Do I have what? What in the world is parental street cred? Well, let’s start with street cred. According to the Urban Dictionary, street cred is:

So what does it have to do with parenting? Pam Stillman, one of our readers, brought a new site to our attention – ParentalStreetCred. It is about being seen as “cool” by your children and at the same time exhibiting good parental skills.

I paid a visit to the site and was immensely amused by the instructional videos on offer. I like how they used a geeky (sorry for the term but it seems so appropriate) man to give tips to parents. In this site, parents will learn how to relate to their kids, who may seem to be worlds apart from them. Topics include saying hello, dance floor etiquette, skateboarding, clothing, dissing, and video games.

Though the videos may seem a bit goofy at first, the pointers offered are quite practical and provide various insights to our children. Let us say that it is a refreshing way of looking at the differences in generations. One thing I’d like to say, though, I really prefer the PS3 to the Xbox360, which is the sponsor of this site. Does that mean I have more parental street cred???

I’ve never been into video games, which probably explains why I’ve always told N that she wouldnt be allowed a Gameboy or the like until she was 10 years old. So imagine my annoyance when at the family Christmas get-together, my 11-year-old half sister (who N adores) lent N her Gameboy, and N was entranced, showing that she clearly had some talent despite being only 5-years-old.

Then a few days ago, her friend Rose (as mentioned in the previous post) brings the latest Gameboy to school, which was a present for her birthday. It was the envy of all the kids at school, especially N. Noticing this when I picked her up from school that day, I gently (but firmly) reminded her that she wasnt getting one until she was 10. She was very-grown up about it, as if resigned to her fate….

Now feeling guilty, I spoke to my husband about it (who, has been desperate for N to be old enough to play video games with him, a hobby he gave up when we had the kids). He said that if we had a “big one” (i.e. something he can play too) at the beach house, which she can only play on weekends or holidays, then MAYBE we can bend this rule a bit. Hmmmmmmm…….

The jury’s not out on thus, but I didn find an interesting article about ways parents can make video games “good” for kids, which I’ll be blogging about next.

After my soon-to-be 5-year-old saw a fabulous pirate girl costume at our local party shop, it was a done deal. Its going to be a pirate party!! Luckily for Mom, the shop was on 50% off (hurrah!), so we stocked up on plates, hats, cups and so on. Next up was research time on the internet, as I was more of a girly kid in my youth, preferring princesses and castles to dirty, brazen-mouth pirates. I think my daughter takes after my hubby in that respect!

Online, I found some pretty great resources, like Birthday Party Ideas, which I would highly recommend for any parent planning any party. Written by parents who so kindly share their experience with loads of tips and advice, the site has all the birthday party themes any kid would want, with over 150 categories of fantastic birthday party ideas. I love it!!

For Pirate Kids party fayre, the site Pirate Party Food has some easy kid-friendly recipes to give you some creative ideas when planning for the party’s menu.

More ideas which came in handy were found at Boardman’s Birthday Party Ideas, like some thorough instructions for the invitations like how you should dip the paper in coffee for that old ragged look, and very pirate-y wording like:

“Aye…..ye be invited fer some birthday spirits at Captn Tyler’s Buccaneer Bash
Chart yer course fer the “location” ? day of month
We be a meetin at “time” fer some swashbuckling fun, grub and kiddie spirits.
Wave yer flag if ye be attendin or hav yer mum send message by yer phone to “number”
Sees ye there…..aarrgghh!

Yesterday we hit the shops in search for pirate loot for the prizes etc, and although we did find a good amount of stuff, I’m still kicking myself for not being more organized and getting stocked up at Halloween when all the pirate-y goods like skeletons, skulls and so forth were everywhere. But such is the last-minute decision making of 4-year-olds! I’ll have to search for my inner Martha now. Aaaarrgh!

[tags]Pirate party, kids’s party, birthdays, 5th birthday[/tags]

Today my daughter and I emailed Santa and he emailed back in seconds!! We printed his letter out and now it hangs on the fridge, so you can imagine how thrilled my 4-year old was.

I urge all parents of young kids to go visit the site - Email Santa - and will definitely telling all my friends to go there with their kids asap. The site opens up to an up-to-the-second “Countdown” to when Santa will be coming to your home, which immediately got my daughter wide-eyed and smiling excitedly. The message below it read:

The elves & reindeer have been busy making fun things to do… just look to the right , there’s something for you !! There’s games and great letters and pet emails too! But shining through, Santa wishes your Christmas dreams come true ! Merry Christmas!!

Just below that, you can help your child fill in the blanks like her name, where you live, whether she’s been good this year and what she wants for Christmas as well as a ps. bit on any extra things she may want to tell Santa. She also gets to choose a stamp and a little present for Santa or the reindeer!

