Saturday, February 6, 2010

The Best Cookies in The Universe

I would like to introduce you to the best cookies in the universe:

My family purchases these cookies so much that Mohamed, owner of the Bodega we frequent, actually asked my dad yesterday:

"Are they really that good?"

Yes, Mohamed, they are really that good. What makes them so good? Well...
  • They are crunchy and chocolaty all at once
  • When you dip them in a hot beverage such as tea or coffee the chocolate melts in a pleasant way
  • When you put them the freezer they taste even more amazing then they normally do
Amazon.com loves them so much they apparently sell them in 12-packs



My son loves them too! Although we only allow him to have one as a treat occasionally. Because he goes insane after consuming sugar!

I hope you become as obsessed with these as I am!

Pediatric MRI Book

While I was waiting to have an MRI of my knee done, "Dr. Mint" discovered a curious board book in the waiting room. What on earth is a board book doing here? I thought to myself. We weren't at a children's library! We were waiting in a sterile waiting area for an enormous machine to scan my insides.

Dr. Mint held it up for me to see.


And here's a sample page:




I was truly baffled by this book. I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. I mean, it was really strange that someone actually took the time to make a children's book about MRIs. And it is also sad that there is a need for a children's book about MRIs. It means that kids are actually getting MRIs.

What are your feelings on the MRI board book?

To see the entire book, click here.

Old School/New School Mom Misson Statement

I was fooling around with my favorite free online image manipulation program Picnik and I created a mission statement.

With website:

Old School/New School Car

Last night, my son drove around his new car that Wilhelm (his dad) found on the street:



After he drove his new ride for a while, he returned to his tried and true friend, The Cozy Coupe. It seemed he believed that if he abandoned the Cozy Coupe, it would be upset. He tried to pay equal attention to both cars. Then it occurred to me! The Cozy Coupe is a "New School" car and the street car is an "Old School" car!

And so we return to the initial purpose of this blog (this one's for you Mike I. McClelland! who believes- correctly- that I have forgotten about my mission statement) which is integrating the old school concepts, objects and ideas with the new school concepts, objects and ideas.

Ari, here, shows us that we can love what is old and what is new. We don't have to choose.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Old School Car

One great thing came out of our terrible night at the Emergency Room, Wil found an awesome old school car on the street!

Right next to the garbage cans on a residential street sat this treasure. There were two other people standing on the street contemplating taking the car, but Wil beat them to it!

Ari is very grateful!

Thursday, February 4, 2010

Gimpy Mommy

Last night I went to one of my least favorite places in the universe: The Emergency Room. I came home from work, realized that I was in excruciating pain in my right knee and headed straight for the couch.

My son was running around destroying things but alas, I was too tired to stop him.



The phone rang while I was lying catatonic on my couch. It was my mom.
"My knee hurts," I complained. "I don't know what I did to it."
"Take a warm bath," the good Jewish mother advised.
"My bath tub is disgusting." I replied.
"Then put a cold pack on it and rest." She said with an enormous sigh.
"Okay..." I said, planning to do none of those things.

Within two minutes the door to my apartment opened and my mother was magically there. I should have realized, you cannot placate a Jewish mother.


She arrived with a package of frozen Edamame.


That's just how crazy she is, it wasn't even something normal like frozen brocolli. It was frozen soy beans. Anyway, she appeared holding frozen Edamame and insisted on putting it directly on my knee to help with the pain and swelling.

She also forced two large pillows under my legs. Thank G-d for her.

"Thank G-d for you mom," I said.
"Well," She began "I knew you weren't going to do it yourself!"

The phone rang again. It was my best friend Mint.

I call her "Dr. Mint" because she is a wealth of information on a variety of health topics. She also knows about 401ks. We went over my symptoms and she reminded me that my pain could be associated with the fact that my friend the Nuva Ring and I had parted ways recently. I was having tingling sensations in my legs and was told by my doc to stop the Nuva Ring. Then all of a sudden I had this stabbing pain in my knee.

Dr. Mint told me that she didn't want to freak me out, but it could be a blood clot I was dealing with. To make sure, I might want to call the 24-hour nurse hotline associated with my insurance. Well, despite her efforts, I freaked out at the mere mention of the words "blood clot" and called the number!

I spoke to a very nice nurse who had a crazy name that started with "Q." She didn't think it was a clot, but told me to see a doctor first thing in the AM.

Despite nurse Q's advice, I was still uneasy. So I called my doctor's emergency cell number. He told me to go to the ER immediately to make sure it wasn't a blood clot.

After several minutes of my boyfriend bitching and complaining about going to the ER for "nothing," he agreed to take me and we called my parents to babysit for our roving destroying toddler.

We spent over 10 hours in the ER with a bunch of nasty ill-tempered residents. There was one point where I asked this particular doctor (a one Dr. K.) if I could speak to her for a moment.
"What?!" She replied "I'm really busy. What is it?" And stared at me like I had five heads and a giant wart on my nose.

After this marathon stint at the ER, the fabulously talented hospital staff determined that I did not have blot clot, but most likely tore my ACL. They sent me home like this:

How am I supposed to take care of my kid with a cane and a leg brace the size of Texas?

This morning, my parents graciously offered to take him on a grandparents play date in Manhattan. He is going to see his friend Nelson!

Off they went to Manhattan! Now maybe I can get a little rest.

Toddler Headstands

Recently, my son has developed a fascination with standing on his head. Sometimes I do it with him.

I was thinking about going on craigslist and buying a used gymnastics mat to further his love of headstands and other acrobatics.

He's not the only toddler I've seen stand on his head! My friend Josina's son ( and Ari's friend) Nelson also loves to stand on his head! So I'm beginning to think this is a developmental thing.

I find this behavior fascinating since I (myself) am one of the most uncoordinated people alive. I laugh internally every time I think about the fact that I'm a "gym teacher" because I have no inherent athletic ability whatsoever.

But apparently my child has a penchant for gymnastics! Who knew?

Does your toddler stand on his head? Did your kids ever stand on their heads? Do you stand on your head?

Let me know!