Living in the Moment - Memphis, TN

04/11/13

Building a Community of Book Readers

A Twitter post caught my eye the other day. It was from a local dad who quipped, “The best part of living in Memphis is the free books Dolly Parton sends my kids each month.” What a great testimonial for Shelby County Books From Birth program. Once you sign up, your child (from birth to age 5) receives a free children's book each month, mailed directly to your home. Books From Birth purchase their books from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a literacy program started in 1996 to benefit children in East Tennessee. Now, approximately 35,000 children in Memphis alone receive books through the program, according to Executive Director Peter Abell. In fact, 52 percent of the children under the age of 5 in Shelby County are enrolled. Those books...

Posted at 10:53 AM | Permalink | Comments

04/09/13

The Crying Game

Have you seen the most recent parent blog to go viral? It’s “The Reasons My Son Is Crying.” I first ran across it on Facebook, where someone had posted a link to the Tumblr blog, posted by the boy's father, Greg Pembroke. After reviewing his blog, I found myself wondering why this had trended. I’m never a fan of parents capitalizing on their children’s misery — and this 1-year-old looks really miserable at times. While Pembroke's one-liners describing what makes his child unhappy (below: "He is bad at eating yogurt.") are funny, they also border on being detached. Oh wait, he's a comedian. “I think every parent experiences meltdown and I was trying to have a little fun with it,” Pembroke tells TODAY Moms.Of...

Posted at 04:45 PM | Permalink | Comments

04/05/13

Girls Becoming Leaders

What does it take to be a leader? Teen girls are asked to explore that question in an essay contest being sponsored by The Women's Foundation for a Greater Memphis. The essay contest is part of the nonprofit's 2013 Annual Tribute Luncheon and Symposium. Following the luncheon will be the Youth Leadership Forum. Both events take place at the Cook Convention Center on Friday, April 26th. The luncheon runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Youth Forum is scheduled for 1:30 to 3 p.m. Girls from grades 9 to 12 are encouraged to submit an essay entitled The Leader In Me that examines a specific organization or activity you would like to be involved with, the challenges you would face, and how you would overcome these through your leadership. Excerpts from the winning...

Posted at 09:30 AM | Permalink | Comments

03/14/13

Lice Aren't Nice - How to Manage This Common Pest

I heard a typical childhood nightmare story the other day. A mom was telling me about her child’s encounter with lice. Ugh. If you’ve never had to deal with lice, be ever so grateful. Lice infestations can extremely tough to get rid of without diligent effort. That means careful cleaning and monitoring of your child’s hair and scalp before moving on to laundering bed linens, clothing, towels, caps, and whatever else your child has come in contact with. In short, lice can be a labor-intensive pain in the neck. Lice can live on your child’s head for up to 30 days; the eggs can survive for more than two weeks. These pests also multiply quickly. You can most easily see them at the nape of the neck or around your child’s ears. Their presence may...

Posted at 10:30 AM | Permalink | Comments

03/12/13

Let's Go: Easter Egg Hunts

Dress up your Easter basket and come ready for fun. FRIDAY, MARCH 22 After Dark Easter Egg Hunt. • Cameron Brown Park in Germantown. 7:30 p.m. Children ages 9-12 are invited to bring flashlights for an after dark egg hunt. Also includes games and activities. Concessions available. Registration deadline: March 20. Rain date: March 26. Free. Call 757-7375 to register. SATURDAY, MARCH 23 Easter Basket Drive & Dance Camp • Ballet on Wheels. Kroc Center, 800 E. Parkway South. 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Bring a filled Easter basket to share with a family in need. Then kids ages 3-14 can learn fun dance moves at Dance Camp. Free. Register online by March 21, balletonwheels.org or 870-4348. Easter Eggstravaganza. • Cameron Brown Park in Germantown. 10 a.m....

Posted at 01:38 PM | Permalink | Comments

03/07/13

Read This: Love Waves

We have been lucky - neither of our daughters ever experienced separation anxiety; in fact both looked forward to going to daycare and school. (Hm, perhaps that's not a good sign? Let’s not overthink it…) For those of us who must leave little ones behind due to work or split households, Love Waves could be a simple way of letting your child know you’re still thinking of her. The book shows young children what love waves look like and how they work. Rosemary Wells is the author and illustrator of the well-known Max and Ruby books and videos, and although in Love Waves the rabbit family is grey instead of white, they are immediately familiar. In the first part of this book, Mama Rabbit goes to work, telling Little Bunny to "Be brave." As...

Posted at 04:23 PM | Permalink | Comments

02/20/13

Meet the Co-Creator of Yo Gabba Gabba: Christian Jacobs

The creators of Yo Gabba Gabba bring their colorful preschool show to the Orpheum on Saturday, February 22nd. Readers tell us the show is a lot fun. To get ready, we spoke with the co-creator of this popular Nickolodean show, Christian Jacobs. How does creating your live show differ from the one kids watch on TV? There's more work involved creating the TV show because with theatre, you build one show and then do it again and again. You're tweaking it while you're on the road, but mostly its the same thing each night. With the series, each episode takes more hours, creating the set, the props, and the storyline. But don't get me wrong, it's all fun. The kids love it when DJ Lance steps onto the stage. They go nuts! How has the show evolved over the past...

