Some Questions I’m Having A Tough Time Answering….


Posted by critters and crayons

My kids are full of questions these days.  Normally, I am very pleased to impress them with my vast knowledge of the differences between an “S” and the number “5″, a horse and a zebra, and their left hand and right.

To my kids, my husband and I are just Brill-Yunt.  And that is just the best.

But they are now 3 and nearly 5.  They’re asking some tough questions.  Here are but a few that have stumped us for just a few seconds, if not longer.

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They range from the literal…

How does spider man talk without a mouth?

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To the confused…

How does Green Lantern fly without a cape?

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To the gross….

Why does poop look like tree bark?

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To the scientific….

Why is pee yellow?

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 To the uncomfortable….

Why is our cat going to have kittens?

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To the endearing…

 When I get older, can I have a baby?  One without batteries?

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 To the self-esteem boosting….

When I get older, will my bum get bigger and bigger…like YOURS?

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To the most random….

 What does a tooth sound like when it falls out?

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To the unexplainable…

What sound do people make when they pass away?

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And the logical…

  Mom, what is a none-a-gon?

(and an unexpectedly brilliant answer…)

  Mom, A “none-a-gon” is a CIRCLE!

Because it has NONE sides!  

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I mean, really THINK about that last one.

A “none-a-gon” is a circle?  Because it has “none” sides?

When did we stop being able to think and ask questions like that?

Kids are innovative and inquisitive by nature.

I do hope they stay that way.

What a gift!

WHAT AWESOME QUESTIONS ARE YOUR KIDS ASKING?

 

 


A Conversation About Rainbows {DailyBuzz Moms 9×9 Challenge}


Posted by critters and crayons

Critters And Crayons is excited to partipate in the

DailyBuzz Moms 9×9 Somewhere Over The Rainbow Challenge!

C’Mon Kids.  Let’s read a book about rainbows….

This book is KEWW-ELLLLL, Mom!!!

All the colors are ribbons on each page!

So, show me.  What makes a rainbow, Kids?

Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Purple.  

I’m the one with the bow.  You’re the one with the necklace, Mom!

Let’s do an experiment, Kids.

A speriment?

An EX-PAIR-UH-MENT.

This is a prism, Kids.  It bends light.  It breaks up the light into the colors of the rainbow.  

It bends light?  You’re silly, Mom!  Light doesn’t bend!!!!

Trust me, Kid.  It bends.

What do you see through the prism when you look out the window?

A RAINBOW!!!!

Do you want to make rainbow muffins?

Yeah!

First we need to mix the white cake batter….And then we mix in the colors of the rainbow.   

It looks like paint!  Can I paint with it?

After we put our muffins in the oven!  We need to spoon a layer of each color into the muffin cups and bake it until the fork comes out clean….

Okay, NOW can I paint with it????

YES.  Yes, you may.

 It’s beautiful!  And did you know that when all the colors of the rainbow absorb together in the electromagnetic spectrum that they make white light???!!!

Huh?????!!!!!

Nevermind….

But, Mom!  I thought that when you mixed all the colors together, they turn BROWN??!!!

 Little Girl, you are One. Smart. Cookie.

Mom!  The oven’s beeping.  The rainbow cupcakes are done!!!

 YUM!

Mom, Rainbows are DELICIOUS!!!

 What are we gonna study tomorrow, Mom???!!!!  

I don’t know.  What do you want to study?

Are VOLCANOES as yummy as RAINBOWS???


DAYS LIKE THIS, FULL OF LEARNING AND PLAY, TAKE US

“SOMEWHERE OVER THE RAINBOW”!

WHAT TAKES YOU THERE?

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The “Use Of Obscene Amounts of Food Coloring” Disclaimer:  

Although I am aware of the discussion surrounding the use of food colorings, particularly those involving Red Dyes that have caused many parents and advocates concern about potential allergic reactions in children, carcinogenic properties or  increased hyperactivity in kids, my kids and I “weally, weally, weally” wanted to make these cupcakes.  

