Teeny Manolo

My how time flies! Today marks exactly a year since my fantabulous colleague raincoaster and I began writing on this here little blog called Teeny Manolo.

It’s been a privilege writing here for you, my friends.  Stick with us, we’ve got lots more up our sleeves.

Here is a look back upon some of my favorite posts from the last year:

It’s That Time of Year Again

Teeny Manolo’s Dating Advice For Single Men

Smashing Pumpkin Shoes

Oh Cindy…

Moms With More Hair Use Velcro

Parents With Picky Eaters Holiday Handbook

It’s All in the Details

Angry Young Man

Nice Try, Kid

He Bravely Ran Away*

They’ll Get a REACTION, All Right

An Open Letter to My Mother-in-Law

Stuck in a (Mom) Rut

And now if you’ll excuse me, I need to get a hanky and wipe a tear or two from my eye. They grow up so fast!

Inspired by Glinda’s Monday Teeny Poll about traveling with kids, I’ve gone out and rounded up a bunch of online resources to help you organize the paperwork, the finances, AND the logistics of this heroic undertaking.

Because I reside in The Socialist Republic of Canuckistan, Google serves me a ton of .gc.ca websites, all of which are informative enough but somewhat limited. You, because you probably reside elsewhere, are permitted by Mr. Google access to different websites, so if you do find one you’d like to pass along, post it in the comments section. Hopefully, this post will keep growing as more people contribute.

Here are some sites I’ve found so far:

Have Kids, Will Travel from CAA Magazine - a short article with solid, practical advice. The red eye tip is particularly useful. Related article below:

Road Trip Essentials: What to Take With You - the perfect checklist (yes, an actual checklist) to ensure that you, your car, and your kids are ready to take to the road.

TravelWithYourKids.com - a website devoted to answering all of these questions. Annoying “Read More” feature on all articles, but the articles themselves are worthwhile and cover most of the ground.

TSA: Traveling with Children - ah yes, the dreaded TSA. Fortunately their website is not as scary as their reputation, and it is very well-written, giving clear instructions and telling you exactly what to expect when taking small children into or out of the country. Good to know they do not separate parents from kids.

NEVER leave babies in an infant carrier while it goes through the X-ray machine.

Dear god, who would do that anyway? Somebody trying to save a few bucks on the six-months checkup???

TravellingWithChildren.co.uk - not so good. The site appears to be mostly a shopping site: the actual articles are difficult to find, in the sidebar where you’d normally expect advertising. And the articles themselves reference products they sell too often, and are not the most creative. It DOES give a fascinating insight into a culture where travel is not just accepted; it’s almost mandatory. The relentless desire of the British to leave Britain, given three days off, is one of the cultural curiosities of the world; surely it can’t be THAT bad?

DebbiesCaribbeanResortReviews - darn exhaustive, and no punches pulled here. Reader-contributed reviews of pretty much every resort and island between Florida and Mexico, all from the point of view of parents with young kids.

HotelFun4Kids - part of a larger site offering hotel reviews and reservations, this section has tips for ensuring your kids enjoy their stay at a dude ranch, amusement park, traveling with grandparents, and much more. Short, decently-written and informative articles.

How to Travel with Kids Without Going Crazy - always a useful skill, you’d agree. A practical article from Canadian Living magazine with some very good advice on preventing/avoiding/dealing with the inevitable stresses that will come up.

Put your suggestions and links in the comments section: if you have more than one link per comment, it may be held in moderation so be patient. We WILL check and fish you out of the spam queue!

Click HERE to enter our stylin’ Stila giveaway!

I’m already on my trip, but I can assure you that I overpacked.

I am going to stand up right here an now and admit to you all that “Hello, my name is Glinda and I am an overpacker.”

In this day and age of charging for extra baggage on flights, this is not a good thing.  Not at all.

However, every time I underpack, I find myself in dire need of something.

On my engagement trip to San Francisco, it was pants. Even in August, San Francisco is c-c-c-cold.

On a trip with a toddler, it was a particular type of diapers.  And nothing sucks more than having to hunt for a specific item in unfamiliar territory.  Just for expediency’s sake, I’m sure I spent more than I would normally be comfortable with.

And, we have all had to make that unfortunate trip to the hotel gift shop, and then forking over eight bucks for a tube of toothpaste.  A small tube of toothpaste.

But not Glinda.  Not since what our family has labeled “The Swim Diaper Incident” has she been without anything that she needed, anytime, anywhere.  Even on a trip to the park, I will pack everything I think we could use.

