Although I seem to spend more time reading a screen than I do a book, reading for me is a given. How would I function if I could not read?

In our family, reading happens everywhere…except the bathroom. I am not a book-in-the-bathroom person. Ewww. We have bookcases in every room except the bathroom.

It’s summer so the kids have days when they are voracious readers and days when they are not. My summer reading tips are as follows:

• Buy books. Yes, I know books are expensive, but kids love to reread old classics or new stories. Invest in books.
• Get each child a library card. Make sure you and your husband have library cards. Carry your library card in your purse or wallet.
• Visit the library regularly for storytimes or summer reading programs.
• Join summer reading programs at the library or bookstores.
• Shop consignment stores for books. I picked up 12 of the 13 Lemony Snicket books for about $10. I found The Complete Wreck (A Series of Unfortunate Events, Books 1-13) on amazon for $94.50!
• Shop Goodwill for books.
• Go through your book collection at home. Pull out books that are too young for your child. Move books that are too young to a younger child’s bedroom.
• Buy each child a bookcase or shelf for their bedroom.
• Create screen-free areas in your house. Our living room does not a TV. There is a CD player if kids want to listen to books on CD. Our girls have laptops, but each child has reading time where the screens are turned off.
• Read the newspaper, read a book, read a menu, read the phone book — read anything while your little kids are in the room.
• For long car trips or lengthy visits to the doctor, have kids pack a book or a puzzle book to do while they wait.

Are you a blogger with kids? Check out this fabulous I Can Read contest over at Twittermoms!

I wrote this blog post while participating in the TwitterMoms blogging program to be eligible to get an “I Can Read!” book. For more information on how you can participate, click here.

Our house had Spring Fever badly this year. The kids were out of school for 11 days in February due to record snowfall. The winter quarter passed by in the flash. By the time spring rolled around, we heard that the school year would be extended. I know I was crushed. My kids were already super antsy about summer coming and now the school year would be in full swing until June 23!

Enter Googly Bands… Googly Bands saved the day in the Musings from Me household. My 11- and 7-year-olds needed a “carrot” as an incentive to do their homework with a minimum of complaints. The nights were getting lighter, but the homework load was not letting up. I used Googly Bands to encourage them to do their homework and do assigned chores. It worked…I mean Googly Bands worked!

Homework rewards. Chore incentives. Good deed prizes. Googly Bands are the perfect reward for the elementary and middle school student, ev even preschooler and teen, too. I have seen a few adults wearing Googly Bands!

Googly Bands are stretchable, wearable, collectible, and trade-able bands. If you see a group of tweens and kids, and even teens, chances are you will see one of the kids wearing a Googly Band!

New at Googly bands — Series V bands features the shapes of Classic Toys, Pirates, Dogs, Rescue, Shoes, and Florida.

Series IV bands…Hollywood, Pets, Body Parts, Text Messages, Soccer, and Wonders of the World.

Series III…Fruits, Cowboy, USA, Reptiles, Sports, and Tools.

Check out Googly Bands for many more cool bands!

Late-breaking news from Googly Bands!

Googly Bands are retiring all Series 2 bands. I would like to invite you and to join me at the Official Retirement Party this Thursday, July 15, at 2 p.m. PST. Party is tomorrow! Rules will be posted at 2pm at Facebook.com/googlybands. Googly bands will give out tons of prizes live at the hour-long party. Hope to see you there! Bring your kids to the twitter party!!

Education is important in our house. While it is true that my parents were quite hands off about my education, I picked up the education vibe from their actions. My father left school at 16 to become a draftsman. After working and going to school at night for 7 years, he received his bachelor’s degree. He may not have said very much about this to me as a child, but his tenacity left an impression. My mother received her degree when I was a teen. I always knew I was going to college.

For some kids college is just not an option. I am saddened by this. I try to do what I can to help other children by donating to collections at church, sorting through our books to donate, or making a donation to a charity. I am limited by what I can give. We are a one-income family with a little extra income from my blogging pursuits.

My children are fortunate that while we are not wealthy by any means, we live in a good school district, regularly shop for books online/bookstores, check out books form the library, or participate in enrichment activities. I wanted to help kids in a classroom less “privileged” than my own children’s classrooms.

When I was offered the chance to make a donation to the Bing Education Program, I leaped at the chance to help other children. I participated in Bing Teacher Appreciation Website Blog and Twitter Tour. I was given a $100 DonorsChoose.org giving code to use toward the classroom projects of my choice. I can tell you that I am rarely, if ever, able to give this much to charity. Perhaps in the future I will be able to give more. I hope so.

