I am very passionate about the dangers of cyberbullying and the importance of parents getting involved/being informed. Cyberbullying is different from the in-person bullying many of us grew up with because 1) it follows you to your school, your friend’s house, and your home, 2) it’s psychological more than physical, 3) rumors/lies/inappropriate pictures travel further and faster online, and can be around indefinitely, 4) it’s easier to perpetrate, regardless of your age and size.

Please join me this afternoon for a live, all-text Talk on The Motherhood, called Protecting Your Kids from Cyberbullying.  Should you monitor what your kids do online, or is that being invasive of their privacy?  What do you do if your kid is being cyberbullied and the school doesn’t do anything about it?  And cell phones – if you get one for your nine-year-old, will it increase the chance of her being cyberbullied? Join Elizabeth Englander, professor of psychology and founder and director of the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center at Bridgewater State University, to talk cyberbullying and what’s going on with your kids.

When: Monday, May 21, at noon ET.  We will chat for 30 minutes!

Where: On The Motherhood, right here – http://bit.ly/JXBBS8

Who: The all-text chat will be hosted by Elizabeth Englander, professor of psychology and founder and director of the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center at Bridgewater State University.  Co-hosting are these fantastic women:

• Leticia, Tech Savvy Mama
• Lisa, Mommyality,
• Sarah, Sarah and Sons
• Victoria, The Mummy Chronicles

Co-host Twitter IDs:

@MorethanMommy
@techsavvymama
@Mommyality
@SAuerswald
@VictoriaEMason

Host Twitter IDs:

@ekenglander
@theMotherhood
@EmilyMcKhann
@CooperMunro

Related posts:

1. Fun Food Allergy Chats with Lori Sandler and The Motherhood
2. Mom Bloggers – Let’s Put an End to Cyberbullying
3. Weight Loss on a Budget–Chat with Dr. James Anderson

Make your own digital scrapbook

Disclosure: We attended the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration at our own cost. Lodging, park tickets, and other amenities were included in the registration fee at a significantly reduced rate.

Related posts:

1. We’re Going to Disney World for Disney Social Media Moms
2. Disney Social Media Moms – My Recap
3. Social Media and the Myth of the Perfect Parent

We held off telling the kids until I was just too excited to wait another moment. It was Easter afternoon and we had just enjoyed dinner together. We had started with a really nice day and everyone was in a good mood…

I don’t know what I expected, but that wasn’t it. And if you were busy watching Bug try to figure out when we were going and how long we’d be there, watch it again with an eye on LadyBug.

Disclosure: We are attending the Disney Social Media Moms Celebration at our own cost. Lodging, park tickets, and other amenities are included in the registration fee at a significantly reduced rate.

Related posts:

1. Disney Social Media Moms Celebration 2012 Family Highlights
2. Disney Social Media Moms – My Recap
3. Social Media and the Myth of the Perfect Parent

I promised LadyBug that we could make Pinkalicious cupcakes so one afternoon, I pulled out some cake mix (no from-scratch baking with kids involved – I’ve drawn the line there) and we set to work. I usually don’t use my Kitchen Aid mixer for cake mix, but I thought it would help mixing in the food coloring. By the way, use the gel food coloring as it doesn’t add a lot of moisture to your batter. Not a huge deal for a few drops, but just a good tip to remember for when you want deeper colors.

We ended up with this lovely shade of pink. I didn’t want to get too red, but also needed to counteract the yellow of the cake mix (yes, I could have chosen white, but the yellow is a better flavor!).

LadyBug was a big help doling out the cupcake liners. We used bright pink and some with a funky pattern in pink and other fun colors.

After the cupcakes baked, we went to the bus stop to get Bug. LadyBug told him that we had baked pink cupcakes and he stopped in the street and burst into tears. All the way home he whined and cried that we had selfishly made pink cupcakes and not red, which is his favorite. He insisted that he never ever gets anything special (despite a trip with me to Chuck E. Cheese the day before without his sister). He howled about the HORROR of pink cupcakes. I suggested that he might just not get to eat one anyway.

Eventually, Bug came around. I mean, he’s not one to turn down a cupcake of any color. I offered to frost his cupcake with chocolate or plain white vanilla, but his anti-pink protest was over and he decided that it would be fun to have pink, too. He even used pink sprinkles (with some red ones thrown in).

The Pinkalicious cupcakes were a big hit. I might have even had one or two (or more).

Related posts:

1. Sugar and Spice and Everything Pink
2. Pink and Purple Guns
3. In Which LadyBug Turns Two

After the standard welcome from Mickey, Minnie and the gang, the show kicks off with The Princess and the Frog. The costumes were gorgeous and the music upbeat, but this is my least favorite of the Disney princess movies. Bug is also terrified of the Shadow Man and has been ever since he first laid eyes on him in the movie. We spent the first act trying to calm him down. LadyBug, on the other hand, was entranced. She loves the skating and costumes.

