Junior loves to play the Sandwich Stacker Cookout Game by Bloom (makers of all those fantastic Cranium products). It's a cute early learning game in which you stack giant pieces of plastic cheeseburger ingredients, trying to keep the yummy tower from toppling over. It's a great game for him, because it requires correctly identifying colors & shapes as well as using fine motor skills. (Plus, it highlights one of our favorite pastimes around here -- grilling!)
To play, you simply press the spinner to see what type of item you should stack next on the bottom bun. If the spinner shows a square, circle, or triangle, you choose a topping with that shape; if the spinner shows red, brown, green, yellow, or white, you choose a topping with that color. Most of the toppings are fairly obvious.
For example, this is a tomato slice, and can obviously be used for either RED or CIRCLE.
This is a slice of cheese, obvious for the WHITE category. It is also part of the TRIANGLE category, despite the curvy bottom edge.
Ok, now here's where the edges start to blur (literally). The ketchup is obviously RED, but also a nontraditional SQUARE. The edges are scalloped, the corners are uneven, it contains no straight lines -- but it still has the essence of square.
For your dining pleasure, please enjoy a little sampling of Amazing Mackerel Pudding, on the house, courtesy of candyboots.com. We expect little traffic and no delays. So just kick back, relax, and enjoy the snacks. We should reach our destination as previously planned.Penned by Harvard Med School researchers Lawrence Kutner and Cheryl Olsen,
"Grand Theft Childhood: The Surprising Truth About Violent Video Games and What Parents Can Do" refutes common conceptions about the causal relationship between
violent video games and violent behavior.In other words, playing a few hours of GTA IV will not result in your kid stealing a car, careening through traffic and gunning down civilians.
Uhm, no, actually this is NOT an accurate translation of that opening paragraph. I don't think they were talking about "playing a few hours" and "gunning down civilians." These are assumptions! Embellishments! Exaggerations! I can practically see the reporter smirking as he (or she? Why do I feel like it's a he? Ha! -- went back and checked. HE.) wrote this with one eye on the clock, anxious to get home and play his PS3. He was probably chewing on his lead-laced pen as he thought."What I hope people realize is that there is no data to support the simple-minded concerns that video games cause violence," Kutner told Reuters News Service in an interview.
Oh, really, Kutner? You're gonna go there? "Simple-minded"?! I admit that makes me want to read the actual research paper, because that's a pretty strong statement and I'm assuming he thinks he can back it up. But to my ears, it reeks of researcher bias. (can ears detect reek? I'm unfortunately fond of mixed analogies. You know what I mean.)Their findings are a result of a two-year study of over 1,200 middle-school students. Unlike most studies set in sterile lab environments using psychological triggers, much of their data was collected by -- brace yourself -- actually talking to their young subjects.
Ok, so we're supposed to be so impressed that you TALKED to your subjects? Like, dude, like, so, like NOT! How many of us actually see our own behavior accurately and don't bend the truth to our advantage now and then? Uh, huh. And how many middle-school students are able to do that? Especially when questioned by a potentially-biased researcher who is quite likely a fan of the games? Did they ask the parents or teachers or neighbors anything about these kids? Did they look at factual evidence or behavior reports or field notes or standardized questionnaires or anything that could be objectively measured? Is this entire report based on self-reports and subjective measures? And that's supposed to impress me??The researchers did note a link between mature-rated titles and aggressive behavior, as a significant number of both boys and girls who played M-rated titles
reported getting into more fights over the past year than kids who didn't play
M-rated games.
Ok. Now we're getting somewhere. This "link", did anyone look into that a little more thoroughly? Is it possible that THIS is the type of thing (along with desensitization, normalizing effects, learned behavior patterns, etc.etc.ETC!) that we might be concerned about instead of only whether or not the kids are "gunning down civilians"?However, Kutner and Olson point out that this simply demonstrates a correlation between violent games and aggression, not that one causes the other, suggesting the possibility that the kids attracted to mature-rated games were naturally aggressive to begin with.
Keep going, you two. Yes, correlation does not imply causation, but it often points to some possible, unknown relationship worthy of further study. And furthermore, they are very quick to point out their study did not find a direct, causal effect....BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN THE OPPOSITE IS, THEREFORE, TRUE. They didn't find a causal effect in THIS study. That's it! They can't make a blanket denial for any connection in general! The subject has not been thoroughly exhausted & laid to rest as the headlines seem to imply.Yahoo! Headlines and Mr. Reporter, I'm ashamed of you. And, frankly, a little embarrassed for you. It is possible this study has more credibility than I'm giving it here...but you made it sound absolutely ridiculous.
