What are you wearing?

I have that child. You know, the one who wears rain boots in the middle of summer and a Princess dress at every chance. Andy and I use to try to change her into "appropriate clothing" but have lost that battle.

Sam wears shoes that are too small simply because they sparkle. She would wear her sun glasses 24 hours a day if I'd let her. She's been known to wear her fairy wings to Sunday morning mass as well as one of her many Princess dresses to Stroller Strides class.

And just last week, she insisted on wearing her Terra, glasses, pink purse and beads to Andy's graduation.

Like I said, Andy and I use to try to curb this behavior. But now it's almost fun. I never now what my daughter will emerge from her bed room wearing.

It's Hot!

This morning I turned on the news just in time to see that it's hot!

What does that have to do with Stroller Strides? Well, a lot. When the mercury jumps up like this there are a few things that we all need to remember...

1) Hydrate! I know that it seems like common sense, but we all have to be reminded to refuel. Just remember the 8 is great motto from school. 8 8oz glasses in 8 hours!

2) EAT! Ever heard the expression "it takes a lot of money to look that cheap"? Well, it takes a lot of energy to stay cool. If you skimp on your food intake, your body wont have any resources to cool you down.

3) Let those babies breathe! And no, I don't mean your personals (although that might feel good as well, but that's a whole other post.). I mean you KIDS! Could you imagine sitting in a canvas box in the sun (think camping, but worse). Now, imagine sitting in a stroller in the sun! As much as we all LOVE our strollers, there like little heat dens. Here are some tips to turning your stroller into a cooler place.

1. Why not allow your kids to try a "big boy cup" at the beginning of class? It's great practice and they'll probably be dry by the time you get into the car.


2. Follow Drea's lead and let your little one bring a squirt gun to class full of water. I know my girls would love to shoot mama, and I'd love to get wet.


3. Place a wash cloth in a zip lock bag full of ice on top of your stroller. By the time class is over, your kids have a ice cold treat.

4) Sunscreen and a hat! Need I say more?

Those are just a few of my ideas to stay cool in this heat. What are your?

Who's your Daddy?

I have been blessed with many great "Dad's" in my life.

My father, "Papa Taco" as he's now called, has been there for EVERYTHING. He's done the girl scout camping thing. He's trucked out into the Borego desert to rescue me from a camping trip gone bad and bring me back home. He went to 6Th grade camp as the "girls counselor" and was a "cheer dad" in High School. He even drove a whole state to be there when a relationship I was in finally self imploded. He's my dreamer. I have crazy ideas in my life and he always believes that I can and will do them. He is a great Dad (and an amazing Papa Taco).

My Father in law, "Papa" as he's known to my girls, is my reality check in life. He's the tough love type of guy who never fails to tell it to me like it is (even if it's not the way I want it to be). I love the fact that he doesn't hide his feelings about life, but rather just lays it all out there (not unlike myself). He loves all the kids in his life and will drop anything for them. He too is a great Dad (and Papa).

Andy is an amazing Dad! He would drop anything for the girls. He has been known, on more than a few occasions, to get nothing done during the day because there was a Lego city being built in the play room. He's ruff and tumble and will roll on the ground with Sam all day long.

He's nothing like me as a parent. He's fine letting the girls have ice cream for dinner and popcorn in bed. For the first year of Sam's life this drove me crazy! At one point Sam called Daddy "fun Daddy". I would spend my time washing dishes, doing laundry, cleaning up toys while Andy would play dress-up and tea party. Then Andy said something that has stuck with me "they're only this age once". He was right! They would never remember how clean our house was, but too this day Sam still talks about our "ice cream dinners" in the summer.

As a father, Andy has helped me be a kid again.

This father's day I'm blessed with great Dad's in my life that have helped me be a better mom.

Sex and the City

Tuesday night a group of fellow Stroller Stride moms dared the unthinkable and went to the (gasp) movies for Sex and the City. We meet at a local eatery for dinner and (gasp, again) drinks and then walked over to the theatre for the movie.

The movie was not a disappointment. Staying true to it's HBO roots the film was funny, fashionable, flirtatious, and fabulous! Even better than the movie was watching it with friends. We laughed at the funny spots, giggled at the naughty spots (and there were more than a few of those) and even gasped at the dramatic spots.

As we were leaving the theatre I noticed that sitting in front of us were a group of high school aged girls. These girls were young! Too young! Now I'm normally not the type of Mom to soap box on how other children should be brought up, BUT... The movie has a "R" rating for a reason. It's not called Sex and the city for nothing! There was SEX! Talk of sex, visuals of sex, even the act of sex (heck, at one point I saw a penis!). The phrase "soft porn" was mentioned a few times as we were leaving the movie. How could you let your 14 year old watch that?

With the shock of my prepubescent viewing partners still fresh in my mind, I came across this on the Internet yesterday. Sex among high school students on the rise: 47.8% of high school students had sexual intercourse in 2007, up from 45.6% in 2001 according to the CDC. More teens are also having unprotected sex. Only 61.5% of teens used a condom, down from 63% in 2003.
No wonder sex (unprotected sex at that) is on the rise.

Now, I don't want to sound like I'm a preacher! I've been there too (as have my parents). When I was in high school I had the misfortune of going to see the movie "Threesome" with my parents. Yep, you read that correctly..."Threesome". Somehow I got the idea that It was a fun loving movie about 3 people living together in a college dorm. It was. It just also happened to be that and a WHOLE LOT MORE!. As if watching "soft porn" with your parents isn't bad enough, I was forced to endure the sex talk form my parents, both Mom and Dad for weeks!

The amazing thing is after the weeks of talking about sex and what we saw, with my parents, I was way too embarrassed to ever actually have it!

So, maybe that's the ticket. Send your tweens to see Sex and the City then drive them crazy with sex talk and they wont ever have sex again!

There's just something about that whale!

If you live anywhere near the San Diego area you know that last week Sea World opened the "Bay of Play" in what use to be know as "Shamu's Happy Harbor".

The "Bay of Play" (also known as Elmo's World at our house) is great. The girls love to go and run, jump, sing, and dance their self into a happy little Sesame Street induced coma every chance they get. (Note; The Bay of Play has only been open for a week and we've already been twice and are heading back again in two days).

But by NO MEANS is it a substitute for the big attraction at Sea World. SHAMU!

I know I'm not the only person in San Diego that just doesn't get it. What is the appeal of a huge black and white whale that could swallow you for dinner? All I know is that my girls LOVE them. As do most of the kids at our Stroller Strides' class (note: Looking for an easy way to get kids to stop crying about Mommy working out? Ask them about the last time they saw Shamu. I swear it works every time.)

So, at our last Sea World trip, I asked Andy about the Shamu wonderment. After a few moments debating the unique coloring of the whale vs. the appeal of the unknown to kids we both come up with the same concept. The appeal of Shamu might not have anything to do with the actual whale.

It's the experience!

• Kelly one of the Shamu Trainer's has shown her how to "dance with Shamu" and taught her how to give Shamu signals.
• She's given the whales fish and ice as a treat and even had the chance to pet a Beluga whale.
• She has even shown her "puppy" (aka her lovie) to Shamu and ran back and forth across the window while the whale followed her and her pick stuffed dog.

At Sea World, Sam is treated like a "big girl" and allowed to do "big girl" things when she's near Shamu. At the "Bay of Play" she's reminded of how small she is. At two years old, she's too small to climb the bridges, go down the slides and play in the bouncy cage. The life size Elmo and Cookie Monster scare her to death. She's much more comfortable looking a killer whale in the mouth and showing Mama how he brushes his teeth.