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Our blog is regularly updated by our staff and a host of guest writers. Our goals are to entertain and inform you on topics that are relevant to our age group. Of course, we write about books, music and video, but we also want to share our personal stories about our own parenting or caregiving experiences and some insights on being a grandparent.
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May 17th, 2012
 When my husband and I made the $500-a-month leap from renting an apartment to renting a house in Seattle, we did so for two reasons, both of which required a backyard. First, we wanted a puppy. Second, we wanted a garden.
The first thing my husband did upon moving into our home was set up the grill we’d received for our wedding two years prior (and couldn’t use because our apartment didn’t have a deck) and tear out an old dead bush in the corner of the lawn to create a beautiful space for gardening.
The 10X10 garden was overflowing with blossoming produce within months. We grew romaine lettuce, kale, strawberries, peas, carrots, and tomatoes. Every time we ate a salad filled with food we’d grown ourselves that summer, we felt a sense of pride.
By the end of the summer, we felt ready to add our next addition, and we adopted our first puppy. One year later, we adopted our second puppy, and in this third year we added our first child.
In two weeks, we will be taking our now-larger family to a new home, as we’ve just bought our first house. A major selling point? A large sun-filled backyard with ample gardening space! We have two things on our agenda once again as we move in: 1. Rebuild the fence for the dogs, 2. Fence off about half of the yard for a new and improved bigger garden!
Our garden seems to be a metaphor for our family, as it is constantly growing, we’re always working on it, and in return it nourishes us.
–Audra
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 Do you have a garden? What do you grow? Do your kids help? I’d love to hear your gardening stories!
Share your gardening story in a blog comment and you could win a $25 gift card to Little One Books. One lucky winner will be randomly selected on June 1, 2012 and notified via email. Good luck!
Tags: family, gardening
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May 14th, 2012
 Growing up, the one task that I disliked more than any other was gardening. I didn’t like the dirt, the bugs, the weeds and, most of all, the dirt. To this day, I still don’t “do dirt.” Which is rather ironic as my dad works for floral company and my parents maintain several large flower beds around their home. My experience with flowers and plants consists of struggling to keep a small bamboo plant alive. I’ve already killed two by forgetting to water them. I did manage to have success during college with a water plant, however.
While I don’t foresee my feelings toward gardening evolving much in the future, I have managed to push aside my disdain to help the children I babysit plant mini gardens. A couple of years ago, I helped 3-year-old Sylvia plant seeds into a small outdoor pot. After carefully reading the directions out of fear that my non-green thumb would kill the seeds before they even sprouted, I showed Sylvia how to poke holes in the dirt and drop in a seed or two. Over the next several weeks, we watered the plants and waited for the green tips to emerge through the soil. Soon, with the help of her parents, we had a thriving flower pot. Miraculously, I had not doomed the gardening adventure to failure.
–Abby
Photo is just one of my parents many flower gardens.
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 What is your gardening experience? Are you practically a professional or do you have a “black” thumb like me?
Share in a comment for a chance to win a $25 gift card to Little One Books during our May Blog Comment Contest. One lucky winner will be randomly selected on June 1, 2012 and notified via email. Good luck!
Tags: flowers, gardening
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May 13th, 2012
 One of Merrily Kutner’s favorite authors is Dr. Seuss because his work is whimsical and classic. Read this delightful interview Audra Rundle did with Merrily about her award winning book Down on the Farm.
Audra Rundle (AR): What is the most fun part of reading Down on the Farm aloud?
Merrily Kutner (MK): I would say the animal sounds but, then again, singing the Down on the Farm repeated refrain is very catchy. But, following the mouse is fun too; it’s like a kind of where’s Waldo. Hopefully, there’s something for everyone to like.
(AR): The story reads in a sing-song manner naturally. If your book were made into a song, what genre would it be, and who would you want to sing it?
(MK): It actually came to me as a song. The Down on the Farm refrain just popped into my head first before I wrote the rest. I guess it’s in the nursery rhyme genre, sort of like the Old MacDonald Had a Farm song. And, I would love Kermit the Frog to sing it.
