look anyway.  I expected that she'd know everything in the book already.  I was delighted to learn I was wrong.

Let's Get Ready for First Grade, available from Cedar Valley Publishing, is a neat little book that introduces the concepts that students should know by the time they complete first grade.  It is laminated so students can use a dry erase marker to answer questions and work on concepts over and over again.  Inside the front cover is a list of concepts that students need to know coming in to first grade, and based on our experience they are spot-on.

Like the current county curriculum, the book emphasizes reading and math skills, and I wasn't surprised that Trout knew all those concepts, given the amount of drilling that goes on every day in school.  What did surprise me was the information on science and social studies that the book covered, like the food pyramid (the new one, not the one we learned as kids), the major organs in the body, the concept of day/night caused by the earth's rotation, the planets in the solar system, and the names of the three branches of government.  Thus far none of those concepts has been covered by our school curriculum, and it was nice for Trout to be able to work on them.  The book did a good job, I think, in providing a good, high-level review of concepts needed by the end of the year.

So if you want a set of these books, go to www.parentbloggers.com and leave a comment as to why you need them in the announcement for the Let's Get Ready For.... campaign or mid-way through the campaign, and a winner will be picked at random at the end of the campaign.