Bathroom access

For a while now - since my son has been able to crawl would be about the time started - there has been unfettered access to the bathroom in my house. This started off as pretty weird, because before kids, we generally respected each other's privacy in this realm. But Ethan sniffed us out - sorry, bad word choice there - while we were in the bathroom.

Without getting too graphic, an adult, like me, would be sitting/reading on the toilet and in would walk a little midget person grunting - okay again poor word choice - and blurting toddler sounds.
Even with these disruptions, we've rarely locked - or even closed, sometimes - the bathroom door, so when someone is in the shower or using the bathroom for any reason, the kids like to push the door open to see what's going on. For some reason, the bathroom is an exciting place for them to be, perhaps because the kids can sense that things that happen there are supposed to be private.

Now, Alison, who is 1 1/2, has discovered the joys of the faucet - by standing on the little wooden stepstool - and she likes to run the water and stick things like toys and spoons (and yesterday a plastic baggie filled with Goldfish) beneath it. This usually causes a watery mess on the counter and floor, but at least she's not crying. (This seems to be a common philosophy around here lately.)

In the meantime, we need to start having conversations with Ethan, who turns 4 in April, about "privacy." He's heard the word before, and he even knows what it means - he says, for instance, that he wants privacy when he watches a movie sometimes - but we haven't exactly done a good job explaining the idea in the context of the bathroom. We've just been lazy about it. But it's time. There have already been some embarrassing moments. We're not looking for any new ones.

Cabin Fever Ale

Think of the Berkshires. Think of a good amber ale. Combine the two.

Berkshire Brewing Company's Cabin Fever Ale ranks highly with the Basses, Sam Adamses and Harpoons of the world.

Too bad it is only seasonal and doesn't come in six or 12 packs. Plus, if you don't live in New England, it's probably impossible to get.

fhttp://www.berkshirebrewingcompany.com/cabinfever.html

You can never have too many Matchbox cars

When it comes to buying toys, I have all but launched an ultimatum around here that, if we buy new ones, or even accept toys as gifts, we must, for every one that we get, throw at least one away/donate it. Our house, like the houses of many parents of young children, is very easily overrun with balls, little people, dolls, puzzles, books, blocks, stuffed animals and other kid stuff. You clean one room completely and it's wrecked 7 minutes later.

So we have to control the intake of toys.

But when it comes to Matchbox cars, there's always an exception to buy one, or five, more.

I have this weakness because I remember them so fondly from my childhood - and I still think they're cool. The crazy thing is, of course, my son, who is not yet 4, has dozens more than I did at 8. I think at some point my mother made me earn them - "if you go to the doctor today and he gives you a shot, you can get a car - out of your allowance. Meanwhile, I'm way more lenient:"If you eat half your breakfast today, we can go to Target today to buy that cool Matchbox car race track! C'mon, hurry up, let's go, I'll help you eat your cereal..."

When I was the age at which boys play with Matchbox cars, or HotWheels or even lesser known brands, for that matter, there was a store in Bristol, where I grew up, Playtown, which had some totally awesome toys. They had many, many varieties and models of cars, plus Godzilla figures (Godzilla-King Kong was big then), LEGOS, bikes, real guns (which I never figured out) and Star Wars action figures. I remember crying once when I did not get Luke Skywalker because my parents claimed that Santa might bring it. I think he did end up bringing it, but I was scarred nonetheless; it was too late.


Getting a new Matchbox car was a cause for genuine celebration. I added the new shiny car next to my fleet of cars that had been run over by my dad's car in the driveway, and cars I wrote in black marker on. I kept my cars in a carrying case. A lot of kids did back then. We showed off our modest collections.

Now, there needs to be no good reason to purchase cars, basically, and if this is the biggest problem we have, so be it. (It's not, by the way. It's just my way of justifying it.) And they have cool cars now - Land Rovers, retro 70s Chevy vans, a blue Mini Cooper hardtop, an Audi TT convertible, a white Ford convertible concept car, and of course a full assortment of emergency vehicles, most of which lost their ladders and moving parts.

When I look at these cars, as my son is crashing them into each other or leaving them outside in the rain, I still inspect their interiors, with their tiny steering wheels and bucket seats, stick shifts and tiny tires. I push them down the rug if we're inside and make revving sounds. Ethan likes when I do this. Alison, who is a year and a half now, is starting to make siren noises. It's good imaginative play. And the cars themselves are cheap, still around $1. Not that I need any other reasons to justify purchasing them.

I can think of plenty more, though.

Musical cards

The idea that cards now have music - and cost $6 - is an intriguing thing. You'd think people wouldn't spend that kind of money on one card, particularly in this awful economy. But then you stop for a few minutes in the card aisle at the grocery store or CVS and listen to "All Night Long" by Lionel Richie, which I listened to today, and so you say, "Screw it, I'm buying that card" - even if you don't give it to anybody.

My son Ethan happens to like these cards. Too much. He can stay in the music card area for 20 minutes and look inside every one multiple times. He's not really good about putting the cards back where they belong. Alison, who is one and a half, also likes music cards. She picked one out today for mommy for Valentine's Day that she refused to let go of when the cashier asked for it. She held in during the whole car ride home, opening and closing the card about 25 times, so it'll be a miracle if it still works come Saturday.

You have to hand it to Hallmark, though. Pretty smart company. They purchase a huge display with the music cards - and put it in a much more prominent place than the regular cards with actual sentiments. And suckers like me, who like music and have little kids who like music, keep buying them.

Six dollars is pricey for a card, but they are cool. I have one on my desk at work that has a picture of Steve Carrell of the Office talking about "reverse psychology."

'Reverse psychology is an awesome tool. I don’t know if you guys know about it, but basically you make someone think the opposite of what you believe and that tricks them into doing something stupid. Works like a charm."


More cards with sounds/music:
http://www.hallmark.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/article%7C10001%7C10051%7C/HallmarkSite/GoldCrownStores/lp_songcards%7Cstores

Watch Scrubs

Last night's two Scrubs episodes had some of the best lines in the series' history.

"She has girl balls" - Bob Kelso

Watch for free.

http://abc.go.com/primetime/scrubs/index?pn=index

I LEGO N.Y.

I wish I could think of stuff like this.

http://niemann.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/02/02/i-lego-ny/?em