Don’t Lick the Dog
Looking at Don’t Lick the Dog: Making Friends with Dogs, I had to remind myself to never judge a book by its cover. The book looked like a silly, frivolous picture book that was created just for fun, with bright, bold pictures and silly sentiments. So you can imagine how surprised I was to learn that the book had lots of substance—which, I reckoned, it should have, since I found it on a forum about books that pack a positive punch about animals.
Don’t Lick the Dog is a how-to guide when it comes to caring for and meeting new dogs. I even learned a lot of things myself while reading the book. For example, if a dog is jumping on you, did you know that you should cross your arms over your chest and turn away from him or her to discourage the jumping? That would have come in handy in so many situations!
Another good tip was to be still when a dog is growling—though I’m not sure I’d be able to do that myself, especially if the dog is big! I also learned that when you let a dog sniff your hand to get to know you, you are supposed to curl your fingers beneath your hand so they don’t mistake your hand for a treat or a presentation of treats. I have always extended my fingers straight under a dog’s nose, which must look pretty stupid to people who know how to do it right! You’re also supposed to stand still if a dog is smelling your shoe to allow him to get used to you.
Another great tip is to turn away from a dog and pretend that you are shy if a dog is too shy to approach you. This will allow her to build up her confidence and get used to you before you can pet her and show affection. I also like how it shows the “wrong” way to pat a dog, since many kids—particularly toddlers—do this when it’s the wrong thing to do.
Meeting a new dog is something that most people will do at some point in their lives, yet none of us are really taught how to meet them properly. Many kids aren’t even taught to ask, “May I pet your dogs?” as they are reminded to ask in the book. I think it’s a very important book to read to children in order to teach how to treat animals—especially if you end up getting a pet yourself!—and it would be a perfect addition to any library.
Are we even capable of mindfulness?
While texting photos to myself, doing a Sudoku puzzle, and going to the bathroom last night, I couldn’t help but laugh at what I’ve become—what humans have become. We have all of this technology in our lives meant to make it easier, but in reality it has only made things more complicated—made us all busier as a result.
Each year, I dedicate a journal to a theme. Next year’s theme, for example, is Moxie; this year’s was She-Hero. Last year’s theme, however, was supposed to be mindfulness, and I have to say it was my most unsuccessful theme yet. Why? Because I’m just not sure if I can do one thing at a time—and neither can many other people.
We live in a society where people are expected to be on and going all of the time. My cell phone, though incredibly helpful sometimes, is a pain in my butt alone. Everyone expects you to be available these days. Nothing—not a movie, sleep, evening dinner—is sacred anymore. And if you miss a call or text, people are like, “Where were you?” It’s not a nightmare but it’s not pleasant.
I remember quitting a client because she demanded constant attention, among other things. She would call at ten o’clock at night asking for things, or want me to be at meetings I wasn’t paid to attend. I felt so good when that was behind me, but now my cell phone seems to have taken her place—perhaps in a worse way, as it makes me feel resentful toward people I actually care about.
Try sitting still for five minutes and doing nothing. Don’t talk, don’t watch TV, don’t surf the Internet—just sit and see how long you can do it. It could be the hardest thing you have ever tried to do!
This inability to sit still with ourselves, to really be mindful in the moment, is ruining us. We are too busy to care about anything important surrounding us, whether it be genocide or pesticide. We are too busy to enjoy our own lives! I used to sit in the bathroom while my child took her bath and giggle with her, playing with bath crayons or boats. Now I clean the bathroom, make phone calls, and sometimes even work in the bathroom instead of enjoying this time with her. What is wrong with us?
I think we need mindfulness classes in schools today. That might serve us better than any other courses we could take.
NFL Status Report: NFC South
Atlanta Falcons (11-1)
Matt Ryan and the Falcons appear to have hit their stride, as “the Matts” (Ryan and Schaub) appear poised to step up a level on the quarterback pecking order and take their teams to the next level as well. And Ryan has one of the league’s best receiving corps, paced by Roddy White and Julio Jones.
But it’s not like there aren’t some red flags. Michael Turner is averaging only 3.8 yards per carry … the first time in his career he’s averaged less than 4.0. It would be ironic if Turner is finally running out of steam just as the passing game is hitting on all cylinders. And the defense has been adequate, but not overwhelming.
