Father's Day Homemade Gifts

Photo by Luxist.com

Ah, the ancient tradition going back to ancient Egypt of children purchasing ties for their fathers on Father's Day. Let's make this year different. Roll up your sleeves, moms, it is time for you to start helping your little ones make Father's Day gifts. No help from the Department of Education here. Dads have it so easy since the schools help your kid make Mother's Day cards and gifts, don't they?

For your viewing pleasure, here are some ideas for you as you plan your child's Father's Day gift.

Best Dad Desk Accessory: recommended for ages 6 and up with parental supervision. Requires dad to have a desk to display the gift on...or a workbench...or a dresser.

Car Nut Frame: recommended for age 5 and up, but I think a 3 year old could do this craft. Make sure you have a photo to put in the frame or it will sit under your bed like Mr. Bean's photo frame has since Christmas. This craft is really cute for any handy-dad.

Coupons: I recommend this "craft" for your older kids who will definitely understand their own sacrifice of love and understand how coupons work. You can make your own or print some here. Even cuter? Make coupons credit card size and stuff a new wallet full of them! I suggest an expiration date be put on them to encourage immediate use or they may end up like Mr. Bean's last batch of coupons--under the bed. Alternatively you could call them gift certificates or gift cards! That's language everyone understands!

Dad's Throne: No, not the toilet. This cute idea is great if you have multiple children and no plans (and good weather) on Father's Day. Helpful if you have a kid who is creative and another who likes to implement ideas, but not necessary. If the weather is bad, this could easily be transformed into an indoor throne.

Note Pad: This idea is really cute and can be done by most any child, toddler and up. A quick visit to the office supply store, some markers, and a ribbon later and viola! You have a quick and easy present just for dad! This is a Martha Stewart approved project.

Personalized Coasters: This is a great craft if you have a newborn since you can just stamp their hand print or foot print on the coasters. Three steps: go to home improvement store, decorate, seal. Love it.

Of course, a tie is easier.

Cooking 101

Today I went to a live cooking demonstration by Dan Smith of The Next Food Network Star and The Party Line fame. He co-owns The Hearty Boys business with his co-winner of TNFNS, Steve McDonagh. They have a pretty neat idea of doing "cooking karaoke" in their Chicago-based TV studio.

Photo courtsey of Mr. Bean.

It was fun to watch (live) the process of making a meal by an actual professional. (If you only know me on this blog, you do not know that I am a HORRIBLE cook. Mr. Bean does the cooking in our house.) Besides sharing some history on how he got into the business, it was fun to hear some of the behind-the-scenes secrets of having a cooking show.

String Bean enjoyed eating his Orange Blossom Pancakes with Mascarpone Cream and Fresh Berries. Well, she didn't eat the mascarpone cream and only ate the blueberries, but she enjoyed those and the pancake quite a bit!

As an added bonus, the official photographer for the event took a lot of photos of the Bean family (including my in-laws) since we scored front row seats and we had an adorable child with us. How could he resist?

If you haven't had the opportunity to enjoy a live cooking demonstration, the mirror over the counter alone is reason to check it out. Free samples don't hurt either!

We Survived

I recently had a conversation with Amy and Filbert about things our kids have that we didn't...and we survived! The conversation mostly revolved around seat belts and car seats neither of which were required when we were young. Although I do not advocate letting your kids do without seat belts and car seats just because we survived without them, there are certainly things that fall into that category.

Wipe Warmers. Sure it makes the experience more pleasant, but is it necessary? I think not.

Remote Controlled Mobiles. Really? My daughter never had a mobile, so maybe I've just missed the whole boat. I guess parents who are too lazy to get up and go across the room/house to start the mobile or change the speed/sound need a remote. Speaking of remotes, where is my TV remote...?

Mini Washing Machine for Cloth Diapers. If you don't believe me, check it out. Although this link does not advertise to use this gadget for cloth diapers, other places it is advertised as a solution for keeping pees and poops away from the rest of your laundry with this new machine. If you have expendable income, go for it. And it fits on your counter top! That's where I like to clean my poops and pees!

Crying Analyzer. Maybe I'm the odd mom out, but isn't it easier just to check the diaper, offer food, and look for something uncomfortable than to pull out a machine, have your baby cry into it and hope that this is right, as it is 87% of the time, about your baby's cries?

Shopping Cart Covers. *Dodging tomatoes* I know many of you out there think this is a necessity for your precious little one. I'm told that 95% of first time moms will take precautions for their firstborn and then just find that to be a hassle and unnecessary with their second. (You caught me, I made up that statistic, but you second and third and fourth time moms know there is truth to that.) Our grocery store has disinfectant wipes at the door next to the carts. I just use those and try to keep my life simple and my diaper bag light. (Similarly, there are these same covers for restaurant high chairs.)

Lead Testing Kits. Somewhere the Consumer Product Safety Commission has just started a file on me. When I was a kid, we ate lead for fun! My elementary school had a back alley where not only my sister was caught kissing a boy behind the shed, but the lead dealers (who were all in 4th and 5th grade) would go to sell their product and get us all our fix before the dreaded afternoon dolldrums. The trace amounts found in toys just are not worth the hysteria the CPSC has thrust upon us. Unless your kid is eating paint, the lead threat just isn't that great. And you have a bigger problem. YOUR KID IS EATING PAINT. Besides, I saw an exposé on the news that showed these tests often give false positives and fail to detect lead in some cases.

