How to Make an Anglofile...?

I have no qualms admitting that I am an Anglofile. I love just about everything that has to do with our Imperial cousins. And so, as any mother would wish, I would love it if Ophelia wound up loving England as I do, so that we can share this love for many years together. So this begs the question-do I let my daughter decide if she likes all things British herself, or do I "brainwash" her from an early age to love Jane Austen, Downton Abbey, Colin Firth and of course, Harry Potter? Is that even brainwashing if it's awesome?

Growing up, most kids at some point feel like their parents are pushing them to like or pursue things that either they liked or did, or what they themselves wished they could do when they were growing up.  This isn't necessarily a bad thing as sometimes it just makes sense. For example, I wanted to be in band, so I was encouraged/made to play the trumpet since my dad did and they had a trumpet. Band, and playing trumpet, turned out to be pretty much the only thing that I liked about high school. Sometimes a dad loves a particular sport and naturally wants his son to play that sport so that they can have something in common. If the son wants to play sports anyway, a push in one direction isn't a bad thing.

But when is it a bad idea? I think sometimes it's obvious if you are making your kid do something they hate or despise. But what about when it comes to what they like? Can you "brainwash" them at a young age to have the same interests as you? And if you can, is that okay? Obviously it's impossible not to influence your child at all- you will inherently be a part of their lives, and they will see and experience what you expose them to. How far can a parent go though? Is over-exposing your kid to something at a young age brainwashing or is it just a natural part of growing up?

Basically, what I'm getting at is, is it bad that I hold my daughter while standing five feet away from our 44" TV and watch Downton Abbey for an hour? Or is that too much?

Because I've done this multiple times now. She wants to be held. I want to watch Downton Abbey. So I hold her, while I watch, and she is mesmerized, and inside I am bursting with excitement when I think about how we will watch Jane Austen movies together when she's 5 and how much fun we will have together when she is older reading great British novels and enjoying BBC miniseries together. Am I naive to think that I can shape and mold her interests this easily? Or, is it really that easy?

~

On a related note: no, my left arm is not ridiculously bigger than my right, although one would think that holding a 22 pound child for hours on end would build up certain muscles. Sadly, after two children that needed to be held a lot, I have found this not to be the case. My arm and back, instead, suffer greatly from extended holding of said heavy children. However, I wouldn't trade that for anything :)

Wasabi for Two

Tonight I went to game night at the Sonnenberg's which was wonderful because I feel like I haven't gone in over a month.  Unfortunately, it was just me, Karen and Gary, but we were able to play 4 games.  I didn't learn any new ones but the last game we played was Wasabi, one of my new favorites.  I have only ever played this game with three or four people but tonight, just Gary and I played it. I can't decide if I liked it with two players or not. On the one hand, it was way easier to complete all of your recipes without anyone messing you up or completely ruining your game plan. On the other hand, it almost seemed too easy to complete all your recipes because there was almost no challenge. It's not that I wouldn't play with two players again, but I think I prefer playing with a bit more of a challenge (or maybe Gary and I were just way too nice to each other!).  I won, so maybe playing with two isn't so bad!

What I Learned: Playing Wasabi with two players is not as fun or challenging as with three or four players. On the other hand, it is nice to play with two if you aren't in the mood to be frustrated at other players for screwing you up!

VACATION!!!!

For the sake of time (and for fear of boring you), I will try to summarize this as quickly as possible.

Jared, Blake and my dad planned to go to Michigan on a fishing trip the first weekend of May to Jared's family's cabin. I wanted to come along with Avery initially but seeing as it will be two weeks from my due date and after the whole Georgia "vacation" debacle, I decided it would be more trouble than it was worth for me to go. My in-laws have been trying to convince me to come along so they can see me and Avery at the cabin while the men are fishing. Then today, Charmaine emailed me with some wonderful ideas and this is what was decided:

We are leaving on Thursday to drive to MI. I will be dropped off in Lansing at my best friend Mollie's house while Ken, Blake, Jared and Avery continue on to Flint. On Friday, they will all drive up to the cabin while I stay at Mollie's. On Sunday morning, Mollie, Matt, Lucy and I will head up to the cabin to join everyone else and stay until Monday evening. Then Mollie's family will head back to Lansing and we will head back to Flint, eventually heading for home on Tuesday. This means that a)I get to see Mollie, b)I get two days to RELAX FOR REAL while Avery is up at the cabin with everyone else and c)I still get to go to the cabin (because I do really like going).

