Hiccups NewsOK.com Blogging Community

I should write a survivor’s guide for all the parents out there who are already pulling out their hair now that school has ended.

I have survived many things and have determined that I shall prevail this summer as well.

The last day of school was the calm before the storm. As my teens expressed relief that the school year was over, I prepared for the onslaught of what I call ’I'm bored-itis’.

I didn’t expect it to start just one day after school ended … but I was armed and ready for battle.

As I sat working at my desk, it started with a few phone calls from my daughter.

“I’m bored,” she said on the first call.

“Now, I’m really bored,” she said on the second call, following these words with a huge sigh.

“This is horrible! I’m sooo bored!,” she said on the third call.

Three strikes and you are out.

Never mind that much time and attention has been spent on coordinating a summer full of activities. Never mind that beginning next week she has more than enough commitments  that will last well into August. Never mind that she’ll be begging me for a few hours to simply do nothing come July.

No, ‘I’m bored-itis’ had truly set in.

At the ready, I pulled out my secret weapon. Three words that are guaranteed to get rid of that summer plague everytime:

“Clean your room!,” I told her.

Silence.

More silence.

“Hello?,” I said, wondering if she had dropped the phone.

“Guess I’ll let you go,” she mumbled.

“Sure! … And uh don’t forget to clean your room.”

Works every time.

– Carla

Most parents remember the first time their child said Ma-Ma or Da-Da. Sometimes it’s the baby’s first word. My 5-year-old’s first word was Ki-Ki, for kitty. Seeing how the cat was about her size then, it’s no wonder it held such interest.

Ma-Ma came later, along with Bob Bob (Sponge Bob) and Gam-ma (Grandma).

But I had another proud moment this week when she drew me a picture and wrote MOM on it. She can spell! She can write! She writes my name!!! (Last week she wrote CAT, but I’m overlooking it.)

It really brought home the point that she’s growing up and no longer my baby.

Hopefully, she’s less prone to peer influence than her mom. In second grade, I was once writing out my spelling words when the little boy sitting next to me showed me how to write a few naughty words I’d never dare say out loud. I meant to scribble them out before turning my paper in, but somehow forgot …. and the rest in detailed in my school discipline report.

But M-O-M is a great word to know. Even better than C-A-T.

Susan Simpson

The kids and I went to the Oklahoma City Zoo over the weekend, our first visit since last fall. I mention our last visit only because it was so, um, memorable. Some family was in from out of town so a bunch of us decided to go to the zoo. It was hot, but we were having fun until a near miss with a tram. One was coming up behind us so we all moved to the side of the road. At the time, my then 10-month-old son was asleep in his stroller. As the tram passed us, it kept getting closer and closer to the curb where we were stopped waiting for it to pass. We grabbed all of the little ones who were on foot and pushed them up against the wooden fence, but I couldn’t get the stroller up over the curb in time. The tram hit it. The stroller, with my sleeping son strapped in, was tilted at a 45-degree angle, lodged between the tram’s wheels and the curb. The tram driver braked a few times but fully stopped only after a lot of hollering from tram riders. I distinctly remember one man yelling, “Stop! You’re running over a baby!”

A couple of men hopped off the tram and helped unbuckle my son and dislodge the stroller. We were all unhurt, and my son was oblivious. The tram driver took off again, without ever leaving the driver’s seat. More than anything, that infuriated me. Accidents happen. I understand that. But the people I complained to at guest services just wanted to know the driver’s name (wouldn’t know, he didn’t come introduce himself) and if the stroller needed replacing. My mother and brother-in-law who also complained were met with the same apparent indifference. When I called the then-zoo director a few days later, he’d heard nothing of the incident but promised to look into it. One suggestion myself and other family members offered up was to have a zoo employee riding at the back of the trams.

When we hopped on a tram on Saturday, the tram driver informed us of a “safety conductor” riding at the rear of the back car. Safety indeed.

- Christy Watson

I’m a fairly new parent so I know I have much to learn.  One thing I could definitely use some input on is when to say something and when to keep quiet when it comes to other parents. 

I recently encountered a situation in a parking lot of a strip mall.  I parked next to a woman who was using some pretty excessive force on her child in the back seat, in plain view, door wide open.  It was actually quite disturbing. I won’t give details, but I’ll just say a belt was involved.  I sat there and wondered what I should do.  Do I confront this seemingly crazy woman?  Do I call the police?  Do I pretend I didn’t see anything? I called my friend who is a former Oklahoma County sheriff.  She said that if it looks bad enough to me that I should call the police and let them handle it.  She made a good point: If the woman is brazen enough to do this in a public parking lot, then how, God forbid, does she “discipline” her kids in the privacy of their home?  So I took her advice.  I called the police.  The response was actually a bit infuriating.  Dispatch and the responding officer said the same thing - “how a parent chooses to discipline their child is their business.”  I asked the officer, “so then there is no line between child abuse and discipline?” He couldn’t give me an answer. 