The next act was Cinderella. My kids enjoyed the goofiness of the step sisters and were impressed by Cinderella’s transformation from rags to ball gown. I personally enjoyed the ball scene, but I can be sappy like that. I think the entire audience enjoyed singing along to "Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo."

The glimmering star of the show was the re-telling of Tangled, which is probably my favorite princess movie of all time. I’m not alone on this opinion, either, as the buzz that rippled through the arena was loudest of all for this act. We enjoyed seeing all of the characters, especially Maximus, who managed to retain all of his spunk and charm in his transition to the ice. But the highlight of this – and the show as a whole – was the aerial silk routines performed by Rapunzel and Flynn Rider. They spun and soared through the air on golden silk cloth and it was beautiful. My kids were captivated and even my hard-to-impress, not-remotely-romantic husband thought it was pretty cool.

Toward the end of the Tangled act, they do the lantern scene from the end of the movie. I’ve seen this particular part twice as it also happened in Treasure Trove, but it brought me nearly to tears both times. They bring a little girl out to the edge of the ice and she hands Rapunzel a lighted lantern. Rapunzel and Flynn Rider launch the lantern to the sky and the whole arena sparkles with glowing lanterns. I love the magic of it, but moves me most is the special moment it creates for the lucky little girl who gets a hug from Rapunzel and sets off the lantern storm.

Dare to Dream is my favorite Disney on Ice in a long time, although it’s partly due to the fact that my son was able to calm down enough for me to relax as well. And although it’s heavy on the princess-vibe, there is plenty in it for boys as well!

Disclosure: We received complimentary tickets to the show for review purposes. There was no promise of a positive review and the opinions contained in this post are my own.

Related posts:

1. Disney On Ice Presents Treasure Trove–Magic, Tears, Princesses, and More
2. You are NOT the Fun Police

LadyBug loved the bread (which I made from scratch) and the kielbasa. She wanted nothing to do with the cheese!

Bug tried the cheese and decided that he wanted “just a little” on his food. In other words, he’d just touch the food to the cheese and enjoy it like that. I insisted that he wasn’t actually getting any cheese, but it made him happy. Here’s an early shot with lots of cheese:

Don’t even ask about our dinner attire. Or lack thereof.

Related posts:

1. LadyBug, Vomit and Christmas Cheer
2. The Great HEXBUG Nano Party
3. In Which LadyBug Turns Two

I thought we left the house with plenty of time, but traffic getting into the parking garage was sloooow. By the time we got inside, picked up our tickets, and made our way to our seats, the opening music was starting. I zipped out to pick up food because there is no bigger disaster for LadyBug than to be underfed. Plus, she lives for popcorn. In all of the hurry, I dropped the ball as a mom. It was the day after a very busy Christmas. We didn’t arrive early enough for the kids to acclimate. I didn’t bring earplugs or a hat or anything for Bug. I had no idea where our seats would be and I simply didn’t prepare. And then I left right as the fanfare began.  By the time I got back, Bug was curled up in his aunt’s lap and tears were still streaming down his face. In the midst of my attempt to have a fun day with the kids, I managed a big parenting fail.

The show itself was wonderful, at least what I saw of it. It was a celebration of Disney animation from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (or the “Seven Doors” according to Bug when he was younger) all the way to the 50th animated feature, Tangled. There were so many different characters… Peter Pan, the Tick-Tock Croc, Captain Hook, Smee, Tiana, Rapunzel, Flynn Rider, Simba, Nala, Scar, Rafiki, Jasmine, Aladdin, the Genie, Tinker Bell… and the list goes on. There was flying, stunts, humor, music, and plenty of magical surprises. LadyBug was captivated. She couldn’t take her eyes off the ice and the look on her face when Tinkerbell arrived was priceless. She would have stayed all day. If you have the chance to see this show, I highly recommend it. It was one of my favorites.

I’d like to say that Bug recovered, but that’s not really the case. He had dealt with a stomach bug the week before and his stomach was hurting him off and on throughout the holiday. He wasn’t really sick, but I think all of the excitement and anxiety and running around was keeping him from getting back to 100%. That, combined with the noise (or perhaps it was caused by the noise) really kept him from really enjoying himself. It’s too bad, because  I think he otherwise would have loved it.

We’ve been invited to Disney On Ice presents Dare to Dream over February break. I, of course, wouldn’t miss it. But this time, I’ll be armed with earplugs for my little guy who apparently hasn’t totally outgrown his sound sensitivity. Then again, I have threatened to bump him for one of his female cousins since he complained loudest over the princesses…

P.S. I’ll have a giveaway coming up for that very, very soon!

Disclosure: We received complimentary tickets to Disney On Ice Presents Treasure Trove for review purposes. There was no promise of a positive review and the opinions contained in this post are my own.

