Media

The 11th Doctor, Babywearing Advocate

Posted by Michelle on Sep 25, 2011 in Babywearing, Media, Pop Culture | 0 comments

The Doctor, Craig and Alfie

In the latest episode of Doctor Who, “Closing Time”, the 11th Doctor is on a farewell tour of sorts and pays a call to a friend of his named Craig Owens. As luck would have it, poor Craig is alone with the baby for the first time ever while Mummy’s on holiday and he isn’t handling it well. Luckily for him, the Doctor speaks baby. Of course, Craig ends up caught up in one of the Doctor’s adventures. (As if being left alone with the baby isn’t enough of an adventure, right??)

"You're far too slow when he summons you."

As they’re staking out a shop to track down a Cybermat, the Doctor pulls out a baby carrier (which he handily got on sale for 10% off) and hands it to Craig. “Alfie wants you attached to him. You’re far too slow when he summons you.”

LOL! The Doctor advocates babywearing Whovians, wear your babies!! Even The Doctor agrees!

I love it when geekery and real life interests coincide. And as a bonus, the Doctor holding baby Alfie. Pretty awesome scene if you ask me. The Doctor gets along well with kiddies

The Doctor and Alfie

But wait, there’s more! Here’s a clip from Doctor Who Confidential — a behind the scenes look with Matt Smith (in full costume) singing to one of the babies between takes. ADORABLE! (Dude, seriously, I would totally hire him as a baby sitter. Matt Smith, if you ever read this, I’d pay you in badgers!!)

Curb your ‘tude

Posted by Michelle on Jul 11, 2011 in Media | 0 comments

Last week, CNN posted an essay from sports reporter LZ Granderson entitled, Permissive parents: Curb your brats where Mr. Granderson calls parents out on letting their kids “ruin” an adult’s perfectly good day out.

And the reason why we’re staring at you every other bite is not because we’re acknowledging some sort of mutual understanding that kids will be kids but rather we want to kill you for letting your brat ruin our dinner.

Or our plane ride.

Or trip to the grocery store.

Or the other adult-oriented establishments you’ve unilaterally decided will serve as an extension of your toddler’s playpen because you lack the fortitude to properly discipline them, in public and at home.

And we know you don’t discipline them at home because you don’t possess “the look.” If you had “the look,” you wouldn’t need to say “sit down” a thousand times.

The article made the rounds on my social network circles; interestingly enough, many of the supporters of Granderson’s article do not have children while the more negative reactions came from parents who have children.

Surprise, surprise.

The reason Mr. Granderson’s essay resonated so much is that there are kids whose parents need to step up to the plate. Badly. We’ve all seen them. Hint: they’re the kids who are running around, causing hell for everyone else, with a parent who is may be nearby is too absorbed in their smart phone or gossiping to look up. (I see this all. the. time. Your kid throwing Legos and you’re checking your Droid? FFS, put it down and DEAL with your kid. Seriously, the Facebook status update that you’re at the Lego store can fucking wait.) Better yet, there are those kids whose parent(s) are absolutely nowhere in sight. That’s always fun.

But the essay isn’t talking about the absentia parents — he’s talking about the parents who are there and who have chosen to take their kids out. The essay reads far more like a rant than a discussion and the tone and verbage that he uses to do it makes me want to kick something. Brat, brat, brat. Offspring. It sounds like it was written by someone on childfree_hardcore rather than an award winning journalist.

My reaction to Mr. Granderson’s essay was, um, visceral, to say the least, and included quite a lot of f-bombs. The essay made no distinction between children that are tantruming because they are undisciplined little shits and kids who may be melting down due to other issues, like special needs or developmental issues. Obviously, a small child acting out in public is always the result of poor parenting and couldn’t possibly — EVER — be melting down for reasons beyond that. OBVIOUSLY. And obviously, all children will respond to The Look ™ that Mr. Granderson says that these parents with children that act out do not possess. Because, you know, it’s not like a child with autism or Aspergers can so totally interpret The Look ™. Or a speech delayed child who may not be able to express what they want so they tantrum instead.

Mr. Granderson complains about kids not being put in check. The truth is, not all parents have the same way of putting their kid in check. Some may verbally reprimand their child, others may slap their child, others may remove their child from premises. But some ignore behaviors in an effort to stop them because they understand that their child is seeking attention. Does a casual, judgemental by stander know this? Probably not. OH PERMISSIVE PARENT RUINING A PERFECTLY GOOD DAY OUT FOR OTHER ADULTS.

