Mommy of Many®

Math Blaster! The great people at Knowledge Adventure have opened a new world your kids can blast into! I’ve had the fun and privilege of working with these great people on several occasions and the kids have always loved what they saw. So when I was asked to review Math Blaster I said “Yes!”. I was given a 6 month, complimentary membership, logged in to create my “Blaster” and to get started exploring what was out there. Ummmm…one problem-I couldn’t figure out how to move! I clicked and clicked and rolled over my Blaster and couldn’t get it to do anything! I finally decided to wait till the kids were home to ask how they move around when they’re on JumpStart (figuring the same actions would apply to both worlds). It appears that I truly don’t know the FIRST THING about online games-how to move. When I asked the kids I received 3 voices, talking over the top of each other and giving advice. My problem? I wasn’t using the arrow keys and spacebar. Silly M.O.M! So I decided I’d give up on playing and leave it to the experts-the kids! Over the last few weeks, my 11 yr old, 8 yr old and 6 yr old have been having a GREAT time playing, exploring and learning with Math Blaster. When I sat down to watch (a little skeptical that they would actually be using math skills), I saw kids having fun and needing to do some fast math-thinking to get through the games. Awesome! Of course, they’re each at very different learning levels, but the site accommodates each of them, using simple addition and subtraction for the young kids, while Tristan, my 11 yr old, 5th grader chose multiplication for his game.

When asked what they liked best and to show me their favorite games, they knew just where to take me. Tristan went straight to “Hyperblast Training”, chose multiplication and began battling aliens by quickly answering the problems to earn “blasts” that would help him through the rest of the quest. Max, my 8 yr old, 2nd grader had fun with “Monster Morph”. He answered addition problems that led him through his quest and was then able to go into what appeared to be a lab and mix formulas to create monsters. Gabi, my 6 yr old, kindergartener, patiently waited through her brothers’ exciting demonstrations until it was her turn to show me what she liked best. Her choice-making her Blaster; the character that you dress, design and name, who you move through the games. She lingered on this for a long time. The rest of the game didn’t interest her as much and she needed help moving through the site. I’ve seen her on JumpStart and she does just fine on her own. So, I’m guessing that the Space theme of this site just isn’t as interesting to her as it is to her brothers.

As a mom, I prefer my kids use on-line games that have educational value, as opposed to just spending their time on sites and games that don’t truly challenge them. I was happy to see that Math Blaster had them quick-thinking those math problems! It’s a site I can say “yes” to on school afternoons, where our house rule is “educational games only”.

Parents, be sure to check out Math Blaster on Facebook and you can keep up with the latest additions to the site and see what people are saying on the Math Blaster blog.

Of course the EASIEST way to check it all out is to WIN a free, 6-month membership! Each membership allows up to 6 kids to be registered. Way To Go Math Blaster for thinking of all the families out there with more than a handful of kids! To enter to win, go to the Math Blaster Facebook page, “like” them and then leave me a comment that you’ve done so. The winner will be chosen at random in 2 days (Thursday afternoon).

Go! Enter! Win!

Good luck!

I’ll be over here, Doing the Dance of the Children and Trying to Figure Out How to Get My Blaster to Jump~

*Disclosure: I was provided with a membership good for Math Blaster and Knowledge Adventure at no cost by Knowledge Adventure in order to test the products’ abilities and give my own personal opinions on it. The opinions I have given are mine and may differ from others but were not influenced by the company or the free product provided.

Mother’s Day

I woke to Max waking Gabi up so that they could carry out their “plan” for me this morning. They told me to stay in bed while they coordinated giving me breakfast (yogurt and coffee that I had snuck out and started, since I didn’t want them trying to make coffee. But they expertly added 1/2 and 1/2 to my cup!) and the handmade gifts they’d made at school. Gabi made me a rosary and had drawn a very good likeness of me. Max made me a card that detailed all the best things about me-I’m as pretty as a sunset in June. All this happened while the rest of the house slept. When Mariah got up she delivered the card she’d picked for me-a perfect combination of wittiness and love. Sweet kiddos!

Then it was up and back to Doing the Dance of the Children and we were off to church. The rest of the day has been pretty normal. I was silly enough to try to take a nap. Sure enough there were urgent knocks at my bedroom door. My bathroom was DESPERATELY needed. I should’ve known! No one ever has to use the bathroom as badly as when I’m trying to nap.

Today’s the day we set aside to honor our mothers and as mothers to be honored, given flowers, handmade cards and little gifts the kids prepare at school. Good Stuff! But I want to take a minute to honor all the mothers who help us mother our kids. Let’s face it-we don’t do this huge job on our own. Most of us have a network of other “moms” who lend a hand in raising our kids. If we live close to family it’s likely that it’s a network of extended family, our own mothers, sisters, aunts and even grandmothers. It’s likely we have friends who we know and trust who step in and lend a hand. Since I’ve always been far from family, I’ve been the lucky recipient of beautiful women who have seen The little ways in which they can enhance my children’s lives. Today I want to honor the Miss Casey’s, Grandma Sheri’s, Auntie Maggie’s and others who have seen that one M.O.M. can’t do it all and have filled the little spots in my kids that I either didn’t see or couldn’t possibly do on my own.