What would you add to this list?

Seriously, Heidi and Spencer?

If you haven't seen the 2 episodes of "I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here," you really haven't missed a whole lot except Heidi and Spencer Pratt acting like fools on television. They put the "whine" in the wining and dining celebrities are accustomed to.

Besides the constant use of hairspray for no apparent reason, Heidi and Spencer acted like spoiled children up until they QUIT the show because, as Spencer put it, "I don't volunteer, I get paid!"

I was pretty disturbed by Spencer's constant talking about being a Christian then turning around and yelling, acting childish, and praying for frivolous things like having a double date with Miley Cyrus ("And God answered my prayer in less than a month!"). You know "God loves a challenge!" Well, that's the gospel according to Stephen Baldwin who bapitized Spencer in the river during the episode.

I'm glad Heidi and Spencer have left the show just because I don't have to watch them be abassadors for my faith and spew hypocracy as they go along.

Now on to more important things like Patti Blagojevich spilling the secrets of her husband Rod's legal dilemma and the comedy duo Frangelina!

Miss Independent

Tonight String Bean showed her independence by building her own tower with Legos. This age is fun now that she's trying to do things on her own (but not mad, yet if we take over and finish the task). We've enjoyed watching her try to put on her shoes, take off her coat, put away toys, follow simple directions, attempt to style her own hair and pretend to feed her stuffed animals.

Our little Miss Independent is growing up. Right now she still needs mom and dad, but it is just a matter of time before she'll leave us in the dust. Until then, we don't mind helping with the Lego tower or making that hairstyle just a tad more socially acceptable.

Clean Up

Don't you love it when you clean up the living room and your kid wakes up, comes in, and completely trashes it?

We are teaching String Bean to clean up after herself, but tonight just was not the night to make it happen. I'm afraid I missed the window for putting her down, which translated in her not going to bed until 10 pm. Rather than force her to clean up her mess, I just put her down.

At what age did you start teaching your child to clean up after themselves? (I was going to add "At what age did they catch on and do it on their own?" and then I realized that was a silly question!)

4 Incidences in 3 days

I mentioned earlier that String Bean had a puking incident while we were on vacation. She had another one when we got home...at 2:30 am. Just what we want to do when we are half awake! She also peed out all sides of her diaper soaking her clothing on our drive home. And this morning Mr. Bean woke up to a very poopy mess in her diaper and pajamas.

This is the side of motherhood that you are not warned about. Ladies, be forewarned. Bodily functions go awry and that is the joy of being a mom.

Love it. Don't embrace it/him/her.

Finally a Winner!

I'm happy to report the last day of our vacation in Door County, Wisconsin went without incident with String Bean. Among the highlights were a ferry ride that she found quite thrilling and a visit to an ostrich farm that happened to have an up-close and personal view of a black bear!

Our next vacation? To Indianapolis in June!

Today was Not Better

Although String Bean got a great night of sleep, she did not have a better day today.

We visited the Cana Island Lighthouse. After hiking to the island (ok, that sounds more dramatic than it is), we went into the lighthouse. String Bean decided she should crawl up to the second floor of the "home" side of the lighthouse. Around the third step, she slipped and smacked her face on the step and she has a nice purple bruise to prove it!

After several tears were shed and String Bean had recovered from the incident, I carried her up the offending stairs. While there, she found some kid-sized chairs to sit in. She made the mistake of asking her father to come sit in the chair beside her. Instead of moving her fingers from between the chairs, she left them and Mr. Bean managed to pinch them tightly. Luckily (?), this was on the opposite hand than the one she got caught in the elevator door on Sunday.

So, today was not String Bean's day either. Maybe tomorrow.

Not String Bean's Day

Despite the rain, we are having a good time on vacation. String Bean...has had some challenges.

It all started this morning when we took her swimming. There is a kid's pool here at the hotel! Perfect. We took her down and Mr. Bean got in the pool with her. She was standing up and the water came up to about her chest. I took her bouncy ball she'd been playing with all weekend and kicked it into the pool. I did not know she was going to dive head-first into the water to retrieve it. After a couple seconds fully emerged in the water, Mr. Bean picked her up and she coughed a couple times then signed "all done" repeatedly. For the rest of the 10 minute pool trip, she sat crying, clinging her ball, and signing "all done" whenever she felt like we might make her go in the water again. Sorry, kid. Just because you have a near-death experience does not mean you get out of swimming lessons later. Following the pool, she got a bath. It may as well have been just another pool. Same reaction.

This evening, we were in the hotel room. After a few coughing fits and several looks of "Mom I have something in my throat," I invited String Bean to come sit on my lap. As she was passed from dad to mom, she started dry heaving. Of course, Mr. Bean squealed like a girl and jumped in fear of puke getting on his fashionable clothing. Nothing came up on him.

While sitting on my lap, String Bean started puking up the contents of her stomach. Being the quick thinkers we are, my mother-in-law and I caught all the throw up in our hands. We went into the bathroom and cleaned up the rest. A little on the onesie and a drop on the hotel room carpet and the rest in the sink. Mr. Bean cleaned up the sink, I cleaned up the little bean and my mother-in-law cleaned up the solitary drop off the carpet.

An hour later, and String Bean is sleeping soundly in her room (Yes, it is a 2 bedroom condo we are staying in). It was definitely not her day. Hopefully tonight she does not wake up every 2 hours and hopefully tomorrow is better.