Yearly Archives: 2009

Legos and Kids: The Pros and Cons

August 7, 2009activities for kids, ParentingKirsetin

Legos are both a blessing and bane in our house.

My kids have been playing with Legos for a hundred years. Or, maybe, it just feels like a hundred years. We started with the baby Duplos, progressed to those big bricks (also Duplos?), and have now graduated to the tiny little pieces that make me scream every time I step on one. From what I’ve heard, I think my feelings about those tiny pieces are akin to the way mothers of girls feel about multiple Barbie shoes. Ouch.

Lego Pros:

Help develop small motor skills
Encourage creativity
Stimulate that how-pieces-fit-together side of the brain
Hours of relatively quiet play

Lego Cons:

A bazillion little pieces everywhere
Countless completed projects, decorating every level surface
Tears when a favorite piece is needed, but is already in use
Did I mention the bazillion little pieces?

Despite these cons, we’ve continued to encourage Lego building. All three of our boys spend hours with their creations. I know that one day in the future my house will be free of the tiny, painful, little Lego pieces. The floor will be as neat in the evening as it was in the morning. No new creations will grace my coffee table.

What a sad day that will be.

My Favorite Season

August 6, 2009fall, nostalgia, summerKirsetin

This summer has been filled with friends and books and long days at the cottage. I love these days without rushed schedules and juggling mealtimes. It’s such a treat to be able to make dinner whenever we’re all hungry, without working it around a meeting or practice or game. Summer is a solidifying force in our family, and I aim to keep it that way.

That said, summer isn’t my favorite time of year. It’s not even close. Fall wins, every time.

Every season has its perks, and there are things I enjoy whenever the weather changes. That first, beautiful snowfall, that comes down on a dark night and blankets our world with a soft white blanket; the tiny buds on the trees and the flowers pushing their way up to the warmth and light; the laughter of the boys on the tube behind the boat and long walks along the beach: all of these things, I enjoy.

But fall stands alone as my favorite, year after year. I love the colors of the leaves, the cooler days and much cooler nights, but more than anything, it’s the sense of renewal that calls me. You might think this would happen in January, when the rest of the world is celebrating the start of a new year, or in the summer, when we have more family time than we could even imagine at other times of year. But it doesn’t. For me, the new year begins in the fall.

It’s just around the corner now, and I’ll embrace it when it arrives, but I’m not wishing summer away yet. I’m still looking forward to sunny days at the beach and reading books in the hammock. I’m still enjoying walking to the farmer’s market and making dinner when the need arises. I’m still taking advantage of these slower schedules to create memories with my kids. Every season has its perks, after all.

photo credit: graybeard763

The Most Important Tip for Newlyweds

August 5, 2009finances, marriage, Wedded BlissKirsetin

I’m about to do something I loathe: I’m going to offer you a little unsolicited advice. I loathe this mostly because I loathe receiving it. If I want your opinion, I’ll ask. Otherwise, I find it rather insulting to be offered advice nilly willy, as if I haven’t the brains to think something through for myself.

For this topic, however, experience counts. No matter how smart you are, how savvy, how very much in love with your husband-to-be, you can’t hold a candle to experience. So here it is, the one thing I think every newly married couple absolutely ought to do:

Nope, it’s not here.

It’s over here, in my post at Wedded Bliss.