Can You Go A Day Without the Internet?

I am posing this question to all my readers, knowing full well that it is really quite contentious to bring up the topic in a forum that is clearly fueled by the power of the internet. After all, by definition, the existence of blogging relies solely on the web.

And that is only a small part of how the internet is complexly woven into our daily lives, isn't it? A day without the internet (or any sort of web-based applications) would mean using our iPhone only to make phone calls, and having to look up the number in a phone book, or <gasp> call 411. It would mean finding a recipe in a cookbook, not on RachaelRay.com (which totally rocks, by the way!).

I wonder how many of us, as parents, use the web to answer day-to-day questions about everything from how long it takes to roast a chicken, to what should I do if my child's fever spikes to 103? Could we get through a day without Google or Wikipedia?

At this point, I should interject with the disclaimer that my interest in this topic has nothing to do with SOPA or PIPA or any other internet legislation coming down the pike. I am really just curious from a personal perspective.


So why my obsession with trying to get through a day completely off the grid? Well, I have been paying a lot of attention to the concept of "screen-time" for my little ones. This does not mean that I have limited that screen time as much as I probably should. But at least I have been aware, and that is a start.

And as I have tried to set, at least in my mind, reasonable limits, it has led me to wonder - what if my kid told me that she absolutely could not survive a day without going on-line for one reason or another? Would I not feel like just about the crappiest parent out there? Clearly, I would have gone wrong somewhere along the line, if I raised my kid to be so cyber-dependent, right?

And yet, if you were to ask ME to go a day without the internet, in some form, or another, could I do it? Would I even try?

If the answer were no, then it should stand to reason, that my own kids, with me as their model, will someday be just as dependent, I suppose.

But if I really could do it, would the results open my eyes in some way? Would I see that I can turn to friends and family with my tough parenting questions, and not rely on the collective "wisdom" of some user-group of parents, hundreds of miles away, that I will never meet.

Would I find answers to my little one's questions like, "what kind of bird is that?, by finding some old book in library, and leafing through the pages together until we found a match?

Perhaps I could show my budding reader about how a newspaper is laid out, with headlines, and comics, and the weather report, and teach her how to get the day's news and forecast without pressing a single button.

Maybe, just maybe, I would spend 100% of a day thinking only about what is going on in the lives of people I interact with on a human level, not a cyber level. I would not "Update My Status" in any way other than calling a friend a to tell her how I am doing or recapping with my husband at the end of the day.

I left my phone in the car (by accident, of course) when I took Little Diva to sporting event yesterday, and after a good 10 minutes of nervous supposition about how I would make it through the game without out it, I let it go, and we somehow survived three periods of regulation, over-time and a shoot-out. Of course, no one got to see a picture of us posing together in the stands, and there were no OMG's or play-by-plays of our adventure via Social Media.

But we had a great time, and I truly enjoyed the lack of distraction. Those moments belonged to us, and to no one else. I sense that we, as a society, are experiencing fewer and fewer of times like those, and I know I, at least from time to time, feel powerless to change that.

But I am curious to know if any of you are interested in trying this social experiment with me. One day, no internet. Think we can do it? Care to give it a try?


PS - I will not be offended or judgy in any way if people are like "H-no, that is just a totally dumb idea, go buy something on Amazon and get off our backs".

T'was the Week Before Christmas

Where has the time gone? It has been months since my last blog post. And this is hardly the time for me to sit down and start grinding out any of the dozens of blog ideas that have been swirling about my sleep-deprived mommy brain. So I am reposting my ode to holiday spirit that I penned last year, right around this time. I am not surprised to note that it is just about as accurate to this year's preparations as last.

I wish all of you of a wonderful holiday season, a very happy new year and most importantly -a full recovery from the "most. wonderful. time. of. the. year!"

T'was the week before Christmas

T'was the week before Christmas and all through the house,

The kids weren't behaving nor was my spouse.

Their stockings, their jackets, nothing hung in its place.

They left crumbs on the floor and left jam on their face.

A week's worth of dishes were used in a day

And left in the sink for mom to put away.

The holiday baking didn't come out quite right

And the wrapping of presents turned into a fight.

A phone call to Santa was threatened at least once,

But that had grown old since we'd used it for months.

But the countdown is on and we will be merry,

We may even get a visit from the Tooth Fairy!

I'll hear them proclaim, as I kiss them good night,

I love you, Mommy and that makes it all right.

My Favorite Christmas card choice, vetoed by Sweet Hubby!

Naughty Or Nice Christmas Card

Creating Christmas cards has never been this easy.

View the entire collection of cards.

A Humpty Dumpty Birthday Bash

I absolutely love planning parties, and while I no longer do it professionally (at least for now), I have at least two opportunities a year to put my party planning savvy to the test. Of course, having two birthdays within two weeks of each other poses a challenge, but I still try to give it my all for both girls, and this year I chose a Humpty Dumpty and His Nursery Rhyme Friends theme for The Baby's 2nd Birthday. Humpty Dumpty is her favorite nursery rhyme and she laughs out loud every time she sees the illustration.

While  I don't normally post a lot of personal pics on this blog, I thought I would share these because it was pretty hard to find anything with Humpty Dumpty on the web. Hopefully this will help you if you every go in this direction with one of your own parties.