• I was eager to find out about the projects available. I logged on to the Discover Bing Education site.
• Clicked on the “Making a Differnce through DonorsChoose.org.”
• Selected “Projects.”
• Scrolled through the list of available projects. Spotted one about books. Noticed the project was close to meeting its goal. Looked at several other projects, but returned to the first project as the teacher was looking for a set of leveled readers for her students and my donation could help her meet her goal…almost. Leveled readers are so important so that kids make steady progress and gain confidence in their reading skills.
• Without hesitation, I clicked on the added the project to my account, proceeded to checkout, and paid my donation using my DonorsChoose.org code. You can pay by credit card, amazon, PayPal, or check, as well.

Within minutes of checking out and receiving a confirmation of my order, I received a sweet e-mail from the teacher I helped. Loved it!

The Bing’s Teacher Appreciation Website helps teachers help themselves. Here’s how it works:

• a teacher can log onto the DonorsChoose.org website to start a “classroom project” or donation request.
• Parents and students can then visit the Bing Teacher Appreciation site to leave a comment [up to 5 per visitor] about a teacher who has made a difference in their life, enabling them to receive a $5 giving code to donorschoose.org [one per comment].
• Parents and students can then apply the $5 giving code to the “classroom project” of their choice.
• Classroom projects are created by teachers, so reach out to your childrens’ teachers and encourage them to submit their own projects!

Do you have a teacher who has made a difference in your child’s life or your life? Add the teacher’s name to the Bing site!

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Bing and a $100 DonoseChoose.org giving code to facilitate my review. Mom Central also sent me a thank-you gift certificate.”

BABW furry friends make the perfect toy for all ages. My little guy clutched his Elmo by the ear when he was not quite 2. My tween favors any of the glam and glitzy BABWs. My teen has various creatures in her bed — shhhh don’t tell her I said this!

BABWs make a great gift for special occasions. My daughters were 7 and 4 when our son was born. I knew both girls would immediately fall in love with their baby brother. I never worried about jealousy. I wanted to buy each of my daughters a gift before the baby arrived. I wanted to make the arrival of a new baby in our family a special one.

I liked the idea of all four of us going to BABW on our last outing as a “family-of-four-soon-to-be-five.” I knew that I did not need to buy toys as the baby boy was unlikely to want their Barbie/Disney Princess/girlie toys. I just wanted to give the girls something to commemorate the arrival of their brother to our family.

We have a milestone coming up in our family. Our teen “graduates” from 8th grade. Technically, she will have a transition ceremony. Graduation. Transition. Even graduation from preschool! Whatever you call it. Family milestones are a reason to celebrate.

My friends at BABW told me about a line of furry friends specially designed for spring and summer happenings:

• Graduation — BABW has a selection of cuddly stuffed animals dressed  in items including: a black or white graduation gown, mortar board with tassel, dress clothes, a Class of 2010 sash, and a “Pomp & Circumstance” Sound. The graduation sash or robe can be embroidered with your child’s name for an additional charge of $10.
  
• Father’s Day
• Armed Forces Day — Choose from camo sailor bear, Marine Hero Champ, Air Force curly teddy, Army office teddy, to name a few.
• Wedding and Bridal Shower

I have a special giveaway for Musings from Me readers! I have one $25 BABW Gift Card to giveaway. One comment = one entry. Enter now!

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I was given a bear as part of my review. The views expressed in the article are my own. The giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. The giveaway ends May 31, 2010, at 11:59 p.m.

I let the tween and teen have some say on their clothes, but the bucks stops with me. My tween and teen can choose their own clothes each day for school and weekend wear. Both know that they have to abide by school dress code rules. Note: School dress code rules are inconsistently enforced…depends on the day and the teacher. Even on their “days off” I monitor how short the skirt or shorts can go. I know, I know, but I don’t want the girls going out in something inappropriate.

When the girls were little, I knew that clothing arguments would be a factor in the future. I enjoyed the days of Osh Kosh, Gap, and Old Navy. Gone are the days when the only choice was color and size. My then little girls had strong opinions on color — pink, purple, or no deal! Now I have to wade through the racks at Justice, Hollister, Areopostale, American Eagle, and abercrombie to find the mom chair.

Although, I do recall a dance performance where my eyes almost bugged out.

Have you seen this CNN clip of the young girls dancing to All the Single Ladies? No? Well, watch it now.

What do you think??

So, were you like me shocked to the core? What was the dance teacher thinking when she chose this dance and those outfits for little girls? Where were the moms? Why did the moms not say “No” to the risque outfits? I know that when my little girls took dance classes, there were times when the costumes were the 9/10/11 year olds seemed a little revealing to me. I recall one year the older girls wore cropped tops and bicycle shorts. These outfits are nothing compared to the bikinis on the girls in the video.

