Fun – Mombian

Hacking Board Games for Preschoolers

November 9, 2006 • 2 comments

Although my son has an apparently infinite capacity for playing Candy Land (interspersed only by rounds of Cariboo), I have a limit. I don’t, however, have a limitless budget for buying new games. My solution has been to create variations of older kid/adult board games we already have around the house. Here are a few [...]

In Fun, Kids' Activities

Reciprocal Membership at Children’s Museums

November 2, 2006 • No comments

I’m visiting Boston with partner and son on a house-hunting trip. We took a break today, however, to go to the Boston Children’s Museum—and got in free, thanks to a Reciprocal Membership I’d bought at our local Mid-Hudson Children’s Museum. The Reciprocal Membership Program, sponsored by the Association of Children’s Museums, gives free admission to [...]

In Fun, Kids' Activities, Money and Finance

Travel Guide: San Francisco Bay Area

October 26, 2006 • 2 comments

As promised, here’s a thread for our next travel guide installment. This week’s location of choice is the San Francisco Bay Area. (Boston was last week, and I’ve been writing about New Jersey for two days, so it’s time to switch coasts.) If you live in the Bay Area or have visited, please leave comments [...]

In Fun, Kids' Activities, Travel

Arrrh, It’s Talk Like a Pirate Day

September 19, 2006 • No comments

It’s International Talk Like a Pirate Day. If you don’t know anything about this fast-growing observance (which started as a joke between friends), the Talk Like a Pirate Day Web site has a brief history and examples of pirate phrases, including the useful Top 29 Things to Say at the Office During Pirate Day. (“Fax [...]

In Fun

Board Games for Kids

September 12, 2006 • 5 comments

I’m reporting to you live from the site of the Candy Land World Championships, where our resident Grandmaster is napping before he takes on his next challenger. My son finally gained the patience to play a board game a few weeks ago. My partner and I are avid (though not obsessive) gamers, and already our [...]

In Fun, Kids' Activities

Press-Bot for Coffee or Tea on the Go

September 5, 2006 • No comments

One for the gadget file: If you love camping, but your sweetie can’t survive a morning without her French roast (or if you’re the java fiend), try the Press-Bot Coffee Press. It’s designed to fit a wide-mouth Nalgene water bottle, seals completely, and includes an integrated pour spout. Works for loose tea, too. Yes, fall [...]

In Fun, Kitchen and Food, Travel

Same-Sex Marriage and Heavenly Bodies

August 18, 2006 • No comments

I was going to write a short post about the definition of “planet” recently proposed by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). I thought some moms would find it useful when helping their children with science homework. Geoffrey Pullam’s post at Language Log on “Gay Marriage and Counting the Planets” made me realize I was thinking [...]

In Education, Entertainment, Fun, Politics and Law

Steamtown

July 10, 2006 • No comments

One in an occasional series of travel essays for families with kids: When most Americans think of our National Park Service (NPS), we have visions of forests and mountains, rivers and seashores. Not 1.2 million pounds of iron and steel churning out 6200 horsepower, capable of hauling 120 freight cars over mountains at 40 miles [...]

In Fun, Kids' Activities, Travel

Giant Panda Receives Giant Fruitsicle

July 9, 2006 • No comments

Tai Shan, the U. S. National Zoo’s giant panda cub, celebrates his first birthday today. What do you give a 56-pound cub for his birthday? Tai Shan got a giant fruitsicle, a new soccer ball, and several other toys. If you have animal-loving kids, make sure they check out the live Panda Cam to see [...]

In Fun, Kids' Activities

Great American Backyard Campout

June 23, 2006 • No comments

Tomorrow, June 24, is the Great American Backyard Campout (GABC). It’s sponsored by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) as a way of getting kids to experience the wonders of nature and for families to share the outdoors together. I think this is a terrific idea. While my personal idea of camping is setting out with [...]

In Fun, Kids' Activities

Amazon Bargains

June 22, 2006 • No comments

I don’t usually do such materialistic posts, but Amazon.com has a few sales going on right now that may be of interest. (My mom’s an inveterate bargain hunter; you can blame it on her.) Eligible books are 4-for-3 (lowest price one is free), including children’s books from Eric Carle, Dr. Seuss, and others, as well [...]

In Books for Kids, Books for Moms, Fun, Kids' Activities

If I Can’t Laugh, I Don’t Want to Be Part of Your Revolution

June 22, 2006 • No comments

I got a laugh out of this tongue-in-cheek article by Reg Henry on banning same-sex marriage. An extract: The nuclear family is called nuclear because it is apt to detonate from time to time and when that happens everything is radioactive for a while. But, really, what is a bit of creative sulking, bickering and [...]

