DOUGHNUTS & DINOSAURS

I woke Isaiah up early Saturday morning. He was cranky since he’d stayed up late the night before.

“Why do we have to go to this thing Mommy?” he whined.

“Because,” I said, “it’s going to be really cool and you’ll have lots of fun.”

“No I won’t,” he replied. “It’s going to be boring.” Then I played my last card.

“There’ll be doughnuts.” I said.

He reluctantly got up and dressed and off we went to the Georgia Public Broadcasting studios in Midtown Atlanta to preview the new show DINOSAUR TRAIN. When we first arrived we immediately spotted the balloons and the welcome sign.

“See I told you this is going to be a lot of fun,” I said. Mr. Cranky Pants Isaiah finally perked up.

When we got inside the lobby was filled with fun activities such as face painting, balloon animals, and arts and crafts. And there were of course, the doughnuts. After quickly munching down our breakfast treats we headed inside the auditorium for the preview.

Dinosaur Train is a show about character “Buddy”, a T-rex who is adopted by a family of Pteranodons who take him on all kinds of adventures through different eras learning all kinds of cool facts about the animals they meet.

Though Buddy is a pre-school aged dinosaur, the educational aspects and cool factor of the dinos themselves was enough to keep my seven year-old interested in the show.

On September 13-18 GPB will kick off Dinosaur Week with the launch of Dinosaur Train on September 13 with two special episodes at 9a.m. and 10:30 a.m. (regular time slot weekdays at 8:30 a.m.)

PBS Kids favorites like Curious George, Clifford the Big Red Dog, Barney and Friends and Sid The Science Kid will run special dinosaur-themed episodes throughout the week. Primetime shows begin September 13 with David Attenborough's "Living with Dinosaurs" at 8 p.m. The popular IMAX attraction, "Dinosaurs Alive!" will air on Wednesday, September 16 at 8 p.m.

Check out www.gpb.org/dinosaur-train and www.gpb.org/dinosaur-week

Needless to say, by the end of the event Isaiah had had an absolute ball. He got his face painted, made a paper dinosaur, rode the train, and got a balloon animal. He even got to eat a couple more doughnuts. Proclaiming as he always does when he’s having a really good time,

“This is the best day of my life!”

Little Entrepreneur

Having my son back home from summer vacation with the grandparents has been so great. Isaiah is at work with me this week and doing his best to keep himself entertained. He’s just decided that he wants to be an entrepreneur. He is selling paper airplanes to my co-workers for $1 each. And so far he’s sold two. His goal is to sell 10 by the end of the week. I taught him how to keep a record of his sales and the money he’s collected. He’s very excited about his entrepreneurial adventure.

Teaching Kids Fiscal Responsibility - ABC News

Isaiah and I appeared on Good Morning America in this segment on teaching your kids about money. Check us out!

Teaching Kids Fiscal Responsibility - ABC News

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The Meltdown

Okay….so the teacher just called to say that Isaiah was basically having a meltdown in class today. I myself could hear the screaming in the background. Not sure what set him off, but it made me kind of wonder if I do enough to help him understand and deal with his negative emotions in a positive way.

When a kid throws a tantrum so-to-speak like that it means that there is pent up anger and frustration that they don’t know how to properly express. I wonder if that’s my fault or is this just normal for a little kid who’s trying to deal in the world. I mean adults take prescription meds when they have difficulty coping. Also I'm a little freaked because I wonder if he's going to be overly emotional because he's being raised by a woman. And I'm also afraid that the tantrums will escalate into something more serious, the kind of acting out that's more serious. Advice please… help!

Stimulus Now!

Okay...I know that the campaign is over, but I am still fired up and ready to go! The partisan bickering that is delaying the passage of what I believe is a crucial piece of legislation is something I find deeply frustrating. I know that the bill isn't perfect, but there seems to be more yackity yack on Capitol Hill than working together to find a solution (big surprise there). So, I want to take this time to make sure that parents know what's at stack here (please see previous posts).

These are just some of the things related to helping our kids:

The funding and financing of school modernization and repair under this bill are of critical importance, as they will address a longstanding need for our nation’s educational infrastructure, create jobs in a time when they are sorely needed, and go directly to projects that can be started immediately.

Funding for education initiatives in this bill, including Title I funding, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Head Start and school construction, are essential to prepare both our children and our nation for the 21st century economy.

Funding for health care initiatives in this bill, including child care services, nutrition assistance programs, health care modernization efforts, preventive medicine efforts, and the protection and expansion of health care coverage in our nation, are necessary in order to care for those hardest hit by the current economic downturn and responsibly reform our outdated, exclusionary and expensive health care system.

**Info. courtesy of the National PTA.

PLEASE PARENTS GET INVOLVED! CALL YOUR LAWMAKERS. THIS IS YOUR MONEY AND YOUR KIDS' FUTURE!