Sunday, April 30, 2006

"Thumbelina"

Do you know the story Hans Christian Anderson wrote 200 years ago? "Thumbelina" was one of my favorite stories written by him when I was a little girl, at least the Russian translation from the original language. As far as I remember the plot, there was a kind old woman who could not have children but wanted so badly. So she planted a flower and prayed, and a tiny girl was born inside of this flower and because she was no bigger than an inch a lady named her Thumbelina (translating from Russian it would sound more like "Inchelina"). And I remember what nice little things the lady had made for Thumbelina. She lived on a window sill , slept in a bed from a nut shell and covered herself with a leaf, she had a swing made from a ring on a string, and a paper boat she could use to go across the bowl filled with water that looked more like a lake for tiny Thumbelina.

So when I got a flyer from Paper Mill Playhouse, which is a nice sized theatre in Millburn, NJ, I was absolutely excited to see "Thumbelina" among other shows for kids this spring. That's what it said about the show:

April 29,30
THUMBELINA Bits'N Pieces Puppet Theatre
Recommended for ages 3 to 8

Hans Christian Anderson celebrates his 200th birthday this year and what better way to celebrate than with the story of his beloved Thumbelina. Born inside the smallest of flowers, she grows into a tiny girl who makes friends with the animals in her garden and proves that anyone can find happiness if you have faith and believe in what your heart tells you to be true. Performed by live actors and giant puppets, one portraying Hans Christian Anderson himself, this fully-staged musical brings to life the magical wonderment of children's fantasy and reinforces the core values long told and emphasized by one of the world's great storytellers.

I got the tickets the same day and was looking forward to having a family theatre outing. I used to perform on stage on an amateur level while in high school and university and enjoy immensly going to the theatre. We woke up earlier this Saturday, had a quick breakfast, got dressed and left the house for the show. I wore a skirt, some make up and high heels, the girls looked so cute in their spring outfits, and I just love to see my hubby wear nice clothes rather than his everyday contractor jeans and Tshirts.

It was a beautiful day and we did not rush to get inside but spent a couple of minutes looking at the giant gold fish in the pond by the theatre. We had found our seats in the mezzanine, the lights went off and the curtains opened. I was on the cloud nine!..

But unfortunately not for too long. As the show continued my eyebrows rose more and more up, and I thought I was going to walk with them almost up on my hairline for the rest of my life. I don't know if I manage to find the words to describe the emotions I had experienced during that hour of the show, my disappointment, the bitterness and even anger. But I'm still in shock of how this kind of production was allowed to be called a "fully-staged musical".

When the curtains opened there were some kind of giant flowers in the middle of a black mess! There were no back curtains, so you could see deep into the stage the things that were distractive and you wouldn't want to see. The floor was NOT clean, there were papers and some other garbage lying around, so even we, sitting in the mezzanine, could see it. The music started and then this hideous puppet that was portraying Hans Christian Anderson himself appeared on the stage and began singing in this scratchy kind of voice about the imagination. So the audience was supposed to exercise their brains and imagine a beautiful garden, with birds singing and flowers blooming, and the bees buzzing. This song was already making me tired and I was trying really, really hard to imagine ...but couldn't. All I could see was a black hole, a couple of flowers in the middle made out of scrap materials and mess around them. Then another giant puppet appeared on the stage, and this time it was a bad Witch. She was jumping around the stage like a mad cow, turning her heard 360 degrees and swinging her arms like there was a swirl of bees or flies she was trying to get rid of. At this point Mirek had expressed his concern about Leona having nightmares later since her beautiful eyes were bigger than big and she seemed to be a bit tense. The witch was singing some kind of song again (there was NO singing actually, but a recording playing) that I can't recall the lyrics of and she started "magically" transforming one of the flowers into a girl. So finally the tiny girl (she did look tiny next to those giant puppets!) was born from the flower and I just gasped... The way she was dressed, her make up, her bright pink messy wig... she looked like a ... clown! The only thing missing was that red nose! The music stopped (my ears had some rest at last!) and she spoke. She introduced herself as princess Thumbelina ( why was she a princess I could not comprehend) and educated the audience what a "thumble" was and what you could use it for. Then her and the witch sang a song, and all I remember was "Thumbelina", "Thumbelina", "Thumbelina"....la-la-la...la-la-la...

