Comments on: Good Site: Epic Win

By: Lou

Lou — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:58:05 +0000

McB – too true, too true. So many these days seem to have a sense of entitlement – rather than the knowledge that it takes hard work…

As for the videos, it never fails to amaze me about the incredible and unusual talents some people possess… and I want me those stairs, except I live in a one story house…

By: McB

McB — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:37:09 +0000

Well, too many of the parents think they’re entitled to more, so the kids are coming by it naturally.

By: Micki

Micki — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 04:38:59 +0000

It’s all a matter of balance, I think. Kids need to know they are important, but I think it’s stupid to let them think they are the end-all, be-all. Besides the huge disappointment later in life (-:, that’s a lot of responsibility to load onto a poor kid.

Relationship-centric sounds like a good idea — between parents and children, between parents and parents, between the family and the community, etc. etc. etc.

By: Micki

Micki — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 04:31:00 +0000

Yeah!! Kitty is just sleeping!! If it were dead, there would be radish chrysanthemum blossoms, and candy incense surrounding the lunch box.

Next trip, you should come (-:. Japan has great art education (and by great, I mean they really teach the kids the basics), and then when the kids turn into unfulfilled housewives, they have the time and the skills to let their imaginations go wild. Witness Dead Kitty Bento (-:.

By: Micki

Micki — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 04:23:43 +0000

I can’t get that lovely, caramelized, browned butter taste from microwave krispies, and so I just say no (-:. But put an icky, pre-packaged, full of artificial everything rice krispie bar in front of me, and I probably won’t say no to that . . . . (-: Oh well. The RK-sushi sounds extremely cute. Maybe I’ll make it for April Fools.

By: CrankyOtter

CrankyOtter — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 22:19:55 +0000

But have you tried candy sushi? Make rice krispie treats in the microwave (1-2 cups worth of cereal at a time) and take swedish fish, gummy worms, and fruit rollups and have a ball.
http://tinyurl.com/d9bgbz
(links to a picture of candy sushi that gets the idea right, but the base is different – they use half donettes where I would use rice krispie treats)

It is not good that I learned one can make rice krispie treats in the microwave. Previously, I remembered how much of a PITA is was to clean the stovetop pot that didn’t reheat well, but now? Yikes.

By: Bethany

Bethany — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 20:37:22 +0000

I think that makes sense. Part of what I feel really grounded me as a kid was how tight my parents were. They made sure to take dates with each other and make it clear that their marriage and each other was important. We, the kids, were important but we were not the end all and be all of who they were. I have friends whose parents freaked out if they moved twenty minutes away–mine were happy I moved several states away. They love me and are available via email or phone if I need them, but they have their own life that’s about more than just me. I think that’s important for a kid to see.

By: Meredith B.

Meredith B. — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 19:31:04 +0000

You’ll have to give us a report.

By: Kate George

Kate George — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 15:15:38 +0000

I like Toturo made from snow, but then Toturo is one of my favorite movies. Everybody needs a spirit cat/bus to ride on. If you haven’t ever watched it, you’re in for a treat.

I’m all for the stairs, but the ones in my house (1830′s farmhouse) are so narrow and steep that we’d be dragging ourselves up the slide on the way up, and the trip down would propel us through the window and out into the front yard! Maybe we could build a slide out of one of the upstairs windows. That woudl make for some intresting games of hide and seek, or even better – Tag!

By: TerriO

TerriO — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 14:10:51 +0000

I’d like to think the kitty is just sleeping. That Nemo is adorable!

By: Jenny

Jenny — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 04:55:43 +0000

And then my head exploded.

I thought for a minute that was a dead Hello Kitty in the lunch. Then I realized it was just a dead cat. Then I realized that wasn’t much better. OMG.

And yes, the biggest mistake Krissie and I made when we were in Australia was not going to Japan while we were on that side of the Pacific. Except I’d never have gotten her out of there.

