Picket Fence Post

Item #1: Obama’s Sweet Parental Leave Policy

While most parents I know who try to simultaneously work and raise kids — or juggle the needs of multiple kids at the same time — struggle to make an appearance at every kid-centric event their children have, I found myself feeling envious of President Obama’s ability to put everything aside, including budget talks and national security, in order to attend one of his kids’ events.

In a recent New York Times piece entitled, “He Breaks for Band Recitals,” a senior advisor to the president told the paper: “There are certain things that are sacrosanct on his schedule — the kids’ recitals, soccer games, basketball games, school meetings. These are circled in red on his calendar, and regardless of what’s going on he’s going to make those. I think that’s part of how he sustains himself through all this.”

I think I need a presidential advisor handling my schedule.

Item#2: Seinfeld on the Poison ‘P’s’

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld, the father of three kids (ages 4, 6 and 9) told Parade Magazine recently that he’s figured out what’s wrong with today’s kids, something he calls, “The Poison P’s.”

Praise: “We tell our kids, ‘Great job!’ too much.”

Problem-solving: “We refuse to let our children have problems. Problem-solving is the most important skill to develop for success in life, and we for some reason can’t stand it if our kids have a situation that they need to ‘fix.’ Let them struggle. It’s a gift.”

Pleasure: As in, “giving your child too much pleasure.” Seinfeld said that because parents believe that today’s children aren’t as innocent as we used to be when we were young, “We feel so guilty for destroying that innocence — which is what we did — so we’re now trying to repair that by creating perfect childhoods for our children.”

Betcha his kids would reply with a nice, “Yadda, yadda, yadda.”

Item #3: Bullies in the Bull’s-Eye

Remember that horrific story a few weeks ago about the bullies in the Massachusetts town of South Hadley, who, according to news reports, drove a 15-year-old girl to commit suicide? Well the school superintendent has announced that the students involved in harassing the girl have faced disciplinary action and may also face criminal charges, according to Fox and the Boston Herald.  

In the meantime, the issue of students harassing other students in school to the point where the victims are fearful and can’t focus on their lessons, has become a hot button issue. Even Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick who, while relating his own personal experience with being the victim of harassment from fellow students when he was a child, said that harassers should be held accountable.

“Whatever we can do to create a safe environment for kids, that’s what we should do,” Patrick said, according to the Boston Herald. “If we can give teachers and administrators some extra tools, we should do that, and do it swiftly . . . Parents have to take responsibility, especially ones who are themselves parents of bullies. There is nothing in the [pending anti-bullying legislation] that absolves adults from their responsibility to teach kids how to behave respectfully.”

He said he was contacted by a 9-year-old boy from a Massachusetts school who needed help in dealing with kids harassing him and when Patrick met with the boy, the child appeared frightened. The governor said he went on the school’s intercom and told the students that there was to be no bullying at the school and that if there was, he’d have to return and deal with it personally.

Item #4: Trending Toward More Chores? I’m Skeptical.

On Valentine’s Day, the Boston Globe ran a story which claimed that a “modern trend” has been evolving where today’s parents are making their kids do more chores, like we all used to do back in the day, otherwise known as the Stone Age. Citing research from a Wellesley College sociology professor, the article said that parents have been “reasserting” the importance of chores in the past 15 years.

I don’t buy it. Not that we here in the Picket Fence Post household don’t make our children do chores — we do — it’s just that I find it hard to believe that many other parents are doing the same thing. I’d be shocked if even half of today’s kids have to do regular chores.

What do you think? How prevalent do you think chores are today?

Image credit: Kevin Lamarque/Reuters via the NYT.

Item #1: Snacks All the Time

It was something that annoyed me to no end when my children were but wee little toddlers. Everywhere we went – playdates, the park, pre-school – it seemed as though nearly all of my peers were handing their children snacks every two hours or so. If you went against the grain and didn’t provide your offspring with some sustenance at regular, two-hour intervals, your kids would throw a tantrum because the other kids were eating Pirate’s Booty while they were wasting away to nothing as you just sat there impassively, witnessing the horror of their deprivation without batting an eyelash.

It has continued, even worsened, during their grade school years, this obsession with snacking. I chaperoned a school field trip for my 8-year-old this past fall and was stunned that the students were instructed to eat their snacks (that parents were told to send in) on the bus on the way to our destination, less than an hour after the students had arrived to school. (Hadn’t they just eaten breakfast?) Some kids even brought in multiple snacks, one for the bus ride there, one for the bus ride home, and a lunch in between the snacks.