Related posts:

1. Disney on Ice Presents Dare to Dream
2. You are NOT the Fun Police
3. Jiko – Grown-Up Food at Disney World

CES 2011 in Vegas… Danny Gokey Concert

A LOT of Snow

Trip to Disney as the Traveling Mom Food Allergies Blogger

A new room for my girly little girl

A 40th Birthday! (Yikes)

A trip to NOLA for the Mom 2.0 Conference (Thanks, Microsoft!)

Lots of baking…

Forward with Ford

Visit to GE with the lovely Charlene

Family travel

More family travel

And more…

BlogHer San Diego (with some of my favorite Boston Parent Bloggers)

Bug’s First Day of Kindergarten

A Hurricane (yeah, this is the only picture I got!)

Big Guy Turns 40 (Bug turns 6)

Freak October Snowstorm (haven’t really had any snow since…)

A visit with Walter Wick

Gaming with PlayStation Family

Happy, albeit sick, holiday season…

Related posts:

1. Halloween 2011
2. The Sweetest of Parenting Moments
3. New School Year Adventures

Me: When your baby teeth fall out, you’ll put them under your pillow and then the Tooth Fairy will come. She takes the teeth and leaves money.

LadyBug: Where does the Tooth Fairy put the teeth?

Me: She brings them to Fairyland…

Bug: There’s no such thing as Fairyland!

And here, as I’m scrambling to get around this apparent truth, something unexpected happens.

Bug: She must take the teeth to Tooth Town!

Huh? Tooth Town? And with that, my son apparently decides that my version of the story makes no sense, but the version that he has simply conjured out of thin air is the stone-cold truth. LadyBug is easily swayed, and their now private conversation continues with all of the little-known information about Tooth Town. Honestly, I was so baffled by the turn of the events that I can’t remember anything about it, other than the baby teeth get to join all of the other teeth that were already living there.

Sound like a happy place. Maybe I’ll head on over to Tooth Town…

Related posts:

1. Ptchou! Ptchou!
2. The Littlest Birds Sing the Prettiest Songs
3. In Which LadyBug Turns Two

We have a few big philosophies, but these in particular stand out:

1. Giving girls the space to be what they want without pressure to do “girl” things. Ah, nature vs. nurture. Do girls like pink and purple because of genetics, or because everyone behaves like it’s a foregone conclusion? Do they play with dolls and favor social play because they have learned to do so from the people in their lives? I think it’s a little of both, but it was important to me to create a space where my daughter could choose her own path. We shied away from the pale pink and purple clothes that many purchase exclusively. We went instead with neutral pastels and bold colors like turquoise, plum, and red. We made sure she had equal access to blocks and cars as to dolls and and play kitchens. It’s challenging, quite honestly, because many family and friends around us still believe that girls prefer dolls over trucks. They give her everything “girly,” while Bug gets all of the engineering toys. I believe that sends a message to both of my children about what they should like and what their roles should be.

2. Guns. I am not a violent person and I don’t believe that violence is generally the best solution to any problem. Big Guy and I have struggled a bit more with this particular area. Not that my husband believes in guns or violence either, but we’re gamers and sci-fi fans, and weaponry plays a role in our hobbies. We both fondly remember Star Wars from our own childhoods and wanted to share them movies with our own kids. But it’s a slippery slope. Is a light saber a gun? Yeah, kind of. And I’m sure my husband thought I was a lunatic when I was furious with him for purchasing a Toy Story 3 Lego set with green army men. Once Bug started school, it became virtually impossible to avoid the influence of guns and a battle culture, even if we hadn’t been great about dealing with it in the first place. This past Halloween, Bug decided to go as a Clone Trooper (they were good guys before they became Storm Troopers). And when I balked about getting him a toy blaster, he counseled me, “It’s just a piece of plastic that makes noise. It’s not REAL.” This is where I had to make a choice. Do I blindly hold onto this rule, or do I make an occasional exception, but use it as a chance to talk more with my kids about the subject. I went with the latter, although it’s an uneasy decision for me. Still, Bug reminds me frequently that his battle play is pretend, while I continue to request less violent games. Lady Bug is younger and it’s hard to tell what she understands and what she doesn’t. This makes the whole situation far more complicated.

There are plenty of other decisions we have made as parents that are the same as some families and different than others. It’s not about right or wrong; it’s about making the choices that we feel comfortable with and that seem best for our family.

That brings us to today. LadyBug is making out her Christmas wish list and it has two items on it. The first is a My Little Pony play set with a slide. For the record, Hasbro doesn’t currently make any. The second? A pink and purple gun. And it is those minutes of parenthood in which you know, without any doubt whatsoever, that you have failed your children.

The good news? Guns are not typically girly, so there aren’t many toy gun options in pink and purple. Sadly, there are more pink toy guns in production than My Little Pony slides. LadyBug is going to have to come up with a new list and I have a whole new parenting challenge ahead. How do I explain that Santa doesn’t really make either of those toys?

Related posts:

1. Sugar and Spice and Everything Pink
2. A Pink Scarf – Challenging Gender Stereotypes
3. Play Ball