Money

Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon 1973

I really, really like board games.

One of my sweetest memories from childhood is that of playing Monopoly with my parents.  Both of them, together.  Because they were still married. And we were a family.  I also cherish the memories of playing Sorry! with my mom.  And card games - oh, the card games....  Speed and Russian Bank were my favorites.  I do remember my mom teaching me Crazy Eights, which seemed easy and sorta fun.

I own 21 decks of cards - all the variations of canasta I play require a good 10 decks.  The rest are extras for playing Nerts, a gangland style of Solitaire.  It's pretty hardcore, folks.  When I see new packs of cards at garage sales, I cannot resist.  It is not a problem.  Yet. 

This is my favorite set of cards - they are good, quality cards and have ruined me for cheap cards.  I have had these cards forever, they were a present from my Aunt Blenda.  

I told Arun the other day that I think he is finally ready for Crazy Eights.  He can already play Uno and they are essentially the same game anyway.  He is SO excited to play with the beautiful deck of cards that are normally forbidden to him.

We started playing Monopoly Jr. over the weekend.  Simple strategy, addition, subtraction and multiplication.  And the games are quick - about 30 minutes a piece.  What's not to love about that?

Well, I suppose losing is not fun.

Yes, winning is infinitely more fun.

Let's move on to the game of Sorry!  Basically like Parcheesi, but easier.
More American, less Indian?

Gentle Reader, I'm in heaven here. We have also started playing Blokus, which is AWESOME.  I am ready to dig out Payday next. And! I cannot wait to bust out the cribbage board.  Or show him my gorgeous, hand-made backgammon board with Bakelite pieces.

Hurry up little boy. Hurry up.

Well, maybe you should not grow up too much.  Once you head to college, who will play games with me?

A New Machine (Part 2)

Pink Floyd, A Momentary Lapse of Reason 1987

This post is dedicated to the blue Nintendo DSi at Costco that I have had my eye on for over a year. I may have caressed it more than a few times.  I've got my eye on you, Blue Boy ...... you hunky, steamy blue plastic box of sex and magic.

So! Your kid may be into Batman, Legos, Hot Wheels, Thomas the Trains, Star Wars or all of the above.  Bully for you!  My kids are into Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong.  This includes the figurines, the plush toys, the movie videos, the YouTube videos, the books, the clothes (and even Super Mario cupcakes)  Oh sure, the actual video games figure in, but they are not the main feature.  Arun will go weeks without firing up the Wii, but not a night goes by without some Bowser cuddling action.

To be fair, I must give Nintendo credit for attempting, at least, to make their star players serve an actual purpose. My favorite Super Mario movie video is the one where a lesson of racial harmoney was imparted upon my children's tender souls.  I swear to Buddha - Luigi got the Red Toadies and Blue Toadies to agree that while "they are different on the outside, they are all the same on the inside."  And special!  Of course.

I am acutely aware that I am supposed to hang my head in shame at this great failure in parenting by allowing my kid to play video games.  I realize that I have sentenced my kid to a life of crime - or worse, a life spent living in my basement - by not shoving my duck-footed, tone-deaf progeny out the door to join his brethren at the nearby soccer field or orchestra pit.

However, I confess that a few weeks I was more than a little proud when Arun totally served Tiki Tong's ass to him on a banana leaf.  My kid finished Donkey Kong.  I have never finished one of those "adventure" style video games.  I always give up when the going gets rough in the last few levels (we are still 2 levels from the Big Boss Battle on Mario Bros, but I am all "Eh.  Whatever. I give up. YAWN......")  So, not only did Arun practice and work hard toward the end goal, he was a judicious student by reading the books and discussing strategy with Manoj and I.  And like the good mama I am, each morning, I would plug him into YouTube videos of the newest levels he needed to conquer.

Hey, it worked for D.A.R.Y.L.

