I admitted on Twitter this morning that I don’t get the uproar that was heard in the Mommy Blogging community over yesterday’s interview, on the Today show, between Kathie Lee Gifford, her co-host Hoda Kotb and Heather Armstrong of Dooce.com. (The full clip can be see here. An abbreviated clip can be seen here.) The general uproar in the Mommy Blogging community is that Kathie Lee “dissed” mommy bloggers. Some feel that she was judgmental of Heather for putting pictures of her daughter and talking about private issues like potty training on her blog. I’ve read those that say Kathie Lee did the same thing with her family when she was co-hosting “Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee” several years ago and that she’s essentially the pot calling the kettle black.
I don’t agree. I’ve watched the clip a few times now and I just don’t see it. Especially since Kathie Lee repeatedly admits that she a) doesn’t use a computer b) doesn’t understand computers and c) has fears about the Internet. I’ll bet you that when you talk about children and computers and the Internet to Kathie Lee, she’s thinking of child p*orn sites, of molesters who stalk chat rooms and lure children into meeting them and of MySpace pages gone wrong. There really isn’t much difference between what we as Mommy Bloggers put on our sites regarding our children and how Kathie Lee talked about her kids and showed their pictures all those years ago. If anything, she understands a bit more fully than we do what risk there is in doing that. (I can’t believe I’m actually defending Kathie Lee!)
Now if you want to talk about how Heather’s segment was handled, there’s where we might see some controversy. From what I’ve read on her blog and her Twitter page is that her interview was originally scheduled for 8:30am and was then bumped to 10am. In Today show speak she went from being interviewed by the A-Team (either Meredith or Matt) to the B-Team (Kathie Lee & Hoda). Seems to me that something a little more “newsworthy” or “sexy” must of come along and the “Mommy Blogger” segment just didn’t seem as “exciting” anymore. That my friends, is a “dis”.
The Barbershop Harmony Society International Convention will be held right here in Music City USA this July 1-5. There are three competitions that are held for the title of International Champion: Quartet, Chorus, College Quartet.
My dear father-in-law will be competing in the chorus competition which will feature 28 choruses from across the USA, Canada, and Sweden in one round of action to determine a champion. Here is last year’s International Champion Chorus - Westminster Chorus
The quartet competition will feature 54 quartets competing. The quartets compete in three rounds of competition eliminating about half the field in each round. Here is last year’s International Quartet Champions “Max Q” earning their title. This is their set from the first round.
Definitely entertaining. Max Q is (from left to right) Tenor-Greg Clancy, Lead-Tony DeRosa, Bass-Jeff Oxley, Baritone-Gary Lewis.
If you don’t want to buy tickets to the competitions (why would you not?), there will be singing in various areas of the Sommet Center, convention center, and Renaissance Hotel throughout the week, especially Saturday night July 5 at the Renaissance. If any of this interests you to join in the fun, Nashville has two barbershop choruses: Music City Chorus (men-Barbershop Harmony Society), Tune Town Show Chorus (women-Sweet Adelines Intl.). In addition, the Barbershop Harmony Society world headquarters are located right here in Nashville. So, if you are near 110 7th Avenue North downtown, drop in and sing one…just don’t expect a haircut.
Yes, Arthur, originally created by Marc Brown as a book series and now a popular children’s television program on PBS. Here’s how it happened. I’m sitting in the living room with GMan sipping my coffee and trying to wake-up (I’ve a bit of allergy/head cold thing going on). GMan’s watching Arthur and today’s episode is how one of the characters (the kid with the horns, can’t remember his name) discovers Blues music and is introduced to Koko Taylor by someone in their town. And I’m like Koko who? Yeah, that’s right, up until this morning I didn’t really know who Koko Taylor is. ::Hangs head in shame:: Turns out I’m familiar with her music as she’s recorded lots of well known Blues tracks (I’m a Woman, Wang Dang Doodle, Mother Nature, etc, etc).
After the episode was over, I went to the computer, pulled up iTunes and searched for Koko Taylor. I download the Deluxe Edition: Koko Taylor which was released in 2002 (a greatest hits kind of album). Oh, my! This is such amazing music! I’ve always liked the Blues but I’ve never had any albums or followed any particular musician. My life is forever changed y’all! I love this album. I love Koko! Koko, where’ve ya been all my life?
Arthur: educational for children and adults. Who knew?
Well, I’m off to find Taj Mahal music, too. Another artist featured on today’s Arthur.
First, I’ll address some of the answers that were said about me. Tanya & Lisa not only got my middle name right but they spelled it correctly, too! (I can’t even spell right sometimes!) Tanya was the only one to get my eye color right. Sheryl & Brenda both hit the nail on the head with the “desert island” question. I think Sheryl was the most correct on the “favorite thing to do” question, though Mack’s answer was a close second! The answers regarding “special talent” were interesting! Everyone correctly answered the “how did we meet”, “sibling” and “how many children” questions. For all intent and purposes, everyone answered the “favorite type of music” question correctly as well.
