Tryptophantastic

Toffee Crunch (TC) doing the new cat thing by hiding in her litter box

There’s a saying that you will always be lucky if you know how to make friends with strange cats. Given that my chances of convincing the spousal unit that we should have a nonstrange cat were nil, we compromised on fostering cats. I liked the idea of helping adorable kitties who were traumatized or unsocialized get a chance to find a permanent home, and Mark liked the idea that after a few months, he’d never see that particular animal ever again. Ok, I jest, but only a little.

So this new category will be a view into the challenges and benefits of cat fostering, demonstrate the progress (or potential lack thereof) of each cat, oh, and bear witness to the power of lots of gratuitous cute cat pics, amirite??

So given the choice of three cats who were all in need of a break from the shelter, we decided on Toffee Crunch because she had been there almost a year, and started off almost feral. She had also come to the shelter with a litter of kittens. All and all, a heavy load for a pretty young cat!

We started her off in the bathroom with the door closed, where she crouched in her litter box, and later in a corner on a huge sweatshirt I have. After we left the door open, she proceeded to new hiding spots over the course of a few days: under the dining table, inside our hollow electric organ, and currently underneath my bed. Lest you think how horribly traumatized she must be to hide so much, she is now coaxable out of these spots, and trades purrs for scratches and rubs. She just must feel more comfortable in enclosed places still.

Last night I was pretty frustrated because she had hid in the organ all day, but after the din of kids ended with their bedtime, I eased her out with kitty treats. We spent an amiable and quiet evening together, her kneading the carpet while I worked on a project, she occasionally begging to be petted and sitting squat on my fabric like any reasonable cat must. Perhaps with her under my bed now she’ll find her way to the infinitely more comfy bedspread tonight!

Now that you’ve made it through the large-font title, which my kids can see over my shoulder, I’ll admit to planning an at-home summer “camp” themed around Webkinz. Why? Because my kids love the organization and immersion of a planned camp, but such things are expensive. Also, they love Webkinz. [There are no hyperlinks, ads, or images to such creatures in this post. If you are a parent, you've probably already seen them too many already!] And I want your help!

I’m using the description of a local summer camp as inspiration: “Join us for a magical week of wonder in Webkinz-ville! Each camper designs and makes a miniature bed so their favorite Webkinz has a place to rest throughout the week. Throughout the camp, we learn how to make unique accessories, draw all kinds of popular Webkinz, and will have a blast with fun hands-on activities. At the end of the week, we perform a small play with our newly accessorized pals, with a cast of only Webkinz!”

I, however, have the added challenge of planning for a wide range of ages: 3, 6, and 8. The more complex activities can be done while the 3-year old sleeps.

Already planned:

1. Designing and making a quilt for their animal. They bought the fat quarters of fabric earlier on a whim. I’ve created a quilt graph paper PDF for them to color and design–we’ll probably do a 10×10 grid of 2″ squares. I’ll probably let them spend a little time sewing squares together, but assume that the majority of sewing will fall on me.
2. Choreographing a play at the end of the week, using whatever clothes and props we make earlier
3. Making a menu and meal in their Webkinz Restaurant ostensibly for the animals to eat
4. Taking their animals to play at the park

Still brainstorming:

1. Party games which explicitly use the animals for something.  Problem is, I’m not familiar with the online Webkinz games and gimmicks. I’ve checked out the party ideas on their website, but that still doesn’t give me a clue what the really cool things are.
2. Potentially one other craft, one that the 3-yr. old can participate in. A shoebox bed? Accessories like mini jewelry?

If you have any ideas, feel free to leave them in the comments and I’ll credit you when I use them. Stay tuned for updates of what we do…don’t let me get lazy!

I’ve mentioned before that even our small library has a children’s nonfiction section worth browsing, and that it’s kind of fun to look through the books there. Recently I found one of those library books that makes the transition between something you look at for your three week loan time, and placement on a wish list. “Glues, Brews, and Goos: Recipes and Formulas for Almost Any Class Project” by Diana F. Marks is a recipe book of sorts, and as such, its contents could be found in various places online, if you knew what to look for beforehand, but not all together with good explanatory information. For instance, for homemade volcanoes, it explains how to make four different types: Strombolian, Hawaiian, Vulcanian, and Pelean, and describes how each is characterized. For that reason and its completeness it would make a good background manual for science projects.

It also contains several recipes for each “type” of brew, and while one may have an obscure ingredient, the others might be made with ingredients you already have. Overall, it’s an eye-opener to what things are possible with basic chemistry and mixing around the home, and a good go-to idea book. Even for categories I thought I understood, it offered refinements and corrections of things I hadn’t done optimally. But to quote Levar Burton, you don’t have to take my word for it–look for it in your own library first.

