Pedigreed Housewife World

This week I was challenged by a friend with a 3-year-old, who knows the elements and how to put them together into basic compounds like H2O, to introduce molecular chemistry to the kids. Ok, I wasn’t “challenged” per se. She posted pictures on Facebook of her kid doing it and I wanted my kids to be able to do that too. Hey, I’m not perfect. I get that Mommy jealousy thing like everyone else. My undergraduate degrees are in chemical and biomolecular engineering (with a math minor) and I am a packrat so I still have my old modeling kit from organic chemistry. I dust it off and bring it downstairs to show the kids with one takeaway message for the kids – atoms are attracted to each other and bond together to make molecules. First I ask the kids if they know any chemical names. I expect them to ask what that means, but instead Briana says “CO2”. She can’t remember what CO2 is but she remembers the name is a real chemistry name. Abby fills in the gap “CO2 is ...

Summer is all about passing the downtime. Sure there are days with camp, swimming, playdates, and activities galore, but there are also those days when you are left to your own devices. Those days, in my memory, were filled with reruns of the The Brady Bunch and The Addams Family at times, but mostly they were filled with sprinklers, freeze tag, My Little Ponies, and trying to catch little bugs in the yard.   I decided this summer that my kids need those downtime days, with no planned activities. I was excited to see them explore the backyard, build sand castles and playdoh towers, and the ever-fun catching of bugs in the yard. Instead they opt for Netflix and LeapPads. When I take those electronic time suckers, the kids stare blankly at me for what to do. Me! The grown-up! Today they sit for a good thirty minutes asking me what they are supposed to be doing. I reply, “Anything you want!” expecting them to squeal with delight, not say, “like what?” I point out...

This summer I have done the dreaded Mommy no-no. I’ll admit it. My kids have been plopped in front of the tv for much much more than the usually restricted hour a day. Go ahead and flog me now. We’re going to the pool, park, library, and other outings and the kids and I are both exhausted and on goes the Netflix. Usually we TIVO everything or watch Netflix with the kids, but this morning I was extra bad. I let the kids watch NickJr unsupervised while I took a shower. When I came out the girls were screaming that we had to buy a tangle free brush now. Now! Or it will be gone! They then repeated an infomercial to me, capturing all of the marketers highlights. The brush won’t hurt. It gets tangles out TWICE as fast as any other brush. It comes in four colors. You can get a free one if you act now. And most importantly you have to act now or the brushes will all be gone. This foray into commercials had them all worked up. I turn off the tv and sit them down. “Kids, do...

It’s summertime and my girls are in love with the birds. As we drive off to pricey outings all they really want to do is point out Meadowlarks and Robins and try to make bird sounds. So I decide that we would dedicate one afternoon to staying home and bird watching. The girls are super excited to discover a giant birds nest in one of our trees. They want to know how the birds made that nest. We consult their book on local birds and discover that birds pick up everything from twigs, grass, leaves, and mud to trash. “Litter! Oh no! The birds have our litter in their houses!” the girls cry. They ask me if we can make a birds nest. Why not. I tell them to start by gathering what a bird would gather to make a nest. They consult one another and strategize, “Abby you get the twigs and I’ll get the leaves,” Briana suggests. “No, let’s both get whatever is green, leaves and grass, first, then get the twigs,” Abby amends. Briana likes division of labor so she coun...

My kids have autonomy in deciding what they want to wear. I have veto power. They are pretty good about following our three rules: 1) it must come down to your knees or you have to wear leggings, 2) it must cover up your boobs and not fall down, and 3) you must wear sleeves to school (strappy dresses are fine for summer fun but not for school without a shirt under it or a sweater over it). The kids know that belly bearing is not allowed, but they don’t have any clothes where that would be an issue. The length, however, is constantly a challenge because my kids seem to grow an inch a day. Usually my veto power is used because of seasonality. No flip flops in winter, no rain boots on a sunny day (most of the time), and, for Abby who loves her “fluffy coat”, no coat when it’s not cold out. They do a great job with it. I think it’s important to let the kids express themselves. Who cares if, like today, my oldest goes to school in a t-shirt with glittery pink h...

Lots of the things I do with the kiddies are blog-worthy. If it requires my looking up additional information or making a list of items needed to complete it, the activity is immediately blog-worthy. Some activities are just random things we do. I considered phone etiquette in the latter category until I was laughing with my husband about how it was going and he asked why I hadn’t blogged about it. So I guess I will. When I was a kid we were schooled on how to answer the phone. I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned this before in this blog, but my brother and I were taught that any time you answer the phone you say “Hello. This is the *Maiden name* residence. May I help you please?” My kids are a little young, at 4 and 5, to be allowed to answer the phone since it’s unlikely that the calls will be for them, but they know to say “Hello. This is Abigail/Briana” when we hand them the phone. Even if they cannot receive calls yet, I wanted to start teaching them ...