2008 January

Kids Food Basket – Again

January 16, 2008 By bigbinder Leave a Comment

You all may remember a while ago that I wrote about Kids Food Basket. They just let me know about an opportunity to really make a difference for this organization and I want to pass the information along to anyone who is interested.

Parade Magazine has launched the America’s Giving Challenge to “identify grassroots groups with the most passionate and committed donors.” When you make a $10 donation to Kids Food Basket (remember – $0.67 buys a meal so think of what $10 does) it also gives KFB opportunity to receive part of over $500,000 being awarded to the charities that participate.

If you would like to be part of this, click on Network For Good and donate $10 between now and the January 31st. This is one of the most respected online giving resources in the country. If you have any questions, please feel free to call Mary K at 363-2777 or Cheryl at 235-4532 at Kids Food Basket.

Big shocker! My personal suggestion is to consider celebrating Martin Luther King Jr’s Birthday (it was yesterday, but is celebrated Monday the 21st) with a donation. You don’t have to have a party complete with crafts, singing and cake as we are around here, but if you consider his birthday a day of service, make your $10 donation and go about your day!

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Filed Under: I Just Feel Like Blogging Tagged With: Kids Food Basket

Easy For Moms, Fun For Kids?

January 15, 2008 By bigbinder 5 Comments

Shrek 2 Pizza Rolls Last week, I was dutifully matching my coupons with the sale ad while creating my grocery list. A.P. was hanging around, and asked if I could put “Totinos Pizza Rolls” on the list. This may not seem like a big deal, but he has never had Totinos Pizza Rolls. I certainly have nothing against them; I just have never bought them so it was strange to hear such a request.

I asked him what he knew about them. Immediately he turned into TV Zombie Kid and recited a commercial for them perfectly, even adding that they were “easy for moms and fun for kids.” This is a kid who watches TV, but usually videos and PBS. Commercials are not a part of his daily life.

Let me stop here to admit something. This is my area of parental weirdness. We all have them – you know what I am talking about. There is so much out there in the world that could potentially harm our kids, but different people pick different things to fixate on. Mine is commercials. I would not be understating my position to say that I am obsessed with not letting my kids watch commercials.

My husband (who watched a zillion commercials growing up but I have nevertheless effectively terrified him as well) and I sprang to action. Rather than buying the Totinos version, we promptly bought fixin’s to make “Binder” pizza rolls. We mixed peperoni, sauce, and cheese up and as a family, filled and wrapped about 48 wonton wrappers into a pizza roll shape. We made it a family event.

A.P. didn’t buy it for a second. While he enjoyed our home-made version, he contends that the Totino’s product is superior. So good, in fact, that “everyone is happy” when they eat them. He still can’t wait to get his hands on some.

Children under the age of 6 cannot distinguish commercials from the show they are watching. They don’t know they are being ‘sold’ to – they think they are being told the truth and don’t have the maturity to discern what is fact and what is just persuasion.

I am on the lookout for suggestions about how to counteract the effects of commercials. I realize it’s not realistic to raise a children who never see commercials, and I don’t want to. I want to give them the tools to make sense of them. Here is a small list of resources I have assembled; please feel free to leave a comment with any others that you know about, or with your thoughts on the matter!

New American Dream website
Buy, Buy Baby by Susan Gregory Thomas
New York Times article about companies withdrawing advertising of ‘junk food’ to children under 12.

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Filed Under: I Just Feel Like Blogging Tagged With: Commercials and Children

Sanctuary Sunday – A Cry For Help!

January 13, 2008 By bigbinder 6 Comments

Today in the car, A.P. asked me which planet was the hottest and coldest (he meant the biggest temperature range). Um, you know what, I can’t remember. Then he asked me how many rings Saturn had. Well, I’m not sure about that. How long would it take to get to Neptune? I had to confess that Mommy worked very hard for a “C” in Fun With Astronomy and Physics or some such non-science major class in college and I really didn’t know. I couldn’t even remember for sure why Pluto got demoted from being a real planet.

