It’s 8:45 am on Monday as I write this and we’re just starting to feel the impact of Hurricane Sandy here in Northern NJ. NYC is pretty much shut down, no school, no subways/buses or trains, no Stock Exchange either!
The winds are starting to pick up here and I’m watching the trees in our neighborhood swaying left and right, kind of like they are taking a bow after a performance. The rain is just starting to fall.
With Halloween just one week away, I went through the kidlets’ bookshelf to pull out some books to get us all in a spooky mood. I broke out “Clifford’s Halloween,” “The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat,” “Froggy’s Halloween” (my son is totally into the Froggy book collection) and even the Peanut’s classic “It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” I put them all front and center on their bookshelf in our living room, but the book they keep pulling out, time and time again, and asking mom, dad or anyone else to read them is the “Monster Mash” book I bought last year at the Hallmark store.
If you live in the NYC metro area – as I do – you’ve undoubtedly seen it on the news. It’s a terrifying story that’s been the lead on the local TV news, newspapers and websites for the past two weeks. As of this post, there have been an alarming nine “luring” attempts of elementary and high school students in Northern New Jersey area.
Towns, schools and local police have done a good job about getting the word out about these attempts, sketches of the suspect(s) and suggestions on how to talk to your kids about it.
Last week I wrote about “Boo at the Zoo” and the Halloween-themed family activities that you can enjoy there, but the Bronx Zoo isn’t the only place where families can enjoy some scary fun! Only running this weekend and next, The New York Aquarium will celebrate Halloween with their swashbuckling “Ascarium” celebration.
Next week my little girl turns three! Though she started ballet and she’s going to be Cinderella this Halloween, she isn’t really a girly-girl. She loves to be rough-and-tumble like her big brother, has no fear of climbing rock walls either on our swing set out in the yard or over at the playground and for weeks now, she’s been doing her own version of Tae Kwon Do (I definitely see a Black Belt in her future!).
I’m thankful that she’s not a child who is captivated by TV. Yeah, she likes “Yo Gabba Gabba” as much as any other pre-schooler, but after watching a few minutes she usually gets antsy and moves on to do something else. One of her all-time favorite things to do is to sit down, snuggle with mommy, daddy, her nana, her aunts, her uncles, her brother, her nursery school teachers or the nanny and read books. LOTS of them!
With Election 2012 just 21 days away, the Presidential debate taking place tonight and today being the general election voter registration deadline in several states — including my home state of NJ, all of America is buzzing about politics.
On a daily basis The Hubs and I discuss politics in our house, partly because it’s his job but also because we deeply care about what direction this country is headed towards. While my three-year old daughter seems oblivious to our conversations, my kindergarten son is starting to pick up on what we’re talking about. When we’re driving in the car he’ll ask me questions that refer back to something The Hubs and I discussed either that day, the day before or sometimes even a week earlier!
My son is now at that age that he is totally into all things LEGO®. At the age of five, he’s graduated from his pre-school Duplos (which he has kindly given to his little three-year-old sis) and has moved into full-on building mode with his Hero Factory robots, villains and monsters and more recently, building his very own far, far away galaxy with LEGO® Star Wars.
The past few weeks in my household have been nothing less than hectic. Between major projects and late hours at work for both me and The Hubs, getting in the habit of daily “homework” with my kindergarten son, ballet class for my daughter, weekend soccer games and my father being ill and in the hospital – we frankly haven’t had much “family fun-time” as of late.
Thankfully, that will all change when we take the kidlets back to the Bronx Zoo’s Boo at the Zoo and totally start to get into the Halloween spirit!
First there were The Carpenters. Then, Donny and Marie. Now it’s my kidlets turn as rock’s newest brother & sister musical sensation: J&J…….!
Quick, Clive Davis, Jay Z or Dr. Luke – you better sign them up quick for a huge record deal before they go global!
My kids got to party like rock stars when mom broke out the Kidz Bop® new line of role play toys including the Glammerati Pop Star Electric Guitar, Mini Melody Microphone, Light UP Hair Extensions and LumeFX Maxi Star for an impromptu musical concert in our living room. The Kidz Bop Glammerati Pop Star product line includes instruments, dress-up accessories and makeup.
