Why I'll be Voting for the Guy Who "Lost" the First Debate

People who know me know that I'm a committed liberal in nearly every way.  I dutifully tuned in to the first of the Presidential debates, which took place this past Wednesday.

I didn't expect that either candidate would say anything embarrassing or outright stupid.  I was right.  I didn't expect either candidate to say anything explosively wonderful.  Again, I was right.  In fact, while I didn't hear everything I expected to hear, I also didn't hear anything unexpected either.

I had already made up my mind to cast my vote for Obama in November 2012 just as I did in November of 2008.  That hasn't changed, and is unlikely to change.

Leading up to the 2008 election, I was heavily pregnant and excited at the prospect of bringing my baby into an Obama-led United States.  I cast my vote proudly at my local precinct, with one hand on my swollen stomach the way I imagined some good church ladies might lay their hands on their Bibles as they cast their votes for their chosen candidate.  That night, I stayed up later than usual to watch the election results roll in to the news networks, and I had tears in my eyes as I watched Obama officially acknowledge his victory.  I breathed a sigh of relief and watched as the monstrous Sarah Palin faded from all but the most radically conservative news headlines.

Less than 2 weeks after my son was born, Obama was inaugurated, and I watched the event live on CNN while Kaleb peacefully slept in my arms.  Again, I had tears in my eyes, though by this time I had decided that it was because pregnancy had forever ruined my hormones, leaving me vulnerable to crying over nearly anything at nearly any time.

An Updated Review of Malena's Mini School

In January of 2012, I was on the hunt for a new daycare facility for Kaleb and ended up deciding to enroll him into Malena's Mini School at their location on Pine Forest Road.

Although he had just turned 3 earlier that same month, he was placed into the "older 2s" class because Malena's promotes on the same schedule as the public school system and his birthday hadn't happened before the cut-off.  At the time, I was a little disappointed about that, since he was already fully potty trained.  Little did I know then that the "older 2s" class would be the highest level we would be happy with at Malena's.

At the beginning of June, the week after the public schools let out for the summer, Kaleb was promoted to the 3-year-olds class.  Since he was already fully potty trained, he wouldn't have to wait until the end of the summer for his promotion.  It was really great for the first week or so, but the newness wore off quickly.

While I am a very strong proponent of young children taking naps—Kaleb still takes one every afternoon, no matter what—I am no where near as rigid on this point as Malena (the owner) is.  She serves the children lunch at sometime between 11a.m. and noon, and then expects them to lie down immediately for a 2-hour-minimum mandatory nap.  Even though a 2-hour nap would be no problem at all for Kaleb at home in his own bed, the early time coupled with the distraction of being in a room full of friends made it very difficult for Kaleb to accomplish this napping requirement.

He began coming home with bad daily reports almost every day, and most every comment was centered around Kaleb not being compliant with the napping law.  To make matters worse, Malena herself told me that she was making that class' nap times, and my child in particular, her personal mission.  Her stern attitude made me feel as if I were in the principal's office all the time.

Review: Crayola Color Bath Dropz

On Sunday, Kaleb received a basket filled with new toys and other fun things (and a very little bit of candy).  One of the items the "Easter Bunny" included in his basket this year was a jar of Crayola Color Bath Dropz.  I was a little worried that they would leave some permanent color on our tub or towels—or the kid—but after 2 nights of use, I'm happy to report that they seem to have no negative effects!

Our Color Bath Dropz came with three colors of tablets: RED, YELLOW, & BLUE.  Here's what Crayola has to say about their product:

"The Crayola Bath product line brings the color, fun, creativity and imagination of the Crayola brand to bath time. Crayola Bath Dropz are fizzing water color tablets that turn ordinary bath water into colorful, fizzy water. This jar makes up to 30 baths! Mix and match the tints to create all the colors of the rainbow."