(AR): What was your initial impression of the illustrations? Did they match what you pictured in your mind?
(MK): I knew my book was in good hands with Will Hillenbrand. He sent me a piece of sample art and I thought it was adorable. The rest of the illustrations were even better than I could have imagined because Will added the little mouse and the goat’s shenanigans.
(AR): What is your favorite children’s book (now or when you were a child), and why?
(MK): My favorite book when I was a child was Horton Hatches the Egg by Dr. Seuss. I loved the repeated rhyming refrain and I never forgot it: “…I meant what I said and I said what I meant, an elephant’s faithful 100%.” The end of the story was very satisfying for me and a bit of a surprise. I loved the whimsy of it.
My favorite picture book now as an adult is The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein because it makes me cry and reminds me of the simplicity of love, caring and giving. My grown son still remembers it.
(AR): You teach a class on writing picture books through the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program. In your opinion, what is the most important element to writing a successful children’s book?
(MK): The most important element to writing a successful children’s book is being able to think in a whimsical, child-like way with curiosity but playing with language like an adult; that and being able to keep polishing and revising with eternal optimism.
Merrily Kutner earned a Bachelor of Science degree in dental hygiene from Columbia University when she lived in New York City. After practicing dental hygiene for a decade, she moved to California and began creating stories to entertain her children. She joined the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, took writing courses and seminars and formed a writer’s critique group. Merrily has served as an Advisory Board Member to develop the California State University Fullerton Extended Education Writing for Children Curriculum. Currently, she teaches an online course: Writing and Structuring Picture Books for Children given through the UCLA Extension Writing Program. A member of the Children’s Literature Council of Southern California, she attends numerous author festivals and school visits throughout the Los Angeles and Orange County School Districts where she reads her books. She also writes screenplays with her son Jonathan.
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May 11th, 2012
 My dad instilled this monster work ethic in all his children. I started my first real job on my 16th birthday – at Woolworth’s – as a counter waitress. Does Woolworth’s even exist anymore? Anyway, since that day, I’ve always worked. It never even occurred to me that there was another option.
It wasn’t until I had grandchildren that I began to realize just how much of my son’s childhood I had missed. Oh, I was present at his school events and PTA meetings, and I always tried to be home in time to put him to bed, but my mind was usually occupied with what I had to do next. Instead of enjoying all those moments, I was focused on the next task or challenge of making a living to help support a family. Before I knew it, he was all grown up with a family of his own.
I sometimes think that if I had it to do over again, and could afford it, would I choose to be a stay-at- home mom? Would I have liked it? Would I have been any good at it? I can’t change the past, and who knows what the future holds, so the only thing I can control – at least to some extent – is the present. I feel like my grandkids are giving me another chance to enjoy all those moments and I’m taking full advantage of every opportunity that comes my way.
–Joan
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 Are or were you a stay-at-home mom? Did you work outside the home? Do you have any regrets?
Share your thoughts in a blog comment for a chance to win a $25 gift card to Little One Books. One lucky winner will be randomly selected on June 1, 2012 and notified via email. Good luck!
Tags: grandkids, grandma, stay at home mom, working mom
Posted in Grandkids, Joan | 1 Comment » | Comment On This Post »
May 9th, 2012
 Early on in my pregnancy, my husband and I had to sit down and decide if I was going to work after having the baby or stay home. He insisted it was my decision to make and would not tell me his preference in fear that he would influence my decision. Although it was annoying not to have the extra input, I understood his concern and greatly appreciated it. He didn’t want to make me feel like I ‘had’ to work if I had my heart set on staying home with the baby, and he didn’t want to seem like a domineering husband from the 1950s saying I ‘should’ stay home. He played it safe and remained mum.
I went back and forth a few times, as either option had pluses and minuses. I ultimately went with the middle road, which may actually be the hardest option. I decided to be a work-at-home mom.