Thank you! You are beautiful women who have touched my children in ways that will last a lifetime and show them how to be kind and caring and to share their own time and talent with others. You help me be a better mother and I love you all.

Doing the Dance of the Children With Thanks and Love to All Who Lovingly Help~

This afternoon I took 5 of my kiddos to watch their sister’s softball game. We went straight from school and were going to a field we hadn’t been to before. I wasn’t sure what to expect out of my little kids, but brought snacks and water and knew we’d figure it out.

After we sat down they spied a big dirt pile that was packed down pretty tight. Max and Lex headed over to see if they could break into it by jumping and stomping on it. Gabi watched for awhile before,ultimately, joining in. My first reaction was to tell them to get away from it and to come sit down and watch the game. But then I thought, “why?”. They weren’t hurting anyone or bothering anyone. Yes, they were going to get dirty, but they were having fun. Fun! Real, old-fashioned, kid fun! So the never-get-dirty and don’t-be-too-loud part of me was squelched by the they’re-having-fun-and-not-hurting-anyone part of me. Not only did they play in the dirt, they climbed trees! They were outside in the San Diego sunshine having a blast. There was another boy with them and for a little bit of time, Tristan took a break from his homework and joined in the fun. At one point they left the dirt pile alone and took to playing on a wheeled hose-reel. They figured out how to give each other rides on it! Doesn’t that sound like the kind of thing we would’ve done as kids?

I was just so happy to not hear the words, “can I get on the computer?” or “I’m bored” for more than an hour! Yes, they all needed baths or showers when we got home and they’re uniforms were filthy, but they were exhausted, happy and ready to eat dinner.

Proof that if kids are left alone with their imaginations, they’ll have a great time.

Doing the Dance of the Dirty Children~

And is if ceremoniously bidding farewell to our break and all the sweets and treats we’ve enjoyed, I yanked free the lollipop stuck to Luke-Xavier’s, still sleepy-haired head and threw it in the trash. A little remnant of all he’s enjoyed over this last week.

Farewell Spring Break. With pain we wake to our regular routine and head back to the last 6 weeks of school~

Oh Max!

I’ve come to expect an argument whenever I give Max directions. He wants to either explain why he didn’t carry out the instructions or how they should be carried out in a better (his) way. I’ve come up with phrases to let him know the conversation is over and he’s expected to go carry out the directions as I gave them. I’ll say, “That’s it. It’s not up for debate.” or “It’s not up for discussion.”

Last Night I told him to go take a shower and get ready for bed. After the shower he came out in his clothes. When I asked him why he put his clothes back on and reminded him that he was supposed to be in pajamas he answered that I had only told him to take a shower and that if I looked at the clock I’d see that it wasn’t, yet, bedtime. I varied my phrase and said, “I’m not going to argue this with you. I won’t mince words. Just go get your pi’s on.”

Max-”Mince words? How can you mince words? Doesn’t that mean to cut something up?”

*smacking my head*

Me-”Yes it does. Good job on knowing that. Now go get your pj’s on. It’s not up for debate”.

I should know better than to introduce anything new while I’m trying to make a point with this very analytical, brilliant boy!

Doing the Dance of the Children~

This week was packed with lots of Kid Stuff-kids to Balboa Park, kids to the beach, kids to softball practice, kids to softball game, kids to the movies, kids to visit with Auntie and their cousin, kids to the park, kids to the pool, kids to birthday party, kids to bed, kids to church.

It came and went without me getting to dig into the work that’s been piling up. So after church today I declared myself “off” so that I could grab my laptop and bag full of work and head out into this BEAUTIFUL San Diego day to try to be in the sunshine, feel the ocean breeze and still tackle some of this stuff. It’s a funny job Mom’s have-we have to take time off of 1 job just to get the time to do another. I have to quit this work by 4:45 so I can run home to get dinner going and tackle some of the ever-present laundry so that the kids are uniform-ready to get back to school tomorrow. Doing the Dance, Doing the Dance, Ever Doing the Dance of the Children!

On top of all the stuff I’ve been letting slide over here, last night I was visiting with a friend and she asked me if I’d had experience with my kids on Tumblr or Omegle. I think I’d heard of Tumblr, but Omegle struck no bell in me at all. So today I asked my girls if they’d heard of or had any experience with either site. Two of them said they’d heard of Tumblr. One said she’d been on it once to check out a friend’s post. But none seemed to know anything about Omegle. My oldest said she hadn’t heard of or used either. I’m glad!

I went over to check both sites out. Tumblr didn’t strike me as much different from other social sites. You can read peoples’ postings and they seem to be listed by category, which is helpful if you’re looking to read about certain topics. But I didn’t find anything particularly outstanding or alarming about the site. Then I checked out Omegle. Uh…as a parent I’d say it’s alarming from the start. The tag line is-”Talk to Strangers”. Yeah, that makes me uncomfortable. There was no sign-up process. You just choose to start talking (or videoing!) and the site randomly connects you with someone. Each new chat seems to start with the other person asking “asl?” and no, they aren’t asking if you are fluent in American Sign Language. So right from the get-go they want your personal info-age, sex and location. No thank you!

I’d love to hear if any of you have experience with these sites. Have your kids been involved with them? How do you feel? I find Omegle scary from a parent’s stand point. Honestly I find it scary from any stand point.

Doing the Dance of the Children and Trying to Keep Them Safe~