How does he know all about this stuff? He said it was from Blues Clues. Of course; I should have known!

After an unsuccesful attempt to find “Something to Make Saturday” that will bridge the gap between my very poor understanding of all matters planetary and my son’s quest for knowledge, I have decided to ask you all for help!

Please give me your best suggestions for helping a 4 year old to understand the solar system. I’m up for anything; books, crafts, activites, whatever. Bear in mind that I have serious shortcomings in this area, so keep it simple enough for Mom

Thank you!

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Filed Under: Sanctuary Sunday, Something to Make Saturday Tagged With: Planets, solar system

What To Do This Winter

January 10, 2008 By bigbinder 2 Comments

In addition to some fun special events (see the Calendar for more details), there are some ongoing activites around town that work very well for filling in some days that are short on sunshine but long on energy.

If you need to get out of the house, here are a few suggestions:

John Ball Park Zoo is free from December to May. If you pick a nice enough day, it is actually quite fun in the winter.

Kentwood Rec has it’s Bouncin’ Babies and Tumblin’ Toddlers every Friday for $1 per kid between 10:00AM and noon. I have mentioned this before because I think it’s a screamin’ good deal.

Bounce Party has open time Wednesday and Thursday from 9:30-11:30. It is $6 per child.

Gymco Open Gym is $8 for nonmembers and the times are Tuesday and Wednesday from 12:00-1:00pm and Saturday
from 12:00-1:00pm.

Kentwood Aquatics Center has open swim during the week in the evenings. See the website for times and prices.

Forrest Hills Aquatic Center has open swim and parent/child swim times, see the website for hours and pricing.

Bright Beginnings Playgroups are nearly every day all around town. You already know how I feel about this program!

Barnes and Noble has story times on Tuesday and Thursday mornings at 10:30AM at Rivertown. Spend a buck on the carousel, let them play in the play area (and then dunk them in Lysol) and you have yourself a morning. There are also storytimes on Tuesday and Friday mornings at 10:00 at Woodland. Cleaner play area, but no horsies.

Blandford Nature Center has a story hour every Thursday at 10:00AM. Call first though; they are going through some changes right now.

Schuler has a story time at 11:00AM every Saturday at the 28th Street location.

Go to Krispy Kreeme and watch donuts being made.

There is always Chuck E Cheese and Craig’s Cruisers…

The Public Museum is still free on Monday for Grand Rapids residents.

The Grand Rapids Children’s Museum continues with it’s $1 admission starting at 5:00PM each Thursday. This is the way to go, because if you buy a Pals membership hoping to use reciprocal priviledges at another Children’s Museum, forget it. You have to buy a $100 membership, which the GRCM won’t tell you when you sign up. Trust me on this.

Kent District Library and Grand Rapids Public Library both have several story times each week in addition to the special events I have listed on the calendar.

Have a Tasty Tuesday of your own and ake your kids out to lunch somewhere outside of your comfort zone. It is fun, I swear!

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Filed Under: Things to do Thursday Tagged With: Things to do in Grand Rapids

MLK Unity Bracelets

January 9, 2008 By bigbinder 4 Comments

This week we are starting to put our plans together for the Martin Luther King, Jr Birthday party we are throwing. In addition to regular birthday party events (mainly, a birthday cake and singing), we will have the kids make their own favors at the party.

The Grand Rapids Public Library did this last year and even at 3 A.P. was very into this activity. The materials are easy to find and it’s easy to set up, too – always a bonus with the young crowd.

You will need (for each bracelet):

5 plastic black beads with fairly large holes
5 plastic white beads with fairly large holes
plastic ‘string’

Cut the plastic into about 10 inch pieces; each child will need one.

Use a dixie cup or small bowl and put each childs’ beads in it. Tie a knot in one end, and let them put the beads on as the string. Tie it for them so it will slip easily on and off of their wrists, but will not come apart.

You can also incorporate other colors if you choose. Explain to the children that the beads represent people who look different, but together make a beautiful bracelet.

