Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Campfire Mighty-Mallows

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Campfire® GIANT Roasters™ 
about 6x the size of regular marshmallows!

Mmmmmmmarshmallows....
Just returned from a camping weekend, the memory is fresh on my family's memory. These all-new Campfire® Giant Roasters™ are HUGE! We passed them in the store, screeched to a halt, jaws dropping to the floor along with our drool at the thought of the gooey goodness packed in each of these sugary zero-nutrition delights. We instantly laughed our heads off. My 11 year old grabbed a bag, his eyes pleading with me. I tossed it into the cart, then grabbed another. These are just too "wow" - I have to share with friends! Several other shoppers stopped, gasped and grabbed too. The 4th of July S'mores Display section was abuzz. It was a random hidden camera commercial moment in the middle of Meijer.  Too bad it wasn't a random taste test - my kids would've fainted from sheer joy.



There'll be plenty of GIANT S'mores this holiday weekend around Michigan. On the back of the bag is a recipe. For Giant S'mores, each Giant Roaster marshmallow is paired with a full Hershey bar and 2 full graham crackers. And for those who can't wait, they included a microwave version of roasting the marshmallow. What? Who knew? Not me! Somehow it just loses the ambiance. Marshmallows are all about the process, aren't they? Each roaster has their own method and preferences. The fun is in the mystery: will this one turn out perfect, fall in the fire, or will I have to feed it to little brother? Pressing buttons and "DING" is not part of that equation. It's about relaxing by the campfire... I'm imagining the sight of mine: I'm a purist - no S'more, just plain marshmallow. I'm one of those who like to catch the marshmallow on fire, then blow it out. These marshmallows could make quite a torch!

While googling the marshmallows, I came across a fun site: The National Marshmallow Roasters Institute. http://www.nmrinstitute.com/   I love the title of their WTF "What the Fluff" conference...another fine example proving that theres truly a website for everyone

OK now for the marketing of these big boys: seriously deficient! The Campfire website doesn't even offer a photo of these bold stars. http://www.campfiremarshmallows.com/whatsfresh_viewarticle.asp?News_ID=13  Campfire® Giant Roasters™ are begging for comparison photos and hype! And the name: I understand Giant Roasters, but doesn't Mighty-Mallows sound way cooler...or should I say hotter?

Postscript: I posted a link to this to my Facebook, and from the comments I've seen that many others have been wow-ed by Giant Roasters too.  A baseball mom gave out whole bags to each player at the end of their season last week, a happy camper friend said that her husband bought a case(!), and another friend posted her fun discovery along with a photo a few weeks ago (which I missed).  These marshmallows are definitely making a GIANT impression! 
Search Amazon.com for marshmallow roasting sticks
Search Amazon.com for marshmallow roasting forks
Search Amazon.com for marshmallow shooter

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Battle the Summer Blahs | Hybrid Mom

Funny inspiring ideas for summertime. With kids or without. Love the playful easy writing style. Great website too.
Battle the Summer Blahs Hybrid Mom


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Monday, June 21, 2010

I Love Lunch! Flash Mob Vids

Get started with one of my faves...I'd just love to do this with a fun group of friends sometime...





If you haven't seen these cleverly orchestrated crowd events, you gotta see this! Start with #2 or #3, click link below...
15 Fab Flash Mob Videos on YouTube
Now was that cool or what? Makes me feel like doing one...any ideas?










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Sunday, June 20, 2010

Father's Day Tribute


And for the fun Dads, bust your move! Love this commercial - never goes out of style...

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DadurDays

Fun Dadurdays - love the simplicity. Happy Dad's Day to great Dad's everywhere.
http://www.pbs.org/parents/special/article-fathers-dadurday.html?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=fanpage&utm_campaign=pbs

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Sunday, June 13, 2010

SPD: A Traffic Jam of the Senses

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Love this simple description of Sensory Processing Disorder.  SPD was G's 1st Dx when he was 2.5, which started us on the road to OT and sensory diet.  He still has major sensory issues and needs, some managable, some still a mystery.  ASD kids frequently have sensory issues.  I notice it now constantly when I visit G's classroom.   Great interview.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

Kid-spiration

Parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, sisters, brothers, neighbors, friends:  find a child or simply the child within yourself and have fun!  Summertime is here!