The only bad thing is that I have never been away from Avery that long and hope that he is okay (and that I'm okay!) with being away from me for two days. But, if I'm ever going to take a break (and the clock's ticking so I don't have much time left before baby #2 arrives and I will be without a break for awhile again), what better situation to leave him in than in the care of three of his grandparents, both of his godparents and his father at a cabin, especially when Avery's favorite thing on earth right now is to play outside?

Thanks Charmaine for thinking of such a wonderful idea :)

What I Learned: Avery and I are going to go to MI after all and I will get a real break for two days!

Gary's Gallop

This morning, Afton, Neal and Blake all ran in Gary's Gallop, which is an annual 5k race held at Greenfield Park.  Now I don't remember the exact numbers, but Neal and Blake finished 4th and 5th I think (don't know which one was which).  Afton, who to my knowledge has never run a race before, finished in the middle of the pack.  I am so jealous of the fitness of my siblings!  Go Millers!

I, on the other hand, will never be able to physically run a 5k (due to actual medical issues with my lungs where I can't run more than 20 feet without feeling like I'm going to die).  At least I was athletic in high school, right...?

What I Learned: My siblings did very well at Gary's Gallop.

My smart cousin

Tonight I had practice for LAC and remembered that this coming Sunday is when we are going to Chicago to sing at the Rockefeller Chapel at the University of Chicago for their Sunday morning worship service. When I first found out about this performance, I called my cousin Laura who goes to school there to see if she could come for the service. She didn't know at the time if she would be able to come because it was a few months in advance. Well I just remembered that I hadn't talked to her about it since, and now it's in a few days! So I called her on the way home from choir and found out that of course, her department is having a conference this weekend that she's presenting at and won't be around at all :( It's funny that we finally are making it down to Chicago and of course Laura is busy being smart and awesome :) Oh well. Now we just have another reason to go to Chicago this summer to visit her!

What I Learned: Laura can't come to my choir performance on Sunday because she's presenting at a conference for her department.

Yogee

Today, Blake played "yogee" in Words with Friends. As I did a few days ago, I looked up this "word" in the dictionary but it wasn't in there! So I asked Blake what it meant and he said it was in the urban dictionary and he thinks its a term for a white guy who raps. According to urbandictionary.com, the definition of yogee is: "White kids who act like they are black gangster rappers. Less offense form of wigger." Hahaha. I guess I need to start using the urban dictionary or more slang words in Words with Friends...either that or Blake can start using real words!


My next question is, how on earth does Blake know that term?


What I Learned: I learned what "yogee" means, as well as the fact that Blake apparently has a wide vocabulary of slang words that are accepted in Words with Friends.

Fried Turkey

Happy Easter!

Today, everyone came over to our house for Easter. Ken recently purchased a turkey fryer for the dual purpose of frying turkeys and using the equipment for brewing with Jared. He decided to fry his first turkey for Easter. So he got an 18 pound turkey. The oil took about an hour to heat up to the right temperature, but once the oil was heated up, the turkey only took one hour to cook! Amazing. On top of that, we used the oil afterwards to fry potatoes to make some homemade fries. Hmmm.  The turkey was really good, especially all the really crispy bits. Next time though, Ken's going to try to put a rub on the turkey for added flavor, and we need to cook the potatoes for longer (we were hungry and got tired of waiting). I can't wait!

What I Learned: It only takes one hour to fry a turkey.

House

This morning I received a call from my brother. He informed me that he, my dad, and sister were on their way to look at the house that my dad is putting an offer on. If I wanted to see it, I should meet them there. So I met Neal, Afton and Ken at  the house, which is on 94th,  a block south of Schlinger Ave in West Allis. The house is a 3-bedroom ranch with a full, mostly finished basement. The house overlooks Lafollette Park and is on a really quiet street. While there are certainly things that can be updated, the house is move-in ready. It even has an awesome sun-room that was built off the back of the house and a fenced in backyard, which will make it easier for Avery to play in :)

I really liked the house and hope that my dad gets it. The thing is, it's a foreclosed home and the bank is just taking offers until the 30th and will then just take the best offer, so it's all just a guessing game as my dad won't know how many people are putting in a bid or what they are bidding. Pray that he gets the house!

What I Learned: What the house looks like that my dad is trying to buy.

Bananagrams

Tonight, I learned how to play Bananagrams. My in-laws just gave it to us for Easter, so we decided to try it out. It is so much fun! Jared thought he would suck at it but he was surprisingly amazing and we were just in a race to keep up with him the whole time. I like that you can play with any number of people (we've only done it with three, but Jared and I could easily play together or we could play with 6, etc) and that it involves both speed and skill. It is definitely a fun game.

What I learned: How to play Bananagrams.