In Fun, Politics and Law

The World’s Best Paper Airplane

June 19, 2006 • No comments

I loved paper airplanes as a kid, and now have lots of fun making them for my son. He’s not quite old enough to fold them himself, but when he is, we may try the self-proclaimed “Best Paper Airplane in the World.” Thanks to Lifehacker for stepping away from their usual productivity tips to point [...]

In Fun, Kids' Activities

New Mombian Infant and Toddler Wear

June 9, 2006 • No comments

Already have a dozen “I Love My Two Mommies” shirts for your little one? Try the new Mombian “Mommies’ Alarm Clock” wear. Sure to cause chuckles at the Pride March and double-takes at the supermarket.

In Blog Admin, Fun

Birthday Calculator

May 23, 2006 • No comments

The Birthday Calculator is a fun little Web site you may enjoy trying with your kids. Enter a birth date and year, and it displays all kinds of information about that date, including the phase of the moon, dates of holidays that year, U. S. population statistics then, and the number of months, weeks, days, [...]

In Fun, Kids' Activities

The Lesbian Mom’s Brain

May 10, 2006 • 6 comments

The lesbian brain has made headlines recently. Scientists at the Center for Sapphic Studies in Lesbos, Greece, have taken this research a step further in a study of the brains of lesbian moms. Below is an image from their latest paper, “Lesbian Mothers of Toddlers: A Neurologic Analysis.” Further research may be forthcoming, as soon [...]

In Fun, Health and Safety

You Know You’re a Mom When . . .

April 25, 2006 • 3 comments

Four signs you’re a mom taking a cruise without your preschooler: You sing “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” while applying sunscreen. You want to bring home the towel-origami elephant the steward left in your room. You use a photo of your child as a bookmark for your beach reading, and look at it yourself even [...]

In Fun, Parenting, Selves and Identities

The Lez Boat

April 24, 2006 • No comments

I’m back from a week floating around the Caribbean with 1800 or so other lesbians. Olivia Travel, as always, knows how to do vacations right. I’ll spare you the “what I did on my (almost-) summer vacation” essay, though, and instead use the cruise as a jumping-off point for some posts this week on community, [...]

In Entertainment, Fun, Selves and Identities

Put Photos on a Cake

April 12, 2006 • 1 comment

Want to try something different than the usual cartoon character on your child’s next birthday cake? Looking for a way to surprise your sweetie on your anniversary? Like the taste of a homemade cake but can’t decorate worth a darn? Icing Images will take a digital photo that you upload and send you a sheet [...]

In Fun, Kitchen and Food

“Wild” Nature Activities Help Kids Care More About the Environment as Adults

March 14, 2006 • No comments

Researchers at Cornell University have concluded a study that examined the experiences children have with nature and their attitudes toward environmentalism as adults. They found that kids who participate in “wild” nature activities such as “camping, playing in the woods, hiking, walking, fishing and hunting” before age eleven are more likely to care about the [...]

In Child Development, Fun, Kids' Activities

Children’s Musical Development

February 20, 2006 • No comments

I love my son’s Music Together class, as I’ve written before. Not only is it great for the kids, but it encourages us parents to participate in our children’s musical exploration, sharing drums, bells, scarves, shakers, and anything else that makes a sound or marks a rhythm. In how many other places would you find [...]

In Child Development, Fun

Gay Penguins Reject Females

February 8, 2006 • 1 comment

Six gay male penguins at a zoo in Germany have been rejecting advances of females sent to mate with them. Gay rights groups were apparently upset when the females were introduced, but the zoo claims they are simply trying to form at least one fertile couple and a baby, not to pry the male penguins [...]

In Fun

Travel

February 2, 2006 • No comments

My partner and I just booked ourselves on Olivia’s Grand Caribbean Cruise. This is our second trip with them, even though we’ve never considered ourselves “cruise people.” We typically prefer a do-it-ourselves vacation where we can either mingle with the natives or brave the wilds of nature. Since having a child, though, our time to [...]

In Fun

Attending the White House Egg Roll

January 19, 2006 • No comments

The Family Pride Coalition is encouraging all LGBT families to attend the annual White House Egg Roll on April 17, 2006. Hundreds of families attend every year, and Family Pride wants ours to be among them. They will provide non-political t-shirts to identify participants as LGBT families. If you think you might attend, it’s worth [...]

In Fun, Kids' Activities, Politics and Law

Happy Holidays

December 23, 2005 • No comments

Happy holidays to you and your families, however you define them. No posts for a few days while we make merry here at our house.

In Fun

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