The biggest concern is that I love, love, love video games myself and this love grew roots long ago. In the mid 80s, we had an Atari and I had a "problem" with Berserk.  Later, I had a Gameboy and an "issue" with Tetris. When I bought my first computer, I not only had a "thing" with Myst: Original Recipe but also a carpal tunnel worthy problem with Solitaire, Minesweeper AND Free Cell.  In the late 90s, I had a PalmPilot and an obsession with Backgammon, Cribbage and Euchre.  Later, I had a Nintendo 64 and you guessed it, a hang-up with Banjo-Kazooie.

Do not get me started on Angry Birds.

When Super Mario Bros for the Wii was first released, I was at Costco that very afternoon.  Donkey Kong, natch.  I am an adult who can afford the $$$, why the hell should I have to wait for a birthday or fucking Santa?

Besides, at least my kid is improving his vocabulary skillz, right?  Around here, "blammed" means you have stomped on your enemy.  "Mario Kiri" means you have purposefully jumped to your death or headed straight into the gaping maw of a goomba so that you can die and re-up all of your lives to be even with your teammates.  While you perform this heroic act, your teammates all "bubble it up" by pressing the A button to save themselves from losing a life.

Since we have all of the figurines, plushies, etc, this means that my kids can spend hours re-enacting their favorite scenes from the videos and the games.  It's imaginative play mixed with dissociative cogntion! (You can go ahead and check that developmental milestone, Judgey McJudgersons. Yes, that checkbox.  RIGHT THERE. The one up your ass.) One of my favorite scenarios my kids have concocted is something called "Koopa Kids"  I have yet to figure out the exact rules, but it involves Bowser being the daddy and Princess Peach being the mama with Koopa Troopa, Goomba and Toadie serving as children which essentially means we have a bit of squicky, interspecial hanky-panky going on in our house. Folks, if the Doomship is a rockin', don't come a knockin'.

And I wonder why I never get requests from Nintendo PR folks.

The Hero's Return

Pink Floyd, The Final Cut 1983

Remember that one time when I talked about how I love to provide free reviews for things for which I have already paid?  I forgot to mention that in particular, I love providing free reviews for local businesses owned by folks I actually know.

I don't normally go crazy on birthday parties.  But there was something about my boy turning 5 that made my throat close tight and my wallet swing open.  Arun had decided early that he wanted to have a Halloween party for his birthday and I had decided early that we would decorate our basement for the occasion.  Besides, as I told Manoj, the decorations were an investment in our Halloween Future.  Win-Win.

I had also decided early that we would be purchasing our cupcakes from Tabby's Treats here in Olathe KS. I have known Tabby since our 5 year olds were babies (Sniff) and recently, we attended her son's birthday party.  There is nothing like trying before buying, folks.  I knew after sampling her cupcakes and sugar cookies, that I would be calling her about Arun's party.  I do not even like sugar cookies, as a general rule - but I can report that her cookies were so soft and so delicious that I was left wondering if maybe the reason I don't normally like sugar cookies is that all the others I had ever had simply sucked.  Maybe?

Anyway, the deal was sealed when Tabby reported that yes, she knew how to make Super Mario Brothers cupcakes.   Folks, Arun is not just into the Nintendo Wii version of Super Mario Brothers - in fact, he has not played the Wii for several weeks now.  He is actually into the entire Mario universe - the books, the plush toys, the miniature toys, the story videos, watching instructional videos on You Tube, the early 1990s Game Boy and my old late 1990s Nintendo 64. 

He was over the moon with these cupcakes.  It helped make up for the fact that I could not sew him the Bowser costumer he desperately wanted and instead, was able to convince him to wear the cheesy, store-bought Yoshi costume.

