Your kid might be watching too much Disney Junior when...

The majority of what our kids watch on tv is the Disney channel.  I suppose I should probably turn it to PBS a little more, but they've become so attached to Disney that I don't even think about it.  And the stuff on Disney is harmless (although sometimes annoying) and comes with very few, if any, product placement commercials for toys, so I don't get the "I want that!  I want that!" that immediately comes when we temporarily turn it to most other channels.

However, sometimes I think I should give them a bit more television diversity, simply because it is possible they are being brainwashed by Disney.  Anna is not quite as bad, but Lizzie may be showing signs of watching a tad too much Disney Junior.  Some signs that Lizzie may be watching too much Disney Junior are:

• If we are outside and we are missing a tool to complete a task (say a ladder so Seth can finish taking down the Christmas lights), she yells "Oh Toodles!" and fully expects Toodles to show up with a mousketool
• Trains are referred to as "Chuggingtons"
• When going into a restaurant that has a gold, circular emblem above the door, Lizzie says "That's a gold dubloon!"
• Any item that can be worn around the neck that looks like it has a pouch on it is carrying pixie dust
• The song sung most often in our house is not Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, or Mary Had a Little Lamb, it is "Clap clap, fingersnap, time to check the mouskemap."

And if you are able to recognize and identify all of the items above, you might be watching a little too much Disney Junior, too :)

Kids stories from Saturday, April 9

Story #1
Normally I have to wake up much earlier than I want to on Saturdays because the kids are hungry and want breakfast when they wake up at the crack of dawn.  Today Seth got up with them and turned on the tv, and came back to bed.  I fell asleep, and when I woke up it was 9:30!  I freaked out, wondering why the kids hadn't come back upstairs to tell us they were hungry.  When I went downstairs, they were both munching on goldfish.  I noticed that the bathroom stepstool was in the kitchen.  Apparently Anna had gotten the stepstool so she could reach the bowls, then served goldfish.  Now that she's 5, I guess she's showing off her independence!

Story #2
Lizzie does not have the ABC song down just yet.  I almost died laughing while driving when Lizzie's version of the ABCs ended "Now I know my ABCs, next time I won't sing with you!"

A party fit for a princess

(Note: I'm a bit late in posting this one, but at least I finally got around to it!)

Since January, Anna has been looking forward to turning 5.  In February she was starting to get really antsy and asking us to count the weeks and days before March arrived.  Once we reached March, every single day I was asked at least twice to tell her how long it was until her birthday and party.  She would drop lines like "My birthday is coming, so I should get to <fill in activity she normally doesn't get to do here>."

Finally, the big day arrived.  Her actual birthday was on a Wednesday this year, and her party was the following Saturday.  (Just so you know, while I consider her actual birthday to be her actual birthday, Anna considers her actual birthday to be the day of her party.)  The first thing she said to me when I woke her up on Wednesday was "It's my birthday, can I open a present now?" in an extremely sleep voice.  That evening she opened the rest of her presents from us and that had been sent in the mail by wonderful family friends.

But Saturday was the big day.  She had chosen Tangled (Rapunzel) as her theme.  She had invited the little girls from her preschool class.  Most of our family was coming (which adds 10 more kids of varying ages, if Seth's whole family is there).  She dressed in the pretty spring dress that Lizzie had picked out for her as a birthday present.  And she would not sit still all day.  The party was at 2:30, and from the time she woke up until the first guest arrived, she was bouncing around asking when people would get there, and asking if everyone was late.

We played musical chairs (Anna's requested game), pass the tiara (think hot potato), pin the crown on the princess (best Dollar Tree game purchase ever), and had a pull-string pinata.  Anna received loads of presents, had a blast with her friends and family, and had a smile on her face the entire time.  The party was a smashing success, at least for the little girls.  I'm not so sure Anna's older male cousins had as great of a time as the little girls, but at least they got candy and cake :)

Click here to see more pictures.

We have many wonderful friends and family members who helped make Anna's birthday party an extremely special day for her.  I am so happy that she had such a great 5th birthday.  And now Lizzie's already talking to me about what she wants for her birthday.  As you can imagine, it involves Mickey Mouse cupcakes, Mickey balloons, and Mickey, Mickey, Mickey... let's see if that's what she still wants come November :)