Click on link:
Pour Kind Over Matter : Take a little bit of time out of your day to be a kid again







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Friday, June 11, 2010

Sexuation Situation

Bookmark and Share  Parents have been buzzing about 5th grade Sex Education Class since kindergarten.  They ask in hushed tones if you've had "the talk" yet, when you plan to.  Whether the mother or father will take the task.  They give a concerned frown and knowing nod when you tell them you have a child in 5th grade, " Have they done the sex ed thing yet?"  Parents report what a big deal the school presentation is. A special Health Teacher visits the school for the day.  The boys and girls get separate presentations, and the rumor is that the kids don't even look at each other for weeks afterwards.  We get notes sent home, we sign permission slips resembling legal documents.  The teachers make a to-do of it.  Parents are offered the opportunity to take the video home to review it.  The principal is available to discuss concerns and questions about the material covered. The school does a marvelous job of preparing and making everyone at once comfortable and supremely uncomfortable. On the presentation day, they cordon off the room and paper over the windows to shield the movie from younger eyes, adding to the mystery and drama of the event.
 So by the time the school presentation arrives, kids and parents are flustered and anxious.  I'm tense with worry at what could go wrong.  Have I left out some vital detail, prepared him for what he'll see and hear today?  Have I opened the door wide enough for discussion or will he instead talk to friends and get bogus information - or worse yet, look on the internet (yikes!).  I can't even predict what is going on in my tween's fragile psyche.  One of his close friends has not turned in his permission slip - may avoid the talk altogether he's so nervous.  I wonder if N will make it through the presentation.
 
A week ago N stressed wondering if I'd sent the permission slip, yes.  I'd told him the last 3 times he asked.  Then N wondered when it was.  Later he told me that he'd looked up the date for the "Sexuation" thing.  Just how do you keep a straight face with that kind of funny mix-up?  What an ingenius new term!  The marketing geek in me got thinking of a youth book on "Sexuation, the New Sex Education", or how-to-have-the-talk-book for parents.  My mind raced to design and promote a "Sexuation Kit" for the whole family...Discover the healthy way to share this intimidating subject matter.
 
I laughed, N had created another of our "family-isms", aka inside jokes.  He slipped up and wordbined (combined 2 words), that's now our family term for sex education. So funny!  We laughed at his new word to break the tension filling the days until the DAY.
 
By the DAY, the whole household felt the effect of my worry over N's review.  N got home and I asked him how his "Sexuation" was.  "Horrible!" he declared.  "Horrible - why?" I asked, alarmed.  "It was just gross."  "What was gross and horrible?" I pried.  "I dunno, but some kid actually barfed!"
I chuckled with comic relief!  I sighed in relief that N thought it was gross because someone barfed, not a  struggle with the content.  I visualized a kid so disgusted with the material that he barfed.  It rings of a sitcom or SNL skit. 

"It's a bad sign that a boy barfed during the 5th grade sex education presentation today."
After I posted this gem to Facebook, I found out the barfer was a friend's sick son.  What I thought was a funny post about the presentation stress turned into a mom's nightmare.  It took me awhile for the reality to fully sink in.  I was surprised because this mom is fun and outgoing.  I thought she was being hypersensitive about her son.  Just make him laugh, I thought.  Help him to see the humor in it to shed a new light on it, or give him ideas for a snarky response to teasers. 

My experiences with G have changed my perspective on how devastating this could be for a boy, a mom; lowered the bar of proper public behavior and public opinion alike. 

But then I remembered how big this "Sexuation" was.  Years of worry, years of preparation, but mostly years of BUZZ.  I imagine she worried that parents would buzz about her son for years to come, telling how the presentation made one boy throw up.  "Oh yes, he was so nervous he just threw up and they had to...blah blah blah."  Blech.  This IS how these things start, and I'd potentially exacerbated the situation by reminding those who knew and letting others know who may not have known at the school.  UGH! 

In a response to my private apology, she mentioned that he'd been teased on his way out of school already.  I envisioned her handsome son: deflated, pale, feeling sick, out of it, and teased by classmates to top it all off.  Kids can be ruthless.  

Please parents, don't make this into a story, a drama to scare parents with.  We already have enough reason to worry.  We worry that we're doing enough at home to support our children, to help them make sound choices and to discuss problems and questions with us.  To help them grow and learn.  To let teasing roll off their back and not to be a bully or be bullied. 

I'm grateful that my friend let me know that it was her son and that she was hurt by my post, my action.  I may have forever lost a friend and damaged her son by promoting gossip and stories to be passed on from year to year, growing in intensity like a bad game of telephone.   All this boy did was to get ill at a most inopportune time.  Let's wish him well and hope that his mother doesn't have a sick stomach from all of this.  I do.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Playing for Peace

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Enjoy a peaceful Memorial Day...for the world is bigger than our problems.  It's good to remind ourselves of our blessings.