Tween Obsessed with Twilight Series, My Fault?

Did I encourage the obsession by withholding my 11 year old daughter from the Twilight series until I thought she was ready?  Or is obsession just part of tween life?  I remember listening to the same Imperials tape over and over as we skated in my parents basement for hours.  Looking back, it must have seemed obsessive to my parents, as well as,  driving them nuts!  But we were good kids and not in trouble.

Someone referred to teens as two year olds with hormones.  I believe it.  Two year olds happily watch reruns of their favorite shows like Barney (Marissa), Dora the Explorer and Max and Ruby.  They also sass at mom and dad, but with simpler words.  Sounds like my tween!

Emily's reading these 600+ paged Twilight romance novels, which is something I never could do.  Reading is good, right?  She insists that I should read them too.  Well, I tried and started New Moon but wasn't into it, like alot of other moms were.  I've disappointed her because I quit reading and haven't picked a team. Yes, she's seen the movies over and over too, but she likes the books better.  But what worries me is she keeps dwelling on the story. What's the big deal?

I know they pull away about this time, and their peers become their mentors.  Parents instantly become stupid.  She has  become more recluse.  That's not all bad, I've been pushing for more independence and am getting that part of development too.  When I engage her in conversation or ask her to do something she smarts back with disrespect.  Not allowed!  I've been working on which times to call her out and which times to ignore.

To ease my worried mind and if she's so intrigued by Bella and Edward's romance, I think I'll show her my wedding shower book.  And we can look over her dad and my wedding album again.  I can talk about the four and half years Greg and I  dated and hung out together and how much we couldn't wait to be together.  How he would call me everyday and I would call him right back so his parents didn't have to pay for long distance.

I got to date and be engaged for a year and have a fairy-tale wedding.  Starting a family was hard but our story includes getting the best kid I could have asked for...her!  She loves hearing about her adoption and watching her baby videos.

She's almost 12 and she's not into boys much yet, except for participating in the silly games at school.  She still prefers hanging out with girls and I'm thankful for that.

Eggs that will make history

Like many American moms, I have done the pre Easter ritual of egg dying with my child.  Sometimes we invite friends over to make fun holiday memories with us, but this year it's going to be just the two of us.  And we'll plan, buy, set-up, create, clean up and display our work together as a process not just an event.

Since March, I have created a board for Easter egg ideas and have gleaned many more ideas than I could have come up with on my own.  I have 37 pins on by Eggs/Easter board.  http://pinterest.com/shawneepooh/eggs-easter/ Wisdom is learning from other's mistakes.  It's a time and frustration saver in any setting...even eggs!

You don't have to be an artist to create something beautiful!

This years dying egg project with Emily is going to be different.  We are going to use hollow eggs instead of boiled ones.  She is ready for the next step in this traditional childhood activity.  She can do it through adulthood and continue to come up with, or copy, creative egg decorating ideas.We will hollow out our eggs with the pin and nasal aspirator.  Yes, we'll be frugal and eat the eggs.  I'll check allrecipes.com for a great recipe for strata, quiche or omelet.  We may even tighten our skin with some of the whites, who knows.

One pin suggests dying eggs bold solid colors with dry kook-aid powerder...http://www.heyjenrenee.com/2011/04/kool-eggs.html

Another pin shares a marble technique http://crafts.kaboose.com/marbled-eggs.html

Venn diagram with a black sharpie or texture eggs with white puff paint on white eggs for an elegant look http://www.readymade.com/blog/design/2011/04/20/modern_easter_eggs

In one of our future Easters, we'll give a go at making Pysanky, egg decorating with traditional Ukrainian fold designs using wax resist.
http://www.livinginseason.com/tag/ukrainian-eggs/

I'll post some pix when we finish.  I hope I've inspired you to make developmentally appropriate craft memories with your children!

US Map, places I've been

 States that I have been in at one time or another.

Fibi's Color Changes

This is Fibi as a puppy.  She was born January 13, 2010.

This is Fibi almost 18 months later in June, 2011.

She is a havi-bichi-poo.  Her mother is a Havanese, her father is a Bichipoo (Bichon Frise/Poodle).  She came from an Austin breeder and I highly recommend Deb and Steve!!  They are at www.storybookpuppies.com. 

Fibi's color lightened up as you can see but is still beautiful!  She is a great companion dog and is great with children.  

She is a great Lap Lander with a Licker License!

We gave her a first birthday party and several of the neighbor dogs came!  

She is definitely an important part of our family.

Summer Calendar for Child Activities

It's my motherly job to fill in activities for Emily's 12 weeks of summer vacation.  When you have an only child who is social, it can be difficult to have a fun summer.  You have to schedule playdates, because you are not guaranteed the children who live on the block will be home to play outside.  Plus, the Austin, TX summers are brutal and playing indoor is safer most of the time.

So, like the past 3 years, I've created a calendar template and shopped for fun things for her to do.  It takes hours to plan and organize, and this will be the first year I don't hit up my group of friends to sit her during the day while I work in the mornings.  This year's summer calendar will be much easier for me.

So far we have three major activities, a family wedding, a week of church day camp, and a week of overnight Christian camp.  Plus I'll add in the annual favorites, like VBS volunteering and art class at Laguna Gloria.

My activity brainstorm  list for last year looked like this...
Bake goodies and deliver to elderly neighbors

Bike/walk  trails in Austin   http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/parks/trails.htm

Bird watching

Camp in back yard

Clay bead project  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJ5v8wY2mV8

Go to overnight camp for a week

Kayak or canoe

Learn Spanish

Make a craft and sell on etsy.com

Make and serve a formal dinner to parents

Stargazing with planetfinder app

Swim Barton Springs

Take a painting class  http://theartschool.amoa.org/

Try geocaching  http://www.austinexplorer.com/Default.aspx?Category=Geocaching

Email/skype friends

Visit a farm or ranch  http://www.boggycreekfarm.com/pages/tours-of-the-farm.php

Visit and research Texas historical markers, take pictures, document

Volunteer at food bank, soup kitchen or animal shelter for a day

Volunteer at VBS

TX Nature Challenge

Something new this year is the actual physical calendar.  I used the MS Word 2007 calendar creator.  There is a quick helper for it at http://www.microsoft.com/education/en-us/teachers/how-to/Pages/create-calendar.aspx

I've put the three known activities on it and will use it to fill in the rest in pencil as summer draws near.

If you have any additional activity ideas or suggestions, please send them my way!!