Playoff Snapshot: They will get in, obviously, and get a first-week bye. Despite the record, they will not be a lock to get farther. The 49ers, Giants, Bears and Packers all could easily derail the Falcon express.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-5)
The Bucs are the hot hand. They won five out of six before falling to the division-leading Falcons last week, 24-23. But they look to be a team to be reckoned with, maybe even sneaking in the playoffs this year.
New coach Greg Schiano has made a difference, as has the emergence as a consistent threat of quarterback Josh Freeman, but the huge plus for the Bucs has been their bounty from the 2012 draft.
First-rounder Mark Barron (Alabama) has been a starter at safety and has 50 solo tackles and an interception. But … second rounder Doug Martin (Boise State) has been a breakout star with 1,050 yards rushing. And … third rounder Lavonte David (Nebraska) has been outstanding at linebacker, racking up 80 solo tackles to lead the team and place third in the league.
Playoff Snapshot: They don’t have an easy schedule, but could still snag the second wild card if things go right.
New Orleans Saints (5-7)
The Saints faced all kinds of issues after the “bounty-gate” affair, and have slogged through without their head coach and various key players. Considering their 0-4 start, 5-7 isn’t such a bad place to be. Drew Brees hasn’t been able to carry the whole team by himself, despite huge yardage and touchdown numbers (31 TDs).
Second-year running back Mark Ingram (Alabama) has a Heisman Trophy at home, but he’s yet to really light up the pro game enough to take much pressure off Brees.
Playoff Snapshot: It would take the equivalent of a Hail Mary heave just to get in.
Carolina Panthers (3-8)
Cam Newton remains a truly gifted player, but while one dominant guy might have been enough to lift Auburn to a college championship, it looks like Newton needs a lot more help in Carolina.
The Panthers are not particularly distinguished in any other aspect of the game. Wideout Steve Smith was once a star, but that’s about it.
Playoff Snapshot: Not this year. They need a draft bonanza like Tampa Bay got.
Mythbusters: Your surprise partner in learning
Last night, while we were making rockets in our 4-H club, the kids were asked if they’d ever learned about effervescent tablets before. Two girls shot up their hands and said, “Yeah, on Mythbusters!” That’s right. Mythbusters is an amazing learning experience and yes, lots of girls like the show, too.
Of course, that said, it’s still bloody annoying. Jaime’s beret and mustache alone make me not want to watch. Everybody’s got their annoyed buttons; those happen to be mine. That said, I like Adam quite a bit, and it goes without saying that Kari Byron is pretty freaking awesome—not to mention a wonderful role model for our kiddos to look up to. She also blogs over at Geek Mom for those interested.
That got me thinking about the television shows that I don’t like but that my daughter happens to enjoy. In addition to Mythbusters—which it turned out that every child in the room enjoyed last night!—she also loves the show How It’s Made, which I could care less about. That said, she doesn’t just learn about models and molds; she also learns about physics, chemistry, vocabulary, and history.
It’s actually a pretty amazing all-in-one program that reminds me of the little snippets I used to enjoy on Mr. Rogers—a program that my daughter loves to this day as well. Unfortunately it’s rarely on television now, though; we tape it when it’s on every other Monday on PBS.
There’s also the Magic School Bus, which most kids I know have enjoyed at some point as well. We used to tape it, too, but I’m not sure if it went off the air or what, but it stopped showing up on our DVR.
The cool thing about it being 2012, of course, is that you can simply look it up on YouTube to watch it. I was also surprised at the environmental stewardship that David the Gnome has taught my child and wonder if that’s where little treehugger me began.
What surprise shows did you discover as a child—or as a parent—that were also learning experiences? I obviously don’t mean Stand by Me, which, though it’s my favorite movie, is only going to teach you about vulgarity, being a twelve year old boy growing up in Castle Rock, and what a dead body looks like (among other non-educational things). What did you surprisingly learn from, and would you recommend it to other parents?
Team building activity: Skin the snake
Although I’m a shy person, I have attended dozens of leadership camps and activities through student councils, honor societies and even the Red Cross. I have even taught a few, because for some reason when it’s a skill or learning experience I’m okay; it’s just when me as a person is on the line for, say, friendship when I withdrawal and get super scared. Now that’s an issue to revisit another day!
All of these experiences have provided me with an extensive treasure chest of challenges and team building activities, which I happen to love. Who doesn’t? Last night we used one called Skin the Snake at our 4-H Club meeting and I think it was a hit. We even used it with kids ages 6-11, which is a feat in and of itself; I remember doing this when I was, oh, 16 or so.