This constant feeding of children — despite all the news stories about rampant childhood obesity — has even infiltrated the sidelines of youth soccer games and the benches during baseball games. Here we are, bringing our kids to participate in an athletic activity and we give them food either during or after the games (or both) because, what, they can’t make it for an hour or two without food? They can’t just wait until they get home?

What the heck is up with all this food? Why are we, as a society, encouraging this, creating this habit that, once the kids become our age, will catch up with them and their waistlines? I have no problem with giving kids an afterschool snack, or with giving them an occasional dessert after dinner (I did blog about making cupcakes the other day) but why do we feel compelled to institutionalize this snacking throughout the day in addition to their three meals (which, oftentimes, they won’t eat — even though I’ve worked hard to make well-rounded, homemade fare – because of all of these damned snacks)?

An article in the New York Times Dining section this week entitled, “Snack Time Never Ends” made me feel vindicated. I am NOT the only parent who rolls her eyes when she sees someone pull out a box of powdered doughnuts on the sidelines soccer games or when a kid brings a series of snacks, plus a lunch when he’s only going to be away from home between 8:30 and 4. Here’s an excerpt of the story about the all-snacks-all-the-time mentality:

“. . . [W]hen it comes to American boys and girls, snacks seem both mandatory and constant. Apparently, we have collectively decided as a culture that it is impossible for children to take part in any activity without simultaneously shoving something into their pie holes.

‘Children used to come home, change into play clothes and go outside and play with other children,’ said Joanne Ikeda, a nutritionist emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley. ‘There were not snack machines, and the gas station only sold gas. Now there are just so many more opportunities to snack and so many activities after school to have snacks.”

Do you think we’ve become a society obsessed with snacks?

Item #2: 11-Year-Old Skater

Here’s what my 11-year-old daughter does during any given week: Goes to school, plays basketball or four-square at recess, does her homework, reads tons of books, listens to music, draws/sketches, plays on a basketball team and goes to her games and practices, attends church, watches TV, plays Wii and plays with friends, her brothers and our dog. All in all, it’s a pretty nice, well-rounded tween life. Just the way it should be.

So when I read a profile in the New York Times this week about another 11-year-old girl who’s gunning for Olympic gold in figure skating, I couldn’t help but think of my own child and how different her life would be if she were in that girl’s skates. The ice skating girl had skates slapped onto her feet at age 2, started “formal lessons” at 4 and now is “out of bed at 5 on most school days, on the ice six days a week” and “finished an encouraging sixth on Tuesday in the novice ladies division at the United States championships,” the Times reported.

The article quoted her coach and her mother saying that, at age 4, it was decided that, as far as her career and future in figure skating went, they were going to “commit everything to it.”  While I respect that every family has its own set of values and priorities — there are folks who think I’m crazy for limiting our children to one sport per season per kid and, most of the time, do not permit playing the same sport in back-to-back seasons — I felt very sad for this child when I read this passage:

“On winter and spring breaks, her classmates can sleep in while she must spend much of her time at the rink.

‘I do want a break sometimes,’ [she] said. ‘I’d like to go to a birthday party.’

Asked if she skated for herself or because others wanted her to, she replied, ‘I guess it’s half and half; sometimes I want to and sometimes I don’t.’”

When the Times asked the child’s mother if she’d permit her daughter to drop out of figure skating if the 11-year-old didn’t want to do it anymore, the mom told the paper, “Probably not. I see her potential. For sure I would like that she continue and do her job. I think she can do it.”

Item #3: ‘Squeakquel’ Gripes

Okay, I know that I have no business griping about that Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel. It’s a Chipmunks movie, so what the heck should I have expected, literary allusions and insightful observations on the human (or mammalian) condition? Of course not.

When I took my 11-year-old twins to see this screechy sequel this week (the 8-year-old saw it with friends during Christmas break), I didn’t give much thought to the film’s premise: The trio of famous singing boy chipmunks goes to high school while a trio of as-yet undiscovered singing girl chipmunks enrolls in the same school in an attempt to become international rock stars a la the original Chipmunks boy band.

The problem — other than the fact that I didn’t bring ear plugs – was watching the female chipmunks perform. I was really disappointed that their ”performances” were all about hip swaying and pelvis grinding, along with substantial booty shaking. Offstage the “Chippettes” were as innocent and sweet as the boy chipmunks, but on stage, it was an entirely different story. On stage, they turned into Beyonce.