We wanted to make them mostly so we could ooh and ahhh over the rainbow stratification just to see if we could do it.  We learned that cake batter with copious amounts of unnatural food coloring makes an excellent glossy paint.  Very little of a single muffin was actually consumed, mostly because we spent most of our time cutting through them to see the layers from varied angles.  

Since making these, we’ve learned that Whole Foods has committed to not use or sell artificial dyes, online companies sell plant-based dyes, and you can even make some of your own  natural dyes.  Good to know for our upcoming Volcano activity.

No child was intentionally harmed in the making of this blog post.  

Although, my carpal tunnel HAS been acting up, mostly because of this very wordy disclaimer.  :)

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Sticky Sweet Rice Praline Sundae!


Posted by critters and crayons

Back in June, we went to Corpus Christi and had the best dessert of our life at a place called Scoopy’s.  It was listed as a Sticky Rice Praline Sundae.  I thought that sounded gross.  So, we got it anyway.  It was the most delicious thing I’d ever eaten in my life.

I knew that we would have to de-construct that sundae so we could have it whenever we wanted.  And here we are, nearly 8 months later.  I think we’ve done it.

I knew I needed to figure out the main components:

  1. The Sticky Rice
  2. The Ice Cream
  3. The Caramel
  4. The Praline Nuts
It’s not exactly like Scoopy’s, but we’re happy with our version.  To make ours, you’ll need the following:
  • 3 cans (14 oz can) of coconut milk
  • 4 cups of sweet rice (must be short-grain sweet rice)
  • 2 cups of brown sugar, lightly packed
  • 1 cup of coconut cream
  • 1 can of condensed milk
  • 1/2 cup (to 1 cup of milk)
  • 3-4  cups of pecans or pecan halves (salted is great)
  • 1 cup of sugar
And here’s how we did it!

1)  The Sticky Rice:  

One of the ladies in the ice creamery said, “That’s delicious.  It’s from my country-  The Phillipines”.

So, I searched and searched online for Filipino Sticky Rice recipe.

I found this one for Bico and it only uses 4 ingredients:  coconut milk, sweet rice, brown sugar and coconut cream.

Once done, Bico is chewy, caramelly-sweet, warm deliciousness.

2)  The Ice Cream:  

That’s easy.  My hubby picked up Haagen Daaz Premium Vanilla

3)  The Caramel:

We heated a can of sweetened condensed milk over low heat and stirred until it started to caramelize and turn a nice brown color.  While stirring, I added 1/2 cup of milk to help thin the texture.  Add more milk while heating to thin the texture to your liking.  Once cool, it will harden.  Just heat it up to spoon over the sundae.

4)  The Praline Nuts

In a frying pan, add a bag of pecans or pecan halves and a cup of sugar (we use evaporated cane sugar).  Stir the nuts and sugar until the sugar starts to break down.  Don’t let the nuts burn.  Fully coat the nuts in the melted sugar.  Set aside to cool.

Once all that’s done, assemble your Sundae:   Warmed bico on the bottom, vanilla ice cream, drizzled caramel and candied pecans on top!

This is officially our favorite dessert!

Hope you like it!

What’s your favorite dessert?


Advance Auto Parts® Monster Jam Ticket Give-Away!


Posted by critters and crayons

Advance Auto Parts® Monster Jam, starring the biggest performers on four wheels: Monster Jam monster trucks! The twelve-feet-tall, ten-thousand-pound machines will bring you to your feet, racing and ripping up a custom-designed track full of obstacles to soar over or smash through!  Monster Jam provides a massive night’s entertainment tailored perfectly for your family’s budget, and these colorful, larger-than-life beasts are sure to capture the hearts of both young and old.

In addition to seeing Galactron and Reptar, families will enjoy seeing Grave Digger, El Toro Loco, AAP Grinder, El Matador and Superman!

Here is the general show information:

Name:          Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam brought to you by Cricket Wireless and Pompis Energy Drink

Venue:          Laredo Energy Arena

Dates:           March 16 – 18

Tickets:        Ticket on sale NOW! Order online at ticketmaster.com, by calling (800) 745-3000 or at the Laredo Energy Arena Box Office.