To skin the snake, everyone lines up and spreads their legs out, squatting to place their right hand in between their legs. You grab the person’s hand in front of you with your left hand so you are all connected. Next, you slowly back up over the person behind you; the last person in line lies down flat on the ground first, their legs tightly together to allow the easiest passing of the rest of the team. When you are finished, you make a long snake pattern on the ground with everyone still holding hands and laying down! (Remind players to not let go as they lay down.)
Next, the last player to lay down slowly stands up and walks back the other way, leading everyone else to slowly stand until everyone is again standing. It’s very challenging, but it’s also so much fun. You can’t do it without giggling—and I have to admit doing it as a teen has a much more embarrassing yet fun connotation to it when you have all of those boys and girls and hormones involved. I’m telling you , leadership camp takes teen awkwardness to a whole new level!
You don’t have to just use this as a team building activity at a camp or club meeting, of course. It would make a great party ice breaker, especially if you’re trying to get two friends to talk or even date one another! It would also simply be a fun way to spend family game night if you have at least three or more participants.
Breaking the rules
Last night while texting my sister about a movie we’re going to go see today, I told her, “I have browwwwnieeeees if you want to bring one with!” I knew she’d say yes; like many people in their twenties and, let’s face it, any age, she’s a chocolate fiend. But that leads to the question—how comfortable are you with breaking rules, and which rules are okay to break?
I always think that sneaking in treats to the theater is an okay rule to break once in a while—if you’re broke, for example, and can’t afford $5 jujubes—but I think it’s more important to buy treats than tickets, since that’s where the theater makes most of its money. I’d rather sneak into another movie showing—which I’ve still never done!—than sneak in treats on a regular basis.
What rules are you willing to break in your life? Do you skip the no cell phones in the hospital room, run red lights (we have cameras where we live so you can’t do that) if no one is around, or even enforce rules at home that you break, such as no swearing? Discuss your rule breaking and defend why you do it here.
What do you do when your kid becomes a ham?
My daughter just turned seven last month, and she is starting to become a bit of a ham. She’s never been very shy like me, but she has shy days—and though she’s generally outgoing and will wave at or approach anyone, she’s not been one to interrupt all of the time, “steal the show” from a teacher, or need the attention on her much—until now.
Yesterday during parent and child singing class, she couldn’t stop talking, telling jokes, or trying to get her teacher’s attention. It’s the same in her weekly music class; though we aren’t in the room, I can hear her teacher regularly reminding her to stay on task rather than change the subject and want to chat. I think it’s great, on one hand, that she wants to have conversations with all of these people—and I want to laugh when she’s hamming it up, telling jokes, asking why Captain Nemo’s ship is called “The Naughty List”…
But then again, I think this could be a response to me spending less time with her. I’m writing for two companies plus publishing fiction with a company now, which takes a lot of time to self-promote on blogs and social networks.
I’m doing interviews in the time that we normally just play together, and I find myself asking for a few more minutes constantly before she gets my attention. Perhaps this hamming is simply a cry for attention since she’s not receiving nearly as much as she is used to—and a gentle reminder to me that I need to manage my time a bit more wisely.
So parents out there who have “hams” for kids who do need more attention, how do you give it without sacrificing sleep? I did that for several years, was hospitalized, nearly died, and am just not willing to put my body through it all again.
I believe in giving kids what they need, but I am also thinking she is in need of a sibling—something her father and I cannot give her anymore due to the early preeclampsia I contracted during my pregnancy with her. Adoption or foster care is an option that we have thought about for years, but we still aren’t sure about it yet—are you ever really sure? If so, we may never be ready; if not, perhaps we already are.
I would love to hear from parents who have kids who need attention and how you manage to balance work and parenting, especially if you also work at home or homeschool like we do.
Host a country club
In our homeschool co-op, we have started a fun country club that has nothing to do with exclusive membership and everything to do with learning about countries of the world. Each month, a family will be sponsoring a new country in their own way—whether that be bringing in artifacts from the country, cooking up a meal or simply giving an oral report. Our kids average out to age seven, so the reports will only be ten minutes long, if that.
My daughter and I are doing the first presentation ourselves and we have decided to study England. Actually, my daughter, who is obsessed with the country after watching movies like Nanny McPhee and Flushed Away, chose the country; I had hoped for Spain, which would have been easier for me to present.