{Click through for the entire set on Flickr}

The best part of these cupcakes?  They tasted awesome.  We purchased 4 dozen cupcakes in all (2 dozen decorated with marshmallow fondant, 2 dozen plain with butter cream frosting)  After the party, we had 5 lonely cupcakes left.  Considering we had about 25 people at the party, more than one person had helped themselves to seconds. And it was not me.No really. Whatever.  You can't prove a thing. As my friend Caroline observed, a lot of cupcake decorators get so wrapped up in the decorating part they forget you are supposed to be eating the product.  Believe me, Tabby did not forget this crucial piece to the Perfect Cupcake Experience.

Gift Bags!

I decided to do proper gift bags this time - I bought some simple bags and shredded them at the top.  Hands down, the winner was the Halloween sticker sheet theme. I would also like to give the Oriental Trading Company a special shout-out for outstanding customer service.  A few things were missing from the original shipment - I called customer service and the phone was answered directly by a rep and the missing items were shipped express.

Candles.

I have few snaps of my kids blowing out their candles since I am usually too busy running around, pretending to be a thoughtful hostess. This time, I said "Guests be damned" and made sure I was prepped with camera in hand.

Arun Robert aka "Arun Bob"

Watch him put his Redneck nickname into action. 

Huzzah!

To finish off the birthday celebrations, we went to the Renaissance Festival on Sunday. Arun was able to partake of a turkey leg and Anjali tried on a glass slipper.  She handled her first romantic rejection with stoic optimism. 

Despite some crankiness due to over-stimulation, artificial food colorings and a steady stream of sugar, it was a perfect weekend in which to celebrate our boy turning 5.

In Accordance With GAPP

Please note!  Important!  I like my crow served warm, with a dash of Cholula sauce.

Mostly, I try to parent in accordance with GAPP.  You know, the Generally Accepted Parenting Principles. The ones that dictate you don't let your kid suck on lead pipes (or tail pipes, for that matter.)  The ones that require at least 20 minutes per day of book reading or junior will have a brain equivalent to oatmeal. The ones that require eating vegetables.  The ones that require choices and consequences (not rules and punishments**.) The ones that require your child do a variety of well-rounded activities (music! sports! art!), but not too many activities lest your precious snowflake become overscheduled.  The horrors.  So, like most parents, I attempt to do my best.  I am quite certain I will never figure out this parenting gig while my own children are around, but am quite confident I will get it right for when they have children, so that I can become That Grandmother Who Knoweth All.   Because everyone loves That Grandmother, right?  .

Anyway.  I think I fail spectacularly in the Parenting Activities Standards Board (PASB) 242  - Grooming of of Self-Esteem.  The other day I was talking with Monkey Dearest* about PASB 242:

I think there is WAY too much focus on self-esteem building these days.  For example, moms who let their kids win when they are playing games.  One of my friends actually tells her daughter there are TWO Winners.  Are you fucking kidding?  There can only be ONE winner and I don't let Arun win.  Yeah, it makes him mad.  Whatever, win on your own, dude.  When we play Super Mario Bros on the Wii, sometimes he can't keep up and he starts whining for help - I kill him on purpose so he can just fucking catch up.  Dude, you are messing up OUR game, get with the program, Nancy Boy.


Yeah, mother of the year over here.

 After I sent the email, I thought that perhaps, I was too harsh.  Maybe I should try to nurture my little budding gamer more.  But then I realized that if my little guy ends up with self-esteem issues because I failed to let him succeed at some stupid games, then his problem will not be merely self-esteem.  And no, I don't always kill Arun on purpose.  And sometimes, just sometimes, I will point out the Sparkly Ginormous Coin is there for him to get.  I also noticed that once I quit helping him over a particular hurdle and just let him die, that he actually figured out how to navigate the hurdle himself.  Sure, there was whining, but I was too busy stomping zombie turtles to hear it anyway.

Truthfully, the look on his face when he does win and his little character gets the crown is a great expression. He earned that crown. 

And he knows it.