Then there was a Cupid. He was running around Thumbelina and giggling in a most stupid way I've ever heard. I was getting so angry already that I heard myself saying "stupid Cupid" out loud and wasn't embarrased a bit. The show had gotten on my nerves. So, the Cupid gave Thumbelina a stuffed heart and sang another song, this time about listening to your heart and following it to find your happiness. Then there was a giant Frog that demanded Thumbelina's kiss so it could turn into a prince. So Thumbelina grinned and made faces showing her disgust, but kissed the frog anyway. The magic did not occur and the frog was gone for good. After another rather long and boring song a different puppet entered the stage, and it was Winter. It was a scary puppet and was making poor flowers fade, and Thumbelina freeze, all that accompanied by a played back song (hey... they said it was a musical!) about how vicious the Winter was.

As the show was progressing I couldn't wait for it to be over, so that we could go outside and look at the fish in the pond again and enjoy the beautiful weather and each other instead of sitting there and listening to those twisted messages and worrying about our girls absorbing all that nonsense.

Then there was a giant Bird that for some reason spoke with a Scottish accent, a Mole that DID NOT look like a mole even a bit, but more like a rat with an extremely long tail. Again the same song about the imagination, as if Thumbelina was going into the tunnel dug out by the mole (I did not have to imagine that! The whole stage was a HOLE!) with spider webs all over the place. I've never heard of the spider making a web underground, but at that point it did not matter any more. The show was based on lies, and it was getting worse and worse. And I just got tired trying to figure everything out.

Thumbelina was saved from the Winter by the mole and was appointed to be a maid of honor at the wedding. Guess who married whom! You'll never guess! The Mole and the lady Spider had gotten married! I was already feeling much better since I knew that the show was going to end soon and Mirek was making me laugh with his sarcastic remarks.

All right...Thumbelina finally met her prince (after kissing that stuffed heart she'd got from the Cupid numerous times), they got married and lived happily ever after. Hurray!... I was already getting up to leave but Thumbelina still had something else to tell us! This time she had taken ALL the magic away form the show, completely crushed ALL the imagination that the kids were supposed to use during the performance. Thumbelina started a marketing campaign! She said that she was a play writer and the puppet designer for the Bits'N Pieces Theatre. That they are from Tampa, FL and have travelled around the world (I'm curious to know what she meant by that!). And then she began giving a detailed description of what the puppets were made from (bits and peices of 2x4s and other scrap material), a metal stick was brought on stage and a puppet Bird stopped moving and a man appeared from under it. Again Thumbelina reminded the audience what a "thumble" was and what you could use it for, made sure that the kids remembered the names of the four seasons that supposedly we had travelled through during the show (another lie!) and reminded to spread the word about another performance on Sunday.

Ye, right! How dare they call it a theatre! And I've been thinking about it! First, when we were leaving the theatre it struck me that I was the ONLY one wearing a skirt (forget my heals!). The majority of mommies and grannies wore casual jeans, I'd say looking no different than any other day. The show started at 10 am, it cost $10 per person. I get it, it was not a Broadway performance, but anyway... Why to settle for "ah, good enough" kind of attitude? Why not to make an extra effort and make it a little more special, not ordinary.

And that was the whole attitude of the Bits'N Peices Puppet Theatre, I think! "Ah, it's good enough for the kids, what do they know? We'd through some "educational" material into the show and parents will think it's beneficial for their kids. Anyway, they cannot possibly have high expectations. What do they want for $10?"The magic of marketing! As long as you do a good job doing it, you can sell anything!

I guess, we'll go to the library and try to find the story written by Hans Christian Anderson. Anyway, moles do not marry spiders, spiders do not make webs underground, and winter is a beautiful season! If I had a rotten egg I'd have thrown it into Thumbelina. A rotten performance deserves a rotten egg!

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Cooking crayons!