If you still want to play along, go here (don’t cheat!) My answers are “after the jump”.
My friend Erin sent this to me in an e-mail. I thought I’d try it in blog format. Not sure if it’ll fly or not but I’ve got nothing else to say today! So, in the comments, answer these questions as best you can about me. If you comment, I’ll respond back and answer the questions as best I can about you. Or, if you put it on your blog, I’ll go over there and answer about you, too. Clear as mud? Good. Here we go:
Where did we meet?
Take a stab at my middle name?
Do I smoke?
Color of my eyes?
Do I have any siblings?
What’s one of my favorite things to do?
What’s my favorite type of music?
Am I shy or outgoing?
Am I a rebel or do I follow the rules?
Any special talents?
How many children do I have?
If you and I were stranded on a desert island, what is one thing that I would bring?
The GMan is 3 1/2 today! And the past six months have been such a roller coaster with him. Three has definitely been the toughest stage (it was with JBelle as well). Here are some things that the GMan has been up to recently.
At his “3 year” check-up (done this past Monday, only about six months “late”!) he weighed 42 lbs and was 41 inches tall.
Whenever he asks me if we can do something, go somewhere, have something and I reply with a “Maybe” or a “We’ll see” he replies back with, “Let’s say yes!”
He has an incredible imagination and personality and has won over all of the caregivers/teachers he sees on a regular basis (at the Y & at church). One Y nursery worker said to me one day, “GMan is the best! He has such a great imagination!” and another gentleman at church has referred to him as the Über Toddler.
Currently his pretend play involves us being firefighters and going to emergencies. Whenever we get into the car, he says it’s our firefighter truck. My car has also been a pirate ship, an “ambulance car” and an airplane.
His three great loves are watching “kids movies”, playing outside and being read to.
When he wants to play on the computer, he asks if we can play his “Hopper game” (i.e. Webkinz World) or “Elmo Peek-A-Boo” (i.e. SesameStreet.com, we rarely actually play the “Peek-A-Boo” game when we go to that site but that’s still what he calls it!)
Awhile back I had gotten angry with him about something and I was trying to express to him how upset I was without being overly negative. I said to him, “I’m not very happy with you right now.” That has now prompted him to ask me on a daily basis, “Mommy, are you happy with me?” Sometimes it comes out of the blue, other times it comes when he sees that I’m frustrated about something that may not necessarily be about him. It’s so cute! And usually when he asks me I’ll say, “Yes, I’m happy with you!” But there have been a few times when I couldn’t say that so I respond honestly that no, I’m not happy with him at that moment.
He has developed his sister’s habit of always wanting to know what we’re doing next. Drives me batty! He’ll often ask in the late afternoon or evening as bedtime approaches, “What are we going to do/where are we going to go after bedtime?”
Whenever he has a peanut butter and jelly sandwich he wants a “circle” sandwich (one that has been cut into a circle) and a “plane” sandwich (one that has been cut in half diagonally, then one half is cut in half again, the two smaller halves are propped up on either side of the larger half). This is his favorite meal for breakfast or lunch!
Speaking of breakfast, he pronounces it “bresscess”. And goosebumps are “bumpsboose”.
Speaking of food…he’s always hungry!
A few weeks ago, he asked me to scratch his back with my backscratcher. Like, there’s not a place on his own back he can’t reach himself! So, I start using the backscratcher on him and he starts saying, “a little to the left, a little more to left, ok right there! (as his points to the exact spot he wants scratched!), ok, now down here…” Too funny!
Little by little, he’s learning his letters. He can identify several of them including, “G”. And when he sees a “G” he says, “I start with G!”
“Joyce Maynard compares nurturing children to launching toy boats–we lower them gently, run along the bank aways…even get them unstuck a time or two…Then they’ll be off toward some unknown destination, while we stand on the shore, waving and cheering, watching them go.”
The GMan is constantly asking questions. He’s been asking questions for over a year now but they’ve grown increasingly more sophisticated (for a three year old) and lately, more difficult to answer. Mostly he asks about things that he’s observing. It’s especially frustrating when we are in the car and he asks the ubiquitous, “What’s that?” What’s what? “That” could be anything! And then there are the numerous times during the day when he asks a question, I give him an answer only to have him contradict me and say, “No. It’s (insert his answer here)!” Then why did you ask me if you already knew the answer? (Or thought you knew the answer since his answer is usually a bit bizarre.)