Shangri-La and Don Quixote

Tonight Jared and I went to the Sonnenbergs to play games. It was just the four of us and we were able to learn two new games. The first one was called Don Quixote and was basically a tile laying game where each person had the exact same tiles and they had to be placed on your own boards. I was really good at this game and apparently got one of the highest scores ever on my first game. Gary then challenged us to a rematch since he did so poorly the first time. The second time, the scores were a lot more even but I still prevailed. The great thing about this game is that it was quick to learn and to play as well as involving skill. I really want this game now.

The second game we learned was called Shangri-la. This also was a tile placement game but was slightly more complicated and involved more strategy, but since none of us had played it before, none of us really knew the strategy yet. This game was also fun and with four, still didn't take very long (about an hour). One of the best things about the game was probably the names of some of the tiles. My favorite one: The Yeti Whisperer.

What I Learned: How to play Don Quixote and Shangri-La

Muscle Memory

Since yesterday was such a nightmare for me and Avery, I decided to call my cousin to see if we could come over for a few hours just so I could get out of the house. I didn't want to drive to Snellville at all, but realized that the drive would afford me 2 less hours at the house, as well as the hours I would spend at Mandy's. Thankfully, Mandy and Brandon were available, so we headed over. I stopped and got Chick-fil-A for lunch first and then spent a few hours there playing Euro games. Avery had fun playing with a giant bin filled with old Happy Meal toys and watching Sesame Street. It was awesome.

I realized when I left Bill's that I hadn't been to GA in a little over two years, and even that time, I flew in, so I didn't do any driving. I wondered if I would need to look at a map to remember the best way to get to my cousin's house. But I soon realized that driving in Atlanta is kind of like muscle memory. As soon as I started, I knew which way to go and remembered as I went along. This may sound silly to those of you who are not from Atlanta, but Atlanta is not laid out in any way that makes sense, and it's about 10 times the size of any city in Wisconsin, so you really have to know your way around to get anywhere and none of the roads go north-south or east-west. There are many winding roads with many turns everywhere; there is never a straightforward way of getting to any one place.

Needless to say, I made it there easily after years of being away. I definitely prefer driving in Wisconsin and don't miss Atlanta at all still. I also realized that I have no desire to ever go to Snellville  again (except to visit my cousin of course!). I have no nostalgia for that place. I am so glad I left.

What I Learned: Driving in Atlanta is like muscle memory for me.

Appalling Statistics

I was reading an article in Time today and learned some frightening statistics. In the U.S. 41% of all children are now born out of wedlock and the number raises to 53% if you are a woman under 30. So over half of all children born to mothers under 30 are out of wedlock. Seriously, this is a problem. I guess I am now a minority.

What I learned: More babies are born out of wedlock to women under 30 than our born to married couples.

Possible Road Trip

My dad called me today to let me know that he is most likely driving down to Georgia next Thursday and wanted to know if Avery and I were interested in coming along. He is going to help his best friend Bill and my brother Sam move. Now I obviously can't help move really but it would be a great opportunity for me to go and see my friends before baby #2 arrives as the next time I can go to Georgia will most likely be more than a year and a half from now. I haven't been in two years so I want to go and see my friends but am dreading the idea of 15 hours or more in the car with Avery. I think I convinced Jared to take off work to come along as it will make it easier for me and it will be a nice break for us together, assuming we don't have to help move 24-7 while we're down there. We shall see.

What I learned: I have an opportunity to go to Georgia next week.

Blue Moon City

Tonight I went over to the Sonnenberg's for game night and learned another new game: Blue Moon City. This game involves dragons and crystals, and has really cool illustrated cards. The game was really easy to learn and had a straightforward concept, as well as being really fun to play. I really like finding games that don't take an hour to teach and multiple hours to play. While there are plenty of games like that that I really love (Agricola, for example), there's just something nice about being able to play a fun game that only lasts an hour and that can really easily be taught.

What I learned: How to play Blue Moon City.

Sublime

Tonight we were playing a rousing game of Trivial Pursuit for my mom's birthday and the question was thus: What happens to a solid when it sublimes?

I have never heard this term before. I mean, I have heard of the word sublime, of course, but always as a noun or adjective, but not in this context (as a verb). So I was surprised to hear the answer: that it turns into a gas. Upon further research I found that the exact definition states that not only does the solid turn to gas upon heating without ever liquefying, but it also implies that it then turns back into a solid upon cooling. How have I never heard this before? Then I remember who I had for a chemistry teacher in 10th grade and am no longer surprised.

What I learned: When a solid sublimes, it turns into a gas when heated and turns back into a solid when cooled.

