Random Tid Bits

1. We went to go spend time with Grandma and Grandpa - my parents.
   
   Isaak to Grandma, "I just love your muscles." Grandma laughing, "That's fat. Not muscle!" We all laughed.
   
   Mica to Grandpa, "Grandpa you smell like wood." Grandpa, "Ok...what kind of wood?" Mica, "A hard wood." Grandpa, "Like Oak?" Travis, "Like Hickory Dickory." Grandma kept laughing because Mica kept talking about Grandpa smelling like hard wood. Then I started laughing because Grandma was laughing so hard. Then Travis started laughing. Mica sat there with a confused look on his face. 


2.  Mica gets all annoyed that I come home with berries every day. He's like, "How many berries do you really need? We have a ton!" Travis respond with, "Mica it's free food." I respond with, "We need food throughout the winter too. There are no berries in the winter time. These berries will only last a little while, not even through the whole winter." He's like, "I really don't think you need to pick any more berries Mom." 



I keep picking these whiteish mulberries that are completely ripe.


3. I asked Mica to pick raspberries. He went out, and came back in the matter of a few minutes. I said, "Mica what are you doing son? Is there a problem?" He said, "I just didn't think of the fact that I'm a bee and wasp magnet with what I'm wearing. I'm going to change shirts!" I said, "Ok. As long as the job gets done. ;)" Isaak yells out, "Mica I don't think it works that way!" *Yes the kid is all elbows, and does this dorky pose when I ask to take photos of him! 











4. We have a car commercial here in Omaha for a car place called H & H.  They have Hannah and Hailey as their people for their commercial. 




Isaak said, "Those two are Photoshopped!" Mica said, "Isaak they are twins." Isaak swears back that they are Photoshopped. My sister said, "They have different boobs. Yes I've examined them." She's a certified Lactation Consultant. LOL!


5. I ran across the shirts below on FB. No, I have no idea where they came from. Let me know, and I'll source them. They so fit my parenting style. I wish I could wear them to Parent Teacher Conferences. Sorry if they offend you. They are really just a joke.

Parenting in the Digital Age

One thing I love are events at Do Space. I recently went to Parenting in the Digital Age put on by Common Sense Media.

Thankfully my boys are at good ages to entertain themselves with computers. During this session there was no one that could watch the kids.

If it were up to the boys they would have played in the lobby the whole time. They had rockets on a screen that put their face in them, and followed them where ever they went.

While the kids did what they did, we got started talking about Parenting in the Digital Age.

First Common Sense Media talked about how they are active in creating laws. Kids can swipe their online presence to start over when they are 18.

This is when I felt a little guilty about blogging about my kids so much. I think of my blog as a recording device. A modern baby book that worked its way into when they are kids. Lucky for me they are good kids. When I blog it's not like I'm throwing them under the bus each post. We all act up, and go through phases in life at times.

A mom that was there doesn't put her kids on facebook at all. I felt like I was in the wrong. So my kids have an online presence. If I had to start my blog over again - knowing what I know now I'd give my boys nicknames that they have in real life. Isaak is Zeek and Mica is Moose at home, and Smarty at Grandma and Grandpa's. It's a little late for that now I feel.

My boys are leaders in their classes, they get good grades in school, and they crack me up on a daily basis. I don't think I've messed them up that much.

I respect those that choose to give their kids online privacy. It would be super hard for me to not share my kids with the world. They are a part of my life.

We had to make a word web of our kids that included our online concerns for them, and something positive they'll get from being online.

Here's Travis':

Here's mine:

Travis' was more artsy, but mine had more words on it.

I have different concerns from one child to the next. Mica doesn't know his online limits. Isaak gets his feelings hurt easily, which could result in being bullied online.

Common Sense Media works with teachers, parents and educators. In fact they work with my boy's school district. They are not just in Nebraska. Check to see if they work with schools around where you live. Please check out their website: commonsensemedia.org

Things Parents Should Talk to Their Kids About:

• Having positive online decisions
• No cyber bulling 
• Data privacy 
• They shouldn't violate copyright laws

Common Sense Media Has so Much on Their Site! Here are Links to a Few Things We Went Over:

• You can see movie reviews here. I love that they have ages for movies. No longer will my husband try to get them to see something they aren't ready for. Can I say Sixth Sense? I had to say "NO!" to that one. They also have online discussions topics about movies. Families can have dialog about what they watched. How great is that?!
• There digital glossary is here. It is a glossary of terms that older students use. So many of them I have heard, but didn't know what they meant. This covers their lingo. This I will use for my own students. 
• They have media agreements here. It's a downloadable PDF that you can print out for your kid to fill out. I have to say that I don't know how much I'll use of that. We just discuss when they've had too much media. They get off at that time. 