Even though answering questions can be the equivalent of Chinese water torture sometimes, I’m still glad that he asks questions and I truly hope he never stops asking questions. And then there are the times when they blow you away with questions and you get a glimpse of something that shows your hard parenting work just may be paying off. Take this scene for example:
We’ve arrived at the YMCA because I’m supposed to be meeting a friend at a Zumba class. I’m, as usual, late. I go up to the entrance kiosk, get my card scanned and start to head inside when I notice that GMan is not following me. Instead, he’s still standing at the kiosk window intently staring inside. The little 1/2 circle cut out in the window where the attendant reaches through to scan cards is just about at GMan’s eye level. I start towards him, to hurry him along, when he says to the attendant, “Excuse me*, why are your trashcans upside down?” Sure enough, inside the kiosk are a few recycling bins stacked on top of one another and they are stacked upside down! The attendant chuckled and explained that they are recycling bins that are temporarily being stored in the kiosk. His answer satisfied the GMan and we headed inside. Before we had made it to the door he had asked me at least half dozen more questions!
*I still can’t get over the fact that he said “Excuse me”! I can barely get him to say please, at home, when he wants something but he says “Excuse me” to a total stranger? Wonders never cease!
I started tutoring a student at Brentwood High School in math. This student is a bright person who is active at school, extra-curriculars, and takes honors classes when possible. Not someone I would describe as lazy.
Since this was my first time tutoring this student, we went over their current assignments, that night’s homework, and then looked through quizzes and tests taken over the last couple of months. I was stunned by the results on the quizzes. They ranged from 30% to about 75%. The quizzes were marked with points off but showed little or no indication where the student went wrong. Based on our conversation, it is apparent that basic concepts were skipped or spoon-fed as assumptions.
I asked if the teacher had gone over any of the quizzes individually or had approached the student about the low grades to help improve performance. The response was an emphatic ‘no’. The story continued mentioning that the guidance counselor expressed relief that the student wouldn’t pursue anything related to math in college. This isn’t a senior about to leave school in a few weeks, they still have some years to influence this student.
For some reason, it is acceptable to the teacher and counselor that this student not understand the concepts taught in the math courses offered. This is a student that is/was on track to complete Calculus before graduation. As I said, not a numb-brained bottom feeder. It appears to me that this teacher is more interested in class and curriculum management than their student(s) learning.
The #1 goal of teachers should be for their student to LEARN what they are teaching. A test indicates how effectively the student has learned. If a student has a 30% on a test, THEY DID NOT LEARN THE CONCEPT, DON’T JUST MOVE ON WITHOUT DEALING WITH THAT STUDENT. TO DO OTHERWISE SAYS TO ME THAT YOU DON’T CARE IF THE STUDENT LEARNS OR NOT. This situation is wrong, wrong wrong.
For us girls, prom is all about finding the right dress. I remember my friends pouring over wedding magazines and special prom issues of fashion magazines trying to find the perfect dress. They went to David’s Bridal and Jessica McClintock and all the big department stores trying on dress after dress. The biggest worry was whether or not someone else would have the same dress. The second biggest worry was whether or not they could find something that would fit right without having to be altered. Usually, it had to be altered to get the right look and that often added an extra expense to the price of the dress.
But while they flipped through glossy magazines and drug their moms around malls, my mom and I were looking through pattern dresses at the fabric store. My mother is a talented seamstress and she made all of my dresses! It was such a fun process. First, finding the pattern that I liked then heading into the rows and rows of fabrics looking for colors and textures and embellishments. My dresses were “one of kind” creations, no one else would be wearing my dress! My dresses were all custom fit to my form and cost a fraction of what dresses from the boutiques and departments stores cost. Best of all, they were special because they had been made my someone who loves me and understands me.
My mom made one other dress for me. The penultimate of dresses:
That’s right, she made my wedding dress! I remember finding the pattern for this dress at one of our many trips to the fabric store to find a formal dress pattern and material. I asked her buy the pattern and hang onto it. It was at least three years later before I got married but when the time came, we pulled the pattern out and I still wanted it as my dress! She made everything except the hoop that underneath, we rented that.
I always been grateful that my mom was able to do this for me. It made all of those experiences extra special!
I don’t have pictures yet from one of the nieces, once I have some, I’ll post their pictures.
I admitted on Twitter this morning that I don’t get the uproar that was heard in the Mommy Blogging community over yesterday’s interview, on the Today show, between Kathie Lee Gifford, her co-host Hoda Kotb and Heather Armstrong of Dooce.com. (The full clip can be see here. An abbreviated clip can be seen here.) The general uproar in the Mommy Blogging community is that Kathie Lee “dissed” mommy bloggers. Some feel that she was judgmental of Heather for putting pictures of her daughter and talking about private issues like potty training on her blog. I’ve read those that say Kathie Lee did the same thing with her family when she was co-hosting “Live! With Regis and Kathie Lee” several years ago and that she’s essentially the pot calling the kettle black.
