Life No comments yet

American Girl Doll Jess

By on January 21st, 2012

For my birthday, I bought a doll. An absolutely ridiculous gift for an adult, but also perfect. All of my childhood, dolls looked like Barbie : blonde, blue – eyed, Caucasian. So when I encountered a little Amer – Asian doll, I knew I had to bring her home.
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Jess McConnell was the Girl of the Year in 2009. Her American Girl story is that her mother is of Japanese heritage, and father of Irish heritage. They’re both archaeologists, and American. And the family is going to spend a year in Belize.

I began stalking the eBay auctions. These American Girl dolls are pricey, even used! It seems the least expensive dolls, in good condition, sell for about $76, without any accessories. Those with accessories, often go for over $100, which is more than a new doll. Hands down, the Jess doll is the most frivolous thing I have ever wanted for my birthday, as an adult.

Oddly enough, women seem very understanding about this. And even DH, who often looks baffled by female behavior, didn’t appear surprised. My very practical sister in law said that she would like to have one too.

I bid on a doll after Christmas, and won her. She arrived early, on my actual birthday. And amazingly USPS delivered her to our house, instead of to a neighbor. She came with her pet monkey, passport, notebook, purse, two bathing suits, and her meet outfit.

We call her Jessie. DD7 and DD1 love her. DD7 is crazy about the bathing suits, which she puts on Kanani and Jessie most of the time. DD1 is most interested in brushing the dolls hair. (And her own, and mine.)

We’re really having a good time with the dolls.

Books No comments yet

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

By on January 21st, 2012

Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, I read because I was interested in the motivation behind Asian parenting. The author, Amy Chua, refers to her parenting style as Chinese. But to me, the parenting style is more inclusive.

As it turns out, the book is famous, and controversial. And somehow I missed hearing about it. I just stumbled on it in the e-library.

Our family had Chinese and Korean American friends growing up. I knew that we would only ever see them at functions that included the whole family, once per week or less often. I knew that for them, piano lessons were mandatory. And so were Chinese language lessons. (I don’t remember if my Korean American friends had language school.) I thought Chua’s book might tell me why, what thinking made piano better than sports.

Chua argues that the most important thing that she can do for her children is to help them to succeed, driving them, nagging them, and chastising them if necessary. She goes to great lengths to take her daughters to the best instructors, and ensure that they practice, study and obey. While not offended by her practices like some readers and friends (that she mentions in her epilogue) I’m far less extreme.

As a non Chinese mother, I have no interest in arguing with my children for hours about school, Chinese lessons or anything else. It’s not because I think it’s ok for them to be lazy failures. I just have a more moderate (Western) approach. I think they need to do well in school, and make certain homework gets done. I think children need positive extracurricular activity. I just don’t think that it has to be painful or needs to exclude playdates.

Though I do not subscribe to extreme parenting, I found the theories fascinating. Definitely an interesting read.

Health No comments yet

Christmas Flu Season

By on January 5th, 2012

We spent most of winter break 2011 sick with the flu.  Either we had.  Or friends and family had it, seriously limiting playdates.

We celebrated Christmas early, on the 17th, a Saturday.  Someone brought germs. DD1 was extremely fussy Monday evening.  In the wee hours of Tuesday morning she woke screaming with a fever of 104.  I gave her some medicine, which brought her temperature down.  But didn’t help with the fussiness.  And she was seriously congested.  There was no going back to sleep.

She stayed miserable and developed a red eye.  We were up all night again.  Wednesday, we went to the pediatrician, who confirmed a nasty virus and conjunctivitis (pink eye).  Giving a one year old stinging eye drops three times per day in each eye is a miserable task.  DH helped.

I got sick next. This surprised nobody since I’d been up all night with a sick baby for two nights in a row.  DH tried to help me at night so that I could sleep.  But DD1 wasn’t having it.  During the day, while healthy, she thinks him a rock star.  At 2:00 AM, with a fever, she wanted mommy.  I got a 104 fever too, and now understand why flu can actually kill elderly people.  I haven’t been so miserably sick for years.

DD7 did not get sick, which is fantastic for her health.  Unfortunately, she was bored to tears being stuck in the house with all of us sick people.  DH got sick last.  And he, DD1 and I still have lingering sore throat and congestion.

I need to remember this next year, and actually get the flu shot, instead of thinking that I will, but forgetting.  DD7 got the flu mist.  DD1 got something else, because she is younger.  DH and I did nothing.  Not a smart move.

Sewing No comments yet

First 18 Inch Doll Dress

By on January 5th, 2012

This is the first dress that I made for Kanani. In the typical way of children DD7 began to lament, almost immediately, that Kanani had only one dress. So I whipped one up quickly, lest she lose interest and stop reading.

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I just printed a free tee shirt pattern, two actually, to get an idea of the size and arm shape. Then I drew what I wanted on a sheet of paper and used it as the pattern. It came out shorter than I meant for it to be. So we’ve decided that it can be a top or bathing suit cover up.

The fabric was originally a dress of DD1, which fit poorly. So I recycled it into doll clothing. It was a fun project because I was able to finish it before the girls had a meltdown. I didn’t have to put everything away and get it out again later.

DD7 hasn’t done a lot of sewing. She doesn’t want to cut the fabric. I asked her to try, being careful not to cut her hands. And she got worried that she’d make a mistake and ruin the dress.

I explained that it is just fabric. More fabric is available. Just don’t snip yourself. But she didn’t want to cut fabric. Instead she snipped loose threads after I sewed. I showed her how to assemble the pieces and line them up with 1/4 inch seam allowance for doll clothes, 5/8 inch being standard for children’s clothing.

She had good questions. And she was able to tell me what I was doing and why when we got to the same steps on the velvet dress. So the informal lessons are going well.

Family 2 comments

American Girl Dolls

By on January 4th, 2012

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When I first heard that American Girl Dolls cost $100, I couldn’t believe anyone would buy them. I thought it was the most outrageously expensive toy. And I couldn’t come up with any type of scenario in my head that would justify such a purchase. Really, just how educational could they be?

And then, I heard parents and children extol the virtues of the dolls. Again. And again and again.

Hmmm. Finally, my most practical friend, said she had purchased one doll for each of her daughters. This friend proudly refers to herself as cheap. I stared in disbelief. She said the girls read all of the books.

As a parent, I am not above material goods as a form of motivation, within reason. Most particularly motivation to read.

And so I began researching the dolls. The quality, price, social aspects. We live in an ordinary middle class suburb. Every little girl seems to have one of these expensive dolls. And, turns out,  I like the dolls. Oh, the horror.

DD7 gets one for her birthday. Kanani, a little girl from Hawaii. We have tea at American Girl Place. DD7 gets the dog. And all she wants for Christmas is stuff for her doll.

I’m teaching her to sew the doll clothes. She had no interest in constructing  clothing for human beings. She’d leave that to me. But for Kanani, that is different, interesting, fun.

And she’s reading the books. All of them. We own two. The library has 74. She’s read about one per week since November.

Yeah, anything that gives me a positive activity with my daughters, and promotes reading is a good investment to me.

And they’re cute. Even I couldn’t resist.