Four Months Post Mortem Concepts

My grandfather died four months ago and very few days go by when I don't think about him. He left us a table that he made himself out of a tree that someone had cut down and was going to haul away. My mother grew up with the table and my aunt used to press so hard with her pencil that her homework is still inscribed in it.

The kids think about their great grandpa too. Last week I was in the car with Annabella and one of her friends. Her friend asked if we ever used the 6th seat in our minivan, which is usually folded down.

"We used to use it all the time," Annabella said, "when my great grandfather was alive. That's where he would always sit."

We often pass by my grandfather's house and whenever we do Milo or Huck will always say, "There's Great Grandpa's house!"

This morning when Huck said it, I asked, "Does Great Grandpa still live there?"

Huck said, "No. He's died. He's in the hospital. In a dentist's bed. He's having trouble breathing."

Well, that's almost all true.

Jumping Monkeys Episode 35: Oppositional Defiance Disorder

This week we interview Drs. Philip and Nancy Hall, authors of Parenting a Defiant Child.

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SPEND: Little Director's Animated Drawings

SAVE: Diaper Wallet from Ikea Hacker

GIVE: Stickk

AUDIBLE PICK: Last Child in the Woods by Richar Louv
Also, check out this related NPR report.

YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THE WEEK:

Charlie Bit My Finger. Again!

(Not recommended for viewing by actual biters.)

OTHER LINKS:

AAP Report Addresses Importance of Play in Children

Leo recommends cardboard blocks

LISTENER FEEDBACK:

• Dusty recommends Zoobuh.
• Eugene agrees that homework is useless.
• The Audible link for your free book is Audible.com/monkeys.

Overheard at Preschool Drop-Off

A tired mom gently bounces up and down holding her screaming 3-month old.

Helpful Mom: You could try putting him up on the dryer.

Tired Mom: I'm going to try putting him up on Craig's List.

It's all in the eyes

This morning Milo looked at the ice in his glass of water and then looked up at me and said, "That ice looks like you're eyes."

Sure, he may have been talking about the shape of the ice, but I prefer to think that it's because I've finally perfected that icy stare I've been trying to cultivate for lo these many years.

Preschool Etiquette Question

Hypothetically speaking, how should one respond if her almost three year old child has bitten his preschool teacher? A verbal apology, of course. But is anything further appropriate?

An apology note?

Flowers?

A plant?

99 of our favorite books for kids ages 0-5

I'm nearing my fifth year of parenthood and I've decided that this makes me a connoisseur of great children's literature. It's pretty simple, really. The perfect book must both appeal to a child and not make a parent's head explode after the fifth reading. I don't like books with preachy morals, but I don't mind a lesson with my lit either. I like a combination of short and long books, for obvious reasons. Illustrations are key, but once Annabella turned 4, they no longer needed to be on every page. I've spent some time compiling our favorites.

What are yours?