Here’s another situation. I’m at White Water Bay last weekend and I see a parent there with a small child - probably between 1 - 2 years old.  The parent isn’t using any sunscreen and I could see the child burning up in the sun before my eyes.  Her bright red skin looked so painful,  but I didn’t say anything.  Soon the guilt set in that maybe I should have offered my sunscreen to her at least, in a gesture where maybe she could “get the hint.” But then again, she wasn’t my child. Do I have the right to interefere?

I don’t want to be on “parent patrol” because I know that I, myself, am far from perfect.  But when incidents like these find themselves in my presence, I find it hard not to step in for the sake of the kids.

How would you handle these types of situations?  Do you find yourself getting involved with people’s parenting? Let me know on here or e-mail me at esmith@oklahoman.com.  I’d love to hear thoughts from other parents.

-Erica Smith

What age is old enough to take in the Indiana Jones movies?

My 7-year old was fascinated by the chases and fights in “The Last Crusade” as we watched it on cable last week. I’d have turned it off, but I really wanted to watch it. S

hould I take him to the new movie? Generally, we only attend animated features at the theater.

However, I’m the same dad that introduced him to Star Wars three summers ago when he was 4, and he became a freakishly devoted fan (though we waited until after he was five to let him watch the final movie, and them we fast-forwarded in the gruesome final scene).

- Alan

Every few days, I get an e-mail from the Consumer Product Safety Commission updating me on recalls, usually one to three products at a time. You too can sign up on the CPSC Web site at www.cpsc.gov.

But the e-mail I got today listed eight recalls. The print-out explaining the recalls was nine pages long.

If that’s not disturbing enough, two of the recalls were for Disney Store products that violate lead paint standards — a Pirates of the Caribbean sleeping bag and a Tinker Bell wand.

I go to the Disney Store a lot. And the items aren’t cheap, so I guess I was surprised that the Mouse himself would fall pray to poor (and potentially deadly) toymaking. No surprise that the sleeping bag and wand were made in China.

 I’ve already quit buying many toys at discount stores, so should I now mark Disney off my list? What do you think? Are you tired of the failure of toy companies to safeguard their products?

Let me know by commenting here.

Susan Simpson

I’ve written several stories on vacation Bible school and there’s something that most people don’t know about me:

When I go to the vacation Bible school activities I write about, I don’t ever want to leave.

I want to do all the fun things that the kids are doing.

That’s right, I’m just a big kid at heart.

I want to dress up as a biblical character and share the “Good News.”

I want to go on a pretend Amazon adventure or go for the gold in the Bible Olympics. I wouldn’t mind getting lost on Outrigger Island or juggling a few footballs, basketballs and soccer balls.

I even want to sit on the floor and eat a hot dog.

Just hearing about the vacation Bible schools planned for this summer has me plotting a couple of reporting excursions that sound too fun to be real work.

If you’re wondering which churches are offering the annual Bible school and what themes they have in store for kids, look for a vacation Bible school listing in the Religion section throughout the summer.

Go online to Wimgo for a vacation Bible school one-stop-shop, so to speak. Type in “vacation Bible school” and read all about the activities planned at a church near you.  

P.S., you just might find me there.

I’ll be the big kid with the briefcase.

– Carla

I love the Oklahoma City zoo. Love love love the zoo. Last year while on maternity leave I took my nearly 3-year-old and new born to the zoo at least twice a week and sometimes three. And when we go to the zoo we spend the whole day. We walk the whole entire zoo. Pachyderms to bison to Acquaticus and back. In and out of the snake house through the Galapagos and sometimes the aviary. We love it there. I brag about the OKC Zoo everywhere I go.

I think it is a great place to take kids. To teach them about nature and impart on them messages of balance and environment and kindness and consequence and many many many more. There is one message though that the zoo is not capitalizing on: Eating healthy.

This despite the fact that our mayor unleashed to the world his mission to put our fine city on a diet at the zoo. If you want to eat anything healthy at the zoo you’re going to have to sneak into an animal’s cage.

While they are being fed oranges, leafy greens and other carefully selected foods to keep them healthy, the concessions areas are deep-frying French fries, hot wings, chicken fingers, corn dogs and more. You can get burgers, burritos, nachos, hot dogs and bratwurst. You can get the best ice cream in the whole world. Oh yes I am not knocking the flavor of zoo fare, just its nutritional value. But, I’d challenge someone to find something healthy to eat at the zoo concessions aside from the hamburger toppings.