I'm gonna go walk around the block. When I get back I would like to see a factually-based, reliable weather forecast on my homepage, also, if that's not too much to ask. Quit messing with us.
I enjoy all the loving attention and whispered surprises that Mother's Day brings, but truth be told, I'm not a huge fan of breakfast in bed. The kids have managed to pull this off in years past, and it's made for some lovely memories, but there's something about dazedly sitting there amongst the rumpled sheets with eggs and crumbs and gently sloshing coffee, trying to prop myself up comfortably and ignoring the fact that I really need to pee.
But this year? This year those kids really hit the nail on the head. They went shopping with my husband and chose several presents for me, including a 6-pack of Snickers bars. When I woke up yesterday, they helped me get all comfortably lounge-y on the futon, and presented me with my very special Mother's Day breakfast: a cup of fresh, hot coffee and A SNICKERS BAR! And then, of course, I offered each of them one, too, much to their amazed & giggling delight.
We sat around all cozied up together, with our bedheads and puffy eyes, chewing away on our delicious candy bars and sharing sneaky grins. I had a little lump in my throat (not Snickers), and felt all warm and bubbly inside (not just caffeine and sugar). The love & happiness in the room was a present every bit as tangible as a gift bag. Those kids, they really know how to warm the cockles of this mom's heart.
Here are the rest of my Mother's Day gifts: a dozen roses, a gossipy magazine, a balloon (which Junior loved a little too firmly...), and a lunch of delicious homemade fajitas (made without me lifting one finger!)
It just doesn't get much better than this, folks.
Happy Mother's Day, everyone.
The 8 remaining contestants hit the ground running with a QuickFire Challenge. They divided into two teams with Stephanie, Antonia, Richard, & Andrew in one corner, and Spike, Nikki, Lisa, and Dale in the other. The challenge was a relay race featuring each chef's knife skills. Each team had to peel & segment 5 oranges, prep 2 artichokes, clean a monkfish into 2 filets, and whip up 1 quart of mayonnaise from scratch. The teams were dicing and slicing neck-to-neck, and emotions were high! 
The whole thing came down to the mayonnaise round, with Stephanie whipping up her batch first and clinching the win for the team. Dale got mad, totally lost it, & punched a locker!
Lisa was glad to see Dale providing her with yet another reason to dislike him. The two of them really do not play well together.Then
Antonia came on camera and explained what happened. "Dale punched a locker...then had to have his diaper changed," she said with a the smallest of grins.
Which is really not integral to the storyline, but pretty amusing nonetheless.
Then judges Padma & Tom announced the next challenge. The same two teams would be competing in a Wedding War, in which each team would be catering a wedding reception for 125 people the very next day. One team would prepare a buffet according to the Bride's tastes and requests; the other would prepare a buffet agreeable to the Groom.
The rules? Each team would have a short consultation with their client (bride or groom), 45 minutes to plan, and 1 hour to shop for ingredients with a budget of $5,000. The teams would then have 14 hours to prepare the food, requiring them to work straight through the night!
The winning team selected the Bride to work with. She requested a buffet of southern-style food, highlighting meat & potatoes. She also wanted a big wedding cake with lots of layers that was pretty.
The Groom told his team he wanted a menu featuring Italian food, specifying a German Chocolate or Hazelnut cake.
The teams flew into action and, as usual, whipped up a huge assortment of impressive-sounding dishes. As the game timer counted down, the contestants were becoming more exhausted and more strained, and the challenge of bringing both the dishes and the individual visions together (while operating on no sleep), became a little too much for some. Emotions were sky high throughout this entire episode, and in order to continue the story, I have to hand out a bit more duct tape. (excuse me for a second)
C'mon, Chefs!! My children watch this show! Get it together & watch your mouths.
Somewhere in here during a commercial break, the Bravo text poll question was, "Which Top Chef annoys you most?" Yeah. 'Nuff said. It was one of those episodes.The teams handed out their appetizers and canapes, then served the wedding guests at their respective buffet tables. The array of food was delicious-looking, and seemed to represent much more than 14 hours of prep time! 
(Check out some of the menu items and recipes here.)
The judges tasted and discussed the two teams' buffet offerings. They reflected on the "overcooked meat", "flavorless" items, and the "ugly battleship cake". They pronounced the bride's cake "impressive", the brisket "perfect", and the pizza appetizer as better than the Italian team's version. Clearly, they had decided on the winning team.