1. The Lorax by Dr. Seuss
2. Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey
3. Zen Shorts by Jon J. Muth
4. Charlotte's Web by E.B. White
5. The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White
6. Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey
7. One Morning in Maine by Robert McCloskey
8. Crow Boy by Taro Yashima
9. Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig
10. Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendack
11. Umbrella by Taro Yashima
12. The Sneeches by Dr. Seuss
13. Love You Forever by Robert Munsch
14. How the Grinch Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss
15. In the Night Kitchen by Maurice Sendack
16. Hug by Jez Alborough
17. Oh the Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss
18. Library Lion by Michele Knudsen
19. The Empty Pot by Demi
20. Corduroy by Don Freeman
21. The Clown of God by Tomie dePaola
22. Cars and Trucks and Things That Go by Richard Scarry
23. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein
24. Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina
25. Pierre by Maurice Sendack
26. Fish is Fish by Leo Lionni
27. Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary
28. Ramona and Her Father by Beverly Cleary
29. Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary
30. Little Blue and Little Yellow by Leo Leonni
31. Beezus and Ramona by Beverly Cleary
32. The Paper Bag Princess by Robert N. Munsch
33. Knuffle Bunny by Mo Willems
34. A Bargain for Francis by Russell Hoban
35. The Little Train by Lois Lenski
36. The Little Airplane by Lois Lenski
37. The Little Fire Engine by Lois Lenski
38. Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown
39. The Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary
40. Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion
41. Ramona's World by Beverly Cleary
42. Are You My Mother? by PD Eastman
43. The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper
44. Owl Moon Jane Yolen
45. Eloise by Kay Thompson
46. The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss
47. Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed (Obviously) by Eileen Christelow
48. A Color of His Own by Leo Lionni
49. Where The Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein
50. A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein
51. Good Night Gorilla by Peggy Rathman
52. Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr.
53. We're Going on a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen and Helen Oxenbury
54. Skippy Jon Jones in Mummy Trouble by Judy Schachner
55. Carl's Afternoon in the Park by Alexandra Day
56. Ruby the Copycat by Margaret Rathmann
57. Chicken Soup with Rice by Maurice Sendack
58. Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester
59. Falling Up by Shel Silverstein
60. The Missing Piece by Shel Silverstein
61. I Was So Mad by Mercer Mayer
62. Everyone Knows What a Dragon Looks Like by Jay Williams
63. Time for Bed by Mem Fox
64. Humphrey the Lost Whale by Wendy Tokuda and Richard Hall
65. Richard Scary's Best Word Book Ever Richard Scary
66. Curious George Goes to the Hospital by H.A. Rey
67. Curious George Takes a Job by H.A. Rey
68. Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes
69. Brown Bear, Brown Bear by Bill Martin Jr.
70. My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss
71. Henry and the Paper Route by Beverly Cleary
72. Dig Dig Digging by Margaret Mayo
73. Fancy Nancy by Jane O'connor
74. Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy by Jane O'connor
75. Nurse Nancy by Kathryn Jackson
76. Fire Truck by Peter Sis
77. How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? by Jane Yolen
78. What Do You Want? by Lars Klinting
79. Pat the Bunny by Dorothy Kunhardt
80. Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss
81. Horton Hatches an Egg by Dr. Seuss
82. Green Eggs and Ham by Dr. Seuss
83. One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish by Dr. Seuss
84. The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
85. The Snow Globe Family by Jane O'Connor
86. Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans
87. May I pet your dog by Stephanie Calmenson
88. Olivia Saves the Circus by Ian Falconer
89. Giraffes Can't Dance by Giles Andreae
90. Alphabet Soup by Kate Banks
91. I Love You the Purplest by Barbara M. Joosse
92. Ramona the Brave by Beverly Cleary
93. Bub or the Very Best Thing by Natalie Babbitt
94. There's a Wocket in My Pocket by Dr. Seuss
95. The Mysterious Tadpole by Steven Kellogg
96. Frog Goes to Dinner by Mercer Mayer
97. One Frog Too Many by Mercer Mayer
98. Frog on His Own by Mercer Mayer
99. It's My Birthday by Helen Oxenbury

Jumping Monkeys Episode 34: Dad Gone Mad

Our guest today is the hilarious Danny Evans of Dad Gone Mad. We chat about fatherhood, his writing, and to my silent amazement, his vascectomy. Check out this post if you're curious why he didn't read any of his blog on the show.

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SPEND: They Might Be Giants: Here Come the 123s

SAVE: Tips for Saving Money at Target from Wise Bread

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QUESTION OF THE WEEK: The Journal Nature reported this week that scientists have taken a step toward three-parent babies.

Opinion Polls & Market Research

AUDIBLE PICK: The Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White

YOUTUBE VIDEO OF THE WEEK:

Time lapse video of a guy playing the Wii while holding baby. Found on Daddy Types.

LISTENER FEEDBACK:

Christopher recommends Taking it Global.

Christina recommends Songs for Teaching.

Twinyard

Happy Valentine's Day

Here are a few scenes from our valentine workshop. Having 3 kids in preschool also means making 56 homemade valentines.

Vive la Glitter!

First, take a look at the Valentine Workshop that Annabella and I set up while the boys were at school.

Next, have a look at what happened when they came home from school. Let's just say that they're idea of "arts and crafts" consists of throwing everything all over the carpet, pretending to eat it, and then trying to cut Annabella's hair with the craft scissors.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Tattletales

It was one of those Murphy's Law mornings and I was wavering between calling an adoption agency and just walking out the front door and letting them fend for themselves.

I was trying to brush Annabella's hair and she was squirming and whining. They say that when adolescent girls turn against their mothers it's completely natural. It's all part of a healthy separation. But I'm convinced that it's because mothers are the ones that have to force their daughters to sit still so they can brush the knots out of their hair every morning for the first half decade of their lives.

Let's step back a moment. Before I sat Annabella down for hair torture, I had patiently asked Huck seventeen thousand times if had to go to the bathroom and each time he insisted that he did not. I'm in the middle of working out the last knot when Huck walked up to us and smiled and said, "I just peed in my pants."

That's when I slammed Annabella's hairbrush down on the carpet and it broke in two pieces.

Silence.

It's hard to tell who was the most surprised by this. There was a general shock and awe all around. I apologized to everyone for losing my temper and calmly took Huck to the bathroom, reassuring him that "accidents happen" and that my frustration had nothing to do with him forgetting to tell me that he had to go to the bathroom. Then we went about our day hoping that we could all put this momentarily lapse behind us.

Yeah, right.

That night after Marco and I put the kids to bed and we were cleaning up the living room, I found the sad pieces of the broken hairbrush.

Me: Did you see what I did to the hairbrush?

Marco: Yes, and I got a full report from each of the kids on how it happened. Annabella said it happened because you lost your temper. Milo said it happened because you were "frusterrrated" (he pronounces the word with four syllables, as Milo would.) And Huck said it happened because he peed.