The song? Why pair up such young girls with this song? My little girls danced to the following age-appropriate tunes:

• Be My Little Bumble Bee — white leotard with black appliques.
• Peter Gunn Theme — black leotard with pink appliques — lots of twirling.
• Batman Theme — black leotards with pink bat wings — strobe lights and twirling.

What do you think of clothing for little girls? Leave a comment.

Jessica Gottlieb has an insightful and carefully worded post on this subject.

My kids and I recently listened to a CD that reminds me very much of the old Schoolhouse Rock episodes. Roger Day is a witty, clever singer of children’s songs. His CD — Why Does Gray Matter? — is a compilation of my favorite type of kids’ songs. What is my fave type of kid’s songs you ask? Why songs that Mom/Dad and the kids can listen to without Mom/Dad lunging for the Off button. I was never fan of the purple dinosaur or the four Australian guys, if you know what I mean.

Here’s a bit about Roger Day… Parents’ Choice® Gold Award winning kids’ musician Roger Day scales the pinnacle of braininess with the release of his fourth CD and first “theme” album, Why Does Gray Matter? … And Other Brainy Songs for Kids! The disc offers fourteen Roger Day originals, each one devoted to the wonders and mysteries of the human brain, encouraging kids to “use their noodles” for creative problem solving and letting them know that it’s cool to be smart!  Along the way, they’ll also learn some fun facts about the brain.

In the spirit of Schoolhouse Rock and Bill Nye the Science Guy, Why Does Gray Matter? includes “Sara Bellum, the Brainy Girl,” “It’s a No Brainer” (literally singing the praises of math), and “Brain Food – Eat it Up!” which uses omega 3, lypocene, and green tea in a B-52s inspired rocker about the best foods for brain health. The “Left Brain/Right Brain” song illustrates the different functions of each side of the brain: the left brain is a Bach-inspired baroque string quartet and the right brain – naturally – is a bad British punk rock band.

Roger Day co-wrote “The Brain Train” with Dr. John Paul Bouffard, Chief Neuropathologist at Overlook Hospital in New Jersey, which takes a peek inside Ringo Starr’s brain during that nanosecond from Ringo’s first thought about playing the drums to showtime at Shea Stadium. Roger says, “I’m confident this is the first – and probably last — children’s song that uses words like ‘corpus callosum’ and ‘deep basal ganglia’ in the lyrics!”

Visit Roger Day’s website to hear his songs. Go here for RogerTube videos. Buy all 4 of Roger Day’s CDs here.

Want to win Roger Day’s Why Does Gray Matter? …and Other Brainy Songs for Kids!? I have one CD for a lucky Musings from Me reader! One comment = one entry. Leave a comment.

• What was your favorite song from childhood? Leave a comment.
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I was provided with the CD. The opinions expressed in this post are my own. Giveaway is open to U.S. residents only. Giveaway ends May 12 at 11:59 p.m.

I enrolled my daughter in preschool when she was 2. The program was 3.5 hours long twice a week. Aside from a couple of sad days in the beginning she loved going. I had a few low days myself where I missed her, but I quickly put my nose to the grindstone and did my work.

My daughter’s first few months at preschool culminated in June. Her preschool offered summer camp. The summer program was less rigid with more outdoor playtime. I signed her up, so that I would have day care coverage while I worked from home.

That summer she had a blast! Over the years she participated in a sponsored tricycle ride for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, played in a sprinkler, drew on the sidewalk with chalk, learned about animals from a person who brought in animals, made a pizza at Pizza Hut, visited the Rainforest cafe, played miniature golf, and the list goes on and on. Her summers were fun. She was happy and well cared for camper, so I was a happy camper, too.

KinderCare Summer Camp Program is well known. KinderCare Summer Camp provides kids and parents with the opportunity to remain engaged and active throughout the summer months. With approximately 1,700 centers located in 39 states and the District of Columbia, KinderCare Learning Centers, an accredited early childhood provider, offer a range of educational programs and after-school care for infants as young as six weeks old to school-aged children through age 12. Run by specially trained, passionate teachers who fully embrace a balanced approach to learning, KinderCare Learning Centers aim to educate and entertain children within nurturing environment, and encourage strong communication between families and teachers.

My children enjoyed many fun activities at summer camp, but when they were in preschool the day’s schedule would include reading, art, and rest time. My son has learned about dinosaurs, the Wild West, circus, and undersea creatures at summer camp. My tween and teen girls spend their summers at summer swim team practices and a volleyball camps.

Did you know that KinderCare’s Summer Camp has weekly themes, like sports, art and science? With fun field trips and activities, KinderCare Summer Camps work to excite children to continue to learn and discover beyond the classroom. The best part? KinderCare Summer Camp is created by kids and features a 12-week themed program where each week brings new activities and new friends!