Posted at 01:35 PM | Permalink | Comments

02/15/13

Let's Go: National Civil Rights Museum

I recently took my two children to visit the National Civil Rights Museum in downtown Memphis. I wanted them to learn about social justice issues and it turns out this museum is the perfect place to do just that. We talk some beforehand about the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., so we can all be better prepared for our visit. As we walk up to the museum, the children notice the wreath on the railing of the Lorraine Motel. They also spy a photograph of the men on the balcony. I tell them Dr. King and his friends were going to dinner when a shooter took his life. My 5-year-old immediately wants to know if King was a daddy. I tell her he left behind a wife and four children, and that it was a very sad time for the world. “His family must...

Posted at 08:22 AM | Permalink | Comments

02/05/13

Read This: Blooming Buddies

Now that Memphis has had a day or two of warm weather (just enough to confuse the poor daffodils), our thoughts turn to the coming of spring. I'll be the first to admit, I know absolutely nothing about plants. They either look pretty or get mown down in our yard. I couldn’t tell you the difference between a daisy and a Bellis Simplex if my life depended on it. With my floral ignorance in full bloom (yes, I'm turning over a new leaf and going for the blooming puns), my 4-year-old daughter and I read Blooming Buddies In The Garden by Deborah Donner and Wendy Petersen (Pixie Land, Inc.) What's more, we read this book of verse (wait for it) — on Superbowl weekend! How manly is that? The author and illustrator are friends who each own many acres of land...

Posted at 06:00 AM | Permalink | Comments

01/31/13

Kid President Shares His Awesomeness on the Today Show & CNN

If you were watching the Today show or CNN this week, you might have seen this young man. His name is Robbie Novak, better known by his online presence, Kid President. This 8-year-old's uplifting messages have been exploding on the Internet recently. This week, his Kid President Pep Talk video went viral. News of the video eventually made it onto Huffington Post and from there was picked up by the networks. We first interviewed Brad Montague, Robbie's brother/writer/producer, back in August. Read that interview here. The two are from Somerville, Tennessee, where Brad works as an aspiring comedian and musician. At that time, their videos were catching fire, but certainly hadn't exploded the way they did in January. At last count, the Pep Talk video had 5.5 million...

