Has ‘Monopoly’ Gone Too Far?
Have you seen any commercials for toys lately? What a stupid, stupid question. Toys ARE CRAZY nowadays. I thank God my son is only 4 and has never heard of a Wii,
and has no interest in video games (because we don’t have any),
and still loves Playdough.
Yesterday I saw a commercial for Monopoly: Electronic Banking Edition.
Are you kidding me? No paper money, just debit cards and calculators and higher rents and higher prices.
No paper money?? The paper money was the thing that was so cool about Monopoly.
I played this game. We all did. They also have a World Version of Monopoly now and a Monopoly Town game that my son and I play (with a talking car, pretty cool, I think he only likes it because the car talks).
There are versions now of Monopoly incorporating: Disney princesses, SpongeBob and Transformers, just to name a few.
In short: Monopoly is a Monopoly. And that is just fine. It’s ‘old school’, it’s fun, it’s harmless…
Or I thought so until I saw the commercial for ‘faster and higher’ exchanges of credit:
“With Monopoly: Electronic Banking Edition”.
Do we really need to teach 8-year-olds about debit and credit cards and a paperless society?
That’s not rhetorical… I’m asking…
Maybe we do… but I just loved the old Monopoly where getting a $500 bill was SO COOL!
And the money was all different colors 
My First Visit to a Urinal
On a recent afternoon my Little Man and I went to a rather upscale grocery store to get some very specific fruits (for a preschool project… long story, it’s not important).
As we wandered through the aisles, my son fascinated with all the unusual food, I was hit with the always-a-pleasure exclamation:
“Mommy, I have to go to the potty, REALLY BAD!” How did this happen? A moment ago he was fine. Now he was holding himself down there and wincing. Ugh. But we all know how little ones sometimes don’t bother to go when they first have the urge because other things are more important to little people than a basic human function like relieving one’s self.
“Okay, let’s look for a bathroom.” And around the next corner- awesome, a bathroom! As we quickly walked jogged to the women’s bathroom, a 20-something girl young woman bolted in front of us into the one-person room/bathroom, oblivious to the fact that a 4-year-old may not always be able to hold it as she has learned to do over her 2 decades on the planet. She saw us but figured she got there first.
Oh, how little she knows now, wait til she has kids!
So, a man working at the store saw this happen and quickly instructed us to go in the men’s bathroom, it’s just one room so, no problem. I quickly thanked him and we got in and locked the door…
My Little Guy gasped and started to giggle, he was looking at the urinal mounted on the wall and said, and I quote,
“Mommy! I love these things!” Um. Okay. And then he quickly pulled down his drawers and got up on his tip toes and relieved himself… smiling.
And then it hit me: I’ve never been in a men’s bathroom before. I looked around. Nice… same as ours, toilet, sink, mirror, paper towels, toilet paper, but with a urinal too.
“I just love the toilets on the wall!” He told me as he washed his hands in the sink.
Okay. Lesson learned. Note to self: males, no matter what age, like urinals.
It never occured to me that when he my husband takes him to the bathroom when we’re out that they go into the men’s bathroom and they have urinals in there, so that’s what he uses.
DUH.
And it never occurred to me that my 4-year-old son would have a preference for what kind of toilet he goes in.
… This has been just a random thought and observation from a boy-mom;
not having grown-up a boy myself, there are still things to learn about guys, although I am married to one too.
A little Trick (Tip) to make your bed(room) ‘Company Ready’
This falls under the category that I’ve come up with called, ‘The Cool in Everyday Life’. From time to time I share little tips that I’ve found for making life a little bit easier…
just a little, this isn’t a rocket science blog.
So, here it is. (Shout-out to my mother-in-law for sharing this with me.)
Whatever your bedspread or color scheme for your bedroom, you probably have ‘good pillow cases’ that match your bedspread. We have a navy blue comforter with matching sheets, with our bedroom accents in navy blue too, you get the picture. But I have a bunch of different sheet sets in various blue shades that I’ve picked up at sales, or because they’ve advertised to be VERY soft, etc.
SO, I always have four pillow cases (and pillows, obviously) on our bed in various shades of blue, blue sheets of various shades and the navy blue comforter (it’s a duvet cover, you take out the comforter part in the summer).
SO HERE’S THE TIP: I bought 2 extra pillows (at Target) and put my ‘nice-company-coming-over’ navy blue pillow cases on them and put them in my bedroom closet. NOW, when company is coming over: I take them out, put them in front of whatever pillows are already on the bed and- Bingo!