Even so, I am still excited about the project. So far, we have made handouts about the differences between American English and English slang, a flag, and a simple fact sheet. What I’d really like to do, however, is prepare an English pudding to share with the kids. I’m not sure how we’ll pull that off just yet since I’ve never made one, but we will figure it out.
The point, of course, is to have some fun and learn about a culture different from the one you live in.
Girls Think of Everything
Yesterday I had misgivings about my child checking out library books, as I often do. It’s not because I don’t want her to—of course not!—but because she always already has her 30-book limit met and then she has to use space on my card or her dad’s. We don’t mind, but it makes for some confusing renewal issues.
Of course, I let her use my card—what else are you gonna do?—and she chose some really fun books. One of the books is about female inventors. It’s called Girls Think of Everything: Stories of Ingenious Inventions by Women. I know that sounds a little sexist—do girls really think of everything without boys, after all?—but when you think about it, nearly all of our history is presented from a “boys think of everything” mentality, and our kids rarely ever hear about anything invented by a woman. In fact, the only female inventor that I can even think of is Marie Curie. So, this book will be enlightening for both of us.
Browsing through it, I have to admit I was hoping for some real photos of these women rather than the caricature drawings within it. Still, it’s got some very interesting information, and while it’s pretty wordy, it’s still interesting, not the dry factual information you might expect.
For example, did you know that the Apgar Score was invented by a woman doctor? The first ice cream cone was invented by a woman, so legend goes—and some of the first inventions by women were patented in their husbands’ names since it was illegal or simply more difficult for women to obtain patents. So there could be many other inventions that we don’t know about that were made by women, too.
Some very popular inventions created by women include chocolate chip cookies, windshield wipers, Kevlar, liquid paper, and Scotchguard. Reading through the stories, you’ll find that some finds were purely accidental—while others were methodically tried and tested in order to solve a particular problem or fill a need.
Children—both boys and girls—will enjoy these fun stories and perhaps even come away from the story feeling as if they, too, could create something new and useful for our society. An eleven year old girl was the inventor of the no-spill feeding bowl, after all, that many parents rely on when traveling or feeding toddlers.
NFL Status Report: NFC West
San Francisco 49ers (8-2-1)
The 49ers are in the unusual situation of changing quarterbacks late in the season in a playoff push. But, last time that happened, maybe, was when Tom Brady supplanted Drew Bledsoe in New England, and Brady not only won the Super Bowl that year, he’s won two more in addition.
Is Colin Kaepernick (2nd year out of Nevada) the next Tom Brady? No one knows, but we do know that the Niners were built on running (2nd in the NFL) and defense (2nd in the NFL), and that a more dynamic quarterback could just be the missing ingredient. Kaepernick’s stats are similar to Alex Smith’s, except he averages more yards per attempt (better deep arm?) and also averages 6.9 yards every time he keeps the ball.
Playoff Snapshot: Run to the Super Bowl looks like a strong possibility
Seattle Seahawks (6-5)
Like the Niners, the Seahawks have a new guy under the center, although Russell Wilson (rookie from Wisconsin) took over at the start of the year. Wilson dropped to the third round of the draft due to his smaller stature (listed at 5-foot-11), not due to questions about his leadership abilities.
Wilson has been solid (11th in the NFL in passing rating), and Marshawn Lynch (3rd in the league in rushing) has been excellent. The defense has also been strong, especially against the pass (3rd in the league).
Playoff Snapshot: 9-7 and a wild card bid is well within reach
St. Louis Rams (4-6-1)
Sam Bradford was the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, and is now in his third season in St. Louis. The progress has been incremental. Bradford’s 84.1 passing rating is the highest of his three seasons, but still only good for 19th in the NFL.
The defense has been all right, but still ranks in the middle of the pack.
New Coach Jeff Fisher built a consistent winner for the Tennessee Titans, but he still has a pretty sizable job to get the Rams into anything more than fringe wild card contenders. The team doesn’t have much special going on.
Playoff Snapshot: Would need a series of big upsets, which doesn’t seem very likely
Arizona Cardinals (4-7)
It was just four years ago that the Cardinals were in the Super Bowl, and it was just eight week ago (yes, it was) that they were 4-0. But then the bottom fell out, and now they stand at 4-7. They’ve played three different quarterbacks, but no one has distinguished himself, and certainly no one has been worthy of the pairing with Hall of Fame talent Larry Fitzgerald.
Playoff Snapshot: Has a team ever gone 4-0, then 0-7, then 5-0? I didn’t think so.