It seems like adding cold-cut sandwiches, fruit dishes and veggie cups would be easy and not all that expensive. Aren’t they already buying oranges, apples, bananas and the sort for the animals? Why not order some extra for us. Maybe they could even capitalize on the whole animal thing they‘ve got going and offer ants on a log or a monkey sandwich with peanut butter and bananas.Come on zoo, give us some healthy options.

Until then, when you go to the zoo keep in mind that if you eat you’ll be consuming a high-fat, high-sugar diet. Which I think is a good thing from time to time. You gotta have a burger and fries. And in our house hot dogs are a food group. And I think I might have mentioned that the zoo has the best ice cream in the whole world. But you have to balance that out with some celery and oranges, options that one would imaging you’d be able to find at the zoo.

And I’m not saying every item on the menu should be filled with nutritional value. I And I suppose that I could avoid eating at the zoo all together and many do bring their own snacks and picnics, but when you already have to lug gear for two kids a fruit cup would be handy. I think the zoo’s’ food makes a statement … it sends a message. And I’m not really sure why they should be held to a higher standard than White Water or Frontier City, but as a place of influence and education … conservation and nature I think they are.

Oh and keep your fingers out of the cages those oranges are for the gorillas.

- Lindsey Johnson

Backyard birthday parties are coming back. The popular big birthday bash for kids is getting too expensive now that gasoline is nearing $4 a gallon, and grocery prices are going up every week. Cereal is higher priced, and there is less in the box. What do you plan when the birthday boy is turning 10 and he wants a laser tag party with pizza, or begs you to rent a moonbounce? My grandson Calvin turned 10 on Sunday. There were three best friends, lots of good food, and waterguns. They had a good time, got soaked, and there was enough in the budget to buy the gift he wanted. The laundry room was filled with wet towels, and the birthday guests went home with borrowed clothes, but they were smiling and laughing. The backyard birthday party is extra work, but it seems to make extra good memories.

- Chris Jones

This weekend is Memorial Day and if you’re one of many, you have three fantastic days off to enjoy.  You may be visiting relatives or heading out to the lake.  But if you still don’t have any idea what to do with the kids for three days, and plan to stay local, here are some ideas.

Star Spangled Salute Air Show, Saturday, Tinker Air Force Base.  The aviation acts will leave any child captivated and fascinated.  For more information, go to http://wimgo.com/events/29627/star-spangled-salute-air-show. My toddler may be a little young (he scares easily from loud noises) but I hear it is a terrific family event.

Chuck Wagon Gathering & Children’s Cowboy Festival, Saturday-Sunday, at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.  Food, kids’ activities, pony rides.  It doesn’t get more fun (and educational) than this. You may even be able to coerce your kids into behaving long enough to let you walk around the museum and check out exhibits.  For more info, go to http://wimgo.com/events/27105/chuck-wagon-gathering-childrens-cowboy-festival.

The Oklahoma City Zoo starts its summer hours this weekend: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily, beginning Monday. I personally bought a Zoo Friends pass online at www.okczoo.com so that my son and I could go all summer.  He loves the zoo, and it kills a few hours (and calories!) every time we go. Save the playground for last because once the kids get in it, they won’t want to leave.

As an added bonus, they have a program just for 4- and 5-year-olds this Saturday from 10 to 11 a.m.  Check it out at http://wimgo.com/events/31220/ .

Remington Park has a super fun family day planned for Memorial Day. The afternoon of “Racing and Family Fun” includes lucky horseshoe giveaways for kids, horseshoe pitching contests for kids and adults, inflatables, $1 hot dogs & sodas, petting zoo, face-painting, live music and more.  For more details, go to   http://wimgo.com/events/40208 .

White Water Bay.  OK, I have to admit, I am a huge kid at heart when it comes to the water.  I went this past weekend and it was actually not too busy for opening weekend.  We bought a season pass for both White Water and Frontier City.  They have great attractions for younger kids and kids 2 and younger are free. They also sell all-season parking passes, too.  If you don’t get one, expect to pay $5 cash every time you go for parking.  Again, kill a few hours and calories (that is, if you don’t get the heaping mound of loaded curly fries).  Don’t forget the sunscreen! http://www.whitewaterbay.com/ .

For a great list of other Memorial Day weekend events, concerts, lake activities and more, visit www.wimgo.com/memorialday and plan a fun family weekend!

-Erica Smith