The bed looks all-pulled-together. My pillows match my comforter and have ‘accent’ blue pillows under them. But I always have the ‘good pillows with pillowcases’ clean and ready to throw on the bed!
Again, this isn’t rocket science, but you’d be surprised at the amount of time is saves you and how much better your bedroom looks in moments!
Try this during the holiday season… and thank me later.
Give a Kid a Car Seat… and Travel Tips from Graco
Everybody needs a site to go to for car seat specs and traveling-with-kids tips.
The great folks at Graco have just launched such a site!
Go to Ready For The Road Ahead to get helpful information on car seats and safety tips.
And while you are there, sign up to join Graco’s car seat club- Ready.Safe.Go!
For every 10 people who sign up (this is free), Graco will donate a new car seat to organizations serving families in need!
C’mon people, spread the love… and a safe car seat for the little ones.
My 4-Year-Old Son is Winking at Girls…
Well, not so much winking… but blinking. And he asked me to teach him how to wink correctly at girls… in church, no less! Click here to go over to DC Metro Moms to see my post about it…
Never a dull moment!
And The Winner Is…
And the Winner of the BananaBlueberry and Bean and Banana Baby Hat Giveaway is:
Lucky number 13… Heather !
Heather is expecting a winter baby… so I’m thrilled she won !!!!!
I’ve emailed her and she will be getting her hat in plenty of time for her ‘blessed event’.
Happy Holiday Shopping this weekend!
Thanksgiving Tips and Healthful Hints
It’s Thanksgiving Week! In honor of all our cooking and clean up
BananaBlueberry is talking with Andrea Astrachan, Consumer Advisor for Giant food.
Here are some helpful hints for moms:
Q. What foods are bargains this month… what can moms ‘stock up’ on and save money on right
now?
Now is a great time to stock your pantry with items like canned soup and chowders, macaroni and pastas, baking items, canned fruit, maple syrup and stuffing mixes.
You may feel like you’ve had enough turkey for a while, but they are at their best prices right now. Buy one for Thanksgiving dinner and another to put in the deep-freezer – it will last six to eight months.
This is also the time of year when I stock up on supplies like aluminum foil, plastic bags and plastic wrap.
Q. What are some TIME-saving tips for making dinner?
• Plan meals for the week- make 2-3 meals and store in the refrigerator and freezer.
• Keep meals simple- shop for time savers like pre-cut or frozen veggies, grated cheeses, and bagged salads.
• On your way home, pick-up a cooked rotisserie chicken or turkey, or baked meatloaf; a loaf of whole grain bread; and a colorful salad from the salad bar.
• Try to cook one-dish casseroles or main courses like chicken cacciatore, meatloaf, and lasagna when you have more time; then freeze for later use.
• Dust off your crock-pot. Prior to leaving home, place chicken or beef, potatoes, carrots and onion with seasoning and water in the crock-pot. When you return, your dinner smells great and is ready to serve!
Q. Can you suggest alternatives to unhealthy, as well as boring snacks for kids- like chips and pretzels?
Absolutely. Cutting back on the sugary, high-fat and high-sodium foods frequently offered in school cafeterias and vending machines is a great way to teach kids healthy eating habits early on. Some of our favorite alternatives at Giant include:
• Select small-sized fruits or serve fruit in different ways, like individual-sized fruit cups and applesauce cups
• Help kids get their “3-A-Day” of dairy with low-fat cheese, low-fat yogurt and string cheese
• Give kids a do-it-yourself project by giving them granola, trail mix, cereal or fruit as a “stir-in” for yogurt, applesauce or cottage cheese
• Popcorn – place it in fun bowels, snuggle up on the couch and call your family room a move theater
• Frozen yogurt – many are so creamy, you would think it was ice cream! (Look for the calcium fortified ones!)
• String cheese (Kids love to pull the strings!)
• Carrot and celery sticks in a clear plastic cup with low fat ranch dressing on the bottom as dip.
• Puddings made with fat free milk with a whipped cream smiley face
• Jell-O shapes – made with a cookie cutter
• Fruit salad – but for little ones, bring to the table singing the popular refrain, “fruit salad, yummy, yummy!”
• Frozen grapes
• 100 percent fruit juice pops
• Rice cakes – spread with peanut butter or soy nut butter on a rice cake. Make a face with raisin eyes, shredded carrot hair, dried fruit mouth or banana slice
Note: Popcorn, baby carrots and frozen grapes are choking hazards for children under the age of 4.
