Creepy Frickin' Toys

I really REALLY hate it when I hear Alina's singing/teaching dog toy say "Peekaboo! I see YOU!" from the toybox. THE TOYBOX. It's touch activated! No one is touching it in the toybox! This particular toy can say or sing about 20 different things. Does it sing Paddycake? No! Does it sing Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes? NO!! It says PEEKABOO, I SEE YOU.

Hey Chuckie, wanna play?

I work up the nerve to take the thing out of the toybox. You know, to see if it attacks. I grab it by the head, the only place to touch it without activating it, and place it on top of the toybox. It sits for a second and says in a singsong voice, "SOOOOO BIG!" What, are you mocking me, dog?! Are you insulting the fact that it took me about 5 minutes to decide whether or not to open the toybox? I huff and sit back in my chair. Then about 20 seconds later the dog comes at me again with "I LOVE YOU!" You can't fool me into a false sense of security, singing demon-pooch! I know you're evil.

Kidstmas Kards

Why do people insist on sending me pictures of their kid(s) in the form of a Christmas card? I didn't say "Holiday Card" because the Jews don't typically don't this. Who knows why? But just about every parent I know sends us a card with their kid dressed up. Doesn't matter if I see them once a month or once a year, it's always the children. The kids are typically dressed in fashionable sweaters/santa hats and are set in a winter or Christmas scene. Now, if you have an infant, I can see why you might do this. It's excusable. Some people perhaps haven't seen the baby yet and let's face it, new parents aren't much to look at. What, with the bags under their eyes and correlating double chins. But much older children are arriving in my mailbox every day. And all this really says to me is "Look, they're still alive!" or "I didn't feel like dressing myself."

What a Monday!

Without notice, a phone call, or a poster on the door, our daycare was shut down by the State yesterday. Apparently, the administrator kicked out an inspector because she claimed she was being harrassed back in September. They technically should have been closed since then and have been getting fined $500 a day for remaining open. When the employees found out this fine would also be charged to them, they all resigned. Phone calls were placed to people that were listed in the phone book. But we're on cells only so that didn't work for us and one other family. Katrina called me after waiting outside the daycare for 20 minutes, banging on the doors and windows, saying that they were closed. I called the office of family services and confirmed it. So we were scrambling to find another place that had availability, takes infants, is open 7am-7pm, doesn't have any pending violations, and does more than turn on the TV for stimulation. Luckily, we've found a decent placeholder for now. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles of our last place (swings, sandbox, garden, etc) but at least it's a little closer to Katrina's hospital. Unfortunately it costs more too. A wife, husband, and grandmother run this place that has anywhere from 3 to 6 kids depending on the day. Some are wee, some come after school. They playroom has a giant TV that takes up a big chunk of the space, but we're told it's off most of the day. Katrina asked about that specifically. Now we're trying to get some money back from the old place so we can pay these people. Although we're told a refund is coming, I'm concerned about the rubber content of the check. Would we go back if it reopens? Not sure. Katrina was a big fan of one of the employees that watched Alina from the morning until 3pm, Ms. Joyce. Who knows if she'll come back? I try to stay positive, telling ourselves that at this age she doesn't need anything high tech. Safety and stimulus are the main things. I figure we can request that certain games be played and that those friggin Teletubbies stay off the TV.