For More Information visit www.MonsterJam.com

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TO ENTER THE CRITTERS AND CRAYONS GIVE-AWAY

The Prize:

  • 4 Tickets to Advance Auto Parts Monster Jam brought to you by Cricket Wireless and Pompis Energy Drink

Who Can Enter:  

  • United States Residents Over The Age of 18.
  • Winner Must Be Able To Receive Tickets In Person in Laredo, Texas.

Give-Away Duration 

  • This Give-Away will run between Tuesday, February 14th until Friday, March 9th, 2012.

How to Enter:

  • Entrants must leave a comment on THIS blog post with the following:
  1. Is your child going to cheer for Galactron or Reptar?  Why?
  2. A statement confirming that the entrant is over the age of 18.  (For example:  I confirm that I am over the age of 18.)

How The Winner Is Chosen:

  • Each comment will be assigned a number in the order it appears on the site.
  • The Winner will be chosen via random number generator.
  • Duplicate entries will be deleted.
  • Important Note:  The winner will be announced in the comments section of this post at noon on March 9th.  It is recommended that you subscribe to comments to be sure that you do not miss the announcement.  If the winner cannot be contacted within 24 hours of the announcement, a new winner will be chosen.

For questions regarding this give-away, feel free to email me at crittersandcrayons@gmail.com.

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I am a Feld Family Activator, and in exchange for my time and efforts in attending shows and reporting my opinion within this blog, as well as keeping you advised of the latest discount offers, Feld Entertainment has provided me with complimentary tickets to Feld shows and opportunities to attend private Feld pre-Show events.  Even though I receive these benefits, I always give an opinion that is 100% my own.

Feld Entertainment is neither a sponsor nor endorsor of this promotion.


The Things I’m So Glad We Taught Our Kids….


Posted by critters and crayons

My husband is awesome.

He’s a great dad and husband.

This is all not to say that he is perfect.

One perfect parent should be enough, right?

In no particular order, here are the things I’m sooooo glad he (we) taught our kids….

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The Term “Nuggets”

To understand the context, you can go here.   I’ll just say that the term “nugget” caused our children a little bit of confusion at a fast food establishment when we ordered our first Happy Meals.  As in “we’re gonna eat WHAT?”  to which we answered, “No.  No. What we are about to feed you is just as gross but it’s not what you think.”

chick_nugget

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How To Recharge a Glock 9mm Firearm

It’s a toy but it’s just like the real thing- with an attachable sound-like-the-real-thing-silencer.  :)

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The Beastie Boys

I got into the truck one day, and I heard my kids in the backseat jamming.  My husband was in the front seat a’bopping to the rhythm with them.

“Brass Monkey!

That Funky Monkey!

Brass Monkey Onkey!

That Funky Monkey! Onkey!”

I remember looking at my husband in disbelief.  How in the world did he determine that our 3 and 5 year olds should be introduced to such an unexplainably popular, logically incoherent, eighties pseudo-rap by the Beastie Boys?

He thought it was just hilarious.

He thought it was hilarious until our daughter reminded him of her penchant for off-the-cuff rhyming.  I won’t go into some of her unintentional rhymes.  Use your imagination.  When the pre-school teachers come a’calling about it, my beloved Beastly Boy will do the explaining.

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The Banana Fana Fo Song

This song can be pretty innocent.  Everyone sings it.  It’s kind of a rite of passage and how great is it that we, the parents, can be the bequeather of this wondrous lyric of our own nostalgic childhoods?   I just said, “Honey.  Just don’t do Chuck.”  He agreed.

It didn’t take long for our oldest to master the song.

John Bo Bohn Banana Fana Fo Fohn, Me My Mohn, John!

I don’t know if it was because he thought it would be funny, or because he’d forgotten, or because he was being very literal…..but he did it.  He couldn’t help himself.  He threw out….

Buck

And here’s the next one….

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Pull My Finger?

For the love of methane-free air particles, the answer to this question must always be an emphatic “NO”.  In fairness to my hubby, I will tell you that this gem was relayed not by my husband, but by his very classy older brother.  I still blame my husband for passing on this shared genetic material to my children.

