Twitter

I read about Twitter all of the time as something that is worth doing and getting into. I signed up a few weeks ago and am not quite there on its usefulness -- I think it is scale issue. Anyhow, I managed today to put my twitter feed on this blog (you can see it in the sidebar). If you want to follow me on twitter, click here but I won't promise great insights or much volume.

Most popular posts of 2008

Following on from a tradition started last year, here are the most popular posts (by direct hits) on this blog from 2008 (well, from those actually written in 2008):

1. Anakin Skywalker Lego Cake
2. Parenting Superpowers
3. Data Driven Parenting
4. 2 Year Old Birthday Parties
5. The Whole Grain Food Dilemma
   

The most popular posts regardless of year written also include:

• The amazing world of Starfall
• A world first: A kids Tupperware party
• The child chauffuer's dilemma
  
• Subtraction before addition
• Repeated Punishment
  
• The Upside Down Show
• Swimming Lessons
  
• The hard line on sleep

Parentocomic: Dinner Time

I have done some of these before. Here is a new one.

Turbulent activities

You know I have always wondered how I might react when flying with kids and the plane hit serious turbulence. Well today on a Qantas flight from Melbourne to Sydney I got a chance to find out.

It appears we hit an unexpected storm. Why it was unexpected I do not know. But we were buffeted during the morning tea service. The plane appeared to be blasted and went into what I swear was a downward dive. It was more than enough to send everyone back to seats except people on the bathroom who were told (and I am not making this up) to stay put and hang on. I guess the theory was if they had to go they might as well have convenience.

Anyhow the kids started to look concerned and I wondered what to do to take their minds off it all. Then I remembered a scene from Madagascar 2 last week. When the plane was crashing in that movie the lemurs put their hand in the air and said "it is more fun if you do it like this." So I did the same and the kids joined in.

Suffice it to say there were more dips to come and each one the kids treated like a roller coaster. It was both surreal and amusing at the same time. It also got us some strange looks from the other passengers. I guess though it was a distraction to them.

Now as I am writing this you have probably guessed we survived the experience although I did wonder what it would be like to update my Facebook status while all this was happening. Then again turning on my phone during a crisis is probably not a good idea. The flight staff seemed pretty freaked out when we saw them again so I guess they were pretty occupied during it all.

Alas the kids were quite sick by the end of it and had their paper bags at the ready during the landing and afterwards. There is only so much you can do in this situation but pretending it is a roller coaster will at least take the edge off.

Not your Grandma's auction

From The Daily Telegraph: [HT: MR]

THE family fracas over who gets the best seat in the house this Christmas have finally been put an end, thanks to an enterprising nanna and a heavily contested online auction.

After years of petty arguments over who gets the prime position in front of the television, West Yorkshire grandmother Bev Stewart was so sick of the Boxing Day sibling squabbles and infighting among her 25 family members, that she auctioned the front-row seat on eBay.

She claimed on the ebay advert that the prime position in her Stockbridge home was “a very comfy and popular item” before opening the auction to all members of her fractious family.

Nanna Stewart gained a little solace from the usual musical chairs arguments last year because she “had a heavily pregnant daughter and daughter-in-law who both gave birth in January, so they got the seat most of the time.”

However, this year the coveted couch has been up for grabs – and much of the family has been bickering over who will take centre stage.

Making the already valuable piece of lounge room real estate even more attractive for the big auction, Nanna Stewart said she would even throw in a few cushions to the winner bidder.

Nanna Stewart’s daughter-in-law Alexis won the auction with her £13.50, outbidding the 17 other family rivals. Alexis is likely to share the coveted couch with her 11-month-old son Mark for the whole day the Boxing Day.

Nanna Stewart said: "There is always arguing over who gets it, it's the perfect seat. It is straight in front of the TV and has got the coffee table at the side for you to rest your drink on and the TV remote, so everybody wants to sit there.”

Brilliant. I will have to try this at home. That said, eBay seems like overkill. Surely, a quick auction while the TV remained off would do. Also, one wonders whether this price might be enough for Nanna to consider reconfiguring her lounge room to earn more revenue.

Holiday cross-over

Lemony Snicket's, The Latke who couldn't stop streaming: A Christmas Story is one of the best cross-over holiday books ever. Actually, it is the best. Lemony Snicket's writing is 'read-out-load' friendly even the big words. I learnt a new one "arrondissement" but you will have to read the book to find out what it means.