For more information on the KinderCare Summer Camp Program, head to KinderCare’s website: http://www.kindercare.com/summercamp.

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of KinderCare and received a gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate.

• Nursery — done
• Diapers — purchased
• Newborn clothes — washed and ready for baby #2
• Toys — washed or I bought a new toy. Someone told me to have two of anything you THINK might be of interest to your oldest child…wise person. The baby loved chewing on her Winnie the Pooh, which was an exact match to my oldest daughter’s Winnie the Pooh…aahhh what a relief to have two identical toys!
• Infant car seat — washed, scrubbed, but still looked a little worn…oh well. Baby #2 only used the infant car seat for a few months as she was a big baby.
• Food!

Food was a big concern for me. My parents graciously volunteered to stay with us for two months. My mother said she would drive the 2-year-old to preschool while I stayed home with the baby. I was grateful for the support. My 2-year-old was thrown for a loop with all the new-ness…new baby, new house guests, and visitors each day. I was glad to have my parents staying with us.

I wanted to make my life go as smoothly as possible with meal preparation once the baby and I got home from the hospital. I shopped at Costco before the baby was born for dinner food and treats. What was a big treat for all of us? Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls! Mmmmm…sorry I was distracted as I can almost the taste the yumminess. After the 2-year-old was in bed, someone would put the Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls in to bake. A nice treat at the end of a long day with an infant and a toddler.

Pillsbury have come out with a new flavor: Orange Sweet Rolls. Pillsbury Orange Sweet Rolls are warm, fresh, and ready to serve in just minutes. Packed with the love and flavor of a treat made from scratch, but without the time and cleanup, Orange Sweet Rolls are the perfect addition to your family’s Sunday morning traditions.

What a great way to start of your week! Pillsbury Orange Sweet Rolls are the perfect food for the on-the-go family to enjoy on Sunday. A good way to get ready for another busy week! On Sunday mornings we are up early to get to Sunday School. Once home we enjoy breakfast, which gets us ready for a relaxing day at home or a busy, busy, running all over the place day with three active kids!

Giveaway for Musings from Me readers! The nice folks at MyBlogSpark have a sweet Pillsbury Orange Sweet Rolls gift pack that includes a VIP coupon for Pillsbury Orange Sweet Rolls as well as a photo album to help keep your family’s sweet Sunday morning memories close at hand. One comment = one entry!

• What is your Sunday morning tradition?

• 

  Sunday morning shenanigans a year ago. Notice the lack of snow on the ground!

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I was provided with a Pillsbury Orange Sweet Rolls gift pack as part of my review by Pillsbury and MyBlogSpark. Giveaway ends Friday, March 5, 2010. Giveaway is open to U.S. readers only.

Craft ideas:

• Have kids stick stickers on paper. Put crayons and markers on tables. Good freeform activity. Ice breaker too as kids who don’t know each other will chat while coloring.
• Stick foam stickers on a foam hat, picture frame, doorknob hanger.
• Print coloring sheets in the theme of the party “unicorns, princesses” from internet sites. Good for adding to the goodie bag or as an activity.
• Pinata — pull string only. You don’t want 3 yos using sticks to hit an object!
• Pass the parcel. Buy 10 of the same item (buy enough for each kid). Wrap one item in about 10 layers of paper. Sit kids in a circle. Play music. Stop music so each kid can unwrap gift. Make sure each kid has a turn. Stop on birthday girl. Believe it is better this way….don’t want to have birthday girl/boy in tears…ever! Once present is unwrapped, give each child the same item…sunglasses, sticker sheet, whistle, tiara.

Kids at this age want to have fun. Activities don’t need to be elaborate. Keep party short. Enjoy!

Responded to a post over at DC Moms Like Me.

When my girls were toddlers and “itty bitty ones” there were no games available for them to play. Oh, you could buy CD-ROMs “for Toddlers” but the games were not easy to use. The games required use of a mouse AND good hand eye coordination. If you have been around a baby or a toddler for any length of time you know that babies are quite capable of jabbing  a spoonful of food directly in their eye. I have observed my toddler trip on her own sock.

Toddlers love playing on the computer. Why wouldn’t they? Toddlers watch mom and dad play games on the computer…check e-mail…play with their iphones. The keyboard keys and the mouse are enticing…a toddler wants to bang on the keys.

One dad decided to create a game for his toddler to use. He sketched  out the idea for site and the characters on a plane ride home. Wow! Kneebouncers.com is so much fun. Want to see an actual toddler playing on Kneebouncers? Watch >> Kneebouncers.

Want more games? Go to www.kneebouncers,com