funforkids

     There are so many young women who envision the happily ever after as depicted in those beloved Disney fairy tales. Which one did you identify with? Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty? Many women planning their wedding choose to follow the Cinderella theme, the glass slipper, the horse drawn coach, the full ball gown, everything depicting a true princess. I too had the fairytale visions of life and the happily everafter; the glass slippers, the handsome stud (I mean prince), and the way we’d ride off on his well-groomed steed. I am happy to say, I did have my dream wedding; my very hansome prince made our wedding day and our honeymoon trip to Aruba very magical. Everything was wonderful; I loved my dress, I loved our bridal party, I got married in the same church I have loyally attended since childhood, our reception hall was a gorgeous, picturesque establishment and the food was abundant, elaborate, and delicious; we really did have the fairy tale I had dreamed about.

     We settled into a fixer upper which at times felt like a nightmare rather than a dream come true, where we still live today. It is small, but it is home to myself, my prince and our two boys ages 5 and 3. I have what I always wanted, the house, the husband, the kids, my health, God’s grace–the fairytale. Like many women though, (and men as well–I am sure) sometimes I forget that I do have a wonderful life and that everything is a blessing. I have to remember this when I am having a mommy-meltdown-moment–As hard as it is, I have to remember that this was my dream and this is what I prayed for. Somewhere down the line I, like millions of other women, traded in my glass slippers for fuzzy ones. I traded my lovely wedding up-do for greasy, once in awhile washed hair that is usually up in a pony tail or beneath a baseball cap. I traded my gown in for the everyday jeans and sensible shirt that I won’t really care if it gets cheese doodle on or, in a worst case scenario, vomit.

      Somewhere down the line my prince turned into the belching, grunting, ogre named Shrek and I into the fair, green, not so gorgeous Fiona. My children are a combination of all seven dwarves: Sleepy, Dopey, Doc, Bashful, Sneezy, Happy, and especially Grumpy, yep they are all here. I even have a few of my own new names for my dwarves at times such as: vommity, boogery, bratty, freshy, know it all, and Stingey. Happily there are many positive dwarves living in my home too like: Kissy, Huggy, Ticklish, Lovey, Baby, Funny, Joy, and Blessing. Guess what- this too is my fairytale. It may not have been the vision I had when I was younger, but it makes me happy to be a mom.

     Ah the fairy tale, the princess lifestyle, how sweet it all seemed. No mortgage payments, no car bills, no real job, the ability to sleep forever (a favorite of mine). Those ladies had it all–in the end. Come to think of it though, I should have been prepared for the dicey stuff, we all should have been prepared. I should have realized that to achieve that fairytale ending, the princesses had to overcome extreme obstacles, the wicked step mothers, stepsisters, fire breathing dragons, the poison apples, scrubbing the floors on hands and knees, waiting on others as if you are the house maid, the seven dwarves each with their own lil unique personality, It was all there. Why didn’t I see it? Maybe I blocked it out, who knows. Perhaps these tales do actually teach us a lesson or two afterall. Perhaps we are meant to learn that we are stronger than we realize and that we are meant to pick ourselves up in times of trial and to endure all with great self pride and worth. For when we do overcome the obstacles, both big and small, it makes the victory even more magical. So I say to all of the mommys out there who are suffering from Cinderella Syndrome (which is what I call the desire to have that fairytale come true) sit back and enjoy the symptoms. Your fairytale has come true mommy, your fairytale has come true.

     God Bless all the mommys and daddys out there who deal with the mundane, the crying, the bills, the not so wonderful stuff and keep going for the sake of their children. You will be blessed and your reward is great in the eyes of God. Your children do appreciate you and love you although they may not know how to show it. They will learn how to appreciate you on a higher level just as you have learned to appreciate yours. Hang in there and may you be a blessing and a role model to others. Send this to anyone you think needs to be reminded that life is a dream come true.

Those of you who have toddlers and pre-schoolers are probably already Privy to the wealth of amazing shows on Noggin, but for those of you who may not know about this wonderful television station, please allow me to discuss it with you.  Noggin is a television channel developed for your little ones (from birth to preschool) that is designed to be a virtual preschool for your children.  EVERYTHING on Noggin is SAFE, EDUCATIONAL, and FUN!  What I love the most (coming from both a mom and a teacher’s standpoint) is the fact that prior to every show they list the EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS that each show focuses on.  For those of you who aren’t familiar with “Educational Standards” , they are an outline that educators use when formulating their lesson plans.  When a teacher writes up his/her lesson, they are expected to include one or more of a state’s required “Educational Standards”; this is done in order to make sure that educational goals are met by all students.  Noggin lists each educational standard that its shows meet prior to the show.  For example, prior to showing “The Upside Down Show”, Noggin will announce that the particular episode helps children learn opposites such as up and down, right and left, etc, and enhances children’s  learning through imaginary role play.  I find the shows on Noggin to be the next best thing to my child being in preschool (he is still to little to actually go), and I know that he is learning many useful and many necessary skills, behaviors, and attitudes that he will need to be successful in the future.  I also love the fact that Noggin is all preschool ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT.  They used to cut the preschool shows at 6 p.m. and begin teen shows, but they apparently had a great demand to change to the younger audience, because earlier this year, they became a 24 hour preschool station.   I love the fact that I can turn Noggin on and not worry about my kids hearing words they shouldn’t be hearing or seeing behaviors that I don’t want them to pick up.  I have found that even some Disney movies are not worthy of praise as quite a few of them have characters calling each-other names like: “You moron” or “You Nerd”.  Other shows have the kids getting into jams and various scenarios that I would not want my kids replicating. I know they aren’t horrible words, and very bad behaviors depicted in some shows but when you are trying to teach your child to respect others, these words and behaviors can prove to be stumbling blocks on the road to respectfulness.  Some of my favorite shows on the Noggin station are:  MAX AND RUBY, The Upside Down Show, and JACK’S BIG MUSIC SHOW.  I even find myself sitting down to watch with the kids rather than cleaning the house, simply because I enjoy the shows and I like to interact with the kids while they watch.  Other shows include:  Dora The Explorer which teaches kids everyday Spanish words and deductive reasoning, Diego which also teaches Spanish words and introduces children to various animals and facts about those animals, Blue’s Clues (which I love too) which is really cute as kids get to help a man find clues that his dog leaves him in order to solve a puzzle at the end.  There are so many more shows worth mentioning, but I will leave it to you to explore the shows yourself.  If you don’t receive Noggin, I highly urge you to call your cable or satellite provider and order the channel-you will not be sorry and it will be the best investment you will ever make for your child’s education. 