The invitation was tricky. I found just one or two designs on-line and I didn't really care for any of them. So instead I found a Humpty Dumpty drawing that I liked and uploaded it onto a cute Upload Your Own Photo template on www.vistaprint.com.

I kept the decorations simple, and thrifty. I purchased a program to make this cute Nursery Rhyme banner on Etsy. Mine says "Happy Birthday" but it can be customized with any text. I printed the design on cardstock, cut it, punched holes in the corners and strung it together using curling ribbon.

I called every party store and balloon shop in the area to find a Humpty Dumpty balloon, with no luck, so I ended up ordering this one, which was adorable, from Bargain Balloons, a company out of Canada. It was worth the cost of shipping every time The Baby laughed at it, or hugged and kissed it. I used a Balloon Time kit to fill it and the rest of balloons. That part was fun, and easier than I expected. Purchasing the kit at Michaels with a 40% off coupon made it cost effective, too.

And my pièce de resistance, was a homemade Humpty Dumpty piñata. I owe big props to the blog With or Without Nap on much of the inspiration, including making my own piñata. 

And the "how-to" to actually construct the thing, came from a blog called Frugal NJ. 

Here I used that same graphic program from Etsy, to create the decoration for the goody bags that the kids would use to collect their piñata loot. For the  two little babies who weren't allowed candy, I put a pack of gel teethers and a little Sesame Street book instead. I hung the bags on our mantel, using kitchen twine and clothespins. I had a "Three Little Kittens hanging their mittens" image in my mind, but I doubt anyone else would have picked up on it.

So eventually poor Humpty had a great fall and met with his demise. Unfortunately the pull strings didn't work on my homemade creation (who knew masking tape was so strong??), so I instantly turned into the Incredible Hulk and just ripped the thing apart, sending the candy flying onto the squealing bunch of kiddos below.

Our cake was a glorious work of art, created by Sweet Hubby. Humpty was made of chocolate, and the kids had so much fun breaking him apart and eating him before we even got the cake sliced. The cake was just as delicious as it was cute. It was sour cream poundcake with a green apple buttercream. It may just have been his best cake yet. My girls are so spoiled with his amazing cakes.

Sweet Hubby and I also made these adorable Humpty Dumpty decorated cookies to take home. Of course, he did most of the work, but I will take credit for Humpty's cute face and his fabulous packaging.

I would say the party was a huge success, and made wonderful most of all by the fantastic family and friends in attendance. Humpty Dumpty was a great character to include and my girl's happy smiles and laughter made it worth the extra effort to make it special.

Totally Gross

I am generally not a super-squeamish parent. I am pretty much at the bottom of the germa-phobe totem pole. If something doesn't look real dirty, then I am usually okay with it. Yes, I recognize that some of the more nasty bacteria like E. Coli and Salmonella can't be seen, and should still be feared. And for that I keep my gigantic warehouse store size of Lysol wipes at the ready. But general dirt and grime don't really skeeve me out (a quick visit to my house on a bad day can really drive this point home).

I am also not easily shaken when my kids suffer the customary scrapes and bruises of childhood. Of course, I feel bad for my little tikes when they rip all the skin off their knee or pick at a bug bite til it bleeds, but it doesn't make me feel ill or anything, to look at their wounds. I can administer first aid like a good Girl Scout, and I rarely have to look away.

What I have discovered about myself, however, is that anything that has to do with the mouth, makes me squirm. I first started to realize this about myself when Little Diva suffered her "tongue injury" last winter.

Now it is becoming more evident as I am faced with LOOSE TEETH in Little Diva's precious, little (though sometimes sassy) mouth.  The whole tooth-hanging-by-thread thing sends shivers up my spine.

She has already lost two baby teeth, and thankfully, managed to get them out herself. It wasn't even that big of a production (especially for her). Except of course, that the first one happened to be extracted on Christmas Eve, so the Tooth Fairy and Santa Claus had to orchestrate their travels very carefully that evening.

But that was months ago, and now she is working on the big guys up front. And one of them is really ripe for the picking.

I.Cannot.Even.Bear.To.Watch.

That thing is hanging on for dear life, moving this way and that, and every time she says, "Look at it, now, Mom," I start to sweat. I am oddly fascinated by the whole thing, but am thoroughly grossed out when I see that wee little tooth, dangling sideways from the socket.

Why doesn't she just pull the darn thing out?? Well, she says it hurts when she twists it a certain way. More chills down my spine. And oh, yeah, did I mention, there is some blood? I can stomach gaping wounds in an arm, a leg, even a bloody nose, but one glimpse of that bloody (literally) tooth, and I nearly pass out.

The only thing that makes the situation even slightly tolerable, is when she hangs that dangling tooth over her lip, and busts out her best British accent to say, "I am Nanny McPhee". That one had us rolling on the floor. I don't know where she comes up with this stuff.

Is it true that some parents can actually manage to pull their kids teeth out for them? Well, yes, I know it is, because I am pretty sure I remember my mom doing it for me.

Not this momma, oh no! I would bring her to the dentist, $50 co-pay and all, before I yanked that thing out myself.

How about you? Is pulling out your kids' loose tooth something you have (or could have) done?