It seemed to me that I was buying crayons every week. The cover paper would get peeled off and they'd end up broken into a million pieces. And for some reason I've never witnessed the process but became aware of the results. And since the girls love to draw I had to get another box, and another, and another. Then I decided to buy the other type, "The twistables". If I had that kind of crayons to draw with when I was a kid, I'd cherish them, take extremely good care of them, maybe not even use them TOO much so that they last longer. But my girls seem not to get the idea of taking care of things just yet. "The twistables" were twisted to the extend that there were no more twisting!

Then I decided to try markers. First I made a mistake by overlooking a "washable" versus "non washable" part. That was bad and hilarious at the same time! Ivana drew polka dots all over her legs and announced that she had chicken pox. And Leona was fascinated with the dark colors and painted her hands and arms black and said that she was a zebra. Then I went and got the "washable" kind. And now half of them do not write because they forget to put the caps back on and I sometimes don't remember to check the box.

For a while I was giving them only regular pens or pencils, but the colors are not the same and the interest to draw and experiment with shapes and colors was easily lost. I decided to let them use the water and acrylic paints, but they can only use them on the kitchen table and when I am around. So no freedom to paint whenever they felt like, not good again.

Finally, I've stumbled upon this great idea of how to reuse the broken crayons and thought it was an exciting project to do with the girls. I had all the help I needed to peel the paper off, they were actually racing who was going to peel more caryons! I cut them into small pieces and the we separeted them according to the colors, warm and cold. Ivana and Leona had a blast arranging the crayon bits into the cookie tins and they were very curious to see them baking in the oven. At 150F for 15-20 minutes and we had our homemade crayons! We waited for them to cool and had so much fun trying to color using them.

Now since we've been spending a lot of time outside, the girls started experimenting with the sidewalk chalk. Just using the dry chalk is only a small fraction of all the things possible to do with it! Have you tried to draw with a wet chalk, fo example? The colors are so much brighter! Or how about trying dipping the chalk into the bubble solution and then drawing with it? Have you tried mixing the wet chalk with the wet dirt and see what color you can come up with? Then making a "mini pool" of all the chalk you once had, some dirt, water, bubble solution and ... get ready!... put your hands into the (what's the more appropriate word here?) "muddy mess" of an unidentifiable, murky color and make hand prints all over the sidewalk!

They've been busy for quite some time and I got to finish reading "Learning all the time" by John Holt. Learning all the time, indeed!

Sunday, April 23, 2006

"Misty", "Dusty", and "Shadow".


Our kids love horses! Every time we go to the Poconos for the weekend it has become a tradition to stop by at the stables and say hello to their favorite horses "Misty", "Dusty", and "Shadow". The girls always think about bringing their "friends" treats, like apples and carrots.

Ivana has been going up on a horse for a while already and she has no fear of being high, petting the horse or feeding it from her hand. Leona watched Ivana and did not want to be left out. She bravely sat on the horse and went for a ride!

Only one child is allowed on a horse at a time, and the guide is walking the horse up the stream and back, while Mirek is walking right next to our young riders. I think Leona might have set a record of the youngest rider ever, at least maybe in the Pocono stables (she'll soon be 2 yo). Kids in Mongolia will bit that record off, by no means!

It's 10$ for both of them each time we come, and we've been coming quite often. And I even thought to inquire about the possibility to volunteer, to help them take care of the stables, feed the horses or whatever job might need to be done. We decided it would be great for the girls to learn what it means to have the responsibility of taking care of an animal.

And I had asked this past weekend, of course meaning not right now since both of them are kind of little, but in a year or two they'll be able to handle some age appropriate tasks. I was a bit stunned and disappointed when I heard a firm, "NO, thanks. We've got plenty of hands around here." Do they get so many inquiries about volunteering, or maybe our family didn't look capable of handling the task of helping around the stables? The guy was rude and very unpleasant!

I don't want to go there anymore, just to make a point. But I know we'll go anyway, because the girls will be heartbroken.

Friday, April 21, 2006

A will to live!