 I am writing this a day early because I wanted to make sure I got the message out before the actual day.  I am wishing all of the daddy’s out there a very happy father’s day.  I hope you all take a little time off from the yard work, the second and even third jobs that most of you are working in order to support your families, and just enjoy the little ones (and the big ones) in your lives.  To those of you who are having your FIRST Father’s Day-Congratulations and may you have the best day with your new baby.   To the grandfathers and great grandfathers, may you enjoy the generations you have brought forth in abundance.  May you offer them stories of your youth, advice offered with your wisdom, and love from your heart.  Let us remember the fathers who are overseas fighting for our country.  May they know that we honor them with their own families and send blessings from afar.  We pray that they come home safe to the loving arms of their families very soon.  To those who are spending their first father’s day without their dad’s either through loss or due to distance, I pray that you find the strength to get through the day and that you have many beautiful memories of father’s days in your past.  Remember they are always with you when you look back upon them with love. 

     Tom my dad-I love you so much today and always.  You truly are a wonderful dad who is ALWAYS here for me.  Whether it be to take the boys off my hands for a little while, or to cut my grass, or fix something broken, you are and will always be my hero and my knight in shining armor.  I will always be your little girl.

     To my husband who works three jobs to keep food on our table and a roof over our heads.  The boys and I love you and appreciate all of your hard work.  We may not see you very often, but we love you always.  We look forward to vacation days when we can go and do something fun with you. 

     Happy Father’s Day to all.  God Bless.

The kids of PS 146 had a half day of school yesterday!  Hooray! (for them).  Yes, it is great to have extra time with the kids, but they get bored so quickly don’t they?  It doesn’t take long for them to get on each other’s nerves and start driving mom and dad crazy too.  A friend of mine suggested we go have lunch at Carosello on Crossbay Boulevard in Howard Beach, NY.  The reason we chose this place over the large number of choices contained on Cross Bay blvd was because Carosello was running a fundraiser with the Parent Teacher Association of P.S. 146 and we wanted to do our part for the school ( 10% of our check would go to the school). 

     We arrived at about 11:30 and the place was empty, but it quickly began to fill up with the lunch time crowd.  As you walk through the main entrance you are greeted by a wonderful carnival/circus painted mural.  From the second you open the doors, you know that you are in a kid-friendly environment.  The tables and seating sections are divided by movable striped walls so if need be, the waiter/waitress can section off a more quiet area for business lunches and still serve the giggling gaggles of kids.  The lunch menu was quite extensive offering lots of choices at great prices.  Being a mom, I quickly moved to kid’s menu and I found 5 or 6 choices there all of which were kid’s favorites (hot dogs and hamburgers, mac and cheese, chicken fingers, penne and vodka).  The prices were very reasonable-all of the kids choices were under $5–I like that!  The food was brought out pretty quickly to the joy of our kids who just couldn’t wait to finish eating so they could hit the arcade.  The portions were larger than I have come to expect when eating out and of course there were lots of left overs for dinner-I also love that. ;)     As part of the fundraiser with the school, when we finished our meal we were given two dollars worth of tokens for each child.  The tokens lasted a good deal of time but I grabbed another $5 in tokens because the boys were having so much fun and I dreaded having to drag them out into the hot sun.  We stayed for about an hour and had a blast.  Ryan finished the day with 390+ tickets and Mikey earned 190 which they quickly handed into the redemption center for prizes. Spending time with friends in such a safe environment is (as they say in the commercials) “priceless.  On a scale of 1-10 ice cream cones, I give Carosello:  10 ice cream cones.  Ryan gives it 100 ice cream cones and wants to eat there “EVERYDAY!!!!”.   

PS–They also have private party rooms!  Give them a call or stop by to see what they have to offer!

Welcome to my new blogsite:  FUNFORKIDS

I am glad you stopped in to browse the site.  I am just beginning to put the site together so please be patient with me as I find new and interesting things for you and your children to enjoy.  This site will not just be for the kids, but for adults as well–afterall, aren’t we all still kids at heart?  I will be exploring arts and crafts, playdate and party ideas, interesting sites on the net for parents and children alike, and throwing out ideas to help you get through the long, HOT, summer with the kids.  School is ending soon and we all know that once the kids are home for a few days they soon become bored.  I would love for this to be a community site, so please feel free to comment, question, and make suggestions in the comment sections.  If you have a great place that people would enjoy visiting, or an event that kids and parents would love, please leave a comment on it and I will be sure to look into it and discuss it further.  I am a New Yorker, so most of the places I discuss will be close to home, but many of us are still willing to pay the gas prices to escape the city for a while, so any travel tips and vacation spots that you find enjoyable are welcome here too.  I hope you stop in often and please tell a friend to visit as well.  The more people that visit, the better the site will be.  Have a wonderful day.  Cheryl