This annoyed me, probably more than it should have. Why couldn’t the Chippettes just have been portrayed as really good singers who rocked the house with their talent and coolness? Why did they have to send the message to the girls that to be successful, gals should capitalize on sex appeal and go the rump-shaking route? After all, the boy chipmunks weren’t pulling a Justin Timberlake when he does his booty shaking thing. *shaking my head*

Image credit: Pirate’s Booty web site.

Item #1: Triumphant Working Mom Tale

I’m a huge fan of the talk show Morning Joe on MSNBC (6-9 a.m. weekdays), chiefly because I like the easy rapport and smart, witty banter between the co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. (My three kids now know the hosts by name and have been known to pause while eating their breakfast cereal to ask, “What is Joe TALKING about?”)

Despite having been a regular viewer of this show for a little more than a year, I didn’t know that Brzezinski had been let go by CBS in 2005 when she was 39 (when she learned “coincidentally” that one of the network higher ups didn’t think she was attractive enough, though she says that she doesn’t think that’s why she was fired). The mom of two went into a deep funk, wound up taking a job which paid a fraction of her original salary at CBS and . . . now she’s a successful TV host. Her interview with More Magazine in the October issue – which has the awesome Sela Ward on the cover — is worth reading if only to learn her philosophy about trying to succeed at your job and raise a family at the same time. “I’d rather spend one good hour with my kids a day than eight bad ones,” she said.

Item #2: Hollywood Babies After 40

 In that same issue of More Magazine, there was a feature about 10 celebs who have given birth to their first child after the age of 40, a trend which seems to be gaining traction in Hollywood. “The birthrate for women ages 40 to 44 has more than doubled in the past 25 years, and Hollywood is no exception to the trend,” More reported. Among those on the list: Holly Hunter who had twins at age 47, Mariska Hargitay who had her first son at age 42 and Marcia Cross who also had twins at 45.

Item #3: Welcome Home Daddy

One of the things about which members of the media were excited when a president with young children moved into the White House were photos like the ones taken recently of 8-year-old Sasha Obama, who was so excited that her dad, the president, had arrived home from a business trip that she ran to him and leapt into his arms. The same thing happens in my household when The Spouse gets home and our 8-year-old son launches himself into The Spouse’s arms, thrilled . . . only there’s no White House press corps to document it. Just me.

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This is, in a word, insane. Watch the Fox & Friends segment below where a 10-year-old girl and her father were interviewed about their recent lemonade stand escapade where New York City authorities not only shut down her lemonade stand in the park, but ticketed her for failing to have a permit.

Yeah, let’s use precious public resources — even more precious in a recession rife with cutbacks and dwindling tax revenues — and waste time going after those hardened pediatric lemonade stand operators. I’m sure there are NO other illegal street vendors to crack down on in New York City, people selling unpermitted stuff like, oh, I don’t know, knock-off purses or illegally obtained DVDs of recently released movies. Much easier to pick on a kid. Kids run slower.

At least the girl wasn’t wearing one of the nipple-tasseled T-shirts when she was selling her lemonade. Who knows would’ve happened to her then.

What, you haven’t heard about these shirts getting so much buzz on the internet? They’re “ironic” shirts for babies and toddlers designed to make a statement about the over-sexualization of young girls’ clothing. Here, let me share with you what the designer told the web site Parent Dish:

“The Nipple Tassel t-shirt was designed as a response to my own distaste at seeing mini versions of sexy clothes on young children . . . There is nothing very sexy about a baggy, lap neck, long sleeved t-shirt for a 6-month-old. So by embellishing this style of garment with printed nipple tassels, the result is not that the baby becomes sexualized by the tassels, but the tassels are made benign and silly by the baby.”

Certain to become a baby shower favorite, right?

Image credit: Twisted Twee via Parent Dish.

Mad Men Returns

Have I mentioned that Mad Men’s third season premieres on Sunday night on AMC? I think I may have, once or twice.

In case you haven’t noticed, I’m a tad bit obsessed with the award-winning drama set in the 1960s which follows the (mostly) men who work for a Manhattan ad agency and their families. I’ve been counting down the days until new episodes air, so much so that I think The Spouse is jealous of my crush on Don Draper (Jon Hamm). He jokes that Mad Men is all I’ve been talking about lately. Of course he’s wrong. Kind of.