Today while walking to the park Ivana was picking whatever flowers and grass growing wildly on the sides of the road to make me a bouquet. There was not too much of a variety, but she was still enjoying herself and wanted to make sure that I put it in the water as soon as we come home. And then she had spotted these dandelions. She commented on how these flowers had managed to grow in such a place, with no soil, probably hardly ever water, and no sun at all since it was a shady side of the street with tall buildings completely preventing any rays of sun to get to these little guys. Such a strong will to live!

Ivana was so amazed and bewildered that a decision not to pick them was made almost instantly. She also said, "Mommy, lets bring them some water next time! OK?!". And I promised.

Monday, April 17, 2006

This girl is not afraid of anything!

Yep...that's right! She is holding a snake! It's a garden snake and we found it on the road (it had been run over) when going for a walk in the Poconos. Ivana was so excited to touch it and then, with our permission, to pick it up. Well, at that point she was not going to let it go and carried the dead snake all the way to the house. "Mommy, can I take the snake home? It's going to be my pet!"..."Hmmm, I don't think so!!!", "OK, then I'll just pretend I'm Jeff Corwin and I caught a snake!"

Our daughter is an animal lover and "Animal Planet" is her favorite channel. It's so funny to watch both of them play "Venom ER", when the snake bites Leona and Ivana is Dr. Bush and comes to the rescue. Maybe she'd become a vet!

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Saving money on gym membership.


As the warm days are finally here we spend a lot of time outside these days. And I feel that I've been getting slowly back in shape after a long winter and a lot of baking with the kids.

I wish someone would come up with a formula how to calculate the calories used by pushing a double stroller with two almost 20 lbs. toddlers, having a full backet with the groceries and even some of the bags hanging on the sides of the stroller (I'd estimate in average another 20 lbs), then Ivana holding on to and on the way back leaning on the stroller beacause she is tired of all that walking. And then some five or more trips up and down the steps to bring the groceries.

Some days we have so many places to stop by. Like yesterday, for example. We left home at 10:45 am. Firts went to the postal center to buy stamps, then headed to the bank, after to the pet store to buy food for our fish, then to the Polish Deli to buy so much loved ginger cookies, stopped by to buy shoes for Leona, to the library (was still closed), went to the park for an hour and a half, again to the library, finally bought some groceries on the way back and headed home at 2pm.

I was so impressed with how much we'd accomplished while Ivana being on her bicycle. That was quite an exercise! So, I guess as long as we live in the city I won't have to go the gym, ever.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Immigration reform


Today I'm hosting an article written by my dear husband. He is very concerned and these thoughts are his 2 cents on this topic.


Much has been discussed lately about the need to deal with illegal immigration in this country. We heard the proposal of guest worker visa program. We heard about the proposals to make entering USA illegally a felony. Some politicians even wanted to make criminals out of anyone who lends a helping hand to fellow human being who is here illegally.

As I drive through my neighborhood everyday on my way to work, I am able to pinpoint with 90% accuracy those of my neighbors who live here illegally. Be it from their faces, license plates from other states with more relaxed DMV regulations or simply by hanging around certain places. I see them everywhere, not only where I live. As a contractor I spend a lot of time where the urban sprawl is happening, and where one can see them building our subdivisions, landscaping them and maintaining them.

No one today disputes that they do the kinds of work that very few Americans are willing to do. When I came to the US ten years ago, it was still quite usual to see a high school drop out, or person with CHJ (can’t hold a job) syndrome run around with a grass cutter. But as the subdivisions multiplied and grew larger, simple rules of supply and demand created a big vacuum that sucked in all willing to trek through the countries that stood between them and our southern border to become the part of the great economical machine called the USA.

Knowing some of these people personally, I listened to the details of their gruel some trips from as far as Peru and Ecuador. For some it took 4 months to reach the US under the harshest conditions imaginable. These trips are especially risky to women, who are in many cases raped by the guides or even locked up in whore houses in Mexico.

But if they did reach the US, whole new world opened up to them. They quickly found their place in American society (on the bottom) and after they spent their first year working hard to pay their trafficking fee, they were already accustomed to the reality of their new life.

Most people either borrow the money to pay the traffickers from family or friends or have to pay the traffickers from their paychecks once they start working here.