Chapter headings:
Clays and Doughs
Salt Map Mixtures
Papier-Mache
Plaster of Paris
Glues and Pastes
Paints
Natural Dyes
Bird Food and Bird Feeders
Crystals and Crystal Gardens
Non-Newtonian Fluids and Slimes
Bubble Solutions and Bubble Frames
Volcanic Actions and Other Chemical Reactions
Invisible Inks
Soaps
Candles
Recycled Papers
Dried Flowers, Potpourri, and Pomanders
Breads
Edible Art
Dairy Products
Treats the Students Can Make
Miscellaneous

I’ve been doing my exercise inside this summer because I’m such a humidity-phobe, but surreptitiously eye the runner lifestyle. A couple of my friends have used the Couch to 5K system, which is a running guide to progress from being a new runner. James at spotifit has started creating playlists for this purpose; one uses the beginning of each song to switch from running to walking, and vice-versa, instead of using a watch as one would otherwise have to do. Unfortunately, Spotify (the music-streaming service used to create the playlists) is currently Europe-only, but Americans now get rdio.com! If you’re familiar with last.fm, it’s similar, but with increased music availability for streaming.

Anyway, as playlist creation is rather fun, and the system is easy to work with, I started trying it out on rdio. I’ve created a sample list for about the second run of the second week, but couldn’t resist the siren call of everything being a They Might be Giants song, with the energy TMBG has. You can stream it here if you’re a member (if you want an invite, let me know). You’ll note that my walking songs are a little shorter than they maybe should be. That’s just a short TMBG song or album for you.

1. The Guitar (3:48, warm-up walk)
2. Why Must I Be Sad? (4:08, brisk walk)
3. Twisting (1:55, jog)
4. Sleeping In The Flowers (4:30, brisk walk)
5. Destination Moon (2:27, jog)
6. How Can I Sing Like A Girl? (4:26, brisk walk)
7. Subliminal (2:45, jog)
8. Spiraling Shape (4:24, cooldown/walk home)

If you’re familiar with TMBG, you’ll notice a trend with the songs, in that they’re from only 4 albums. I hope rdio is still building up the music database. I also hope that the 3rd party tools available for Spotify will also be developed for Rdio (including tools to convert a playlist from one service to another).

Playing with ice and kitchen gadgets makes a nice respite in July

Background

Grab a few small bins or large disposable food storage containers and freeze water ahead of time for a fun summer activity getting wet and “sculpting” ice. This is one that is perfect to start the night before, but with minimal effort either then or the next day.


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A dozen old yogurt containers suddenly feel useless

Even if you never try any exotic kitchen chemistry, chances are your kids ask to make goop, or play with baking soda and corn starch, or even mix all the ingredients in your cooking shelf together. If you’re like me, you’re content letting them use your good measuring devices, or scrounge for clean recyclables, despite constant food coloring stains in your cheap Tupperware knockoffs, and having to take time to find everything they might need. I decided this summer that a set of plastic labware would be a modest investment in repeated kitchen chemistry experiments, as well as a good beginning to reading measurements, estimating, and lab protocol and safety!

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Katya, of course, wanted to paint a dolphin on her shirt

Background

Proper batiking requires melted wax and chemicals, neither of which are good for children. But kids still can have fun watching their design “resist” the dyes using gel glue. Younger kids might enjoy creating a freehand, random design best, and thus won’t be frustrated if their slightly clumsier hands cross colors over their lines.


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I’m not a teacher, but I play one at home.

Thus is my usual attitude towards the fun of summer, teacher supply stores, and the 372 section of the library (the one for elementary education, where all the manuals, idea books, science activity guides, etc. get placed), and the end result of planning educational activities for my children that also serve to entertain me. Of course, my follow-through is generally where I flag, but I’m determined this summer to enact all the ideas and plans that I want to try with my kids. I’ve found the following 3 tips useful so far in staying focused:

1. Keep it simple, but be prepared. I’ve nixed activities that require too much planning, but also bought the supplies ahead of time for things that I really wanted to do so I had no excuse.
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Shortly after typing up the previous entry, I found Emma’s preschool riff on Mother’s Day.

Dated 5/6/09

I think my mom is 35 years old. [she overshot a little]

My mom’s favorite color is green. [sure, why not!]

I like it when my mom cooks macaroni/ravioli

I like it when my mom takes me to Children’s Together Park [it's only the coolest park in town, that's why]

When I cry, my mom helps me.

My mom call me Emma. [Not according to this]

My mom’s job is working at her computer. [sigh, that was before I had legitimate "work" reasons to be at my computer ]

Cleaning my desk (yes, shocking) I found this set of prompts Katya answered for first grade last year.

My Mom

My mom is a great mom.

My mom likes to cook a smootie. [smoothie]

My mom knows I’m cute.

My mom says clean your room.

My mom can nurcher her child. [you figure it out! my daughter is a suck-up]

My mom wishes that one of my teeth will fall out.

My mom loves her children.

My mom is a great mom.