Sunday night, Kaleb wanted a RED bath.  We used one red tablet under the running faucet, and within minutes, the tub looked as if a gruesome homicide had taken place there.  But when bath time was finished and we drained all the water from the tub, there appeared to be no color left on anything.  Kaleb, the tub, and all his bath toys were unaffected by the color, as was his bath towel once we had him all dried off.

Tonight, we tested out mixing our primary colors.  We mixed one YELLOW tablet and one BLUE tablet and the result was a bath tub full of very GREEN water.  Kaleb played with his toy boats for at least a half hour before it was time to get out and head to bed.  Once again, when the water had been drained, there was none of the color left anyplace.

Overall, I'd say these are a simple and affordable way to add some fun to your kids' bath!

Quest for a New Daycare Has Ended! — Review of Malena's Mini School

Update, August 28, 2012:  Our happy time at Malena's was cut unexpectedly short.  While I still believe that Malena's is an exceptional daycare facility, especially within Pensacola, it is no longer one I would recommend to those looking for daycare for children over 3 years of age.  For an updated review, click here.

Today marks one month that Kaleb has been attending Malena's Mini School on Pine Forest Road in Pensacola.  I am extremely happy with the school, and with Kaleb's progress since he has been attending!

In the first couple of weeks, Kaleb had some behavior incidents.  They were well-documented to provide the information to me.  Both times were incidences of the same type that he had begun to exhibit shortly before we left his previous daycare, things he had learned over time by watching his peers at that previous daycare.  And each of them was Kaleb's learned response to feeling a bit defensive with another child.  But as he has been there longer, he is learning that he doesn't need to be on the defense all the time at Malena's as he was at the "old school," and his teachers are helping him learn more positive ways to work out problems between himself and other students or problems with situations he cannot control.  It's a big step for my little boy, and one that is being handled in a loving-but-firm manner by his teachers, Ms. Amanda and Ms. Richelle.

Review: Sparkling Ice

It's rare that I stumble across a product that I like enough to write a review, but thanks to a "10 for $10" sale at Publix, I have discovered a wonderful new—new to me, at least—tasty beverage!  Let me introduce you to.   Sparkling Ice beverages!  I wouldn't necessarily call them "health food" drinks, but they have zero calories; are  gluten free and caffeine free; and they're sweetened with Splenda.  When you're in a no-need-to-be-healthy mood, their website also has recipes for cocktails that can be mixed using the various flavors of Sparkling Ice.

Sparkling Ice are sold in various sizes, but I find the 17oz. bottles to be the perfect fit for any cup holder.  And I have a feeling I will continue to buy these drinks even after this spectacular sale has ended!  I've tried all their flavors as well, and I find the Kiwi Strawberry to be the perfect blend of flavors with the superb feeling of the tiny bubbles that give this the beverage the title of "sparkling" rather than the more standard "carbonated."  Seriously, you should check this stuff out!  ► Sparkling Ice Website ◄

[This review expresses only the thoughts and opinions of the blog author.  It was not paid for nor solicited by the company/product/entity being reviewed, nor do they offer any endorsement of the opinions contained herein.]

Review: Graco Argos™ 70 Car Seat

Evenflo Triumph Advance™

Well, the time has come to upgrade Kaleb to a new car seat! I've been extremely happy with the 2½ years of use I've gotten out of our Evenflo Triumph Advance™ (Ours was mint green and tan instead of light and dark brown.).  But, as with anything else associated with kids, this seat has reached the end of its usefulness for us and is starting to show those wear-and-tear signs that signal the seat may not provide as much protection as it did when it was new.

I've been doing lots of online research on car seats currently available and have also gotten some input from several of my mommy friends.  I've compared brands and safety standards as well as prices.  I want the best protection I can find for my Little Guy, but I also have to find one I can afford to buy!