Imagine coming to a country, not knowing the language, not being able to work legally and having to pay a $15,000 debt. You’d take any job under any conditions.

As the 90’s brought a lot more of spending money into the pockets of Americans, they started to look for ways to spend it, and spend it they did. There is hardly any farmland left in New Jersey that wasn’t developed. In ground swimming pools that one could see only in shows like “Dallas” are nothing uncommon. When the money is for grabs, both parents go to work and babysitters and housekeepers are in high demand.

People in towns sold their homes and moved to the subdivisions for quieter life. The people who made equity on the 3000 sq. ft homes, moved to 4000 sq. ft. homes, those who had equity built up on the 4000 sq. ft. homes moved to the 5000 + sq. ft. homes. As this madness continued and houses sprouted like mushrooms after rain, our new lowest class kept on building, cutting grass, cooking, picking and packing our food and so on.

Many Americans ended up in houses they would’ve never dreamed of, while those who build them sleep on mattresses without bed frames, five people in a room.

Our immigration system is broken, but not where the politicians claim it to be. There clearly was and is demand for carpenters, landscapers, housekeepers and so on, but we don’t seem to admit it. It seems to me, that certain business groups want the immigrants to stay illegal, because the more desperate you are the cheaper you are willing to work.

For example, a contractor who uses undocumented migrants will be able to put a lower bid on framing a house then one whose workers are American or legal migrants. That in turn saves money to the builder.

We need to remember when passing any new immigration laws that these people are part of our community, and they create a lot of wealth for very little compensation. They are filling in positions which we’ve created and for which there are no other candidates. We can’t look at them with clear conscience as subhuman, as people undeserving the basic rights and still use their cheap services.

Monday, April 10, 2006

Take time to stop and smell the flowers.

Ivana is already fascinated with nature. She has to stop in front of each flower, look at the awakening buds, and count all the trees that are blooming. This morning the birds were singing so loudly that she just stood by the tree in the backyard and listened. "Mommy, the birds are happy that spring is here! They are singing so beautifully! Or maybe they are saying thank you for all the food they've got from me in the winter."

Saturday, April 08, 2006

How I "killed" a few birds with one stone.

Potty training early works! As I have successfully potty trained both our kids before 18 months old, I can assure you that it does!

When Ivana was a newborn I was reading all those parenting magazines where they give you all the advice you need as an unexperienced parent. I read a lot and found some article to be very helpful, but some were a total waste of my time. And the articles about potty training were especially disturbing to me. I was not experienced about that issue back then yet, but felt that whatever they were writing about this topic was rediculous! Statements like "...don't worry, your kid will let you know when he/she is ready...", "...have you seen an adult wearing a diaper, they'll learn sooner or later...", "...use 50 cents coupons to cut the cost of diapers...", "...sit on the toilet yourself while your toddler is next to you and sing a song together...", "...put some food coloring in the toilet to encourage your 4 yo go to the toilet rather then pants...", "...put a couple of cheerios into the toilet bowl if you are teaching a boy to use the toilet, he'll have fun shooting the cheerios...", and so on...

So when Ivana was 6 months old (that's right!) I started to put her on the potty. It was obvious when she was "doing her duty" as she would stop doing whatever she was doing, her eyes would start bulging out and her face would turn red. I completely disregarded all that advice about "waiting till they are ready" and started putting her on the potty that early. So first I taught her to do the "big thing" into the potty and then later started teaching her to pee there as well, which was a bit more of a challenge. I stopped using the diapers at home long before she was one and let her wear underwear. Yes, it was messy at times, but surely it paid off. I observed her, payed attention to how much water she drank and learned how often she goes and was putting her on the potty before the "flood" had occured. This way we spent hours and hours of reading! We had a stach of books by the potty and were reading one book after another. Both of our daughters did not mind and enjoyed every minute of it, as we were actually having so much fun with our books. Both of them started talking very early and have a special bond with books. Maybe it's not a 100% beacause of early potty training, but surely it helped since we had spent these two activities as one a lot of times.