* YES, I am a big believer in the fact that folks without children can have valid points about parenting.  After all, everyone was a child at some point - everyone has that perspective.  So yes, I do talk parenting with Monkey.  Also, importantly for me, I like to hear how her parents did things because I like the Sub-Continental Asian Approach to Parenting (SCAAP.)  In my 20+ years of experience with it, there are some valuable lessons to be learned and I want to hear as many examples I can.   Monkey is willing to share and I appreciate it.  In return, I make her listen to my childrens' heavy breathing on the phone, so things are not exactly fair, but she is a patient one, that Monkey.

**In our house, it is a RULE and a PUNISHMENT.  Yesterday, Arun ran into his school parking lot without me - BIG TROUBLE.  I was crystal clear that he was being PUNISHED.  Sadly, my guy is so easy-going that he does not care that his precious items ended up on the fireplace mantle.  Sigh.  How do you punish easy-going kids??

Are you game?

First, some housekeeping - I have updated my sidebar and have finally updated my long-neglected Blogroll.

So. I have written previously about my endless love for boardgames - I even have an entire closet devoted to my collection. So, while Candyland is perhaps, the most boring game ever created in the history of games, I still cannot help but get a little misty-eyed at the fact that I am playing boardgames with my kid. Some of my happiest family memories from when my parents were married are those of us playing games together.

However.

I do not let Arun win. Ever. Fortunately, the kid is one little lucky twerp because he nearly always wins Candyland on his own. His luck is equally sickening with Memory. And furthermore, we play by the rules*. X thought I was being too strict by making Arun only go the allotted spaces per the card he drew on Candyland and only letting his turn over two cards at a time on Memory, but what is the fun in playing if you cheat or bend the rules?

I not only want my kids to learn that winning is, indeed, fun but also in the end, simply playing is the very best part of it all. This is precisely why I can lose game after game after game of Wii Tennis to X and still keep coming back for more virtual punishment.

* Or some fascimile of rules. Ahem. For example, when playing Monopoly**, I will most certainly teach my kids that you do get the pile of money in the center of the board when you land on Free Parking. I merely choose to believe that Parker Bros meant for it to be an actual rule and merely forgot to put it in the instructions. Ahem.

** Speaking of Monopoly, have you seen the "electronic banking" version that includes some sort of ATM/computer thingie instead of paper money? What fun would that be? Bah. Playing with paper money while obsessively stacking and counting it was half the fun of Monopoly. Right?

What if one good turn does not deserve another?

Over the years on this wee speck of a blog, I have expressed my undying love for boardgames and card games. To that end, I recently purchased some games for Arun. These past few days have found us embroiled in the seamy politics of Candyland *, establishing a sympathetic stance for the migrant worker's plight in Hi Ho! Cherry-O**, and simulating the corporate environment with hearty rounds of Chutes and Ladders ***. All these games followed the very same path. The 1st round of each game found me getting misty-eyed. Look at us, playing games! Together! My baby is all growed up! The 20th round? I put my Master's degree-worthy multi-tasking skillz to task by checking Twitter and email as I simultaneously pushed multi-colored pawns around. I am totally rocking this parenting gig, believe you me.

Game ON.

In addition to this closet full of board games, I also happen to own 21 decks of cards.  This is not including specialty decks such as Skip-Bo, Rook and Canasta Caliente.  The reason I own so many decks is for a variety of canastas and to be able to play such gems as Nerts.  My most prized board game is the Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice boardgame.  One of the things I miss most about my heady Kid Free days is Game Night, an evening spent hanging out with my girlfriends, drinking wine and playing games with a ruthless, relentless fervor to WIN.  Damn straight, my kids better like to play games or they may have to find new homes.

In other news, it appears that I in possession of two children and henceforth, must begin purchasing two of everything lest these kids be required to learn how to the take turns. The horrors! I know. Oh sure, I expected that eventually they would begin fighting over things, but I certainly did not expect it to happen so very soon. So, yes, we are now a Two Laser Gun household. Woe is me.