Feh.

A desperate, open letter…

Posted by Michelle on Mar 23, 2011 in Internet, Life, Media, Observations | 2 comments

Dear Blogger,

You’ve got a favorite song or songs . Sometimes a whole frickin’ playlist of songs that you absolutely, positively adore and feel the need to share with the world. That’s awesome. We may even share musical tastes which would make it even more awesome.

You know what would make it more awesome? NOT MAKING IT AUTOPLAY ON YOUR BLOG. Just because they make a widget for it DOESN’T mean that you HAVE to include it on your blog.

Please, do your blog readers a favor. Don’t include auto playing music widgets.  Give your readers the option of choosing to play the music on their own. Please?

Love,

Me

* *

This PSA was brought to you by someone who frantically had to search for the mute button before searching, fruitlessly, on a blog’s sidebar for the controls to turn off an aforementioned auto playing music widget. Auto playing music widgets are like the auto playing midis of the late 1990s. It wasn’t a good idea then and it isn’t a good idea now. Just sayin’…

Are you prepared?

Posted by Michelle on Mar 13, 2011 in Home Matters, Life, Media | 0 comments

Pray for Japan

While I have no real connection to Japan, save for a few friends that live there (and thank God, they’re safe!) and a deep love and appreciation for the Japanese culture, I have been glued to the Internet this past weekend to find out what is going on in Japan.

The tsunami’s force as it plowed through the coastal areas was as breath taking as it was heartbreaking. As we live our daily lives, it may be easy to forget how powerful nature can truly be.

California is also part of the Pacific Rim of Fire and the activity in New Zealand and now Japan has made us very uneasy. Luckily, we do not live on a major fault line ourselves (living at the edge of the Bay Area does have some advantages) but we do live close enough that damage is always a possibility.

I still remember the Loma Prieta quake in 1989. While we were fairly well away from its epicenter, the house still swayed and rocked for about ten seconds and was a magnitude 6.9 on the Richter scale. I can’t even imagine how horrific the several minutes of the Japanese quake must have been.

The Hubs ™ and I have talked some about our emergency plans. This has been made more urgent by the Japanese quake. Where would we go? What would we do? Our earthquake kit is not prepared — a huge oversight on my part. That will have to be rectified as soon as possible.

Are you prepared for a disaster?

In a blink

Posted by Michelle on Dec 6, 2010 in Linky Love, Media, Observations | 1 comment

Generally, I use my iPod while driving but for some reason this morning, I decided to scan radio stations for something festive to listen to. In between stations with bad Christmas carols (though I have to admit, whatever punk rock Christmas carol I came across was pretty darned cool), this song came on.

This was just what I needed to hear. I really needed to be reminded to slow down, relax, enjoy and be thankful for what I have rather than rush, rush, rush into whatever comes next.

I’ve noticed that Things Happen ™ when I let go of my normal routine and just let things flow… just a little bit. I think God meant for me to hear this song today; I’m thankful that I stopped to listen.

4 Tips for Sharing Photos of Your Children Online

Posted by Michelle on Oct 7, 2010 in Family, Media, Parenting, Photography, Social Networking, Techie Mama | 0 comments

Being a shutterbug, I couldn’t wait to show the world photos of The Little Empress. The very first photo of The Little Empress was posted a mere three hours after her birth.

We’re definitely not the only family to do so. A recent article on CNN talks about a study that shows that 82 percent of kids under 2 have an online presence.

While the Internet makes it easy to share photos of your newest family member with far flung relatives and friends, the fact remains that these innocent photos of your child can also be a privacy risk. Here’s a few ways to keep your little one’s identity safe from the very start.

Use privacy filters. Photo services like Facebook, Flickr, Shutterfly and more have privacy filters that allow you to control who sees your photos.

Do not label photos with sensitive information. Sensitive information can include your child’s full name, birth date, birth place, etc.

Obscure any personal information that may be visible in the photo. New parents may want to rethink sharing the photo of their newborn the hospital isolette as information including the baby’s name, family surname and even delivering doctor may be in full view. Choose to share another photo that does not contain any sensitive information.

Ask friends and family NOT to share photos of your little one without your permission. This is harder to control — especially with excited grandparents — but (gently) explain why you would like to control where your child’s photos are seen.

BONUS TIP: It is popular on some parenting communities to share the names and ages of your children in your signatures. If you do this, use nicknames to identify your children rather than their names.