http://www.wickedlocalparents.com/picketfencepost Peek behind the picket fences . . . where over-caffeinating is a competitive sport and parenting is distinctly imperfect. Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:49:32 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Item #1: Diary of a Wimpy Kid Movie Premieres  My kids have been counting down the days until the live action version of one of their favorite book series -- The Diary of a Wimpy Kid -- comes to the big screen. And the wait is over: The Diary of a Wimpy ... http://www.wickedlocalparents.com/picketfencepost/2010/03/18/three-for-thursday-diary-of-wimpy-kid-movie-miley-vs-mika-babyfamily-expo/ Max the Mini Wheat says, Happy St. Patrick's Day to y'all, Boston Red Sox style. (Actually, he doesn't say anything since he's a dog, can't speak and had to be bribed with food to pose for this photo.) Anyway, while I'm on the subject of St. Patrick's Day, I have an open question ... http://www.wickedlocalparents.com/picketfencepost/2010/03/17/happy-st-patricks-day/ A recent New York Times article highlighted a new trend about which I have mixed feelings: Schools hiring playground coaches (at $14/hour) to supervise children during recess (isn't that the teachers' job?) and guide the students play playground games. Apparently, according to the article, children either don't want to play games or don't ... http://www.wickedlocalparents.com/picketfencepost/2010/03/17/schools-hiring-playground-coaches/ My fifth graders are going to start middle school this fall and, because they're my oldest kiddos, I attended a recent principal's coffee where parents of incoming sixth graders were given a tour of the middle school and a primer about middle school life. Among the handouts parents were given was a ... http://www.wickedlocalparents.com/picketfencepost/2010/03/12/friday-funnies-cleaning-kids-school-lockers/ Item #1: Forgetful Mamas It's not even the insanely busy spring yet -- the time when we're overloaded with school projects, school events, national holidays, Little League & spring soccer games/practices -- and I've still been forgetting stuff like sending my kid to school with lunch money, birthday parties, etc. So, when I ... http://www.wickedlocalparents.com/picketfencepost/2010/03/11/three-for-thursday-forgetful-mamas-dysfunctional-tv-families-boston-babyfamily-expo/ Okay, I know, I know, I've been woefully negligent when it's come to updating The Paper Project numbers. The Paper Project, for those of you who may have forgotten, is my attempt to quantify the amount of paper that my three kiddos (a boy in third grade and boy-girl twin fifth ... http://www.wickedlocalparents.com/picketfencepost/2010/03/08/the-paper-project-weeks-23-26/ Item #1: The Chew Monster (Otherwise Known as the Puppy) Max, our mini-Wheat puppy, is smack dab in the middle of a rather nasty chewing phase and has been grabbing at anything within his reach and shredding it. Anything. Lego pieces. Pencils. Trash. Tissue boxes. Magazines. Soda cans. Shoes. You get the picture. Combine Max's ... http://www.wickedlocalparents.com/picketfencepost/2010/03/05/four-for-friday-the-chew-monster-co-ed-sleepovers-pajama-diaries-modern-like-family/ In between enjoying fun and inspiring Olympic moments with the Picket Fence Post family during the past two weeks, I've felt emotionally beseiged (or manipulated I should say) by the commercials. What was there an armada of Don Drapers working overtime on ads for the Olympics? You know the ads of which I speak. Those three-hankie ... http://www.wickedlocalparents.com/picketfencepost/2010/03/02/olympics-are-over-im-still-sniffling-over-those-ads/ Item #1: Penn. School-Issued Laptops Used to Spy? The family of a 15-year-old high school student in a suburb of Philadelphia is suing his school district, accusing officials of using school-issued laptops, equipped with web cameras, to spy on students in their homes, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. An excerpt from the the ... http://www.wickedlocalparents.com/picketfencepost/2010/02/25/three-for-thursday-penn-school-issued-laptops-used-to-spy-losts-jack-becomes-a-daddy-ma-anti-schl-harassment-bill-moves-forward/ While The Youngest Boy was eating breakfast this morning and I was enjoying my second cup of java, we heard a news report that the disgruntled silver medaling Russian men's figure skater has decided that since he didn't win a gold medal in Vancouver (U.S. men's skater, Evan Lysacek, did), he's awarded himself ... http://www.wickedlocalparents.com/picketfencepost/2010/02/23/what-mens-figure-skating-is-teaching-my-kids-about-sportsmanship/