Also, I am feeling sort of sheepish this morning. You see, I gripe and I groan and I grouse and I grumble about my lack of Free Time and how these children are sucking every last ounce of it. But then, I somehow manage to finish the 1st of the Twilight Saga over this past weekend. All 500 pages of it. So, apparently, I am a lying liar who lies. This, however, is not a lie. I will be subjecting my local Borders to the sight of my lily white ass in a SWIMSUIT today because I must, MUST, have the 2nd book to begin during naptime today. And the only time to get it is to swing by on our way to the wading pool. Priorities, people.

*As a cautionary tale against centuries of inbreeding, King Kandy, Princess Frostine and Lord Licorice most definitely all serve as appropriate, stellar examples.

** César Chávez action figure not included.

** * Thankfully, without requirements documents, status reports and glass ceilings.


Since I have not sacrificed my children's privacy for awhile, I present some Simian Snappage for your ogling pleasure. Enjoy.

1st Haircut

She smiled the entire time. I am not holding my breath that this will happen again the next time we cut her hair.

New Haircut

After straying dangerously close to the border of Rat's Nest, she is firmly camped back into Mop-Headed Territory.

An Inkling of the Girl to Become

This photo sorta creeped me out because I felt like I was seeing the future.

Eating Macaroons

Temperamental Artist

What we doing tomorrow, Mama?

This is what I hear every evening. Unfortunately, "drooling in front of Noggin until your brains emulsify" is not an acceptable response. Kids these days. SPOILED.

So, if you smack your kid up side the head with the Wiimote, does the DCFS take away the kid or the Wii? Can you get a special dispensation for Wiinjuries? Just wondering. Not for any particular reason other than purely innocent, good old-fashioned curiosity.

Boy, I am really glad I nixed the idea for Weight Watchers and funneled that cash into our Wii. Just sayin'. That's all.

In other news, on the Wii Play game, why does the cow racing thingie look like it was created by knitting up swatches in the stockinette stitch? As a knitter, this is inordinately distracting as I am feverishly attempting to mow down those damned scarecrows.

Also, I am thinking the furniture industry is going to experience a serious dearth in coffee table sales. I am considering packing ours away down in the basement because it is in the way of our Wiing.

Finally, what is "anger whilst playing your Wii" called? Wiirritation? Wiithing with rage? Wiisteria?

Who's the boss?

I am supposed to be doing a post on the food blog today, but obviously I love you all Innernets more than the foodie Innernets. Just don't rat me out to the boss, 'kay?

For awhile, it was as if Arun had turned into some sort of Anderson Cooper with all his investigative reporting skillz. It was as if he had taken it on for his personal mission to apprise me of Every Single Damned Thing Happenin' which rendered all statements worthy of Headline Status....

BREAKING NEWS!!!
Trees are GREEN! Look! A stop sign! Look! A firetruck!

THIS JUST IN!!
Anju is crying! Baby is sad! Trees are GREEN! The sun is OUTSIDE!

NEWSFLASH!!
Daddy is HOME. Trees are GREEN!

Now, he has gone all Tony Danza on me and is totally about the You're Not the Boss Of Me rigmarole. Alternatively, he also tries to show the cats and Anju who's boss as well. Throughout the day, I now hear "Be careful!" and "No, honey! No, HONNNey!" and "Anju all done eating mama's milk. ALL DONE." and "No, I do it! NO, I DO IT!" and my personal favorite "Dance, Anju, dance. Anju, DANCE." While it is sorta cute, I am tired of him telling me how to drive. Turn around, my ASS. I'll show you "turn around".

Okay - on to pictures.................

Design on a Dime. Literally.

Easily one of my favorite rooms in the house now, this will be winning me no design awards anytime soon, nor ever. Still, it is a cozy room and I love hanging out in it while we play or read books. Some of the sweetest and most giggly memories in my life have happened in this room.


No Pressure.