There's a lot more on their site, so check it out!

We Talked About Apps:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Musical.ly
• Vine
• Kik Messenger
• Snapchat
• Tumblr

Some I knew a lot about, while others were new to me. While I've heard of Snapchat, I've never used it. Vine, Musical.ly, Kik Messenger I've never heard of. I brought up others like Pinterest, Google+ and LinkedIn. I guess LinkedIn is supposed to have a come back. I thought it was dying.

What app do you use the most? I'd have to say that I use Facebook the most. I control the school's Facebook page, as well as my blog one, and my personal one. Pinterest is helpful. Not just for recipes, but for holding onto things I want to talk about in class. I like Instagram, but am still newish to it. Twitter just seems like a spot to get the word out about things.

Overall I really enjoyed Parenting in the Digital Age.

Flowers on My Pillow

This is the 2nd week that Travis will be gone for an extended period of time for his art residency. This time he left on Tuesday night, and will get back on Saturday to help with some Easter things. 

The one that his absence is getting to the most is Isaak. Isaak is our kid that has a sweet and sour personality. 

I think he's feeling things he can't explain right now. Our children have always been good with words. Isaak has always said, "I don't miss anyone. I don't even know what miss means."

I asked Isaak for help putting groceries away, and he complained because Mica wasn't doing the task. Mica was in the shower.

I stopped and said, "If you can't stop complaining then you can just go to bed. I don't want to hear negativity."

He kicked boxes of JELL-O across the floor. He went to get ready for bed in tears.

I called him in to talk with him once he cooled down. He wasn't very happy at his own behavior, that he had to do something that his brother didn't have to do, and that I sent him to his room.

I walked in my room and there was this on my pillow:

I opened it up and there was ground cover flowers in it.

The next night I asked Mica to practice spelling words with Isaak. 

Isaak said, "Mica go get my spelling words, paper, and a pencil!" 

Mica said, "No! I'm asking you your spelling words. I'm not getting all that for you! It's your job." 

Isaak got really grumpy, and demanding. 

I told him, "Mica's right. You need to take some time to chill out." 

Isaak said, "But you told Mica to help me." I said, "Help! Not do. We'll talk about this after you've calmed down."

When I talked to him I asked, "Are you upset that Dad is not here? Is that what this is really about?" 

He said, "Yes" with a sad look on his face. 

I said, "Isaak it's ok to miss someone. That is calling missing someone. It's not ok to take your frustrations out on Mica and I. Do you want to call Dad?" 

He shook his head no. 

I said, "Ok. Go sit down to apologize to Mica for your behavior, and study your spelling words with him. I'll cuddle you after I'm done with dinner. 

I always wonder in situations like this if I'm handling it right. I know some people would say that Isaak needs a harsher punishment. I know that we're (as parents) always around for him. He's not used to one parent being gone a lot. Yes he needs to be punished, but he also needs positive attention like being read to, cuddle time, and board game time - things that he loves.

I'm a Horrible Mom

Not really. It's just that lately I look at my pictures that I've taken that I found cute or funny, and think, Wow I can't post that on Facebook!

I have a friend that is responsible for choosing public art in Omaha, Nebraska. When we were in Kansas City I shot every photo I could with my kids interacting with the public art. Much later on I thought, Maybe I shouldn't post this? They shouldn't be climbing on that. But it's public, so why not? To be honest when we were in college we did the same things my kids were doing without a second thought.

So here's my shameful photos. I still think they are fun. Go ahead and judge me.

If you thought those were bad, then you will think this next one is worse. We were at a gymnastic type place with some of our friends that live in KC. It was free, it was fun, and it was nice giving the boys time to work off some energy after being in the car for 2 1/2 hours. I was having an in depth conversation with one of our friends. I looked over at our kids, and saw Isaak rolling over Mica's body with a giant foam cylinder. Instead of stopping them from getting hurt, I grabbed my camera to shoot a photo. In my mind I figured they'd start crying, or screaming if someone got hurt. Instead they were laughing, and having fun. You only live once right?

There you go I'm not perfect. But we sure know how to have fun.