For more seasonal ideas, check out Scribbit’s Winter Bazaar.

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Filed Under: Winter Bazaar Tagged With: crafts, MLK Bracelets

I Had Yesterdog – Yesterday

January 9, 2008 By bigbinder 4 Comments

The kids and I met up with some good friends for lunch yesterday at Nantucket Baking Company. Both of us had eaten the pizza as takeout before, and wanted to try it ‘in-house’. I got there first and peeked behind the bakery counter. The conversation was as follows:

NBC: Umm, can we help you ma’am?

BigBinder: Yes, I was wondering how to get to the pizzeria? Is there another entrance?

NBC: The what now?

BigBinder: (starting feel stupid) The, uh, pizzeria? With tables? And… chairs?

NBC: We don’t have a seating area, it’s take out only.

Well then. Hard as it was to walk away from that pizza, with three hungry kids and a downpour outside the idea of simply buying a pizza and wolfing it down in the bakery wasn’t very practical. We headed instead into Eastown for some Yesterdog.

Here are my tips for eating there with kids:

Know what you want when you get up to the counter and let nothing distract you from placing an order. This includes your child falling off of a stool. These guys are not messing around about hot dogs.
While cheese on a hot dog sounds like a good idea to a 4 year old who has never had this particular delicacy, once their Chedardog arrives and ‘looks funny’ you will end up scraping it off anyway, so just get plain ones for anyone under about 10.
Head to the back of the restaurant – there is a big booth back there and works well for kids.

I love Yesterdog and feel quite neglectful that I haven’t taken the kids there until now. For you out-of-towners; you might know Yesterdog from the based on East Grand Rapids movie “American Pie” (not one to watch with the kids) except it was called ”Dog Years” there. If you are like some and just can’t get enough, a documentary is available about the place. There is even a trailer you can watch. Fascinating. And tasty…

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Filed Under: Tasty Tuesday Tagged With: Yesterdog

Free Skiing for Fourth Graders

January 9, 2008 By bigbinder 2 Comments

I am not even going to pretend for one single second that I enjoy outdoor winter sports. Growing up, I was in ski club, but only for the social aspect. Once I collected my lift ticket and attached it to my coat zipper (for some reason, this was a fashion statement back then) I mostly hung out in the lodge and drank hot chocolate. We also had an ice skating rink in town and I went, of course, because everyone else did. I spent the majority of the time in the hot house giggling with the other middle school girls about the boys who were there playing hockey. It also afforded me the opportunity to wear one of about 25 pair of legwarmers which I LOVED and would still wear if I could get away with it.

I know I am in the minority here, and most families in these parts like to ski, or skate, or snowshoe, or snowboard. The Michigan Snowsports Industries Association is giving fourth graders a Ski & Ride Passport for three free lift tickets at a participating ski area. Cannonsburg is on the list.

The kids have to be accompanied by a paying adult, and there is a $15 processing fee. Being as I have no idea what a lift ticket costs, I can’t assess if this is a good deal or not. If you can, and you are interested, click on the MSIA’s website here and check it out. I know there is not a single flake of snow on the ground right now but just wait… it’s not over yet.

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Filed Under: Thank Goodness it\'s Free Tagged With: MSIA Cold is Cool

Oh, Dear

January 8, 2008 By bigbinder 2 Comments

My husband is a very friendly person. He has also been bugging me to start advertising on Big Binder. These two facts are critical in understanding the rest of this post.

While in St. Louis, for whatever reason Mr. Binder wandered over to talk to our friends’ neighbor, who happened to be standing in his yard. He had a sign on a metal stake that declared it a “Poop Free Zone” with a picture of a dog (apparently in case there is any question about who is not to poop in the yard).

A brief negotiation later and my husband “scored” a free sign in exchange for a mention on my blog. This has nothing to do with Grand Rapids, or children, unless of course your children are dogs and poop on yards in Grand Rapids.