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The Other Meaning of Juice

This isn’t such an egregious violation, but it does kind of make for interesting moments.  When our kids are talking to people about why something isn’t running properly or if a thing is inexplicably broken, both of our kids refer to that dysfunctional state as….

“It doesn’t work.  It’s outta juice.”

They sound like middle aged Brooklyn mechanics.

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How To Resolve Conflict

Yes.  I posted recently about our Peace Table negotiations.  These have been moderately successful at our home.  We found this out after our children modeled their conflict management skills after my husband’s response to a couple of rude drivers who cut us off on the highway and then rolled down their windows with a single-digit vulgarity sticking out the window.  

“YEAH!  WELL, YOU CAN KISS MY BUTT!”  Good one, hon.  The kids were shouting that one all the way home.  I think we’ve got this one under control with the introduction of the peace drum.  Neither one of them has said that….in a long time.  :)

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Roger That

It’s happened a few times already that we’ve given our nearly 5 year old daughter instructions to put her toys away, or get her coat, or to help her brother.  Somehow, she picked up my husband’s tendency to answer in military jargon.

It is pretty cute to hear a little girl bark back, “ROGER THAT, DAD!”

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About The Beer

And my husband has the kids well trained.  When they accompany me in the super market and I’m about to make my way to that blessed, wrap-around grocery check-out line after our 3 hour visit, my 3 year old son says, “Did you forget Dad’s beer?”

He knows that his dad enjoys a nice, cold, custom brew when he gets home before he sits in his recliner to take a load off or gets out into the garage to hammer on that motorcycle.   Seriously, if it weren’t for that kid, I’d forget half the time.

Speaking of beer, WHO taught my kids that Toby Keith song, “RED SOLO CUP”??????????

It’s catchy and our little girl runs around the house singing it all day long.  It’s her wake-up anthem to us.

“RED SOLO CUP!!!!

YYYYYOOOOOUUUU FILL ME UP!!!!!  

LET’S HAVE A PARTEEEEEEE!!!!!  

LET’S HAVE A PARTEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!

OH!!!!”

We don’t take credit for that Failure.  If you are the culprit and you’re reading this, YOU ARE FIRED.

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More Colorful Language

Oh,  and check out this You Tube Video   of our daughter at 19 months, or something like that.  ONE of us had a habit of dropping things and then subsequently blurting a common expletive to express our instant and surprised dismay.  It took us a couple of months to come out of denial that she was, in fact, saying that which it sounded like she was saying……

Oh, wait a minute.  She learned that from ME, now that I think about it.

Aw, well…

Nobody’s perfect.

What’s your imperfect parenting confession?  


A Review of LTGI’s Macbeth


Posted by critters and crayons

Laredo Theater Guild International  (LTGI) just completed its final run of the Shakespearean classic, “The Tragedy of Macbeth”.  The play was directed by Vernon Carroll (who also played King Duncan) and was produced by Joe Arciniega (Macbeth).

Although we took our kids to see LTGI’s production of “Annie” back in July, we knew that Macbeth would be beyond what their pre-school minds could handle.

Joe Arciniega (Macbeth) and Teena Arciniega (Lady Macbeth)  transcendently rendered the wicked characters whose murderous ambitions were their demise.  They received a standing ovation at the end and it was much deserved.  (Need a synopsis of Macbeth?  Go here.)

All of the characters were well cast and played, including the young actors (Martin Beckelhymer and Marco Antonio Vela, Jr.) who delivered those complicated medieval lines so well.   (To see the members of the cast, please go here.)

The comically drunk and vulgar Porter character played by Jose Flores was hilarious.  He broke the somber mood amidst the shockingly deceitful treachery of Macbeth and his manipulative wife.

Every aspect of this production was quality:  the diaphanous costumes, the interpretation of the story, the props, the stage, the special effects, the lighting, the make-up, the music, and the acting.

We are so fortunate to live in a place where we can watch something so beautiful and well-delivered.  How much more fortunate are we in Laredo, that after an amazing show, the audience can then mingle with the cast?