The story is about a latke (which here means potato pancake) who, thanks to having been boiled in oil (symbolic or otherwise), runs around the neighbourhood screaming at Christmas decorations looking for the source of its existential angst. Children really get into the story but it also hits upon every single inadequacy that is part of the whole Hanukah thing. It was hilarious but also a great story at the same time. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Why Madagascar?

Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa is a great movie but you really need to have seen the original. For starters, less than 60 seconds of the movie takes place in Madagascar although admittedly, it is a crucial plot piece. But the character development all took place in Madagascar and this movie is just gravy.

As everyone knows, this franchise's appeal rests with the minor characters -- mainly penguins and lemurs, although the moneys do feature. The major characters are there to keep a main plot-line going so we can enjoy the antics of the minor ones. And they do not disappoint in this movie. The penguins are as efficient as ever while the lemurs carry with them the untamed masses. No one is looking at their watch during this movie.

So I would rate it highly this holidays on the "volunteer to take your kids' friends to the movies so that they have to reciprocate by taking them to something less adult friendly." Get there first now.

A fable?

From Tim Harford responding to the question of how to explain the credit crunch to a 5 year old:

Once upon a time, there was a blameless girl called Consumerella, who didn’t have enough money to buy all the lovely things she wanted. She went to her Fairy Godmother, who called a man called Rumpelstiltskin who lived on Wall Street and claimed to be able to spin straw into gold. Rumpelstiltskin sent the Fairy Godmother the recipe for this magic spell. It was written in tiny, tiny writing, so she did not read it but hoped the Sorcerers’ Exchange Commission had checked it.

The Fairy Godmother carried away armfuls of glistening straw-derivative at a bargain price. Emboldened by the deal, she lent Consumerella – who had a big party to go to – 125 per cent of the money she needed. Consumerella bought a bling-bedizened gown, a palace and a Mercedes – and spent the rest on champagne. The first payment was due at midnight.

At midnight, Consumerella missed the first payment on her loan. (The result of overindulgence, although some blamed the pronouncements of the Toastmaster, a man called Peston.) Consumerella’s credit rating turned into a pumpkin and Rumpelstiltskin’s spell was broken. He and the Fairy Godmother discovered that their vaults were not full of gold, but ordinary straw.

All seemed lost until Santa Claus and his helpers, men with implausible fairy-tale names such as Darling and Bernanke, began handing out presents. It was only in January that Consumerella’s credit card statement arrived and she discovered that Santa Claus had paid for the gifts by taking out a loan in her name. They all lived miserably ever after. The End.

I think he has glossed it over!

Educational value

A group of students at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University have done a game theory project looking at the Parent's Dilemma in punishing children. Their analysis is available here. It is very insightful and interesting. I expect that got a high grade. What is good about it is that it does not presume that all parents are alike and demonstrates that some parents will have to favour different strategies depending on how much they hate (or I guess like me, enjoy) implementing punishments.

Podcast on Parentonomics

I did an interview on BNet Australia about Parentonomics. You can download the podcast here or alternatively can listen to it online here.

Breakfast blues

Breakfast is a time-sensitive experience in our house as we try to get out by an early time. I missed the breakfast shift this morning but received the following email indicating that incentives had gone array:

The children were mucking about this morning during breakfast, singing to each other and chatting. I eventually told them that the only sound I want to hear is that of spoon against bowl and chewing. So you know what your daughter did? Started banging her spoon against her bowl and making exaggerated smacking noises with her mouth!

Emphasis, I believe, on the 'your.'

Overcoming copyright

My son's 8th birthday party is coming up soon. What we usually do cake-wise is an ice cream cake using a technology that puts an image on edible rice paper as the cake's decoration. Previously, we have had photos of the kids but also images of their favourite things. However, the company that supplies these has wised up and realised that images grabbed from the web might be copy-protected and so we can't use them any more.

My son wanted a Ben-10 theme on his cake. Given copyright, this was not possible. He immediately realised that he could have what he wanted by doing it himself. The image to the left is what he came up with. It is a picture of an iPod touch where he has drawn his own Ben-10 picture.

I am sure some lawyer is going to comment that there might still be an issue here but I was thrilled with his ingenuity.