I used to get annoyed at parents who did things ostensibly for kids that were really for them. Now that I am a parent and must daily face the brain-melting horror of catchy but insipid singalongs, I understand. There's one Music Together song, "Trot, Old Joe," that's a particularly virulent earworm.

Trot, Old Joe!
Trot, Old Joe!
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In anticipation of an upcoming plane ride with twins, Sweety and I bought the world's most ridiculously efficient strollers. I've always been fond of miniaturized camping equipment and the like. This is something else.

What I don't like is the name. "Sit 'n Stroll" sounds like a third-grade insult to me, and I've always hated "'n." (Why does the A ( Read more... )

Aside from meeting the occasional deadline, my life these days is pretty repetitive. For instance, I spend a lot of time preparing baby food, because babies have to be fed every day (several times a day, even). When I actually finish reading a book or complete a project, it feels like something worth telling everyone.

Yes, this is rife with spoilers ( Read more... )

My home office computer is having trouble, but a Symantec person said he'd call today at 1:00, so I held off doing anything new to it. Of course, he did not call. I messed around with LibraryThing until it was time to leave for my 3:00 physical therapy appointment. Then my car would not start ( Read more... )

When you have kids, their lives are described in "firsts." (This past week, we've encountered first feet-in-mouth and first arms-out-for-holding.) Your own life is described in "firsts since." Today, Sweety took me out for The First Movie Since the Babies Arrived. It's actually the first time we've been to the movies since last June or so. He let ( Read more... )

As I locked up the house yesterday and looked out to the car, I saw a bird alight on my car's rear-view mirror. There, it emptied its bowels completely as I watched.

The sad thing was, I was in a hurry and couldn't clean it off the car before leaving. Yuck.

There's an insipid piece of glurge called "Before I was a Mom" wending its way around the net. I've received it three times now, and although I appreciate the sentiment, the rambly nature and non-specific "insights" really bug me. Also, the "before I was" makes me think the author probably says "if I was"; the capitalization is suspect as well. I ( Read more... )

Sweety came home from the market on Saturday with Pocky. This is not especially unusual in itself. But this Pocky came in a white box emblazoned with the word NEW. It wasn't a new flavor (just milk chocolate). It didn't have a fun name like Men's Pocky. No, it thinks it's new because Lu, the Petit Ecoler cookie folks, are distributing it. Nothing ( Read more... )

After weeks of getting the run-around from various sources, we finally got me a mercury-free flu shot. I told the NP at the OB's office on Thursday that we just couldn't find one. She called us the next day and said that the pharmacy in the Safeway two towns over was giving them. We got into the car immediately, and I secured one of the last five ( Read more... )