Mama's Musings

Mama's Musings Holiday Giveaway #11

It's National Get Your Rump Up Week!!

No, it's not, but I'll tell you what. My kids sure could benefit from the First Fitness Deluxe Obstacle Course (valued at $39.99).  With 6 cones, 5 jump sticks, 5 hoops, 2 jump ropes and a stopwatch, it allows kids to create a new course each time they play — and time themselves to see how quickly they can finish it. The course aims to  improve kids’ cardiovascular health, agility  and performance skills  — all while having fun, of course.

Aqua-Leisure Industries is giving away one obstacle course set. Why fight the holiday crowds at Toys 'R Us when you can score one of these at Mama's Musings?**

Simply leave us a comment about how you motivate your kids and subscribe to my parenting newsletter. Deadline is December 5th. The winning name will be drawn out of a hat. Notification via email occurs the same day. We promise never to sell, rent or give away your personal information to anyone. Ever.

Fill out your e-mail address to receive my parenting newsletter!

**US and Canada only

CONGRATULATIONS TO LESHA FOR WINNNIG!!

It's not easy being green

Dag. I want a new cell phone. But now Greenpeace tells me beware. Apple's iPhone contains harmful substances I can't pronounce and it turns out Nokia is rated the highest in 'green technology'. That means weird stuff won't be oozing from my ear if I use a Nokia model. Panasonic is rated the worst. I wonder if that applies to the video camera I inherited from my mom in the late 90's...

It just so happens I own an aging Nokia cell phone I bought in October 2004. If you knew how much I talk on the phone, you'd know how badly I need a new one. The scratch marks on the poor device would make a grown man cry.

So bright and early on Thursday morning (we're talking 7 am) I planned on marching over to the local grocery store that was having a sale on Sony Ericsson K610i's. You've got to be spry when it comes to consumerism in Germany. Consider the fact that Germany's inoffical national anthem claims 'cheap is good, no matter how bad'. I set my alarm clock, then thought better of it.

Who needs to stumble out of bed at the crack of dawn for a new cell phone? I turned to the Internet to work my magic. Within minutes, I had found the same model for 40€ less. Scoundrels! I ordered the phone in minutes from the comfort of my home office chair.

According to Shop.org, an e-tailers network, holiday shopping on 'Cyber Monday' (the Monday after Thanksgiving) has become an institution. People are ready to rumble for the holidays, but not in the mall parking lot. More and more consumers are looking to the Internet for the best deals possible. Would it surprise you I found my new cell phone on a site called billiger.de? That translates to cheaper.com...

Give him a hand

I recently posted these exquisite body painting pictures by Italian artist, Guido Daniele. Given my curious nature, I had to contact the artist and tell him how much I appreciate his work. We had a nice cyber chat. Here’s a snippet of our conversation:

CLH: You've been an artist since the early 70's. India played a large role in your early education.

Guido: Yes, Tibetan art taught me to concentrate and pay attention to the minutae and details in my paintings.

The first request for Hanimals was from an English-German bank for an advertising campaign.

(Interviewer’s note: How ironic! I am a member of a German-American family who loves your work!)

CLH: How long does it take to do a hand painting? A full-body painting?

Guido: A few hours – anywhere from three to six hours. Sometimes ten. The maximum time for a total body painting such as ‘Tattoo’ took me thirteen hours.

CLH: You call your hand paintings - Manimali (handimals). Do you have a special affinity for animals?

Guido: Of course, I love animals, trees, stones, mountains, oceans, clean water, hair, no war, no violence, respect for human rights. I am an idealist who hopes to do something positinve in this world.

CLH: You already have, Guido. You already have.

Mama's Musings Holiday Giveaway #10

DaBib is da bomb! Okay, you've spent over twenty minutes trying to dress your squirmy infant and yourself. You want everything to look festive and the guests are about to arrive. DaBib offers a chic solution to those brightly colored cartoon character emblazoned bibs. Let's get festive!

DaBib is giving away five bibs to five lucky winners (retail value $12.99 each). Be one of them by entering today**. How? Simply leave a comment about your take on holiday meals and subscribe to my parenting newsletter. Five names will be drawn from a hat and notified the same day via email. Deadline is December 1st. We promise never to sell, rent or give away your personal information to anyone. Ever.

Fill out your e-mail address to receive my parenting newsletter!

**US and Canada only.

CONGRATULATIONS TO SARA, JULIE, ANGELA, ANDREA, AND AMANDA FOR WINNING!!

Surface Thinking

Two schools of thought rule our house. The one camp believes surfaces are meant for dumping whatever you don't know what to do with. The other views surfaces as a place to glide one's hand neatly across it without knocking knuckles on laundry baskets full of sports equipment...just because it feels good in a feng shui kind of way.

Guess which camp I belong to.