Any momout there will know what a difficult concept this can be. We’ve all heard the saying, “Being a mom is a full time job.” There’s a reason that saying is still around. It’s true! It’s taken me some trials, errors, and very little sleep to figure out some secrets of making working from home with an infant possible.
First, the housework can (has to) wait. Second, when she is napping, I best be working. Once I learned the average time she sleeps in to, I started waking up a couple hours before her to get some quality uninterrupted (usually) work time in. Same goes for after she goes to bed. Third, the common denominator in all this is that I get far less sleep overall. Rough? Yes. Worth it? Totally.
I had enough connections to have relatively steady work as a freelance writer and editor, but the nature of freelance is a lot like a struggling musician – there are no guarantees of when or where your next gig will be. The pay varies greatly and is rarely as good as a full-time 40-hour-a-week job. And, of course, there are no health or retirement benefits.
The trade off, however, is that I get to watch our little girl grow up. Totally. Worth. It.
The past five months have flown by – and that’s with me being with her 24 hours a day! It makes my heart ache to think about how much I would have missed if I’d gone back to work. I would miss her afternoon nap, which she takes snuggled up to me wrapped in our Moby; I would have missed the first time she rolled over; I would have missed her first giggle; I would have missed shared smiles, walks, runs, exploring new toys…I would have missed too much.
Despite its challenges, I do not regret my decision to become a work-at-home mom for one second.
–Audra
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 I know most couples face this difficult decision when they start a family. What were some of the deciding factors in your decision? How do you feel about it?
Share your thoughts in a blog comment for a chance to win a $25 gift card to Little One Books. One lucky winner will be randomly selected on June 1, 2012 and notified via email. Good luck!
Tags: stay at home mom, work-at-home mom
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May 4th, 2012
 Last Mother’s Day, my mom joined me in the Big Easy, where we enjoyed the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, better known as Jazz Fest. We spent the day listening to great music and eating wonderful food. Since I won’t see her this year, I wanted to send her a little gift to let her know I’m thinking about her.
My first thought was flowers, but my brother always sends them and I didn’t think she needed two bouquets. I knew she didn’t need anything else to dust and she has more clothes than she can possibly wear, so I ruled out those ideas. After much pondering, I decided to send her something she could consume.
But then I couldn’t figure out what to actually send. I considered of a gift certificate to her favorite restaurant, but that seemed too impersonal. Could I ask my sister to buy her a cake? But knowing my sister, she would have said REALLY!!! Then I thought of a fruit basket. But I know my mother would have said REALLY!!!
As I was wandering around the French Quarter – I’m at Jazz Fest this week – I stumbled upon my favorite candy maker in the city. I rushed in and bought a large assortment of fudge and unique candies from this region. I know my mom will love them and she will be surprised – I’ve never sent candy before. The only downside was the shipping cost. I had no idea that candy needed special packaging so it won’t melt. And you have to send it priority mail. But I knew that when she opened that beautifully packaged box, it would put a great big smile on her face.
Let me know your gift giving ideas for Mother’s Day.
–Joan
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 Share your Mother’s Day gift ideas in a blog comment for a chance to win a $25 gift card to Little One Books during our May Blog Comment Contest. One lucky winner will be randomly selected on June 1, 2012 and notified via email. Good luck!
Tags: Mother's Day, mother's day gifts
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May 2nd, 2012
 My whole life, the word ‘mother’ automatically brought up memories of my own mom. I remember being as young as four and have memories fresh up to yesterday. My personal stereotype of what makes a ‘normal’ mother was created from my lifetime of experiences with my own mom.
To me, a mom is a lap to sit in, arms to be held by, lips to be kissed, ears to hear your problems, a hand to squeeze, eyes that always shine at you, encouraging words, wisdom, forgiveness, and someone who has and will always be happy to see you. There is no other relationship like that of a mother and child.
In the past year, I went from being the child of a mother to a mother myself. I am now all of the above to my own daughter. And more. Just as I have, she will create her own definition of a mother based on what she experiences. This puts a bit of pressure on me but it also is the best gift I have ever received.
