General discussion - Mom and Dad Esq.

[dtb]

Originally posted by viet_mom
[All the book recs]

This was wonderful!!! Thanks!!! I hit Barnes & Noble on my way to a meeting and scored the following:

I read Corduroy when I was a kid (yes, that was in the Ice Age... and your point is???) Maybe I had it read to me.

I said maybe.

[soup sandwich]

Originally posted by viet_mom

My girls really liked both of these.

The back of the Corduroy book we have mentions that it is a story about "A black girl buying a bear" or something to that effect. Maybe the book we have is very old (I think the story was written in the early 1970s and the book was a "hand me down" from a person whose kids are grown), but I'm always taken aback by the fact that the book jacket points out that the story involves a "black girl". Why not just say it's about "A girl buying a bear"? I'd be curious to know if the new book you bought makes the "black girl" reference.

Oh, and don't get any of the other "newer" Corduroy books. They are really tedious.

[baltassoc]

Originally posted by viet_mom
[All the book recs]

"If You Give A Pig A Party", Laura Numeroff

I forgot about the Numeroff books. These are great, although I think the quality has fallen off a little in her later works. If You Give a Pig a Pancake, If You Give a Moose a Muffin and If You Give a Mouse a Cookie are the best ones, IMHO. Most of the others seem to be derivative of those three.

[viet_mom]

Originally posted by dtb
I read Corduroy when I was a kid. Maybe I had it read to me. I said maybe.

Oh, just come up here and I'll read it to you under a fluffy blankie with warm milk and cookies, and you can even have a fafa. Come to Mama.

Originally posted by soup sandwich
The back of the Corduroy book we have mentions that it is a story about "A black girl buying a bear" or something to that effect. Maybe the book we have is very old (I think the story was written in the early 1970s and the book was a "hand me down" from a person whose kids are grown), but I'm always taken aback by the fact that the book jacket points out that the story involves a "black girl". Why not just say it's about "A girl buying a bear"? I'd be curious to know if the new book you bought makes the "black girl" reference.

This does not surprise me since it was published in 1968. They probably thought they were so modern to write a book about a "black girl" buying a bear. Sigh. Well, you are right - no more mention of "black girl." Nothing on the back cover - inside jacket talks about "Lisa" buying the bear, etc. On a related note, I don't think childrens books do "socially aware" very well. Unless there is something more subtle, like in "Snowy Day", the boy mentions going to his neighbor's "across the hall" - you're happy to see apartments finally mentioned in a book in a natural way. Exception: I kind of like the Sesame Street/Elmo book where 2 friends see that their respective neighborhoods have pink monsters, while the other has blue. Then there are books that I liked when I was little but I'm scared to pick up now:

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by viet_mom
a.

This does not surprise me since it was published in 1968. They probably thought they were so modern to write a book about a "black girl" buying a bear. Sigh. Well, you are right - no more mention of "black girl."

you can get your fix, still:

[SEC_Chick]

Originally posted by viet_mom
On a related note, I don't think childrens books do "socially aware" very well.

I don't know. I thought the Dr. Seuss tale about the Sneeches was pretty socially progressive.:

Now, the Star-Belly Sneetches
Had bellies with stars.
The Plain-Belly Sneetches
Had none upon thars.

At the end you learn that the stars on the bellies don't make a difference after all. Of course, I had to do some stupid project about that book in my college interpersonal communication theory class, which was the only reason it came to mind.

On an unrelated note, this baby does NOT want out. And I have the worst case of cankles and hobbit feet the world has ever known, and since I have always been blessed with unusually low blood pressure, there is no relief in sight. Any advice welcome.

[Cletus Miller]

Originally posted by TexLex
Maybe because he's dead?

Yep, but there are some newer books, which don't evidence being by someone else, with poor illustrations and crummy little stories.

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by SEC_Chick
And I have the worst case of cankles and hobbit feet the world has ever known, . . .. Any advice welcome.

Try to stand next to Hillary Clinton.

Originally posted by Cletus Miller
Yep, but there are some newer books, which don't evidence being by someone else, with poor illustrations and crummy little stories.

I have an ABC board book from the "Estate of Richard Scarry." I think they took original illustrations and had someone else write lame little story to go with it. Since my kid can't read yet, we just look at the pictures of that one.

On Cankles - I had the worst swelling with kid #1 - I couldn't wear shoes at all from month 5 on out, which went over great with the managing partner. Your options are as follows: Drink LOTS of water, cut down your salt and keep feet above head...all day, wear ugly freakin' support hose Rx'ed from Dr., or deal with it. Chances are you just have to live with it until baby pops out. Sorry. On the plus side, I had almost no swelling at all with baby #2 - it was a very different pregnancy altogether.

Also, it doesn't actually go down right away once baby shows up esp. if you end up with a c-s or get pitocin in your system (and may get worse...eeek!), so don't take sweatpants with elastic at the leg bottoms to come home in like I did for #1....big mistake.

[Replaced_Texan]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
you can get your fix, still:

My grandmother used to read that one to me.

[original Hank@judged.com]

Originally posted by Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)
Try to stand next to Hillary Clinton.

This reminds me, a friend who is senior attorney at UAW and big democrat party donor told me that he heard a rumor that Hillary was trying to get pregnant to soften her image. i also thought the pregnancy period would make her body seem more in proportion.

Burger, have you heard this in Dc?

[Mmmm, Burger (C.J.)]

Originally posted by original Hank@judged.com
This reminds me, a friend who is senior attorney at UAW and big democrat party donor told me that he heard a rumor that Hillary was trying to get pregnant to soften her image. i also thought the pregnancy period would make her body seem more in proportion.

Burger, have you heard this in Dc?

I hear her dear aunt flo left this world some time ago.

[tmdiva]

Originally posted by TexLex
Also, it doesn't actually go down right away once baby shows up esp. if you end up with a c-s or get pitocin in your system (and may get worse...eeek!), so don't take sweatpants with elastic at the leg bottoms to come home in like I did for #1....big mistake.

Another reason to avoid an epidural--no IV fluids means your ankles get back to normal sooner. Big difference here between no. 1 (epidural) and no. 2 (none).

Then, all those books and helpful people that/who say to basically not get out of bed for a week? Do it. Your ankles will thank you.

tm

[viet_mom]

Originally posted by SEC_Chick
On an unrelated note, this baby does NOT want out.

Well you need to quit the prenatal reading of:


BTW - on the Children's books topics, there have been some books we've gotten (gifts/hand-me-downs) that I've yanked from the shelf for different reasons. Some, because we're not ready to deal with "where is my real mother" yet (so I've put aside "The Story of Babar", where the elephant's Mommy gets killed on page 2 and just about all the well intended adoption books that don't quite hit the right note). Others are just annoying "How Iwariwa The Cayman Learned to Share". But some seem creepy. Has anyone read, "Love You Forever", Robert Munsch? Does it really have a Mom who is a stalker and drives to her son's house with a ladder on top of her car to break in so she can rock her adult son? And the son fondling his elderly mother in a rocking chair?


Not that I won't stalk my own kid when she's older.....but, wow, that's creepy for a kid's book.