Often I am mistaken for a pack mule, but I’m ok with that.

Boy Scouts got nothing on me.

Today finds me out on the road, beginning my first day of vacation.  Due to the wonders of technology, I am able to write this in advance.  Surely a device which connects from the brain to the keyboard, thus erasing that cumbersome typing thing, is next.

We planned this trip months ago, before the price of gasoline was close to five dollars a gallon.  But, there would be no backing out, no matter how painful the bill. Unless we wanted to forfeit our hotel reservations and annoy the relatives who have been expecting us to visit.

What are you doing online? Shouldn’t you be at a steakhouse somewhere?

Helping me with math
frustration, yelling leads to
broken pencil lead

Lest you get the wrong idea, I have a fabulous Dad.  He was a math whiz who just couldn’t understand why his daughter did not revel in the intricacies of Algebra II, and a got a bit annoyed with me at one point.  Probably because I was whining about how haaaard it was, or some such teenaged angsty stuff.  This is such a vivid memory for me because he hardly ever got angry with me.

Got any memories of your Dad that might make a good haiku?  Have at it in the comments section!

Happy Father’s Day to all the Daddies out there!  

Because we’ve had enough flowers and chocolate!

One thing they never tell you about child raising is that for the rest of your life, at the drop of a hat, you are expected to know your child’s name and how old he or she is.
Erma Bombeck

It would seem that something which means poverty, disorder and violence every single day should be avoided entirely, but the desire to beget children is a natural urge.
Phyllis Diller

Raising a kid is part joy and part guerilla warfare.
Ed Asner

My mother’s menu consisted of two choices: Take it or leave it.
 Buddy Hackett

If evolution really works, how come mothers only have two hands?
Milton Berle

Most children threaten at times to run away from home. This is the only thing that keeps some parents going.
Phyllis Diller

Mothers are all slightly insane.
J.D. Salinger

And I couldn’t resist these, either…

Dictionary of a Mother

Dumbwaiter
One who asks if the kids would care to order dessert.

Feedback
The inevitable result when the baby doesn’t appreciate the strained carrots.

Full Name
What you call your child when you’re mad at him.

Grandparents
The people who think your children are wonderful even though they’re sure you’re not raising them right.

Independent
How we want our children to be for as long as they do everything we say.

Show Off
A child who is more talented than yours.

Whodunit
None of the kids that live in your house.

Beaker was always my secret favorite, so it’s nice to see him getting his due finally, rather than playing a slightly addled Igor to some mad scientist. Also, the velvet lounge suit really brings out the Titian glory of his hair, don’t you think?

via Valleywag

Last week’s poll addressed attitudes toward homeschooling and people who choose that option.  Multiple choices were allowed, and the category with the largest percentage of votes was the “imparting religious instruction not given in public school” with almost sixty percent.  Now, that may or may not be true, but I had a feeling that was a perception among most people.  The next category with the most votes with fifty one percent was, “their views differ from the mainstream.”  I thought it was a really interesting poll, and I thank you all for your honesty.

Now, doing my normal thing of zooming into an entirely different subject, I’ve got one about candy and how much candy kids get during holidays and celebrations. This weekend, my son got more candy than he could ever eat. Now, what to do with it?

more at twiigs.com…

The truly great stories have always inspired creative reinterpretation and re-telling in a variety of media; the Easter story is no exception.

From paintings by Caravaggio and Bacon to the literal re-enactments that take over the Philippines every year, to the singin’, dancin’ disciples in Godspell, to the current Gitmo-referencing Manchester production, the story of the death of Jesus has been interpreted in virtually every art form known to humanity. Even Blogging!

And now, Lego.

At a reported cost of over ten thousand dollars, this American (well, what else could he be?) minister has recreated not only the life of Jesus, but much of the Bible in Lego.

For Easter we have the Last Supper, the Arrest of Jesus, the Trial, the Crucifixion (what an odd word to know how to spell. I mean, how often do you use it, eh? And yet I bet you know how to spell it?), the Empty Tomb, and the Final Appearance. These are only details, you’ve gotta go to the source for the real deal. Simon Peter has that hot Miami Vice stubble thing going on, as well as some major Austin Powers chest hair. Hawt.

As anyone who’s ever compared different biblical translations can attest (or is that “witness“?) the picture you get from the whole is substantially different from the picture you get from the snippets.

God is indeed in the details, but he’s also the original Big Picture Guy!

The Last Supper

The Arrest of Jesus

The Trial of Jesus

The Crucifixion

The Empty Tomb, OMG OMG OMG!

The Final Appearance