This understanding makes me a better person every day. I have every incentive now to live my life the way I want my daughter to live hers, knowing that she will learn from watching me and from the relationship we build. I hope to be all that my mom was to me and all that my daughter needs to always feel loved, safe, happy, and healthy.
–Audra
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 Please share your own definition of ‘mother’ and how you’ve come to that definition in a blog comment.
We are giving away another $25 gift card in May to one lucky person. Enter by leaving a blog comment on any May post. Multiple entries are allowed. A winner will be randomly selected on June 1, 2012 and notified via email. Good luck!
Tags: Mom, Mother, Mother's Day
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April 30th, 2012
 There’s no denying that moms are the center of their child’s universe. Celebrate the special bond between children and mothers with these ten amazing books. Some are silly, like “My Monster Mama Loves Me So,” while others are heartfelt, such as “I’ll Always Love You.” With books for kids from birth to age 4, these titles are great for sharing the love on Mother’s Day and throughout the rest of the year.
Leave a comment with your favorite “mom” book or let us know of another favorite title that we missed and you could win a $25 gift card to Little One Books too!
Click on the books’ image for more information, including our full review!
Birth and Up
 Mommy Loves Me by Dk Publishing – Board Book – $5.99
Dawn Sirett’s Mommy Loves Me is a sweet book that is perfect for babies and moms to share together. The text is very straightforward and simple, and the pictures of the babies are adorable and engaging. It also introduces the names of some different body parts, which will be helpful as your baby begins to recognize different things. With its cushioned cover and small size, your little one will love to hold it and begin to explore the book’s different textures. The short rhymes make this a great choice to read aloud. While reading, you might want to tickle and interact with your child like the characters in the book.
 Mommy Hugs by Karen Katz – Board Book – $7.99
Karen Katz’s Mommy Hugs captures the special moments throughout a day where Mommy gets to show Baby how much she loves her with all kinds of hugs. Adorable cartoon drawings, dynamic colors, and pages fleshed out with familiar patterns will inspire smiles from your little one right away. Each page includes a number, one through ten, and a fun description of new kind of hug. Dialogue and some sound-effect words provide opportunities for you to use more tone inflections and keep your listener engaged. With one sentence per page, this is also an excellent learning-to-read.
Age 1 and Up
 Where is Baby’s Mommy? by Karen Katz – Board Book – $6.99
With bright colors and an interactive lift-the-flap format, toddlers will love this story about a young child playing hide-and-seek with its mother. This board book encourages youngsters to follow along in the search and look behind shower curtains, in closets and under the table. The red-headed child in red-and-yellow polka-dotted overalls is illustrated with adorable facial expressions and the other objects in the story will be easy for kids to identify. Thanks to little clues, like a stuffed bears ears peeking out beneath the table or a cat’s tale snaking out behind the armchair, children can guess what’s behind the flap rather than just opening it to find out.
Age 2 and Up
 Mama, Do You Love Me? by Barbara M. Joosse – Board Book – $6.99
Barbara Joosse’s Mama, Do You Love Me? is a sweet story of a small Inuit girl wondering if her Mama would really love her no matter what, so she poses a variety of instances - some realistic, many not - to see what her Mama says. The entire story is dialogue between a small Inuit girl and her mother. There are not quotes to indicate when one speaker stops and the other picks up, but their voices are distinct enough that it is always clear who is speaking. The water color pictures show large and robust characters with faces half-white and half-brown, decked out with vibrantly colored and heavily patterned clothing. The pictures contain many animals specific to Alaska and the Arctic, such as a sled dog, whale, puffin, musk-ox, lemmings, and more. There are also many new Inuit words for your little one to learn, like “umiak”, “parka”, and “mukluks.”
