I belong to more “flash sale” sites than is probably healthy, and they have more clothes by far for my toddler girl than my inching-toward-middle-school son.  I look at LOTS of dresses.

Often I will click on a particular brand just to see what they are offering, even if I know I can’t afford it.  Actually, BECAUSE I can’t afford it, I want to see what I’m missing out on by being poor.

So recently, I clicked on a prestigious French brand that is branching out into children’s wear, and read this opening line:

Do right by your little girl and clothe her in Chloé from a young age.

Erm, really?

Because I choose not to spend $180 on a denim jumper she would probably wear twice, I’m doing my daughter wrong?

Anything to make people feel morally superior for spending an inordinate amount of money on kid’s clothing, amirite?

Priorities.

Methinks people have them in the wrong place.

My son is going on a trip to Sacramento this weekend with his grandpa, and we told him he needed to get a haircut this week.

“I can’t get a haircut!  I want a mohawk!”

Uhhhhh, whaaaat?

As a child of the 80′s, I have absolutely nothing against a mohawk.  I actually don’t have a problem with my 9 year old sporting a Mohawk if that is what he really wants to do, which it apparently is.

But.

I’m wondering where the hell this came from.  We currently don’t know anyone with a mohawk, and I’m trying to figure out where he saw a person with a mohawk that he now wants to emulate.

I tried to discuss with him that despite the fact that it seems to be a rather carefree, rebel hairstyle, it requires quite a bit of work to keep it looking decent, including rather frequent haircuts.  I also told him that he would probably have to start using a lot of hair gel.

The mohawk is currently on hold, pending my son’s decision on how exactly how much he hates hair gel and haircuts.  Which up to this point has been quite a bit.

Self-expression is a bitch.

Care Bears, selling for $1200

Pound Puppy, selling for $5000

Furby, going for $500

Cabbage Patch Kid, yours for $2000

Stretch Armstrong figures (God, who didn’t have at least one of these and beat the crud out of it?)  $17,800

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During the recuperation period from my surgery, I am not ashamed to admit that I read some Young Adult Fiction.

The Hunger Games, to be precise.

I had bought the e-book versions because a) I am a geek, b) I just had to know what all the fuss was about, and c) I was sort of hoping that the Munchkin would be able to read them also.  And any writing that falls into the YA category is vetted by me personally before he gets to read it.  I don’t think he needs to stumble upon some description of two teens having sexual relations at the age of 9.  There will be plenty of that in the years to come, I’m sure.

Uh, OK, I was just really distracted by that last sentence and reminded of my friend who has vowed never to talk to her son about sex.  Ever.  She cannot wrap her mind around the fact that our sons will be hitting puberty sooner rather than later.

Anyhoo, I burned through all three books in about four days, between snoozing sessions.

And now, pathetically, I cannot wait to see the movie.

Yeah, all the 14 year olds and I will be lining up at midnight.

And here I thought I had escaped all that by not reading any of the Twilight books.

A list of the first baby names of 2012 by state recently came out, and there are definitely a few humdingers.

Apparently there was a trend of a lot of names beginning with the letter K and the letter A. Even though I didn’t give birth in 2012, I’m OK with not being on trend.

A few that leapt out at me:

Kentucky: Kay’lyn

I thought that the whole apostrophe within a name thing was so very over.  I was so very wrong.

New Mexico: Daytona Jaymes

There are, to me, two things wrong with this name.

South Dakota: Kalylah

I have no idea where they came up with this one, or how to pronounce it.  Awkwardly, I guess.

Wyoming: Khloe

The Kardashian influence has gone much too far.

Ohio: Anya

A Project Runway fan, it seems.

Arkansas: Wesley Ren

Ditto Princess Bride.

Nevada: Envy Essence-Faye

I could deal with this if it was rearranged.  Maybe.

So we were searching around for a gift for my nine year old for his birthday, which was in September. At the time, everyone was buzzing about the Kindle Fire, and since my husband and I had already discussed a desire to get him a tablet device (but were balking at the price tag of the iPad) the Fire seemed like a perfect solution.

Not too expensive? Check.

I think we spent more on his DSi a couple years ago.  If something happened to it, I wouldn’t be hyperventilating the same way I would over an iPad.

Easy to use? Check.

If you’ve already got WiFi enabled, you can start using the Kindle in less than a minute upon opening the box as long as you have an Amazon account. I find the browsing and icons to be fairly intuitive, and my tech-crazy son finds it even easier.  The touch screen strikes a nice balance of sensitivity, and I’m so happy there is no stylus needed.

Nice to look at? Check.

The size is perfect to hold easily in your hand, and the screen resolution is fantastic. At least to my untrained eye.

Access to books, books, and more books? Check.

I am not kidding when I say that I have a hard time keeping up with my son’s reading habit. Buying new is expensive, although I do for series that I know he loves, such as all the Percy Jackson books. Our downfall is that we are horrible at getting books back to the library on time, and we tend to check out around thirty books at a time. Add all the late fees up for two weeks or so, and I figure I’m already ahead on the Kindle purchase. Our last late fee was around forty bucks. Ouch!

Decent battery life? Check.

We got about a ten hour charge out of it on first usage out of the box.

Android-based? Check.

Finally, I have seen what the Angry Birds craze is all about.

Access to the internet? Check.

This was not the main reason I bought the Fire over the other Amazon e-readers, but I figure it can’t hurt.  Right?  Trust me when I say my son will never be allowed to access the internet whenever he feels like it.   Supervision at all times!  As many filters as I can put in there!  Educational websites only! That being said, he needs to learn how to navigate the internet as a critical thinker, and this will help him do that. With me looking over his shoulder, of course.

We just got our Fire this afternoon, so maybe there are certain things I will hate about it in a week or so, but my first impression of it is extremely positive.

Overall, as a parent, I heartily recommend the Kindle Fire.

*I bought the Kindle Fire with my own moolah.  I was given absolutely no compensation for this review.  Although I certainly wouldn’t refuse a free app or two.

Make no mistake about it, I was a pretty stupid, selfish teenager. It was all about ME and what I wanted and the judgements came swiftly and without a lot of thought.

I’d like to think I’ve improved greatly from that time in my life, heck, it might have even lasted into my early twenties.

But I don’t think I was ever as stupid as this:

Great. Now I’m all depressed.

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