Once I had all my options narrowed down to a few real possibilities, my friend Sharra and I went to Toys 'R Us (since we don't have a Babies 'R Us) to "play" with the demo models.  One of the things I love about car seat shopping at Toys 'R Us is that they don't strap their demo models down to the shelves, like so many stores do.  That means I was able to haul any seat I want off the shelves and onto the floor to inspect and test out all the features.  It got me a strange look or two from other shoppers.  And upon watching me heave one of the seats back onto the shelf, the sales clerk joked that he guessed he better stay out of my way.  But, none of that bothers me when it comes to choosing a safe seat for my son.

DO NOT Go To The Subway on Michigan Avenue!

The owner of this restaurant should be absolutely ashamed to be in business!

 

Kaleb and I were out running some errands today.  In the car between stops, he looked at me and said, "Eat, eat?"  It's his standard 'I'm hungry' phrase.  I glanced at the clock and realized that it was almost 1:00!  Time had gotten away from me, and now I had a hungry 2-year-old asking to eat.

It wasn't really convenient to have to go all the way home and prepare lunch, so I decided we'd stop someplace and eat.  Kaleb thinks it's really fun when he gets to go out to eat with Mommy, and today is his birthday.  I wasn't in the mood for greasy food like burgers and fries, though, so I picked Subway.  It was right on the way to our next stop, and wouldn't really be busy this time of day.

The Swift Decline of Quality Television Programming

This weekend as I've been home with Kaleb, I've really noticed how few television programs there are anymore worth watching.  On the weekends, Cox Cable should just give us two days free, since most everything showing is absolute garbage.  We have 70 channels of TV, and I can't find anything to watch!  I shouldn't have to pay for extended service and hundreds of channels just to find one or two with worthwhile programming!

The first problem I have with weekend programming is the number of channels that air movies one after another all day instead of the normal hour or half-hour shows.  I'm a single mom with a toddler; I do not have time to sit and watch an entire movie uninterrupted!  Leave the movies to the movie channels!  But, while the movies are a problem on the weekends, there's a much bigger issue.....one TV style that is flooding the airwaves and ruining the quality of television:

"Reality" TV!

It all started in 1992 when MTV started a show called "The Real World" that followed a group of young adults thrown into a posh urban/downtown apartment together.  Real?  Hardly.  Seriously, in the real world, when would you ever find 6-8 beautiful young adults (men and women) who've never met all moving into an apartment together?  It would never work, especially not when you're hooking up with a different roommate every couple of days.  If "The Real World" was the real world, the rate of homicide would increase dramatically.....or maybe just the rate of STDs.

A Review of the Exploreum in Mobile, AL

Today Dad and I took Kaleb to the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center in Mobile, AL.  What follows is my review of the parts of the museum we visited.  There were several of the exhibits that were geared toward children much older than Kaleb, and so these exhibits were not on our trip through the museum.

Our original reason for going to to Exploreum today was to check out the Reptile Planet exhibit showing at the Exploreum from July 9th until October 24th.  I have seen numerous billboard and internet advertisements for this exhibit over the last several weeks.  The Exploreum's website has this description of the exhibit:

These are NOT your garden variety reptiles! The Gulf Coast Exploreum’s new exhibit, Reptile Planet, features 30 exotic, live reptiles from 20 different countries. Get up close and personal with Burmese pythons, snake-necked turtles, veiled chameleons, American alligators and more! The exhibit also features numerous interactive components and activities that are fun for the whole family.  See this exhibit before it slithers away for good!

I am SO glad this was not the only exhibit accessible on our tickets!  It's true that there are 30 species of reptiles there, but I really didn't know that I was getting all excited to go and see lethargic turtles and sleeping snakes.  One of the animal exhibits was uninhabited while we were there, so that the caretakers could clean the terrarium.  Um, hello!  You're only open from 9-5 each day!  Don't you think it might have been a good idea to do your cleaning during the 16 hours the museum is closed?!?!  The "interactive components and activities" associated with this exhibit were static displays of anatomical parts of various reptiles.  I guess by "interactive" they meant "you can read the labels."  This exhibit was small, and tucked away in an upstairs area.