 I’ll Always Love You by Paeny Lewis – Board Book – $7.95
Alex, an adorable little bear, portrays the emotions that many young children feel when they have misbehaved or done something wrong as he wonders if his mother will still love him after he breaks her favorite honey bowl. Of course, the mother bear explains that regardless of what he does, including spilling paint on his baby sister or having a pillow fight, she will always love him. Kids will likely relate to Alex and feel sympathetic as he struggles with telling his mother the truth and finding a way to fix the situation. Bright illustrations show the bears as a loving family in a cozy home that adds extra warmth to this already feel-good story.
Age 3 and Up
 My Monster Mama Loves Me So by Laura Leuck – Hardcover – $16.99
Although the book’s characters are monsters, they are portrayed as lovable and caring creatures with a few monster eccentricities that cause young children to both adore them and giggle at the monster-silliness. Just as human mothers lovingly take care of their children, monster mamas do too, but with a few minor tweaks. For example, instead of baking chocolate chip cookies, they make “cookies filled with bugs.” Kids will struggle with deciding whether that is hilarious or yucky but will probably decide it’s a combination of the two. The illustrations are bright and colorful while staying true to a monster theme by integrating plenty of cobwebs and cute creepy-crawlies.
 The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn – Hardcover – $16.95
This sweet story about a young raccoon nervous to leave behind his mother and everything familiar to start school will hit home with many preschoolers who are anxious about their first day of school. Children will adore the raccoon, which is drawn with wonderfully expressive eyes, as well as the other woodland creatures, including a deer, a skunk and some rabbits. Kids will love discovering little details, such as the raccoon is a nocturnal animal, so he goes to school at night and that the raccoon’s new friend is a skunk. The story is succinctly told and the book is the perfect length for young children. Parents and children can borrow the idea of the kissing hand from mother raccoon or create a variation of their own to remind the child that even when they are apart, the love doesn’t fade.
 Owl Babies by Martin Waddell – Hardcover – $15.99
Three adorable baby owls take center stage in this sweet picture book about how the trio copes with waking up one night and finding their mother out of the nest. Kids will be fascinated with the fluffy white owls with the big brown eyes and will relate to missing their parents. It’s heartwarming when the two older owls put on a brave face for the benefit of their younger brother and joyful when the mother owl returns and reassures her owlets that she’d never leave them forever. The illustrations capture the darkness of night without being frightening in the least bit.
Age 4 and Up
 The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown – Hardcover – $17.99
The Runaway Bunny is touching book about wanting to be independent, a mother’s love, and being happy with who you are. The pictures are hand-drawn and alter between small black-and-white drawings and much larger colored drawings. Words are only found on the black-and-white pages, so they are easier to focus on. The colored pages are for letting your imagination go, as they depict what the little bunny and his mother are imagining together. There is repetition in the dialogue between the little bunny and his mother to help encourage understanding and some memorization.
–Abby
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 How many of these books have your read? Which of these books is your favorite?
Share in a comment for a chance to win a $25 gift card to Little One Books during our April Blog Comment Contest. One lucky winner will be randomly selected on May 1, 2012 and notified via email. Good luck!
Tags: books about mom, Mother's Day
Posted in Abby, Books, Holidays | 1 Comment » | Comment On This Post »
April 27th, 2012
 I have two young friends who are 9-year-old twins with an abundance of self-esteem. They are not identical twins so their looks and personalities couldn’t be more different. Hope is serious, reserved, and quiet. It takes a while for her to warm up to someone she doesn’t know. On the other hand, Mary is outgoing, talkative, funny and you’ll be her best friend seconds after meeting her.
However, they do have one thing in common – self-esteem. Although it is displayed in very different ways, both of them are confident, poised, and self-assured in their own unique ways. My theory is that Hope’s self-esteem comes from within – she is smart, but in a modest way. She has lots of friends and usually gravitates to a leadership role because she gently instills belief in those around her. Mary’s self-esteem is more on the surface. She is also smart but in a more animated way. She too plays a leadership role among her friends, but displays more excitement and passion.
It’s fasiniating to watch them in action. But one thing is clear to me; there is no one formula for self-esteem except encouragement. And that encouragement has to come from parents or caregivers who guide their kids to be all that they can be.