Speaking of Don Draper . . . when we last saw the character at the end of the sophomore season,  his wife/at-home mother of his children, Betty (January Jones) had just allowed him to move back into their suburban home. Betty had made Don spend several weeks in a hotel after he humiliated her by cheating on her AGAIN, this time with an older business associate whose husband was Don’s client. However after learning she was pregnant with her third child, Betty reluctantly decided to proceed with the pregnancy (after flirting with the idea of obtaining an illegal abortion, it was 1962) and let Don back home. The question remains about whether she’s forgiven him or whether he’s going to stop his rampant cheating.

My Pop Culture column this week at Mommy Track’d is all about not just Betty, but all the women of Mad Men.

Oh, Miley

Miley, Miley, Miley. I don’t know what to make of the recent evolution of this 16-year-old Disney star, the face of the Hannah Montana franchise, of which my 10-year-old daughter is so fond.

 What I’ve been seeing as of late has not been promising.

Take, for example, her performance at this week’s Teen Choice Awards – and the ensuing debate over whether she was actually pole dancing while dressed in sexy, butt-revealing attire backed up by dancers in bras and short-shorts – which made me deeply sad. Sure, a tween/teen star needs to evolve into a more mature image, take on older material in order to continue growing as an artist, but this road that Miley appears to be traversing . . . nothing good seems like it’s gonna come from this. Lest we forget, Britney Spears was once a squeaky clean Mouseketeer. And when Spears, I mean Cyrus, invoked Britney during her Choice Awards performance, I shuddered.

John Hughes, Creator of 1980s Teen Flicks

You might’ve heard that the director/writer of some of Generation X’s best loved teen films — Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Some Kind of Wonderful and Pretty in Pink– passed away last week. Since then, there’s been all manner of tribute and appreciations for Hughes, including a great one in the Boston Globe by Wesley Morris.

An excerpt, referencing the world of Hughes’ films:

“There was no war, no sweeping social movement during this period. Just Ronald Reagan and sad old Grenada. No one talked about race or AIDS. The world revolved around detention, crushes and proms. Sometimes it was just ‘Pretty in Pink.’ But what redeemed these movies was their sideways cool. May all so-called misfits be as hot as Eric Stoltz and Mary Stuart Masterson. And on his uneven playing field, Hughes did come up with achingly human characters. They were always on the sidelines or reluctant to get in the game — even their own. [Molly] Ringwald’s Samantha in ‘Sixteen Candles.’ [Jon] Cryer’s Duckie in ‘Pretty in Pink.’ Masterson’s Watts in ‘Some Kind of Wonderful.’ And, best of all, Jeannie Bueller and Cameron Frye in ‘Ferris Bueller.’ Jennifer Grey was the seething Cassandra of that movie, desperately trying to expose the little brother as the brat [Matthew] Broderick so star-makingly was.”

Do you have a favorite 1980s/Hughes flick? Mine’s a tie between Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club.

Image credit: Chris Pizzello/AP via Star-Ledger.

Item #1: Acupressure

I took  The Girl to visit a medical acupuncturist today. Instead of using the acupuncture needles, he used acupressure — pressure applied to the acupuncture points sans a needle – and other techniques, like cupping . . . which was a good thing, given how apprehensive the 10-year-old was. I did the best that I could to calm her and soothe her worries. The staff put in a great effort to try to alleviate her fears by talking to her and affording her the chance to feel the hair-thin, flexible needle so she’d see that they weren’t some metal behemoths waiting to be jammed into her arms and legs. But every time a staff member left the room, The Girl’s eyes filled with tears and she told me she wanted to leave. NOW!

For those who’ve been following this saga, The Girl has had persistent ankle problems since January 2008 when she first twisted it during a basketball practice. Since then, she’s missed half of several seasons of soccer and hoop because of flare-ups. This spring we finally saw a youth sports specialist in Boston who recommended water therapy (which she’s been doing for a few weeks), TENS therapy (we just got the unit this week) and acupuncture.

The Girl had been dreading this acupuncture appointment ever since the orthopaedist first mentioned it. For weeks she’s told me there was no way that she was going to let anyone put the acupuncture needles into her, no matter how thin they were.

So, did the alternative techniques the doctor used today work? We’ll have to wait and see. (*fingers crossed*)

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Item #1: Embarrassment Campaign

 My latest GateHouse News Service column — in Parents & Kids Magazine this month — chronicles my campaign to embarrass my three children just simply by being me. I seriously don’t need to put any effort whatsoever into it. It just happens.