You can see the cast members following their performance below.

Well done, Everyone!  So very well done!

In a city where some might feel like we don’t have enough to do, I encourage everyone to support our performing artists.  We haven’t been disappointed yet.

Many thanks to the people who made Macbeth possible.  We are looking forward to the next show!

Speaking of performing artists and Shakespeare, did you know that the Laredo Little Theater is performing the Complete Works of Shakespeare in March and April?

I’m thinking we’ll take our kids to that one!

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Image Credits:

On-stage photos of Macbeth, Lady Macbeth, The Weird Sisters and Hecate the Witch provided by Laredo Theater Guild International


The “Love Books” Activity And Book Swap!


Posted by critters and crayons

Critters And Crayons was thrilled to participate in the “Love Books” book and activity swap set up by The Educator’s Spin On It!

The participating bloggers can be found in this great post here!

As luck would have it, we drew the hostess’ name and she recently posted about the book and activity we sent her family:  Fancy Nancy Explorer Extraordinaire and Discovery Activity.  Um.  Sorry about the cloud dough in the hair.  :)

We received a beautiful book from Pen Pals & Picture Books!  The kids really enjoyed reading Leo Lionni’s A Color Of His Own.A Color of His Own

It’s a story about a chameleon who laments his ever-changing color.  Even taking refuge on a leaf he wants to call home results in him losing his green color in the Fall when nature’s colors change.  He doesn’t find a color of his own, but he finds a friend he can change colors with.  That seems to make his camouflaged existence a more worthwhile and fun prospect.

This book has beautiful and vibrant illustrations.  The kids enjoyed discussing the different colors and the concept of camouflage.  In the end, the theme of acceptance of one’s traits and the importance of friendship resonated even with a toddler and a pre-schooler.

After I read the book, our daughter “read” it to her brother.  Actually, the pictures were clear enough that she really could express what was happening to him on each page.

After the reading, we started the activity that Pen Pals & Picture Books sent us!  There were red plates and doilies, Valentine-colored tissue paper and ribbons and shredded paper of varying patterns.

I thought it was a very clever way to merge the Valentine’s Day season with this activity.

The kids and I piled all of the materials into the center of the table and broke out the scissors and glue!

We talked about what the chameleons would look like if they were sitting on that pile of diamond-patterned ribbon, multi-colored shreds, lacey red doilies, and striped tissue paper.

And then we got to work:

And here is what we all made together at our kitchen table!

Our 4 and a half year old daughter’s vision of a chameleon on all that Valentine-inspired stuff:

Mine:

And probably the most brilliant of all…our son’s.  Now, THAT is what I call CAMOUFLAGE.  You can’t even SEE the chameleon!  :)

This was a very enriching activity.  It opened us up to a new book, a new theme and an activity that I don’t think I would have dreamed up!

We enjoyed this whole experience thoroughly.  Thank you so much, The Educator’s Spin On It for hosting this swap and Pen Pals & Picture Books for this wonderful book and activity!  This was grand!

 


DIY Montessori Wooden Sensory Alphabet!


Posted by critters and crayons

Slowly, we’re converting a corner of our very conventional play room to a Montessori Materials Corner.  I wrote about our plan back in November when we created three activities:  The Popsicle Stick Shapes Tray, Bean Counting Cupcake Tins and Rice Writing Bowl.

I also just ran a piece on how we are starting to implement The Peace Table to help with conflict resolution a few days ago.  The Peace Table is part of The Peace Curriculum in Montessori programs.

A blogger friend, Valerie, who runs the incredible Frugal Family Fun Blog wrote about how she and her kids made Sandpaper Letter Discs.  I saw her talk about them in a national interview and have been looking to make these ever since.

Our Local Hobby Lobby had the discs but they were more than I wanted to spend, averaging $.75 per disc.

But, one day, I happened upon a cheap packet of much smaller wooden discs that were about 2 inches wide that came in packets of 22 for $2.99!

Another Montessori Mom gave us the idea to use dimensional fabric paint to create the sensory aspect so that kids could trace the letters with their fingers!  This same friend also used cut up foam board to make letters for her own daughter.