You hit the button, and hey Presto! You hear this voice of a man who sounds like he’s on a radio, saying that an email is now being delivered from the North Pole, with some familiar “ho ho ho’s” in the background, and there is your child’s letter from Santa, all personalized and adorable, ready to be printed out, totally free! (well, you can give a donation to the lovely soul who created this).

The site also has a bunch of other fun Christmassy things for your child to do, like sending an email to Rudolph from your pet, cool games, colouring pages and best of all, the letters to Santa from the children are posted on a page for all to see. I’ll be sharing some of my favourites in the next post, which shouldnt be missed. Some will really make you cry!

[tags]Christmas, Holidays, Emailing Santa, Santa Clause[/tags]

Tis the season we receive and send Christmas cards and get Christmassy emails too. Here are a couple that came into my inbox recently, which no doubt the kids will enjoy.

Pimp My Nutcracker -
This is a hilarious one, where the trad Nutcracker can be given a makeover to look like an …er…pimp? Well, it really does sound much worse than it is as the bits that you can put on him (think gaudy jewelry, hamburgers and a Starbucks coffee) are really more of the bling-bling-hip-hop-school rather than the back alley chap with a dubious job. Definitely for older kids or those that have a kooky sense of humour as my daughter does. I’d also leave the “P” word out, and replace it with Bling Bling or even “rapper”, as it is such a hideous word anyway and I’d hate to explain to my child what it means in literal terms.

The Snow Dog
This interactive card, sent by my Mother to the kids is of the classic and heartwarming type. Kids who are nifty with the mouse can click on different bits to make the story go along. Lovely graphics and very very sweet.

[tags]Christmas, Holidays, Christmas e cards, Nutcracker game[/tags]

If you have a little boy, you’ll probably understand the relation betweeen Christmas shopping and fulfilling your child’s obsession with Thomas the Tank Engine. Ever since my boy O started to take an interest in toys, it was Thomas the whole way. Unlike my daughter, who enjoyed those colourful, apparently “smart” and un-cheap baby toys from Lamaze and Manhattan Toy, my son ignored all that and only wanted trains - Thomas, to be precise.

That was about a year ago, fast forward to today, and at 22 months, his penchant for all things Thomas has escalated to a normal (yes, it is!!) obsession. So, the indulgent Mom I am, have taken it upon myself to go the full whack and purchase the wooden sets plus table (as seen in picture above) for Christmas.

As those wooden sets are hideously expensive ( but the quality is fine, let me assure you, and will no doubt last for many many years!!- I hope), I’ve am having the table made by our carpenter/handyman, who actually just built our dogs a veritable mansion in the yard, complete with veranda. So, a toy train table shouldnt be too difficult?????

I have never actually bought toys online, preferring to go to our local toy stores and seeing what the kids naturally gravitate to throughout the year. However, for this Thomas project, I did find myself checking out what was there online, as some Moms had alrealy beat me to the retail outlets and supply was getting thin.

Here are some of the websites with the best selections for all things Thomas (still havent tried them out though, so on purchase and delivery I really cant say). Click on the words to link:

Thomas the Tank Engine Store

Totally Thomas

Thomas Station

[tags]Christmas, Holidays, Christmas gifts, Thomas Tank Engine[/tags]

Moving into more inspirational topics, I recently received an email from one of my Mom groups, urging me to look at this short video. It was called “Animal School” from a website called Raising Small Souls.

I watched it and teared. It was truly a beautiful video about a child’s individuality. I urge you to watch it, whether you are a parent or not as I think it applies to us all. As a parent, I am always looking for ways to learn how to be the best parent I can be, and so I eagerly signed up for the website’s newsletter whose message seemed to be more than the usual developmental stuff you see on Baby Center (not that I dont think thats useful too, it is, but its not enough), but it touches on parenting on an emotional level too.

“Raising Small Souls” was created by a mom-of-three, Ellen Braun, and her husband who is a doctor amd principal at a vocational school for at-risk teenagers. Her ideas and notes on parenting accumulated throughout the years and this site, filled with all kinds of useful parenting advice, was born. Another nice thing I noticed was the personal touch her site had, which is not common on the web these days. After I registered for the newsletter, I got an email from Ellen, welcoming me, and saying:

“When you have a free moment, feel free to tell me about your child or children, and the most pressing parenting question on your mind. I will do my best to address your question in an upcoming issue of RaisingSmallSouls’ newsletter.”

She then apologized in advance if she wasnt able to respond right away, which is not surprising, but the whole thought was very nice, I thought. Parenting is a very personal and emotional job, and I await her newsletters with much anticipation.

As Ellen says:

�If I help just one family raise happier and emotionally healthier children, then this site has accomplished its goal,I hope that family is yours.�

How wonderful is that?

[tags]parenting advice, emotional parenting,parenting tips, raising small souls[/tags]