This is for real. In fact, it is highly effective. We have not had any ‘incidents’ since the sign was posted. Granted we were under several feet of snow for the majority of that time, but still. So, if anyone reading this happens to find themselves in a position of needing such a sign, here is a link to the neighbor’s website and you can order one there. My husband has been demoted from Advertising Sales Manager to Water Boy unless he happens to get chatty next time with a spa owner who wants to fork over some free services though.

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It's Fun To Play

January 6, 2008 By bigbinder 2 Comments

Gym

I am not so much a “New Year’s Resolution” sort of person. Don’t get me wrong – I make resolutions all the time but whether it is December 31, January 1, or July 15th has no bearing on it.

I know that a very common resolution is to ‘get in shape’. If this is on your list of things to accomplish in 2008 there are tons of gyms around. Those of us that need babysitting have a shorter list, but there are still many to choose from. We like the Y for a few reasons.

First, it’s quite reasonable and they offer financial assistance to families making under about $50,000.

Second, the downtown pool is awesome for kids. There is a graduated ‘beach’ entry, sprinklers, and a current. Although this is an awesome building, I usually go only if I plan on taking the kids for a swim. My children do not know that the other locations have pools, so please don’t mention it to them. Otherwise, I would have to take them swimming every time I go to any branch.

Third, if you get bored with your location, just go to another branch for a while. Yes it might be a drive, but it’s better than giving up on the whole workout thing alltogether. A membership allows you to go to any of the Grand Rapids area branches.

Fourth, the extras are also quite reasonable. This includes swimming or other classes for the kids and babysitting evenings so you can go out on a date with your spouse once in a while (perhaps another resolution of yours?).

Check it out! It might be a little crowded for a while, but don’t worry. That only lasts about six weeks and everyone goes back to their old ways

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Filed Under: Sanctuary Sunday Tagged With: YMCA

One Week Later

January 5, 2008 By bigbinder 5 Comments

I can’t believe that a week ago, I was in The Lou visiting the 3inunder3 family and having an awesome time. Upon arrival I was immediately given a glass of wine and within a very short time was being booed off the stage while playing “Guitar Hero“.

Nathan and A.P.’s reunion was the sweetest thing. Eight months is a long time for 4 year olds not to see each other, but in no time they were zooming around like old times and even incorporated something new. That would be peeing ‘Criss Cross Applesauce‘ together. Yes, it’s exactly what it sounds like.

One week ago today, we toured the Anheuser Bush brewery. We took the kids – all five of them. Their favorite part was the horses. My favorite part was confirming what I already suspected – that Budweiser is 92% water. I knew it.

There is also a tasting room. No, the kids can’t drink beer there. But adults can. I was able to try Anheuser Bush’s attempt at a Belgian White; ‘Shock Top’. It was weird and watered down and made my Belgian DNA quiver a little so I switched over to “Michelob Ultra Fruit Infused” and stuck with that.

We also stopped by Gus’ Pretzels. It is kind of like watching Krispy Kreeme donuts being made, you see the actual production through the glass and then go eat them. Why is that so fun? I have no idea; I just know it is.

We had lunch at Sybergs and with that came two more of St. Louis’s edible icons; T-Rav and Provel cheese pizza. Loved the toasted ravioli; not so much the pizza. It was like eating 5 pounds of white Velveeta on a really thin crust pizza. I did thoroughly enjoy being able to drink Fat Tire (I had it in Denver before it was cool. I swear.) with it though after the beer-weirdness at the brewery.

So anyway, what does this have to do with children’s crafts? Very little, except that I am still doing laundry, sorting Christmas decorations, and have un-wisely chosen this particular time to scrub my house from top to bottom. I don’t have time for anything too involved right now, so I will share A.P.’s recent craft discovery – egg carton sculptures. He asked for an empty egg carton because he wanted to ‘recycle it and make something new’. Fiskars in one hand and Elmer’s in the other, and he had a creation that was not much to look at (but I think that sometimes at Meijer Gardens too. Shh, don’t tell), but kept him quiet, busy, and captivated for about an hour. And really, what more can we ask for in a craft?