I specifically mention how The Youngest Boy this spring banned me from shouting or cheering for him when he was playing baseball (ask other parents, they’ll tell ya, I had to ask them to cheer on my behalf) and how the fact that my bathing suit tops expose some cleavage is horrifying to them. They prefer that I wear a burka, thank you very much.

Anyone else conducting a similar campaign with your kids, trying to embarrass them? Please, weigh in below in the comments section. There’s strength in numbers you know.

Item #2: Father-Daughter Tearjerker of a Column

I read a column, “Raising a Princess Single-Handedly” in the New York Times on Sunday about a father raising his 4-year-old daughter Madeline on his own after his wife, her mother, died, leaving them “living in a world we could not have imagined.” I found it poignant, particularly the way he can still see the silly, lighter side of every day.

“Madeline and I have a groove now. I always wake up before she does, and we take turns picking restaurants, outfits and movies. When we do have a crisis, it seems like the end of the world only for a few minutes.

The other morning I was frying bacon, drinking coffee and trying to scramble Madeline’s eggs. In a single moment of craziness, the bacon turned black, which triggered the smoke alarm. The eggs began welding themselves to the pan; the garbage bag I was tying split open at the bottom, covering my slippers in three-day-old linguine and rice pudding.

As I fanned the smoke detector furiously with a towel, Madeline rushed off the couch to see what was going on, tripped and spilled her orange juice on herself and the floor. From the corner of the kitchen, a little girl covered in juice looked up at her father and said, ‘We’re like clowns!’

I think it was Charlie Chaplin who said that close up, human life is tragic, but from a distance, it’s funny.”

Item #3: Sick Days

So I was that annoying parent who pestered my three kids’ teachers, principals and schools nurses with e-mails this past spring inquiring about the protocol for pre-lunch handwashing in light of the fact that there had been reports that the flu was going around. One of my kids’ two schools provided me with a satisfactory answer, while I learned that the other let students play outside for recess then come in for lunch with no stopping in between to wash hands before eating. (To put this in context, this wasn’t too terribly long after the Vice President was panicking everyone saying that he wouldn’t want to have anyone in his family in an enclosed public space lest they get sick.)

At the no-handwashing-before-lunch school, I was told my kid could independently carry anti-bacterial gel or excuse him or herself to go to the bathroom and clean his or her hands, even though none of their peers was doing it.

And wouldn’t ya know it, the mom who was harassing them about trying to use good hygiene to prevent the spread of illness has spent the better part of two weeks with various members of the Picket Fence Post family — myself included – sick with fevers, headaches and congestion. Between the sickness and the rainy, inclement weather, it’s been one heck of a lousy start to the summer vacation.

Item #1: ‘Imperfect,’ ’Confessional’ Parenting

The Boston Globe shined a spotlight on “confessional” parenting blogs (like True Mom Confessions)and the spate of “imperfect parent” books (and “Bad Mother” by Ayelet Waldman). Saying that this is the best time to be a “bad parent” and tell the world about it online and in books, Joanna Weiss wrote of the “bad parent” genre:

“They sell you on cynicism. Then they give you the bait-and-switch. The bad parent, they argue, maybe the best parent of all . . .

Perhaps it’s the ultimate expression of irony, the perfect parenting stance for Generation X. Confessional parents see their badness as a way of striving to be good: Less overstressed, overscheduled, and fixated on perfection than the boomer parents who came before them. And they’re arguing that more relaxed parents — the slackers, slobs, oversleepers — might lead to happier kids.”

Or, another way of looking at it, is that if the “confessional” parenting blogs are honest about child-rearing and don’t offer pithy and nuggets of ridiculous parenting advice like the bulk of the parenting media do, they might collectively help to reduce their fellow parents’ stress levels when we realize that we’re all going through the same things and coping with the same foibles.

Item #2: Sick

I’m sick. The Girl is slightly feverish but on the mend. The Eldest Boy has a slight fever but is otherwise feeling okay. *knock on wood* The Youngest Boy and The Spouse are healthy right now but overall, this is a sucky way to start school vacation. Plus my head is throbbing and it hurts to read.

Item #3: Supreme Court Says ‘No’ to School Strip-Search

When I first read about this case a few months ago in the New York Times, it really disturbed me. A 13-year-old Arizona girl who was accused of hiding prescription ibuprofen somewhere on her person, was strip-searched by two school officials. Her parents rightfully sued. And today the Supreme Court ruled in the girl’s favor saying that the search was unconstitutional. Here’s what happened at the Court today according to the Washington Post:

“The court ruled 8-1 that such an intrusive search without the threat of a clear danger to other students violated the Constitution’s protections against unreasonable search or seizure.