Really, you could do this with so many materials with some imagination.

I made sets of upper case and lower case letters.  The vowels were a different color.  I also made the “Y” and “y” in a vowel color and a consonant color to demonstrate that it sometimes behaves like a vowel.  I also made a couple of extras for the commonly used vowels and consonants.

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I looked for a larger jewelry organizer that could hold all letters and numbers (0-9) in one place with one character in each pocket, but had to settle for two smaller jewelry organizers that each cost about 3 dollars.

My kids LOVE this set!  You could play a game of match the letters (for upper and lower case letters) as well.

The part I love the best-  is the cool hands-on learning they get out of tracing the letters.  This will feed into the next Montessori activity we built that I plan to write about next week:  Montessori Colored-Sand Writing Trays.

Good luck to you if you’re making similar materials for your kids!

I would love to hear about what you are doing and how you’re doing it!

If you’re interested in more awesome Montessori-Inspired Activities and Ideas, please check out the Collaborative Pinterest Board that Critters and Crayons contributes to!  It is run by Deb Chitwood, blogger and Montssori Education Expert at Living Montessori Now!

 


4-Ticket Give-Away to SESAME STREET LIVE: ELMO makes MUSIC!


Posted by critters and crayons

Critters And Crayons is thrilled to offer this give-way of 4 tickets to see SESAME STREET LIVE:  ELMO makes MUSIC!

sesamestreetrotator2.jpg

Here is general show information:

Name:         SESAME STREET LIVE:  ELMO makes MUSIC

Venue:        Laredo Energy Arena

Dates:         Tuesday, February 14th, 2012 at 7 PM

Wednesday, February 15th, 2012 at 7 PM

Tickets:      Tickets on sale NOW at the Laredo Energy Arena Box office, online at Ticketmaster.com or by calling (800) 745-3000.

Visit Laredo Energy Arena Events for more information.

TO ENTER THE CRITTERS AND CRAYONS GIVE-AWAY

The Prize:

  • 4 Tickets to SESAME STREET LIVE:  ELMO makes MUSIC

Who Can Enter:  

  • United States Residents Over The Age of 18.
  • Winner Must Be Able To Receive Tickets In Person in Laredo, Texas.

Duration And Entry:

  • This Give-Away will run between Monday February 6th until Sunday, February 12 th, 2011.
  •  Entrants must leave a comment on THIS blog post with the following:
  • Who is your child’s favorite SESAME STREET character and why?
  • A statement confirming that the entrant is over the age of 18.  (For example:  I confirm that I am over the age of 18.)

How The Winner Is Chosen:

  • Each comment will be assigned a number in the order it appears on the site.
  • The Winner will be chosen via random number generator.
  • Duplicate entries will be deleted.
  • Important Note:  The winner will be announced in the comments section of this post at noon on Sunday, February 12th.  It is recommended that you subscribe to comments to be sure that you do not miss the announcement.  If the winner cannot be contacted within 24 hours of the announcement, a new winner will be chosen.

For questions regarding this give-away, feel free to email me at crittersandcrayons@gmail.com.

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In exchange for my time and efforts in promoting this event, Laredo Energy Arena has provided tickets for the winner of the give-away.   This does not impact the opinions or statements I make about shows and events I write about.  I always give an opinion that is 100 per cent my own.


Mom, You Need To Invite Dad To The Peace Table….


Posted by critters and crayons

People that are familiar with Montessori Classrooms have heard of “The Peace Table”.

The Peace Table is part of “The Peace Curriculum”.  Deb Chitwood, author of Living Montessori Now explains that the Peace Table is a “safe place” where children can come and discuss their problems and to resolve conflict”.

Our 4 and a half year old daughter has started a formal Montessori curriculum.  Our 3 year old son has not started at the school yet.  But, we use the Peace Table at home now that he is old enough to articulate and respond.

Before anyone scoffs at the method, I want to relay some stories about how we’ve used The Peace Table.