–Joan
Photo courtesy of iamtheo/Flickr.
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 How do you encourage your child to build good self-esteem?
Share your thoughts in a blog comment for a chance to win a $25 gift card to Little One Books. One lucky winner will be randomly selected on May 1, 2012 and notified via email. Good luck!
Tags: encouragement, self-esteem, twins
Posted in Joan | 1 Comment » | Comment On This Post »
April 25th, 2012
I am part of Generation Y – the generation where schools, daycares, babysitter, and parents were constantly warned to protect our fragile sense of self-esteem or we would grow up to be troubled, maladjusted adults who consistently fail – all because we don’t believe in ourselves. The idea of self-esteem was not necessarily new, but it was being revered with a whole new respect while I was growing up.
 However, like so much in our culture, protection of our self-esteem was often taken too far. I remember being in elementary school and being told “Good job!” even when I had gotten the answer wrong. Kids were given the go-ahead to move up a grade when they hadn’t actually passed the assignments. There were sports teams created for the kids who weren’t coordinated enough for Junior Varsity (I know because I was on that “Junior Junior” or “Super Junior Varsity” team). Frankly, it got a little ridiculous.
With my daughter being 5 months old now, I have to think about how I want to handle her ego as she develops. I don’t want to tell her ‘good job’ when she gets the answer incorrect, but I don’t want to destroy her self-esteem either. So, I’ve been doing some reading and have come across some techniques that I like and am planning to use.
One recent article I read was about ‘How We Talk to Little Girls.’ It pointed out how our culture always focuses on their appearance; we greet little girls with comments like, “Aren’t you a pretty little thing!” or “I love your dress. You look so cute!” Little boys, however, tend to get more comments about their personalities, intelligence, and creativity.
 After reading that article, I started noting what people were saying on a regular basis when they greeted my daughter, and I was shocked to realize how spot on the article had been. She got comments on her clothes, her blue eyes, her sweet smile, her hair….all physical traits. A shockingly small number of people inquired first about her development: asking if she was rolling over, if she knew her name yet, or if she understood the sign language I use when singing her songs.
I noted that I was just a guilty too. When her eyes would open after a nap, the first thing I said was, “Hey pretty girl!” or “Aren’t you lovely this morning!”
I also just finished reading Brain Rules of Babies and have pulled some great tips from it on how to parent in a positive manner to encourage the tools babies (and people in generally, really) need to have good self-esteem – a major component to being a generally happy and successful person.
One message in the book is to watch how you compliment and encourage your children. Rather than simply saying, “You’re so smart!” or “You’re so talented!” try acknowledging the effort they put into something – whether they have succeeded or failed. For instance, if your child creates a picture, try saying something like “Wow, you worked really hard on that!” or “It looks like you put a lot of thought into the background – I like it!” By acknowledging their efforts, you are teaching them that hard work toward a goal is as important – if not more so – than obtaining the goal. If they start to believe that they drew a good picture only because they have innate talent, what happens when they draw a picture one day that someone doesn’t like? Does that mean they’ve ‘lost’ their ‘talent’ and there’s nothing they can do about it?
I have started trying to speak with my daughter in this encouraging way, even though she doesn’t really understand language yet. I figure that if I start now, it will become second nature by the time she is old enough to really take in what I have to say.
–Audra
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 What are some of your methods of encouraging your children and harboring positive self-esteem?
Share your thoughts in a blog comment for a chance to win a $25 gift card to Little One Books during our April Blog Comment Contest. One lucky winner will be randomly selected on May 1, 2012 and notified via email. Good luck!
Tags: self-esteem
Posted in Audra | 1 Comment » | Comment On This Post »
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When my husband and I made the $500-a-month leap from renting an apartment to renting a house in Seattle, we did so for two reasons, both of which required a backyard. First, we wanted a puppy. Second, we wanted a garden.
Do you have a garden? What do you grow? Do your kids help? I’d love to hear your gardening stories!