My husband is impervious to crumbs on counters, clutter on the stairs, and random hardware atop our newly purchased shoe rack. He doesn't take issue with a headband with two hearts lying next to a flashlight without batteries and a cup of stale coffee. To him, it just makes sense for things to be lying around wherever they land.

To me it is a mosaic of chaos. And I fight it all the way.

Recently, I waged war on our foyer. As our children grow, so does their shoe size. We had flip flops, golashes, Buster Browns and penny loafers cluttering the entire entranceway to our home. We couldn't even open the door all the way because of the junk.

So what did I do? What any sane wife of a surface-hoarding man would do. I ordered new furniture.

Now mind you, we live in Germany, where the distribution channels and the people who run them like to take their time to deliver the goods. It took five weeks to get the plyboard closets. We're not talking about mahogony, people. It was pressboard. When it did arrive, my husband spent six hours assembling the furniture. For about the same length of time, I  enjoyed a cleaned up foyer and glistening surfaces that had yet to be discovered by my husband's wandering hand.

That is, until the doorbell rang and he went to get it, thereby placing his coffee cup on the nearest shelf. It's been sitting there ever since.

Thanksgiving on Sunday

Being an expat gets you all twisted up timewise. Since Germans don't celebrate Thanksgiving the way we do or even when we do, my family is obliged to squeeze our feast between soccer practice, school outings and grocery shopping. Nonetheless, we had a delicious meal with a small turkey, potatoes, stuffing and peas today. Jackson wondered why we didn't invite anyone this year. I gave him a two-word answer: the flu.  It caught me by surprise several weeks ago and through my haze I couldn't bear the thought of sociability when all I wanted to do was die quietly under my duvet.

I recovered. We played 'Flaschenpost' in which we successively whispered something into the person's ear to our left to see what would come of the message.

The guinea pigs ate themselves into a food coma. Shortly after lunch, Leah closed her eyes (as much as a guinea pig can) and snored.

Need a hand?

Recently, I met a TV producer who said pictures speak a thousand words. She is, of course, an audio-visual wizardress and given my wordsmith nature, I tend to think words speak a thousand words. Until I saw these pictures. So for once I'm going to clam up and let you decide.

 

The artist's name is Guido Daniele from Milan, Italy. He has been a body painter for many years. Fascinating! (Thanks to Katherine for telling me who the artist is!)

Mama's Musings Holiday Giveaway #9

Attention all dads and their sons!** We've got an amazing giveaway today. Imagine putting this under the tree this year. Thanks to ESPN, it might be possible!

X Games Moto X Bike

§         For kids 6-12, the 20” X Games Moto X Bike has the look of a motocross bike and provides kids with a smooth ride
§         This two-wheeled bike comes built for performance with an oversized aluminum frame, bump-devouring dual suspension, disc brakes and Moto X-style saddle and fenders
§         Available now at Wal*Mart, Toys ‘R’ Us and Target, ranging in price from $149.99 to $169.99

To make certain your child is safe, we're even including a protective helmet, knee and elbow pads. The bike only goes as fast as your child can peddle. It is NOT motorized, although it resembles those cool motocross bikes you see on ESPN and elsewhere.

How to enter? Leave a comment and subscribe to my parenting newsletter. The winning name will be drawn from a hat. Deadline is November 28th.

We promise never to sell, rent or give away your personal information to anyone. Ever.

Fill out your e-mail address to receive our newsletter!

**Shipped to US and Canada only.

CONGRATULATIONS TO SARA FOR WINNING!!!!

We wear many hats

In this case, about ten! This was the most hysterical hat game I've ever played. Depending on the number called, you had to executve various commands. I started off with the yellow one and ended up with none!

My mother-in-law turned sixty so we had to celebrate German-style. We partied until the wee hours of the morning. This game happened after midnight.

I am beautiful no matter what they say

..words can't bring me down...no no no...Thanks Christina (Aguillera). The beauty industry often stirs the pot of 'if only's'. If only I were thinner, smaller, bigger, taller, shorter, etc. If only I looked like a super model. If only I were blonde, brunette, red-headed, green-eyed. It is an industry that thwarts unfulfilled and, in most cases, unattainable desires to be, well, perfect.

Wanting to differentiate itself from the rest of the pack, Dove got active. They created a new kind of body image campaign to support us normal folks who have lopsided faces, bulbous noses, short necks, flabby arms, less than athletic legs. In short, they chose to speak to, and for, 99.99999999% of the population.

The following video may be slightly graphic (if you're under thirteen, get your mom or dad's approval first). But it shows what we women do to ourselves to attain a level of 'beauty' defined by those who profit most from our insecurities.

Share this with your daughters. Tell them they are beautiful. And remember, you are beautiful, too, no matter what they say. Words...and images, can't bring us down. No no no!