Justice David H. Souter . . . said that in the search of Savana Redding, now a 19-year-old college student, school officials overreacted to vague accusations that Redding was violating school policy by possessing the ibuprofen, equivalent to two Advils.

What was missing, Souter wrote, ‘was any indication of danger to the students from the power of the drugs or their quantity, and any reason to suppose that Savana was carrying pills in her underwear,’ Souter wrote.

. . . The strip-search case was one of the most dramatic of the term of the court, prompting an intense oral argument and leading to charges from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg that her all-male colleagues had failed to appreciate the trauma that such a strip search would have on a developing teenage girl.”

The notion that school officials would proceed with a strip-search of a young female student boggles my mind.

So this makes two weeks in a row that I’ve been late with my Friday Funnies installment, but better late than never. This week, instead of an amusing video, I’m posting this anecdote:

The Spouse and I were tidying up The Girl’s room the other day, picking up dirty clothes, crinkled up papers and tissues, magazines and myriad other clutter, all of which reminded me of my Superfund site of a bedroom when I was a girl.

After he took in the combination of girlish decorations (a framed gymnastics poster, fabric covered pink plaid bulletin board, pink doll house) as well as the tween ones (Tiger Beat Magazine cut-outs, mostly of the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato & High School Musical), plus the scented lip glosses and the many hair accoutrements lying around, The Spouse said, “This room scares me.”

“Why?” I asked.

“There’s just too much going on in here.”

Friday Funnies . . . because parents need to laugh. At least once a week.

If you live in New England, it may not seem like summer outside just yet. It’s been damp and cold and distinctly un-June-like outside. And while the school calendars are winding down (though several last-minute school projects are still ongoing and causing supreme angst in the Picket Fence Post household), summertime ’tis a-comin’ regardless . . . which means we’ll be tackling some of the activities in The Double-Daring Book for Girls, a collection of activities and general knowledge entries that’ll liven up your little gals’ (and boys’ . . . don’t tell ‘em the book title) summer.

The Girl and I have perused the 275 pages of activities countless times since we received it. (She’s also combed the book’s contents with her neighborhood gal pal.) However the activities she’s itchin’ to do are better suited for doing out of doors in summer-like weather . . . when we have 30 spare moments to cobble together.

So, as soon as it truly feels like summer and the Picket Fence Post family’s schedules have let up (sports have concluded, school and the insufferable projects are almost completed), here are the projects The Girl has ID’ed as ones in which she’s keenly interested:

 ”How to Dye Your Hair Using Kool-Aid.”

I know, you’re likely thinking that I’m nuts to even consider letting her do this. There’s even a warning at the beginning which says, “BEWARE! This project is messy and Kool-Aid will stain. Wear an old T-shirt to protect your clothes, and have a buddy help you.” Hence, we’re waiting until it’s warm outside, and until she no longer has to show up at school each day after she’s dyed her hair blue or purple or whatever color she selects. (Don’t worry Grandma, the color washes out. Eventually.) I haven’t yet informed The Spouse that I’ve already given The Girl permission to do this once it’s warmer.

“Make a Decoupage Bowl.”

Again, this decoupage bowl bowl project seems like it has the potential to be mighty messy what with oils, glue and/or varnish in the ingredients list. (And I’m anticipating that The Youngest Boy — age 7 — might want to participate as well.) But I think that our backyard will be the perfect place for The Girl and her gal pal (and whoever else wants to join in) to tackle this activity.

“Make a Lava Lamp.”

Actually, this is one The Boy (age 10, like his twin sis) wants to do. Includes baby oil, water, food coloring, mess in general. Again . . . this’ll be an outdoor activity.

Other activities in this empowering, kid-centric guidebook include: “How to Catch Fish,” “How to Build a Raft,” “How to Debate” (I think I’ll keep the Picket Fence Post kids away from this one; they’ve already mastered it), “Hula-Hoops,” “Make a Snow Globe” and “The Double-Daring Girl’s Guide to Getting Out of Trouble.”

To broaden the kids’ minds there are thoughtful entries on topics such as: “Notable Women,” “Cowgirls,” “Being a Private Eye,” “Horses” and “Dreams and Their Meanings.”

Once we’ve tackled the three projects above (dye hair, bowl and lava lamp), I’ll post images here.

Image credit: Double Daring Book for Girls.