While the contestants anxiously awaited the verdict, they looked pretty miserable trying to keep their eyes open. The all-nighter was catching up with them! (Well, except for Andrew. Apparently his ADHD came in very handy in this particular challenge.)
The Bride's team was announced as the Judges' favorite, and Richard was awarded the Winning Top Chef position.
He immediately said he would like to offer the win to Stephanie, because she managed to create a lovely wedding cake for the bride (a job which nobody really wanted, yet was integral to their success). The judges applauded his move and told Stephanie that she would receive a $2,000 gift certificate from Crate & Barrel. Stephanie, in yet another fine demonstration of teamwork, announced that she and Richard would split the prize. In a show where the winner takes all, this turn of events was delightful to witness.
Then came the final decision -- the losing contestant from the losing team. The chef who would be promptly eighty-sixed. The steely expressions returned, the suspenseful music swelled, and...
...the loser was announced.Despite an intense series of challenges, and an emotionally-charged episode, Nikki accepted her cut gracefully.
"This show has been a great experience, and I am happy to go home to my family. I know that there will be another venture waiting for me," she said.
And so ended another great episode of Top Chef.
I have to say that the lessons illustrated about teamwork, leadership, cooperation, creativity, and doing the best you can (not to mention the mouth-watering food! The fooooood!!) they serve up each week keep Top Chef on my list of great family t.v. shows.....just watch the language, guys!!
Tune in next week for another exciting episode of Top Chef Chicago, served up on Bravo at 10pm EST. The previews promise tales of sabotage and intrigue...and my mouth is already watering.
Now, Junior has problems sleeping on a good day, and I was beginning to have images of him awake all night due to a throbbing finger...and though the idea of poking a hole in one's fingernail goes against the very nature of my being, by this point a half dozen people had confirmed the treatment. I drove to the pediatrician's office.
The doctor was concerned with how protective Junior was being of his finger. He ordered an X-ray to be certain it wasn't broken. Which hadn't even crossed my mind, but instantly became all I could think! (Stitches! Missing nails! Shattered bones!! Neurotic much?)
It wasn't.
Dr. L. promised making a hole in the nail was completely painless & very quick, and really was a good idea. So Junior sat on my lap and we all braced his arm down, because he was getting scared.*
I should note that through all of this, Junior was an absolute trooper. Despite a few scary moments for him, the entire visit was smooth & easy. He charmed everyone, waited patiently, and was very cooperative. He even signed "thank you" and waved goodbye to everyone as we left! (You've heard the theory that pain provides focus?... I'm thinking it just might be true.)**
But back to the story. They used a special heated tool that melted through the nail in about 2 seconds flat, squeezed out the collected blood, and PRESTO, MAGICO! -- nail fixed. Seriously. The purple? GONE. The pain? GONE!!
BEFORE
And if that's not confusing enough, the tiny preview month-at-a-glance calendars at the top of the page are in the traditional SUNDAY-SQUARE-COMES-FIRST format. Passive-aggressive, I tell you!
So this Monday Square format. It does not work for me. When I write down events and appointments by date, everything is hunky dory and I love my hip new calendar. And if something falls on the right-hand page (Thursday - Sunday), I see the weekend shared squares and everything's fine. But when someone says "how about Monday?" or "next Tuesday" or "this Wednesday" I invariably get it wrong!! Yes, I know -- it is already May and I should have caught on to this by now. But it keeps tripping me up!
Last week I emailed someone to "definitely (probably, I'm pretty sure)" expect my son because I had returned his registration form with our commitment. The problem was I returned it a day late because I marked the deadline on my calendar on the wrong dumb square! So...we're planning on it, but until we hear for sure, I'm hoping they have a slightly flexible deadline.
I also dropped off my 2 dozen cookies for the teacher's lounge at school last week, just as I had agreed to do....only I was, again, a day late. I breezed into the office with a grin and a chipper "just gonna drop these off in the Teacher's Lounge!" and then opened the door to an empty room. So on Tuesday there were dozens of donated cookies and drinks for the teachers to enjoy, courtesy of the PTO,....and on Wednesday there was a lone, tired little plate of cookies from me. I moved the empty containers and explanatory post-it notes and thank you cards from the day before, brushed aside the dry crumbs, and set my little plate on the table. Then ran!
So I think I finally got it through my thick skull: CHECK THE DAY! The actual name of the day of the week, for each square, no matter how delicately labelled and deceptively fluid it may appear! This is it. I have cracked the code. I have learned my lesson. I will double- and triple-check dates from now on!
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