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The Many Ways that Toddlers Play

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Toddlers are very interested in exploring their world. They haven’t yet developed the social skills that preschools use to play with other kids. Parents might wonder what their toddler is thinking when he or she starts playing with “boring” household objects. Here is some insight about what’s going on. Parallel Play One of the earliest ways for toddlers to be social with each other is through parallel play. One toddler sits on the floor next to a huge pile of cars and trucks. She selects one, and starts rolling it back and forth on the floor in front of her. … Continue reading →

Hitting the Pool with a Toddler

I used to think watching a naked toddler run around a swimming pool was cute. Of course, that was when it was my kid baring it all and not a stranger’s tot trotting around in his birthday suit relieving himself in the same water my family’s swimming in. Due to the serious nature of wading in a pool contaminated with human stool, it’s vital your toddler be clad properly. If your toddler is not potty trained you will want to invest in swim diapers before you head to the pool.  Regular diapers may fit snugly around his thighs and waist, … Continue reading →

Downtown Disney to Expand into Disney Springs

A few years after it announced and then scrapped plans to reformat Pleasure Island, the official Disney Parks blog has revealed that Downtown Disney is getting an upgrade.  A years-long project will transform Downtown Disney into Disney Springs, an even larger shopping and entertainment district. Downtown Disney is so popular with Florida residents and Disney World guests alike that it was time to expand.  Don’t worry about suddenly needing a ticket to get into the area: just like before, Disney Springs will be open to the public (though individual entertainment venues still might require tickets for entrance). Tom Staggs, the … Continue reading →

Special Tours at the Disney Parks

The Disney Parks are just so big that it seems like there will never stop being things to learn about them. New features and attractions are added all of the time.  Today we’re going to take a look at one unique aspect of the park: tours.  Disney World offers all sorts of special year-round and seasonal tours, but it also has something called the VIP tour. The VIP tour isn’t what it might immediately sound like: it’s not a special behind-the-scenes, comprehensive look at Disney World.  Instead, it’s a service that will transport you around the park to the attractions … Continue reading →

“Planes” Flying to Theaters in August

We can’t escape “Cars.”  The film, my least favorite of Pixar’s (well, technically “Cars 2” would win that dubious honor), continues to be so popular, mostly through merchandising, that Disney keeps putting it front and center.  The latest way in which the company is doing so is with a new movie, due out this August. The new film isn’t really a sequel or prequel to “Cars.”  It’s more of a related film in the same general universe.  The primary difference in “Planes” is evident in the title.  “Planes” will be about the world that goes on above that of the … Continue reading →

Living with Engineers: It’s All in the Timing

Another engineer’s wife and I were having a discussion about household chores yesterday.  We were bemoaning the fact that if we want our husbands to do something for us, we either need to tell them right away, or it won’t happen at all. The engineer’s mind is a constant one-way track of processing information.  It’s what makes them so brilliant and efficient: they zero in on a task, giving it their complete focus until it’s done.  I’m almost always thinking about other things while I’m working on something, which is why it can take me longer to achieve something with … Continue reading →

What To Do About Bullies

My son is being bullied at preschool nearly every day, in fact, almost all the kids are. This little boy is younger than all the other kids, and frankly isn’t even supposed to be in the preschool room, but was so hard to handle that they kicked him out of the toddler room and sent him in with the big kids hoping things would be better. Needless to say, they’re not. The teachers are getting beat up, the kids are getting beat up, and my son isn’t enjoying preschool the way he once was. Bullies are becoming more and more … Continue reading →

Manti Te’o and the Girlfriend that Wasn’t – Part 1

Oh, as if my Notre Dame Fighting Irish haven’t suffered enough indignities due to their National Championship romp by the Crimson Tide, now a scandal has surfaced involving one of it’s most popular football players. Manti Te’o, in case you don’t know, was the Irish star linebacker.  A senior, he was nominated for the Heisman Trophy (he lost to Johnny Football) and no doubt coming off an undefeated season, was looking forward to all the NFL had to offer. Then, the bruising at the championship.  As if that weren’t enough, Te’o is now the center of a hoax scandal.  Through … Continue reading →

Are There Such Things as Wifely Duties?

Yesterday a volunteering friend used the phrase “wifely duties.”  She did so somewhat in jest, but the phrase stuck with me.  I certainly think that I have duties to Jonathan, but I shudder at calling them wifely duties.  I don’t think these duties have anything to do with me being his wife, or rather, have anything to do with the fact that I’m the woman in the relationship. I’d like the phrases “spousal duties” or “partnerly duties,” better (if the latter was a real word).  I have certain duties to Jonathan because I am married to him, but gender roles … Continue reading →

The 1941 Walt Disney Animators Strike

The Walt Disney Corporation has such a good family-friendly image.  It really styles itself as an ideal place to work.  We can only imagine that things were even better in Disney’s golden era, when the man himself was still running things.  But that wasn’t always the case; in fact, in 1941 hundreds of Disney animators went on strike. The Business Insider has some fantastic photographs of and other images from the strike, and of the materials the strikers were circulating.  But it’s a bit lacking on the specific details of why animators would go on strike, especially so soon after … Continue reading →