Q. Would you like to add any information or more tips for Moms?
For moms looking to get the best value as they shop, I’d offer these tips:
• Store brands are comparable (or better!) than national brands at a better value. Look for all of our Giant brand products: Giant Food, Nature’s Promise, Simply Enjoy!, Care One, and Companion Pet Food.
• Using the unit price on shelf tags helps you find the best value among comparable products.
• Try Big Buys. Meats in large quantities are not only great for large families, they help save money. Freeze portions for later use.
• Individual packages of snacks may cost more than larger packages. Repackage into single servings at home.
• Sometimes the salad bar is actually less expensive if you only need a small portion and the remainder of an entire package of the item will go to waste.
Thanks Andrea and Giant for taking the time to give moms helpful hints this time of year!
REMINDER: FREE BABY HAT GIVEAWAY!
Just a reminder that if you haven’t entered my giveaway for an adorable baby hat-
PLEASE SCROLL DOWN and leave a comment! I’ll be choosing a winner this Friday, November 28th!
You have til 3pm EST on this Friday to leave a comment and thus, be entered for your very own hand-made baby hat from Bean and Banana!
*Giveaway open to U.S. residents only*
Are your Holiday lights up yet?
I’m serious.
Yesterday evening, we drove home from my parent’s across Montgomery County. My Little Guy counted 7 houses that HAVE UP LIGHTS… one had the whole almost annoying display of reindeer, Santa and various 4-foot-tall candy canes lit up in every color light imaginable (I didn’t know they made purple candy cane displays… but who am I?).
Thanksgiving is a little late this year, I know this because like everyone, I can look at a calendar (duh) but also because we were at my parents house to celebrate my mom’s birthday, and last year, her birthday was on Thanksgiving.
I even saw a Christmas Tree up and decorated through the window of 1 home, complemented by outside lights framing their window and house.
It’s not Thanksgiving yet! Give Thanksgiving it’s due. Besides, where the heck do you get a tree before Thanksgiving? It has to be fake or you cut it down yourself on some mountain or foothill (I think it’s pretty cool I just used an incredibly random word like ‘foothill’ in my blog).
On the other hand, maybe I am a little jealous… my son’s birthday is December 18th, so we don’t decorate until AFTER HIS BIRTHDAY, the morning of December 19th. We have a tradition now, which I’ve blogged about.
I still have my Thanksgiving scarecrow in my front yard and suddenly feel very silly still having various pumpkins around my home…
But you can’t overlap holiday decorations so these people who have up their Christmas decorations have had to pack away their Thanksgiving decorations already, and Thanksgiving is THIS Thursday, IT HASN’T HAPPENED YET…
And we know they have Thanksgiving decorations because if you have Christmas decorations, you certainly have Thanksgiving ones because it’s frankly, an easy holiday to decorate for- get some gourds and mums and keep out a couple of fake pumpkins from Halloween and you’re done.
Has anyone else seen Holiday lights up in their neighborhood? Have you decorated for Christmas or Hanukkah already? Is this a singular cosmic phenomenon that occurs when Thanksgiving is ‘late’? Do people then choose to forgo Thanksgiving decorations for the NEXT, BIGGER HOLIDAY?!
Do moms literally sit down with their calendars and decide to take down Thanksgiving decorations BEFORE Thanksgiving?
YESTERDAY, I ‘WORKED’…
YESTERDAY, I got up at 5:45am. I did not shower, is as my routine, primped and headed downtown to help out with a wonderful student conference for Young American Broadcasters- a foundation set up to mentor young people interested in broadcasting. In my ‘former life’ I was Director of this organization.
The conference went on without a hitch. I got home at 5:45pm.
It felt good to put on heels and be in the work-force… for a day…
I had laid out clothes for my son, packed his lunch and wrote a reminder to pick out something for Show-and-Tell. ‘My guys’ got out the door and got to school on time. I called ‘Little Guy’s’ preschool during the morning to confirm that my dad would pick him up. My dad watched my son til my husband got home and pizza delivery was on its way by the time I got home; it didn’t even occur to me to ask my husband to prepare dinner- that would be too much. And frankly, it would be too much on me to come home after a long day and fix dinner myself.
I know you see where I’m going-
‘Working Mom’ is redundant, we all know that. But I just want to do a ‘shout-out’ to moms who work outside the home because they work inside the home too.
Plus, I missed my Little Guy. I missed the conversation, “Mommy, guess what we had for snack?”, etc. Life is great, but it’s just a-little-bit-better-sometimes seeing it through a 4-year-old’s eyes.
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