Posted at 04:04 PM | Permalink | Comments

	04/11/13 Building a Community of Book Readers A Twitter post caught my eye the other day. It was from a local dad who quipped, “The best part of living in Memphis is the free books Dolly Parton sends my kids each month.” What a great testimonial for Shelby County Books From Birth program. Once you sign up, your child (from birth to age 5) receives a free children's book each month, mailed directly to your home. Books From Birth purchase their books from Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, a literacy program started in 1996 to benefit children in East Tennessee. Now, approximately 35,000 children in Memphis alone receive books through the program, according to Executive Director Peter Abell. In fact, 52 percent of the children under the age of 5 in Shelby County are enrolled. Those books... Posted at 10:53 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	04/09/13 The Crying Game Have you seen the most recent parent blog to go viral? It’s “The Reasons My Son Is Crying.” I first ran across it on Facebook, where someone had posted a link to the Tumblr blog, posted by the boy's father, Greg Pembroke. After reviewing his blog, I found myself wondering why this had trended. I’m never a fan of parents capitalizing on their children’s misery — and this 1-year-old looks really miserable at times. While Pembroke's one-liners describing what makes his child unhappy (below: "He is bad at eating yogurt.") are funny, they also border on being detached. Oh wait, he's a comedian. “I think every parent experiences meltdown and I was trying to have a little fun with it,” Pembroke tells TODAY Moms.Of... Posted at 04:45 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	04/05/13 Girls Becoming Leaders What does it take to be a leader? Teen girls are asked to explore that question in an essay contest being sponsored by The Women's Foundation for a Greater Memphis. The essay contest is part of the nonprofit's 2013 Annual Tribute Luncheon and Symposium. Following the luncheon will be the Youth Leadership Forum. Both events take place at the Cook Convention Center on Friday, April 26th. The luncheon runs from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Youth Forum is scheduled for 1:30 to 3 p.m. Girls from grades 9 to 12 are encouraged to submit an essay entitled The Leader In Me that examines a specific organization or activity you would like to be involved with, the challenges you would face, and how you would overcome these through your leadership. Excerpts from the winning... Posted at 09:30 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	03/14/13 Lice Aren't Nice - How to Manage This Common Pest I heard a typical childhood nightmare story the other day. A mom was telling me about her child’s encounter with lice. Ugh. If you’ve never had to deal with lice, be ever so grateful. Lice infestations can extremely tough to get rid of without diligent effort. That means careful cleaning and monitoring of your child’s hair and scalp before moving on to laundering bed linens, clothing, towels, caps, and whatever else your child has come in contact with. In short, lice can be a labor-intensive pain in the neck. Lice can live on your child’s head for up to 30 days; the eggs can survive for more than two weeks. These pests also multiply quickly. You can most easily see them at the nape of the neck or around your child’s ears. Their presence may... Posted at 10:30 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	03/12/13 Let's Go: Easter Egg Hunts Dress up your Easter basket and come ready for fun. FRIDAY, MARCH 22 After Dark Easter Egg Hunt. • Cameron Brown Park in Germantown. 7:30 p.m. Children ages 9-12 are invited to bring flashlights for an after dark egg hunt. Also includes games and activities. Concessions available. Registration deadline: March 20. Rain date: March 26. Free. Call 757-7375 to register. SATURDAY, MARCH 23 Easter Basket Drive & Dance Camp • Ballet on Wheels. Kroc Center, 800 E. Parkway South. 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Bring a filled Easter basket to share with a family in need. Then kids ages 3-14 can learn fun dance moves at Dance Camp. Free. Register online by March 21, balletonwheels.org or 870-4348. Easter Eggstravaganza. • Cameron Brown Park in Germantown. 10 a.m.... Posted at 01:38 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	03/07/13 Read This: Love Waves We have been lucky - neither of our daughters ever experienced separation anxiety; in fact both looked forward to going to daycare and school. (Hm, perhaps that's not a good sign? Let’s not overthink it…) For those of us who must leave little ones behind due to work or split households, Love Waves could be a simple way of letting your child know you’re still thinking of her. The book shows young children what love waves look like and how they work. Rosemary Wells is the author and illustrator of the well-known Max and Ruby books and videos, and although in Love Waves the rabbit family is grey instead of white, they are immediately familiar. In the first part of this book, Mama Rabbit goes to work, telling Little Bunny to "Be brave." As... Posted at 04:23 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	02/20/13 Meet the Co-Creator of Yo Gabba Gabba: Christian Jacobs The creators of Yo Gabba Gabba bring their colorful preschool show to the Orpheum on Saturday, February 22nd. Readers tell us the show is a lot fun. To get ready, we spoke with the co-creator of this popular Nickolodean show, Christian Jacobs. How does creating your live show differ from the one kids watch on TV? There's more work involved creating the TV show because with theatre, you build one show and then do it again and again. You're tweaking it while you're on the road, but mostly its the same thing each night. With the series, each episode takes more hours, creating the set, the props, and the storyline. But don't get me wrong, it's all fun. The kids love it when DJ Lance steps onto the stage. They go nuts! How has the show evolved over the past... Posted at 01:35 PM \| Permalink \| Comments
	02/15/13 Let's Go: National Civil Rights Museum I recently took my two children to visit the National Civil Rights Museum in downtown Memphis. I wanted them to learn about social justice issues and it turns out this museum is the perfect place to do just that. We talk some beforehand about the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., so we can all be better prepared for our visit. As we walk up to the museum, the children notice the wreath on the railing of the Lorraine Motel. They also spy a photograph of the men on the balcony. I tell them Dr. King and his friends were going to dinner when a shooter took his life. My 5-year-old immediately wants to know if King was a daddy. I tell her he left behind a wife and four children, and that it was a very sad time for the world. “His family must... Posted at 08:22 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	02/05/13 Read This: Blooming Buddies Now that Memphis has had a day or two of warm weather (just enough to confuse the poor daffodils), our thoughts turn to the coming of spring. I'll be the first to admit, I know absolutely nothing about plants. They either look pretty or get mown down in our yard. I couldn’t tell you the difference between a daisy and a Bellis Simplex if my life depended on it. With my floral ignorance in full bloom (yes, I'm turning over a new leaf and going for the blooming puns), my 4-year-old daughter and I read Blooming Buddies In The Garden by Deborah Donner and Wendy Petersen (Pixie Land, Inc.) What's more, we read this book of verse (wait for it) — on Superbowl weekend! How manly is that? The author and illustrator are friends who each own many acres of land... Posted at 06:00 AM \| Permalink \| Comments
	01/31/13 Kid President Shares His Awesomeness on the Today Show & CNN If you were watching the Today show or CNN this week, you might have seen this young man. His name is Robbie Novak, better known by his online presence, Kid President. This 8-year-old's uplifting messages have been exploding on the Internet recently. This week, his Kid President Pep Talk video went viral. News of the video eventually made it onto Huffington Post and from there was picked up by the networks. We first interviewed Brad Montague, Robbie's brother/writer/producer, back in August. Read that interview here. The two are from Somerville, Tennessee, where Brad works as an aspiring comedian and musician. At that time, their videos were catching fire, but certainly hadn't exploded the way they did in January. At last count, the Pep Talk video had 5.5 million... Posted at 04:04 PM \| Permalink \| Comments