One day, we were in the McDonald’s Play Area.  The newest one in our city has a state of the art set-up: an arts and crafts section, musical wall pianos, climbing apparati, tower slides and a wall of video touch screen video games.

It was inevitable that amongst the entire wall of video games, my two kids would be fighting over the same 2 inches of touch screen.  The screaming, pushing, shoving and hitting ensued.  And, I said, “That’s it!  To The Peace Table!”

Our daughter knew what to do.

She walked over to one of the McDonald’s tables.  Our son watched her.

She informed me that there was no bell to start the Peace Talk.

So, I asked her to ring an imaginary bell.

And here’s what happened.

She held her fingers up and rang an imaginary bell and said “dingalingaling!”

“Brudder!  You made me mad when you DID NOT wait your turn!”

Our son said, “I made you mad???”

And she responded, “Yes!  Because you did not wait your turn!”

He said, “I didn’t wait my turn?  I’m sowwweeeee….”

And then… “It’s okay, Brudder.  I forgive you.  Let’s share!”

Some of the moms sitting next to me watched the whole thing.  I’m sure they thought it was a bit nutty that I made my kids do that.   But, even they had surprised looks on their faces when they saw how it ended.

Fast forward to a few days ago.  In our play room, a similar fight ensued.

My husband hadn’t seen The Peace Table Negotiations yet.

When the kids started to fight, I asked our daughter to invite her brother to the Peace Table.

She said, “Wait!”

She grabbed a metal bowl from her play kitchen and a wooden spatula.  She turned the bowl upside down so she could signal the start of the “Peace Talk”.

She banged the bowl with the spatula.

And, the talks began.

My husband was astounded at the result.  I have to admit that it surprises me every time it works.  It kind of tickles me, too.

The morning after our kids’ United Nations style conflict-resolution, I awoke hastily because we had overslept.  We were going to be late for school.

I stumbled into the bathroom.  Aw C’MON!

I stumbled into another bathroom.  YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!

I went downstairs to the other bathroom.  WHAT THE????I stormed upstairs, running late, having wasted precious minutes on a scavenger hunt for toilet paper .

I did what all of us indignant wives do who bear the burden of “official toilet paper roll changer”.

I proceeded to bark at my husband for not ever changing the toilet paper rolls.

He gave me some typical husband excuses as to why he might not notice they needed to be changed.  I won’t go into them. I’m sure you’ve fought the same battles.

I barked as we pulled up socks, brushed teeth, and brushed hair.  And I barked some more as we stuffed sandwiches in our kids’ mouths.

And do you know what our daughter said?

“Mom.  You should invite Dad to the Peace Table.”

 And we didn’t go to the peace table.

My husband and I looked at each other.

And we laughed.

The reminder was enough to cut the conflict.

I should note that my husband is really a fantastic guy.  He does things like the dishes.

I cook.  He does the dishes.

This is a wonderful, symbiotic relationship.

The only thing I hate doing more than laundry is dishes.

Plus, he is really artistic and handy.

He is in the process of tearing down and building his motorcycle from the frame up.

He is cutting his own handlebars, welding them, bending metal, shaving it, sanding it, wrapping it…He is literally constructing his vision piece by piece.

My husband just called me downstairs to show me his newest creation.

He made a bracket that was flush (that is motorhead-speak for “even with something”) with his motorcycle frame.  He did it by cutting down a steel bar, cranking it between the hinges of our gun safe and sanding it down with his bare hands.  He was so proud.

“Look at what I made?  I MADE that. With my BARE HANDS!”

And I was impressed, indeed.

I couldn’t help myself.  I said….

“So what you are saying is….You ARE CAPABLE of replacing a toilet paper roll?”

I’m sorry, I can’t finish this post.

I’m about to the ring Peace Drum.

The things our kids teach us….It really is amazing.

Have your kids taught you any good lessons lately?

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Image Credits:

Mcdonald’s Booth:  http://www.furnituretablechair.com/Productsdetails/McDonalds-Table-Chair-1987.html

Toilet Paper Roll:  http://www.paystolivegreen.com/2010/04/dont-throw-out-empty-toilet-paper-rolls/