Teaching them to go on the potty early has so many advantages. Doing that I've "killed" quite a few birds with one stone! Countless hours of reading, less mess to clean, less diaper rash outbreaks (practically none in our case!), a lot of money saved, less plastic pollution dumped into our planet, no need to drag a diaper bag everywhere you go, a real pleasure to put you child on your neck and not feeling a subtle moisture, etc.

Are there any disadvantages? Well, sure there are. Try to tell anybody that you are putting your 6 mo on the potty and see their reaction! You see "a child abuse" kind of reaction! Can't dress the baby into the cute overalls, but rather twopiece outfits (time to undress is cruitial!). Have to pull over on the curb of the highway or pray that she doesn't need to go while we are in the tunnel. Know where the bathrooms are in every supermarket or other stores you go. Carry an extra outfit with you, just in case. Putting your child on the potty in the middle of the night. Nor being able to buy the smallest underwear in the US stores, but ask realtives in Europe to send them over.

I'd rather go for the disadvantages, but won't have to deal with explaining the 3-4 yo that potty doesn't bite and there is no reason to fear it. Won't have to get frustrated over inventing new tricks that will work for my 4 yo who already knows what firefighters are for but refused to go on the potty.

Why was it possible for the previous generations and now we easily get comfortable and then have to deal with the concequences. Let it be only a tiny drop in saving the planet, but it's what I have done and so can you.

Monday, April 03, 2006

Easter egg hunt in the Poconos.


I was happy to have an opportunity to host an Ester Party for our homeschooling friends! When I announced it on the group list, I was not sure if any family would be willing to come since it's pretty far and on a Sunday. But it turned out that quite a few families RSVPed and last Sunday we had an Easter get together in the Poconos.

The whole Saturday we were busy getting ready, cooking, stuffing over a hundred plastic eggs with goodies, working on some decorations to bring the spirit of the spring into the house. On Saturday morning as we were leaving for the Poconos Mirek had to take so many trips up and down the staircase, running with all that bags with groceries, our clothes and other stuff, that our dear land lady thought we were moving out! It's just every time we go there, I'm afraid I won't have this, or I won't have that, that's why we end up taking half of the house with us and it turns I did not need it or had it in the house. But since I was hosting a party and had to do much cooking, I could not take any chances on missing even one thing.

Ivana was so excited about having so many of her friends coming over and the egg hunt was a total mystery for her, since it was the first time we'd done it. How many times she had asked, "Mommy, but how am I supposed to hunt an egg?"

The fun part in preparation for the party was to make edible nests that were gonna be the center piece for the table and the dessert for the kids. They were so easy to make and all the kids could not wait to munch on them. If you want to try to make them here's what you'll need:

Shredded breakfasr cereal (I used Kellog's Frosted Mini-Wheats)
One bar of melted chocolate (any kind)

What to do: crumble the cereal by hand into a bowl, add melted chocolate and mix well together. Line a muffin pan with a foil and place a spoonful of the mixture into each space. Press down into a nest shape and leave the shapes to harden in a fridge for an hour or so. When the nests are hard, take them out from the muffin pan, arrange on the plate and add a few chocolate covered raisins, nuts and/or jelly beans (for some spring colors).

In the morning on Sunday the sun was out and I felt like taking a short walk. I went out and collected a few branches, some dried grass and other plants. Then put them into a vase and Ivana helped me to hang the paper eggs which we had decorated earlier. And then I got a phone call from one of the moms that was coming, "Do you know about the time change? It's not 10, but 11 am!.." I didn't, and my heart went to my stomach! There was still so much to do and people were gonna start coming any minute. Aaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!

After all, we had a wonderful day!

Saturday, April 01, 2006

All that sun!

Our girls have stopped napping during the day at a very early age (before turning 2 yo). They are too busy exploring the world and don't want to miss out on anything. At first I missed that hour of them napping, when I could do whatever I wanted. But then it turned out that in the evening they are ready to go to bed much earlier and fall asleep the moment their little heads are on the pillows.

But today a miracle happened! All that runnig outside on the sun, and both of them fell asleep on the sofa while I was reading a book to them. I was ready to drop dead next to them, but grabbed "Learning All the Time", by J. Holt instead. An hour flew by like a minute.