By: Skye

Skye — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 04:16:47 +0000

I think the world shouldn’t be so much child-centric versus non-child-centric, but relationship-centric. I read something many years ago that chided parents for putting their children first and their marriage second. What he was saying is that the marriage … and thus the family … was what should be the center around which orbit the individuals and their individual relationships. But the family needs a center, that of a tightly bonded adult or set of adults who give structure to the family and the children. Did that make sense or am I too sleepy to be coherent? (Luckily for us all, I deleted the rest of this ramble.)

By: Rachel

Rachel — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 03:57:25 +0000

One of our local parks used to have adult-sized swings, but I think they were removed a few years ago, boo hiss.

By: Jackie

Jackie — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 03:56:19 +0000

Our world is very different than it was even a generation ago. – Blame the elcetronic gadgets. But there is a point to not spiling kids so much. I look at my 19 yo son and know he couldn’t live on his own. I know less and less kids of that age that could. But I and most of my syblings did just that. What we aren’t doing is teaching kids to be responsible in an effective way.

By: Micki

Micki — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 22:59:14 +0000

Well, I think a culture should be centered around kids. What’s that corny song? “I believe that children are our future . . . .” But there’s a difference between centering and spoiling. My current worry is all the electronic gadgets kids accumulate — and I’ve done my share to keep my sweeties stocked up. On the one hand, we are entering a new technological age, and it’ll be important to know how these things work. On the other hand . . . my kids’ possessions probably value several hundred dollars — and not all of them books. (-: When I was a kid, my sister and I had a few hundred dollars worth of books (thank you, M&D), but very little else of value. Even the hand-me-down Atari game was considered family property.

It’s a conundrum.

By: Sharon

Sharon — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 22:25:27 +0000

I agree totally with the thought that our culture is centered around kids. All the clothes, movies, furniture, toys and books that are available for children today is obscene! Children are dressed in designer clothes and come to expect the latest. An area high school has had to ban purses in the classrooms-the large, pricey designer bags the girls carry make it impossible for the teachers to move down the aisles. I realize kids want to “fit in” but how can parents afford the cost in todays economy? There is also the thought that the children will not be able to afford the lifestye once they are out on their own. My parents thought that we should earn extras and we never received gifts, new clothes or toys unless it was our birthday or it was Christmas. Times have changed!

By: steph

steph — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 13:43:52 +0000

I third the vote for Hanna Andersson. I LOVE that store. Just found out we have an outlet an hour away, too, which makes it even closer than the regular store:) I got a chance to live vicariously though my little ones. We’ll see if they love it, too, or if they rebel. And why is that HA makes adult clothes but not the stripes?
It’s like IKEA for clothes but more expensive.

By: Micki

Micki — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 13:29:59 +0000

(-: That ain’t sushi. That there is bento art. In Japan, they sell weiners in a wide variety of sizes so moms who need to make lunches can satisfy their artistic urgers. The weiner octopus is just the beginning — there are bunny rabbit apples, and sprinkle pink fishy stuff on your rice to make cherry blossoms, or patch your rice ball with black seaweed hexagons for your littlest soccer player.

I hope this link to google images works: http://images.google.co.jp/images?hl=ja&source=hp&q=%E3%81%8B%E3%82%8F%E3%81%84%E3%81%84%E3%81%8A%E5%BC%81%E5%BD%93&lr=&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=ttVJS5q-FMGGkQXT1tmTCg&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4&ved=0CCgQsAQwAw

If not, just peek here for the cutest kitty lunchbox EVER! (And more weiner octopi) http://hisasann.com/digital/2008/09/cute_box_lunch.html

(-: Japan can be so weird. And wonderful.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 06:36:10 +0000

Light and I looked at our staircases and they’re too narrow, but we were both all for it.
As for Hanna Anderson, I completely agree. I crave those stripes.

By: Skye

Skye — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 02:35:51 +0000

We need adult-sized playground equipment. I used to love swings. When I was thinner. Too many cool things are only child-sized, like slides and swings and Hanna Anderson stripey dresses and leggings. I move that we take back the fun for the adults, give the kids something to look forward to! Who’s with me?