Military Honors

Today I attended my Uncle Harold's funeral. It was a really nice service and afterwards some of the family headed to the cemetery in the funeral procession. At the cemetery, we were met by two military men so that they could perform military honors. According to my grandparents, you have to call and request that this be done and you have several options. You can have someone play taps, have a gun salute, fold and present the flag, etc. They decided to just have the flag presented to my grandpa (Harold was his brother). But there was already an American flag folded on his coffin at the church. I was confused by this because I thought that the flag would be folded by the military men at the cemetery. When the ceremony began at the cemetery, the soldiers took the flag off the coffin and ceremoniously unfolded it, then refolded it, then presented it to my grandpa. I'm not sure if this is normal practice (that's not what they show in the movies!), but I  got the impression that it was. I guess I just assumed that they would arrive with an unfolded flag and just fold it upon arrival. I guess this looked better and was more formal anyway.

What I learned: You can request what specific form of military honors you have performed at a veteran's funeral; also the ceremony of folding the flag also consists of unfolding it first.

The Nutritional Merits of Jell-O?

Recently, my mom and I have had several conversations about the nutritional value of Jell-O. My mom thinks it's healthy for you (I think her exact quote was, "It's filled with protein!") and I do not. Now, this isn't to say that I don't like Jell-O or think it's terrible for you or don't eat it myself, because I really like Jell-O. I just think that we have very different ideas of what "healthy" means in this case, so I decided to do some research and this is what I found.

Daily recommended intake of protein:
women-46 grams
infants-10 grams

Daily recommended intake of sugar:
women-20 grams
children-12 grams
(these numbers are confusing because on the same website it said that your daily intake of added sugars should be 40 grams or less, and then it says that the American Heart Association states that you should only have 20 grams of sugar a day, so I'm not sure which numbers to go with).

Jell-O has 2 grams of protein and 19 grams of sugar per serving. I think it's fair to say that the amount of sugar contained in Jell-O overrides the fact that it has 2 grams of protein in it. Again, there are WAY worse things for you to eat, and I am not advocating not eating Jell-O. I just think that choosing to give Avery meat for his protein intake instead of offering him Jell-O is probably the way to go :) Sorry, Mom!

What I learned: Jell-O has a LOT of sugar in it and not much else.

Uncle Haircut

This morning I found out that my Great-Uncle Harold passed away. He had suffered from Alzheimer's for a few years and had come down with pneumonia again, so his passing wasn't unexpected. While a great-uncle might seem like a distant relation, we were closer to him since we saw him as often as we saw our grandparents growing up. My mom grew up calling him Uncle Haircut, a name we continued to call him as children. While he was no longer himself at the end, I will still always remember him in his immaculately kept garden in St Paul. You will be missed, Uncle Harold, but we know you are finally at home in heaven.

What I learned: My Uncle Harold passed away this morning.

No Sleep

Last night, Avery had a really bad night. I think he is coming down with something as he was having problems breathing. This resulted in Jared and I not getting any sleep whatsoever. We were supposed to go to church and sing for choir as well as have practice for motet choir but we were zombies. Thankfully, my wonderful mother said she would watch Avery so Jared and I could go back to bed and actually sleep (who on earth knows how Avery was awake and functioning!). We each slept about 3.5 hours and then got up. It made me remember back to my college days when I could easily pull all-nighters and function completely normally. Now I am not only ridiculously tired if I don't get enough sleep (which actually is almost every night anyway) but I seriously am incapable of functioning, thinking straight, etc. I felt so old that I could no longer just pull it together. Thank God my mom could watch Avery so we could at least get some sleep, otherwise, I'm sure my son would have been in danger if I had to watch him! I'm hoping this doesn't happen tonight again...

Sam's Club

Jared and I buy a lot of organic food, especially produce. Awhile ago, my dad bought a family membership at Sam's Club, giving us the second card, so we could save some money. We were only there for a little bit and I didn't see anything organic there, and since Pick n' Save is just two blocks from our house, we usually just go there to grocery shop since they have a wide selection of organic food (in fact, Roundy's brand often is the only organic option available, which is great because it's generic so the organic is oftentimes cheaper than the regular brand name option).

Yesterday we went to my dad's house for the day and he had these giant containers of salad from Sam's club that were organic. This is the exact kind of salad we usually buy at Pick n' Save. Apparently they do have organic food there, I just didn't see it. So since we need to go grocery shopping anyway, Jared and I are going to go to Sam's Club tomorrow to see what else they have. It would be great if we could save more money on food!

What I learned: Sam's Club sells organic food.